“No, don’t!” Janie grabbed Emmeline’s hand. “He doesn’t care about me, so an apology won’t make a difference.”
“If it were before, I would believe you if you said that,” Emmeline said, “But now Ben clearly has you in his heart, otherwise why would he want to come and find you?”
“He’s just feeling guilty,” Janie said, picking vegetables with her head down. “He always feels indebted to me, so even if he does come over, his intentions are not what you think.”
“I can’t believe that!” Emmeline said. “I’ll call him and ask him myself!”
“Emma,” Janie felt a bit anxious, “I don’t want to see him. Please don’t call him.”
Emmeline stopped and looked at her, feeling a pang in her heart, “Janie, are you thinking of giving up?”
Janie didn’t answer.
“Janie, Ben is a good person. He really is. It would be a pity to give up on him.”
“I’m not saying he’s not good, but…”
Janie lowered her gaze and said in a bitter voice, “I just feel powerless. I’m making efforts alone, but it all feels very pointless. None of my feelings get reciprocated, and it’s very frustrating.”
Emmeline fell silent. She didn’t know what to say.
Just as she was feeling frustrated, her phone rang. She glanced at it and saw that the caller was Abel.
Janie looked at her and said, “You haven’t told Mr. Abel of your whereabouts yet. Quickly let him know so he won’t worry.”
Emmeline picked up the phone and answered the call.
On the other end, Abel’s soothing deep voice immediately came through, “Babe, why aren’t you at Nightfall?”
“I was just about to tell you, I’m at Janie’s apartment,” Emmeline replied. “She just moved back, so I helped her clean up.”
“Do you need housekeeping to go over?” Abel said. “I will inform the staff at the Precipice right away.”
“No need,” Emmeline said, “We’ve already finished cleaning up and right now we’re preparing dinner. I want to stay here and eat with Janie.”
“…Alright then,” Abel said, “I’ll come pick you up later.”
“I’m riding a motorcycle, so you don’t need to pick me up.”
Emmeline replied softly. She could sense that he was disappointed that she wasn’t going back for dinner.
“The roads are hard to see at night,” Abel said. “Leave the motorcycle to the bodyguards. I’ll come pick you up.”
“Alright,” Emmeline couldn’t bear to refuse him, so she agreed, and added, “Make sure you eat well, okay?”
“Okay!” On the other end, Abel still sounded reluctant, but Emmeline had already ended the call.
When facing someone who was feeling down, it was best not to mention happy things. Emmeline did not want to make Janie feel uncomfortable in comparison.
“I see that Mr. Abel isn’t too pleased about eating alone,” Janie said with a faint smile.
“That’s the human male for you,” Emmeline winked at her, “You shouldn’t feel sorry for him even if he’s upset. Give him some space, and he’ll become even more attached to you.”
Janie didn’t respond to the remark.
The two women worked while chatting away.
By the time their little feast was ready, it was already pitch black outside.
Janie was feeling down, so she opened a bottle of red wine.
Emmeline accompanied her and had two glasses.
She already had a low alcohol tolerance to begin with, and with the strong kick of the red wine, she started feeling dizzy after two glasses.
After finishing the meal, both Emmeline and Janie had flushed faces.
For Janie, not just her face, but her eyes were also red.
She hugged Emmeline and sobbed softly, “Emma, was it really a mistake to fall in love with Benjamin? But why do I still love him so much?”
“Emma, do you know how much it hurts? Whenever Benjamin shows me a little tenderness, I become so happy that I lose my bearings. Emma, do you think I’m not putting myself first enough?”
“Today, he even shouted at me for the sake of an unrelated woman. Am I really so undeserving to him? ”
“Emma, can you tell me what I am to Benjamin? What kind of relationship do we have? Maybe it isn’t going to work out and I should leave him. It’s hard to feel like your love is one-sided. I’m really tired, and I’m sick of feeling this way…”
“Janie,” Emmeline held her and wiped her tears, “Ben won’t just leave you hanging. He’s just slow to warm up to you. Just take things slow. I believe you two will be fine…”
“Take it slow?” Janie smiled bitterly with tears in her eyes. “I can’t wait anymore, and I don’t want to.”
Janie leaned on Emmeline’s shoulder and cried, her voice getting softer and softer. Eventually, she fell asleep like that.
Emmeline carefully helped her to bed and covered her with a blanket.
She turned off the light and sent a message to Abel: “Babe, I’ve had some drinks. Weren’t you coming to pick me up?”
