Ariella Neal had eaten over twenty skewers and showed no sign of stopping. Ten years ago, I chased her to the airport, forcing her to return to Killian's side. I warned her, if she left, she shouldn't come back.
Ten years later, we were sitting calmly on the side of the road, eating skewers.
Time really is a strange thing.
After finishing half a bowl of fried noodles, Ariella Neal finally slowed down.
She spoke slowly, "Before I had little Poppy, I didn't plan to come back to the country. But after Poppy was born, I kept thinking, I have to return. After all, I still trust the education system in our country."
"Amya, whether I planned to come back or not, I didn't want to get involved between you and Killian."
"So why did you get involved?"
"Because Curtis called me."
"So, what exactly did Killian mean by that?" Ariella Neal put down her fork.
"I told Killian once. I said, someone like him, a young master, should be with someone like you, a little princess."
"When did you say that?"
"The fourth year after I went abroad."
At that time, Killian had confessed to me. So that was it.
I couldn't help but sigh.
The sigh wasn't smooth, it trembled. It was somewhat awkward, and somewhat painful. I stood up suddenly.
I wanted to leave, but my chair tripped me. I stumbled forward.
A large hand wrapped around my waist.
A warm coat was draped over me, pulling me in tightly.
It was Curtis.
He held me as we walked forward.
"Amya, I'm sorry!"
I stopped, but didn't turn around.
"It's not your fault."
Curtis drove the car with music playing in the background.
As the car passed the same convenience store for the third time, I couldn't help but ask, "Are you lost?" Curtis made a sound, "Ah."
"I... where do you want to go?"
"I thought you'd take me home."
"Do you want to go home?"
I thought for a moment.
"Let's go watch a movie!"
An outdoor movie.
We sat in the car, eating the popcorn Curtis had bought.
It was a little salty.
The movie was an old film I'd seen before. But even after watching it again, I still got into it. I knew Curtis had been sneaking glances at me, carefully.
"By the time the movie was over, I spoke up: "Back when I was in school, I went out for dinner, and a splinter from a wooden fork or knife got stuck in my hand. It was tiny, so tiny you could barely see it with the naked eye, but it hurt like crazy. My roommate said I should get it out, but I was too scared, worried it would hurt more. That little splinter stayed lodged in my skin all night, and every time I brushed against it, it hurt so much—like something was digging right into my soul. So, eventually, I gathered the courage and removed it. I took a big needle and dug it out. Guess what? It didn't hurt at all. In fact, it was like this huge weight lifted off me."
"
I smiled at Curtis.
"Killian was that thorn in my heart. Now it's been pulled out. I want to say, actually, I'm not that sad."
"Curtis, thank you. But I don't want to talk about relationships right now." Curtis said "Mm."
"I wasn't planning on telling you at this stage, and I didn't plan on doing anything. I know you need time. But I promised you, I would be honest with you!"
I smiled and looked at Curtis.
"If you keep this up, what if I start to fall for you?"
