She looked at Severo Laris with big, misty eyes, blinked softly, tears slipping from the corners of her eyes, and asked in a discordant voice, “Then why didn’t you answer my phone earlier? I thought you didn’t want to talk to me.”
“I was in the shower, and when I called back, you were off the phone.”
“My phone ran out of battery, and I don’t have a rechargeable one.”
Severo Laris lifted his long fingers and wiped the warm tears from the corners of her eyes, “Why didn’t you tell me in advance that you were coming to see me?”
If I had known she wanted it so badly, I could have gone to The Holy City, silly.
The girl grabbed the fabric of his shirt around his waist with her two small hands and buried her face in his neck, saying in a muffled voice, “I wanted to surprise you, but you ended up yelling at me.”
Severo Laris’ heart sank into the mud in a soft mess, and his remaining anger and worry turned to sympathy, reaching out to hug her tightly with a barely audible sigh.
“You’re so mean.” He whispered accusingly into her arms.
Severus Laris bows his head and kisses her on the forehead.
A cold breeze blew and Paula Rouco shrank into his arms, her little face still streaked with tears, looking down at his handsome chin, “I’m freezing.”
She could feel her body shivering and shuddering.
Severo Laris took off the jacket he was wearing and handed it to her, taking the school bag from her shoulder and carrying it himself over one shoulder.
Paula Rouco looked like a child stealing an adult’s clothes with her much larger jacket, comical and indescribably cute.
Severo Laris is about the same height as his father, visually 1, 8, with long arms and legs, and wears a jacket with sleeves that hang down enough to cover his hands.
Severo Laris lifted her arms and patiently helped her roll up her jacket sleeves several times before exposing her small hands.
The man put his arm around her and headed home.
Along the way, Paula Rouco asks, as a quip, “Do I stay at your place tonight?”
“Or do you want to sleep on the way?”
“…”
She bit her lip and asked, “Will your family think I’m not a good girl?”
Severo Laris lowered his eyes and gave her a soft look as he said lightly, “My family is just me and my mother, and my mother gets along and doesn’t think you’re not a good girl. And I’ve told her you’re my girlfriend, so even if you went to live away, she’d keep you at home.”
He had come to acknowledge her generously to the people closest to him.
The corners of Paula Rouco’s lips lifted slightly in secret delight.
At the thought of how angry he must have been that day at the airport, concealing his identity from Angelo….
“I didn’t intend to hide your identity from Angelo that day at the airport, I was just afraid that Angelo would blurt out and talk about you to my parents, who don’t approve of me having a relationship right now, so that’s why I hid that you are my boyfriend.”
After explaining, Severo Laris asked, “Who is Angelo?”.
“Don’t you remember the hairdresser who came to pick me up at the airport that day?”
Severo Laris’ gaze suddenly sharpened, “Are you close to him?”.
Paula Rouco nodded, “Well, we’ve known each other since we were little and his father and mine know each other, the two families consider each other family friends.”
“Does he like you?” suddenly asked Severo Laris.
She was quick to deny it, “No, Angelo just told me the other day that he has a girl he likes, and that he and I are Ferroimanes.”
Severo Laris: He has a kind of silly girlfriend.
But, again, it was good that he had the benefit of hindsight. If her emotional cells had developed, she would have been someone else’s girlfriend by now.
Severo Laris is grateful that before him she was a pure, passionate blank sheet of paper.
…
Modeste is a light person, but very polite.
Paula Rouco could feel that Modeste liked her very much.
Severo Laris slung his school bag over his shoulder on the living room couch and said to Modeste, “Mama, lita has been freezing outside for a while, so finish making her ginger soup.”
Modeste smiled and nodded, “Yes, good. I’ll go cook it now, lita wait.”
“Auntie, I’m in no hurry.”
Modeste instructed, “Severo, pour some hot water for your girlfriend to warm up first.”
Paula Rouco blushes at the term “your girlfriend.”
It’s like meeting your future mother-in-law.
When Modeste went to the kitchen to prepare the ginger soup, Severo Laris poured her a cup of hot water and handed it to her, touching in passing the temperature of her hand, which was still cold.
Severo Laris frowned slightly, taking her two small hands between her palms and rubbing them together, raising the temperature a little.
In the kitchen, Modeste called out to Severo Laris, “Severo, come here for a moment and do me a favor.”
Severo Laris got up and went to the kitchen.
Modeste looked around cautiously, then asked his son with a smile, “Has the girl turned eighteen?”
Severo Laris pressed a long finger to his brow bone, “How did you go to college without being of age?”
“Oh, also, you just turned eighteen, didn’t you? You’re seven years older than her, so treat her right and don’t bully her little girl, okay?”
“Mom, did you call me to talk about this?” Severo Laris was speechless.
Modeste smiled kindly, “It’s not easy for you to have a girlfriend and bring her home, I can see that you really like this girl. If you really like her, you should take care of her, so you won’t regret it later.”
Severo Laris: “… Mom, if you don’t have anything else, I’ll go out first”.
“Go on, go, spend some time with your girlfriend.”
…
Paula Rouco’s tummy rumbles after finishing a bowl of hot ginger soup.
By then, Modeste had gone to the bedroom to rest.
Paula Rouco squashed her little mouth and said to Severo Laris, “I’m very hungry.”
“You haven’t had dinner?”
The girl frowned her little white frown and whined a little, “I was in such a hurry to get on the bus to meet you that I didn’t even buy a snack for the way, so how could I have time for dinner.”
Severo Laris got up, rubbed his little head and headed for the kitchen, “I’m going to cook a midnight snack, there’s cabbage dumplings and noodles, what’s for dinner?”
“Dumplings!”
Paula Rouco followed him, her small body slipped under his arm and into his arms as he stood at the stove cooking dumplings.
“Paula-san, how can I cook dumplings when you’re like this?”
“Just cook it. It’s not like it’s a stir-fry.
Severo Laris hooked his thin lips and let her be, and just put his arm around her.
When she had eaten the meatballs, Paula Rouco went to the bathroom and showered. When she came out, grabbing the dirty clothes she had put on, she asked Severo Laris, “Can I do the laundry tomorrow, where do I put the dirty clothes?”
“Give it to me.”
Severo Laris had taken the dirty clothes out of her hand.
“…” he still has his change inside.
After throwing his clothes in the laundry tub on the balcony, Severo Laris turned and said, “Tonight you sleep in my room.”
“And where do you sleep?”
Severo Laris’ house was small, with only two rooms, one for him and one for Modeste.
“I’ll sleep on the sofa.”
“Then you’ll sleep with me.” threw Paula Rouco with a look of circumstance.
Severo Laris’ eyes flickered and his gaze deepened several degrees, “Are you sure?”.
Paula Rouco’s heart grew weak and nervous at the sight.
It’s not impossible to lift the sheets and sleep purely … unless you want to do something else!
…
As the two lay back on the bed, Paula Rouco’s small arms came up and around Severo Laris’ waist.
“I’m cold.” She looked up at him with big, wet, innocent eyes.
Severo Laris pursed his thin lips, the lump in his throat rolled slightly as he tried to stifle restraint, then he wrapped his arms around her small waist and dropped his thin lips to her ear, warning softly, “lita, don’t seduce me, I won’t be able to control it.”
“…” someone pretended not to know anything as lita pulled up the blankets and covered her entire head.