Walking out from the commander's office, Kevin sighed in relief. He finally got around fixing what he intended to. As a man, he must be responsible for what he promised. If he couldn't do it, then he shouldn't make such a promise. He told Louisa that he'd get her a present later. He felt obligated since he was at her birthday party. So he bought it and handed it over to the Commander to avoid getting too close to the girl. She did have a crush on him, and that wouldn't end well.
He went back to his office and checked his phone. He wanted to see if Leena had called, or at least texted. But there was nothing on the screen. Leena had been in Paris for a few days now and all she did was call him to let him know she landed safely. In the last few days, she hadn't even sent a text. What was she so busy doing? She should at least have tried to contact him.
Fingertips sliding across the screen, Kevin idly scrolled through his apps. He thought maybe he could call her. But it was 2 o'clock in the morning there. She'd be asleep for sure, tucked into bed. Well, he decided to call her in the afternoon, when it was daytime in Paris.
Kevin could not help frowning slightly when he recalled Leena's reluctance to leave him when he sent her off at the airport. He thought Leena was unwilling to stay away from him. But he also wondered; was she pretending to show her reluctance? Was it all an act? Or did she really want to be with him? If she was really reluctant, why hadn't she called? How cold, he thought. Now that he hadn't heard from her, he thought maybe he'd call, hopefully catching her at a good time. But every time when he thought about this, it would be in the middle of the night or later, thanks to the time difference. What's more, he would always forget it when he got busy at work. Oh, God! He was so tangled up and couldn't see any way out of it.
At the same time, Leena, who was in Paris now, was still wide awake and not sleepy at all. Big eyes staring at the screen of her cell phone, Leena was lost in thought. Suddenly, a smile of self-mockery appeared on her face, the corners of her mouth raising up slightly. Oh, sure, she should have realized it; he never offered to call her. What was she expecting? She asked for disappointment, expecting that he might call.
She'd waited for him every day, waiting for the time that he might occasionally think of her and call. She didn't call him deliberately, just in case he tried to call at the same time. But now it looked like she was wrong. Maybe she expected too much from him. Leena threw herself onto the soft and comfortable king-sized bed. Suddenly, she felt a lump in her throat and soon tears flowed from her eyes and blurred her eyesight. The world in front of her became so distant from her. It was so unreal.
As a matter of fact, after she came back to Paris, there was little time to miss him. She was so busy in the daytime, since she needed to attend various shows with her instructor. Meanwhile, there was the matter of her dissertation that she needed to research and write. She was actually extremely busy. What was more, she had to spare even more time to prepare for the spring fashion show of her own brand. So even if she wanted to miss him, she could not make it since there was even not one second when she was not busy. Her fashion show was already behind schedule, and she had to spend as much time as she could on it to make it perfect.
She sniffed a bit and then sat up, walking to the balcony. Her phone was still held firmly in her hand. Looking at the sparkling stars in the night sky, Leena suddenly felt a hundred years old. She still remembered that she was hurt and went back to her home country because of love gone bad. And now she came back to this land, with complicated feelings for another man. Compared with her pain at that time, she was devastated. If she thought she was heartbroken before, she was wrong. Oh, that was exactly the difference. She felt heartbroken because she was in love with Kevin.
It was about 9 o'clock in the morning there now. What was he doing? In a meeting, or in training? But no matter where he was, he seemed never to save a place for her in his heart. Leena bit her lips slightly, staring at the handsome man on her screen. She couldn't help laughing at herself. How could she expect such a perfect man to love such a perfect mess?
Leena took a deep breath and calmed down. Alright! If there were 100 steps between them, she did not mind walking 99 of those steps. Her only wish was that he wouldn't turn around and walk away when she reached the last step. She would finish the last one. She was a brave woman! When the phone rang, Kevin was about to go to the training field of the Falcon to check the latest training situation. He was kind of in a rush so he answered the phone without checking the number.
"Hello! This is Kevin Gu." Kevin answered while picking up his army cap on the desk. He was walking toward the door, phone to his ear.
"Hi, Kevin! Good morning!"
Leena said in a spirited voice, trying hard to pretend to be delighted. Despite the bright smile on her face, she felt sorrow in her heart and no one would know it. She did not want Kevin to know her bitterness.
"Hi, you! It's so late there now. Why are you still up? It's bedtime." Kevin frowned slightly. He was not sure whether he was happy to hear from her or he should blame her for not living a healthy life. His hand, which originally was about to pull the door open, stopped in the air. He stopped walking and stood still.
"Hee hee! I'm about to go to bed! Am I interrupting you at work?" Leena always cared about his work. After all, he was career military and had a different job from ordinary white-collar workers. She did not want to distract him if he was super busy. There was always time to talk when he got home.
No. I'm free now. How are you doing there? Are you used to it yet?" Kevin walked to the sofa and sat down, worry showing on his handsome face.
"I'm doing great here! Don't forget it, I lived here for years. There's no way I couldn't be used to it." Her apartment in Paris was bought by Duke. He wanted to prepare a comfortable place for Leena to stay and also hired a house-maid. But Leena let the maid go before she went back home because a maid would not be necessary. So she was the only one in the apartment now.
"How's your dissertation? Is it going well?"
Kevin did not know how long she'd be staying in Paris. Without her home, he always felt that something was not right in that house. It was cold because she wasn't there. Once he got used to it, there was no denying something was missing.