However, he flushed that desire and quickly took a towel. He took the initiative and reached out to Sophia's face and gently wiped off the tears. When the soft cloth touched her face, she gasped in surprise, and her cheeks got even redder.
James has never done such something like that in his life. To be honest, it felt good. As soon as there were no tears on her face, he withdrew his hand and put away the towel.
The two didn't say anything for a minute as they kept gazing at each other's eyes. James felt so many butterflies on his stomach, and his heart was thumping inside of his chest.
It was a new feeling to him, something he'd never felt before. He didn't even realize that his formerly dead emotions were now active. This time, it didn't feel like it was receding again.
"So, uhm… Sophia. I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have poured so much information to you", James apologized. "No no it's not you, it's the...It's not you", Sophia tried to laugh it off, but the atmosphere was already awkward.
"Sophia, please be safe. Put away that compromised MacBook, hopefully permanently. If you have backups in the cloud, I would suggest you restore it on a drive and completely remove it".
James realized he hasn't touched his meal for quite a while now. It was already cold, so he couldn't eat it again.
"Sophia"
"Hmm?"
"How about Daniel? It's been a long time", James smiled a little. "You're worried about that guy? Maybe I need to remind you who he is", Sophia raised her brow and chuckled.
"Oh yeah, I forgot", James laughed lightly, glad that the depressing topic was changed. "I didn't even ask how you're doing, silly of me", James said.
"Oh me? There's nothing worth talking of. It's just boring school stuff and ballet", Sophia brushed it off. "Then I want to hear those boring stuff", James said sincerely.
Sophia looked at James with a questionable gaze, and he could see that he wasn't joking. He was concerned about her welfare. "You've changed a lot over this time we were apart", Sophia said.
"How do you mean?"
"You're more confident, you speak with enthusiasm, and you exude the aura of a businessman".
"Well, I couldn't say less of you", James shrugged.
"How am I different from last time?"
"You are bigger, smarter, and I dare say it, more pretty", James hid his face from his glowing cheeks. What the hell was wrong with him? Was he wrong to compliment a girl?
Sophia noticed his cute attempt to hide his abashment and couldn't help but laugh lightly. "You're cute when you act like that".
"Oh, well…" James was at a loss of what to say. They soon engaged themselves in a hearty conversation.
Jessica who was seated two tables away from them kept monitoring the duo's table. While she couldn't hear what they were saying, she roughly understood what was going on.
Especially the time she saw Sophia crying. She had stood up and wanted to intervene, but Sophia had told her she needed privacy, so she had reluctantly stayed put.
However, Sophia had promised to pay for her food, so she happily ordered away. She had just taken two plates of dessert and one milkshake, and there were coming for a third one.
She had a sweet tooth and loved anything with cream and sugar. Yet her family was prone to lactose intolerance. Even the people loosely related to her had the same genetic problem.
Her cousin Piper and Georgie had the worst case of lactose intolerance. One time, they used part of their allowance and bought a bucket of ice cream. Before anyone could stop them, they gobbled it all.
It didn't take up to three minutes before stomach cramps kicked in. They were soon rushed to the hospital, where the doctor had to administer them insulin to completely digest the dairy product in their body.
Ever since they avoided ice cream like a diseased animal. It was not until a year later that zero-dairy ice cream was invented, giving kids and adults a chance to enjoy the delicacy without side effects.
However, while Jennifer was watching, James took a soft towel and dabbed the tears streaming down from her cheeks. She was surprised and delighted at first, but what made her laugh was when James withdrew his hand and attempted to hide his face.
So adorable!
It was apparent that James liked her, hence the reason he even agreed to the appointment in the first place. At first, she suspected the meeting. She couldn't believe that someone would take out his time and come here simply to explain something.
Now it made sense. James wanted to see her. It was so cute, it made her heart whine. Those two were a fit for each other. They both have similar personalities and the same quirks.
The duo kept chatting for a long time, oblivious of the passing time. If Sophia had not put an alarm for two hours ahead, she would have spent more than four hours.
"Oh, I'm sorry, I have no idea I would stay for this long. Dennis must be worried about me", Sophia took out her phone and silenced it. "Never mind. I don't know if you'll be available next week. I'm thinking maybe we can go out again", James said with nervousness.
"Sure, I'll be available by next week. Say on Saturday, that's when I'll be available", Sophia grinned, showing off her brilliant white set of teeth.
"Great! It's a date", James said with delight. "A…what?" Sophia asked with a raised brow. "Uhm, I mean… I don't know… I was thinking…"
"Relax James, I'm kidding. It's a date", Sophia laughed heartily. So adorable!
"Alright, see you then", James said. "Hold on" James quickly remembered something. He took out a small dongle and handed it to her. "In case you want to use your computer, plug this to the USB port. It will effectively block any connection attempt by a network aside from yours".
Sophia took it and examined it. It was a black dongle that looked like a flash drive but was smaller. This could solve her problem.
"Sure James, thanks", Sophia smile sweetly and turned to leave, with a lingering expression on her face.