Lilia turned to look at Jean, who was sitting behind the desk. Only then did she realize how cold the floor was under her feet.
"It's not that cold." Lilia said as she continued walking towards the window behind Jean's desk, "You don't usually smoke this much. Did something happen?" She asked, her eyes fixed on the table.
The ashtray made of crystal was full of cigarette butts. One of the cigarettes was still lit on his mouth. It seemed that Jean hurriedly put out the cigarette when Lilia knocked on the door just now.
Before Lilia reached the window, Jean stretched out his hand and pulled her into his arms. To be more precise, the man sat Lilia on his lap. Even though they had done this in Jean's office before, the woman was still struggling and trying to get away. The strong smell of cigarettes mixed with the faint scent of spring was intoxicating for Lilia.
"What's not cold?" Jean put one arm around Lilia's waist while the other hand reached Lilia's leg. Jean's big and warm palms wrapped around her cold feet, "Your feet are frozen."
Lilia's face got even redder and she hit Jean's shoulder, "Put me down, Jean! I'll put on my sandals!" She protested.
But Jean ignored her protest and instead slipped his hands under Lilia's knees. The man stood up while carrying Lilia in his arms like a princess. Then Jean sat his wife in his chair.
"Wait here." Jean ordered before leaving the study.
The man then came back in a few minutes. In his hands were Lilia's house slippers that she left in the room.
"Jean, I can wear it myself…"
Lilia tried to grab her sandals, but the man pushed them away from Lilia's hand.
"I just need you to sit still. Can't you do that?" Jean asked while kneeling in front of Lilia.
Finally, Lilia gave up and let Jean do whatever he wanted. She watched the man put on her sandals, like a prince putting slippers on Cinderella's feet.
When the man finished, Lilia jumped down from her chair and landed a kiss on Jean's forehead. "Thank you, dear." She muttered with a flushed face.
Jean froze for a moment when he heard that. Lilia took the opportunity to open the study window and let the night breeze blow in. In just an instant, the smell of cigarettes in the room drastically reduced. Lilia then looked at the study, which was not much different from the one in Jean's old house.
There was a large bookcase filled with books in foreign languages ??in the corner of the room. The table was positioned in front of the window and the surface was covered by a pile of documents. An open laptop was also on the table. The screen contained a report filled with complicated figures and graphs. Just looking at it gave Lilia a headache.
Lilia looked away from the laptop screen and rounded the table so that she was standing right in front of Jean. The man had returned to his seat. Lilia rested her hands on the table while looking closely at Jean.
"Jean, I want to ask you something." She said in a serious tone.
"Just ask." Jean replied while leaning back in his chair. Even though he was relaxed, his posture still looked elegant.
Lilia took out her cell phone as she asked, "Why is your mobile password 0601?"
June 1st was Lilia's birthday. She still remembered when she first borrowed Jean's cell phone and heard the sequence of the numbers. Lilia took it as a coincidence.
However, the array of numbers kept appearing, so that Lilia could no longer call it a coincidence.
The security code for Jean's old house, the license plate for his car, and even the password for the apartment he rarely used, all used the number 0601. It must have had meaning for Jean, just like the number 0930 was to Lilia.
Lilia typed in the password for her cellphone and showed the screen to Jean with a big smile.
"Are you using the numbers 0601 for the same reason I used the numbers 0930?" Lilia asked.
Hearing that, Jean was silent for a moment. Then he smiled and replied, "What reason do you use that order of numbers?"
"Huh?" Lilia was surprised when she was asked back. She spent several minutes thinking about the answer, "Hmm… because I love those numbers!" She said with a meaningful smile.
Jean reached out and stroked her head gently, "I happen to like it too." He replied ambiguously.
Lilia was tempted to ask, 'What exactly do you like?' But she realized that she already knew the answer. The man liked the number sequence 0601, which was Lilia's birthday. Jean seemed to say that he liked that woman's birthday because that was the date Lilia was brought into this world.
There was one thing that made Lilia curious. She wondered since when did Jean use the code 0601. Did this contract marriage get terminated? Or long before that?
Until Lilia left Jean's study, she didn't dare ask that question. She promised herself to ask Sister Mei when she had the chance. The middle-aged woman had been taking care of Jean for a long time and was also in charge of Jean's old house. Sister Mei must have known since when the man had used the password.
*****
Saturday was arriving fast. The time showed 12 at noon.
Lilia was busy studying the tea-making equipment on the living room carpet. The utensils were scattered in front of her and an iPed on her right. The screen showed the name and function of each device.
At two o'clock in the afternoon she would join the tea making class. Lilia was determined to memorize the function of each equipment before coming to class.
Lilia was currently alone at home. Jean had been leaving for the office since morning. Even though it was Saturday, the man still had a lot of work to do. Even last night, Jean stayed up until 12 in the morning.
Suddenly, Lilia's cell phone vibrated. She turned and saw a new message from the Other app. Lilia put down the tea making equipment before opening the message. It turned out that the message came from a group chat containing three people— Vivi, Rachel, and herself.
Vivi formed the chat group yesterday, when they got the news about Lilia being seriously injured. The two of them wanted to visit Lilia in the hospital, but the woman assured them that she was fine.
This message was sent by Vivi and contained a series of angry face stickers. Lilia raised an eyebrow at the sight. Vivi was the type to get emotional easily, but she was never this angry.
[Rachel]: "What happened? Why are you getting so angry on this beautiful Saturday?"
[Vivi]: "@Lilia, can you help me kill that bastard named Tom Wibowo?"
Lilia sighed. Apparently, Vivi and Tom were fighting again. Lilia stood up and threw herself onto the sofa before replying to Vivi's message.
[Lilia]: "What the hell happened?"
After typing that, Lilia felt a little regretful. As soon as Vivi heard the question, she wouldn't stop telling the story until she had spilled all her guts. Just as Lilia thought, her cellphone screen was immediately filled with Vivi's scolding.
[Vivi]: "You know what happened. Do you know what that bastard did?"
[Vivi]: "He can't be trusted at all! "
[Vivi]: "He must be doing this on purpose to get revenge for what happened today!"
[Rachel]: "Take it easy and tell me. What happened?"
[Vivi]: "You remember that bastard was supposed to arrange a new blind date for me, right? Ten minutes ago, I arrived at our meeting place. And you know what I saw? Twenty boys were waiting for me there! That bastard arranged 20 people to be my date partner!"
[Vivi]: "That sight really scared me to death!"
Vivi added a crying face sticker at the end of her sentence.
[Vivi]: "Just imagine there are twenty men neatly lined up and asked me to choose whom I want to be my partner!"
[Lilia]: "Umm ... I don't know what to say now."
[Rachel]: "Hahahahaha!"
[Vivi]: "It's not funny!"
Actually, Lilia herself also laughed out loud when reading a message from Vivi. She could imagine Vivi surrounded by 20 men who were scrambling to be her date.
[Lilia]: "Then? Is your blind date over?"
[Rachel]: "What are you doing now?"
[Vivi]: "I'm running away."
At two o'clock in the afternoon, Lilia arrived at one of the biggest malls in the city. The tea making class that she participated in was located on the 7th floor of the mall, in a cafe devoted to tea lovers.
The cafe was decorated with tatami carpets and miniature cherry trees, creating an authentic Japanese atmosphere. When Lilia walked inside, the cafe waitress greeted her warmly and politely.. The waitress had an Asian face and was wearing a kimono, making her look like a real Japanese.
This content is taken from fr(e)ewebn(o)vel.𝓬𝓸𝓶