18 Chapter 18
I sensed his anxiety and squeezed his hand. Our eyes met, and he visibly relaxed.
Meanwhile, Albert clutched his chest, his eyes filled with an irrepressible excitement. The sheer, staggering joy of finding what he had lost left him breathless.
He stubbornly believed that as long as he didn’t agree, they weren’t broken up.
He just needed to see Sherry again, to explain that he’d been wrong about his mother’s savior, to explain that he and Krista were over, and that the baby was gone.
Sherry had gone to the research center two years ago. This young man was probably a colleague. Albert felt a small sense of relief.
I was touched to see how genuinely happy my friends were to have me back. But first, I needed to introduce Marcus.
When Emma heard I was coming back, she insisted on throwing a welcome-home dinner. It had been two years, and we needed a proper reunion. I missed my old friends, so I agreed. The dinner was set for the day we landed.
Two years later, Portland International Airport.
The joyous atmosphere eased Marcus’s nerves. I smiled, about to announce the date, when a trembling voice came from behind me.
We arrived at the restaurant right on time. Marcus pulled me hastily inside.
The announcement sent a shockwave through the room, which immediately erupted
in cheers.
I thought I saw a familiar figure on the stairs, but I dismissedit as a trick of the light from rushing.
Even though it bore Sherry’s breakup note, it was the only thing she had left him.
“Yeah, you’re not leaving sober tonight!”
The only thing he’d kept was the whiteboard by the bed.
Finally, after two years, fate had given him a chance.
16.09
Chapter
After my relationship with Albert ended, I thought it would be hard for me to start a new one. I had even considered dedicating myself entirely to my research. But over the
into my past two years, Marcus had found his way
heart.
My gaze
softened as I looked at the excited man beside me, Marcus. Two years ago, I had left alone. Now, we were back together. And this time, we had something
important to do.
Marcus, who had never met my childhood friends, looked a little nervous, worried they wouldn’t like him.
He heard the young man call Sherry’s name so gently.
With Marcus, I finally understood what it felt like to be loved, what real love was.
But only silence answered. No one made him breakfast, no one waited for him to come home. He searched the entire house but couldn’t find a single item of hers. Even their matching pajamas were gone.
The room erupted in laughter and teasing.
At first, he couldn’t sleep. Even when he finally did, the first word on his lips upon waking was always “Sherry.”
“Right! You tell us nothing, and then you’re late for your own welcome-home party! You have to be punished!”
But then he saw the young man by Sherry’s side. He could see the intimacy between them.
Finding our private room was the priority.
He thought that Sherry, the woman who had been by his side for twenty years, wouldn’t give up on him so easily. He waited for her to come back, to tell her everything in his heart. He believed they could get back together.
“Fiancé?! When’s the wedding? I call maid of honor!”
“You go dark for two years! If I didn’t know you were on some top-secret project, I would’ve filed a missing person’s report!”
“Seriously, just canceling your wedding and disappearing. If it wasn’t for Emma, none of us would have known! That’s not cool.”
Marcus was the complete opposite of Albert. If Albert was a block of ice, Marcus was a roaring fire.
The moment Marcus and I pushed open the door to our private room, a loud “POP!” split the air, and colorful confetti showered down on us. Emma rushed forward, playfully grabbing my hand.
I pushed my luggage cart, glancing around at the changes. The first project at the center had taken two years, longer than expected, but the results were perfect. The Director had given us a two-month vacation.
He followed us into the restaurant.
Marcus checked his watch, then grabbed my wrist and broke into a jog. “Sherry, we’re going to be late!”
な
We dated for a year before he proposed on our anniversary. We agreed to get married
as soon as the project was over.
Two years. He had waited two full years to see Sherry again. No one knew how he had survived those long nights in that empty house.
“If he’s your fiancé, then what am I?”
I cleared my throat and held up our intertwined hands. “Everyone, I’d like you to meet my colleague, Dr. Marcus Chen.”
“Ooh, you sly fox! So you were doing research and secretly falling in love!”
I paused for effect, then continued, “He’s also my fiancé.”
I was finally back in Portland. For a moment, I felt a wave of nostalgia. It had been two years since I left this city. So much had changed…
“Me too!”
