Severo Laris returns home to New York after finishing his work.
There is an American maid in the house and she was taking care of Costillas’ cat food when Severo Laris arrived home.
“Sir, you’re back.”
Severo Laris took off the suit he was wearing, handed it to the maid, rolled up his shirt sleeves and said, “You go about your business, I’ll keep an eye on Costillas. ”
“Okay.”
Severo Laris sat down on the carpet and unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt with slender fingers, looking more relaxed and casual than he did on the outside.
Ribs merely ate his cat food without going so far as to rub against Severo Laris’ arms to coddle him.
Severo Laris frowned slightly, his hand large. He shook it, “Cat food is that good?”
When Ribs finished eating, Severo Laris lifted Ribs with both arms.
This guy, in the last seven years, has gone from a little kitten to a fat, lazy old cat.
Usually, when he’s on the couch, his expression is that of a magnificent old queen.
“Meow.”
Severus Laris looked at Ribs and said, “I went to her recital again today and she was fine, or at least seemed fine. I wonder if she missed you.”
“Meow.”
Severo Laris: “If she sees you again, I’ll give you back to her, okay?”
“Meow.”
Severo Laris: “You’re very good at gaining meat, but how come she’s still so skinny after all these years, huh?”
“Meow.”
Severo Laris lowered his eyes a little and spoke with a bit of dejection, “If I could still be with her, I’d feed her fat.”
“Meow.”
Once upon a time, Lita liked to talk to the cat.
Now it was her turn to talk to Ribs, whom they had raised together, because there was no one to talk to about these words.
…
The next day, Severo Laris flew back to Imperial early in the morning.
Costillas was sent back on a consignment, and over the years Severo Laris has taken Costillas from Imperial to New York and back to Imperial from New York, having long ago grown accustomed to having Costillas around.
More so because, Costillas was picked up by someone and whenever I see Costillas, I think of her.
Normally, Costillas’ clingy personality resembles what it was seven years ago.
Wherever he went, she followed him, like a little tail.
When he works, she sticks her chin to his ear and mumbles that she’s been left out, chattering as if she has an endless supply of complaints.
Severo Laris misses dearly those wonderful, warm days of his youth.
It was he who lost her.
Once back in the imperial quarter, he stood at the door with Costillas in his arms, his heart aching and aching as he entered the code.
The string of numbers, which he kept in his memory, was the day they met.
The door, clicked open.
Seven years later, although he had already returned to Imperial for work, he had never had the courage to see her once again.
Because there are many memories with her in this small apartment.
In the shoe closet at the entrance, her slippers had been left, not thrown away.
On the sink, her pink mouthwash cup and his blue mouthwash cup, they are a couple.
On the couch, there’s the hoopoe cushion she loves to cuddle.
In the closet, there are still many of the clothes she didn’t wear at the time.
The whole house, full of them, was full of her.
Severo Laris was in the living room and looked into the study, the empty corner where her piano used to be and where she sat practicing, smiling at him sweetly from time to time.
She sat on the couch, watching a TV show and nibbling on potato chips as he came over to hug her before being forced to brush his teeth and go to bed.
She always liked to crawl into his arms and make trouble while he cooked, and when he’d had enough, he’d take her to the kitchen table and kiss her until she obeyed.
Every time she washed her hair, soaking wet, she would rub herself in his arms and he would rub her hair and blow it like a puppy’s head.
…
Too many, too many memories.
Love is something you don’t forget even after seven years.
Costillas jumped out of his arms and meowed.
It took Severo Laris a moment to return to calm.
After tidying up the house, showering and making the bed, he lay down in it, but lost sleep.
He glanced sideways at the left side, where he had once lain, and reached out to feel the empty spot, which also seemed to be missing a large piece of heart.
Severo Laris picked up her phone and searched her circle of friends.
She did not disconnect it, something he did not expect at the time, and he thought that, after the breakup, she would delete his contact details in a fit of anger.
After all, she is very explosive and loves tantrums.
So over the years, Severo Laris has followed her circle of friends, marked her as a friend, set her messages as strong alerts and has her Facebook always up for fear of missing a single message from her.
But alas, in seven years, he never sent her a single message; he used to send her messages, always many at a time.
In the years before that, he still occasionally sent to his friends, but in the last two years he didn’t post much to his circle of friends either.
Nothing dynamic.
Severo Laris follows all his social accounts, and the updates are unresponsive and deadly.
But she used to be able to post several updates a day.
She is grown and composed, but Severo Laris is heartbroken.
He would have liked her to be as childlike as she is, or at least happy.
…
The day after returning home, Severo Laris contacted Rufio.
The two agreed to meet in the Green Garden.
As soon as we saw each other, Rufio hit Severo Laris with a clenched fist: “Good for you! Seven years without seeing each other again! Are you still human?”
Severo Laris smiled slightly, “Too busy with work, I didn’t mean to.”
“Being busy is usually an excuse for a person. But you’ve really changed a lot in the years you’ve been away, Severo Laris, you’re really something, the friend admires you!”
The two men opened their arms and embraced.
Green Park, where there is a good feng shui graveyard.
As Severo Laris and Rufio walked in, Rufio said, “I had someone look at the cemetery yesterday, and it has a good view and good feng shui. But what are you doing looking for a cemetery all of a sudden, afraid you’re too busy dying all of a sudden to prepare a coffin?”
Rufio teased him, but Severo Laris was too reserved to tell him.
“Well, how about looking at this side of the cemetery?”
The green garden with the wind, water and trees is really beautiful and Severo Laris is very pleased.
Rufio later learned that Severo Laris had found the cemetery for the child he had miscarried with Paula Rouco.
Severo Laris named that child Linmer.
It is the surname of Severo Laris with the addition of a silent word from the name Paula Rouco.
Engraved on the Limmer tombstone, father: Severo Laris, mother: Paula Rouco.
It was Severo Laris’ cloak and dagger for his son, seven years late.
Then, every year at Qingming, Severo Laris came to pay his respects.
…
In the middle of summer that year, Paula Rouco packed her bags from her villa in Philadelphia and headed to The Holy City after her world tour.
As soon as she landed, she received a call from Susana.
Rufio and Susana are getting married and Susana calls her to ask her to be a bridesmaid.
“Paulita, you can’t say no, you are my best friend and it is imperative that you be my maid of honor when I get married.”
Paula Rouco smiled slightly, “Of course, I will be there for your wedding.”
After exchanging greetings, she hung up the phone and took a deep breath, her heart inevitably filled with excitement.
At first, she thought she and the man might as well have made it to marriage.
But now, things are different.
Rufio and Susanna’s journey from campus to marriage is a rare one and she really wishes them well and truly envies them.