Jenny rubbed her eyes, she thought they were playing a game on her. Harold saw her too, and started walking towards her in big steps.
“What are you doing here?”
His voice was still as pleasing to the ears as it used to be.
Jenny didn’t dare to look him in the eyes. She lowered her head and said, “I am visiting some relatives.”
Harold looked at James, who was standing next to Jenny, and pressed his lips together. He took out his checkbook and signed his name with a fluent move.
His signature looked noble and yet so vigorous, carrying his mark.
“I didn’t fill the check amount. If you need just fill it yourself, please.”
Jenny took the check, not because she wanted his money, but because she loved his signature on it. She finally owned something that belonged to him.
Harold didn’t stay much longer, and left with some other people.
James waited until Harold was gone before he asked Jenny, “You two know each other?”
“Hmm… yeah… kind of.”
…
On the way to home, a person suddenly stopped right next to her. Jenny got so startled that she took a step back.
“Jenny? Is it really you?” It was James!
“How come you are here?” Jenny asked him in surprise.
“I just finished my night shift and on my way home now, when I ran into you just now!” James took a look at his watch. “It’s so early in the morning, where are you going? Maybe I can give you a ride?”
Jenny quickly waved off his offer and said, “Oh no, no. I am not going anywhere, just taking a little walk.”
“Oh… well, do you want to come over to my house? I mean, the place I am living now.” James bashfully corrected himself and scratched his head. “I haven’t had a proper meal at home for a long time, since I was doing overtime in the hospital. I have been ordering take-out food. I heard Auntie say that you are good at cooking. I would like you to cook for me, is that okay?”
“…”
“If you are feeling uncomfortable that’s totally fine!” James giggled, “I know my request is very out of the blue, it’s only natural that you don’t agree!”
“Oh actually, I don’t have anything to do right now…”, Jenny replied. James has helped her a lot, if he was a bad guy, he wouldn’t have wasted so much energy. Jenny knows in her heart that James saw she has nowhere to go, so he asked her to his place.
“Oh that is just so great!” James jumped out of his car, walked around it and opened the passenger door for Jenny. “Please take a seat! Our first stop will be the supermarket?”
Jenny nodded, “Yeah, sure.”
…
Jenny has dreamed multiple times about how she would go grocery shopping with her future husband, then preparing breakfast for him so he will go to work charged with energy, while she will have some small career of her own.
On weekends, they would take a walk together, during vacations they would take a trip somewhere. When the time is ready, have a child. It would be their precious baby, no matter if a boy or a girl.
He might not be handsome, tall or rich, he might also not be Harold, but they would have their little life together.
In her eyes, Harold is her sun, her moon, but she is just dust. She is lucky if she can just look at him. But now, even that little hope of looking at him had faded.
She has not only given her innocence to Harold, but now Torah is asking her to have Harold’s baby for her. Which man is still going to marry her?
Jenny glanced at James who was driving. He doesn’t have the elegant facial lines like Harold, but he is also a wanted man.
He is educated, born into a good family, and a sensible person as well. She cannot ruin such a man, but she also cannot keep everything secret.
In the supermarket, Jenny watched James proficiently pick out vegetables, once in a while he would even chat with the employees.
“Do you buy groceries often?”
“Sometimes, if I get the time.” James grinned, “These days work gets too busy, I have surgery after surgery, it gives me no time to cook a meal for myself.”
Jenny took the bagged groceries from him. “Being a doctor is really stressful. I thought you wanted to learn architecture in college? Why did you change to medicine?”
“Because my father wanted me to be a doctor. But I gotta say, I really enjoy my profession. Rescuing people already sounds honorable.” James raised an eyebrow on her, “otherwise I might be just another low life architect right now. What about you? I remember you said you wanted to be a director?”
Jenny paused and quickly lowered her head.
“You’re just not confident enough.” James patted her shoulders, “But actually you’re wonderful! You are beautiful, you have a great character, you really are a good person! You just have some issues right now, but this will all pass in time. Just don’t judge yourself too harshly, otherwise you will never come out of where you are now!”
“…”
“Remember when I was in school? I was an introvert, never liked to talk, and I was fat too, almost 200 pounds. Everyone was making fun of me, mocking me, even the teacher started to bully me from time to time.”
Jenny was stunned. She did remember faintly though. At that time she and James had no contact, even though they were in the same class, they did not talk to each other. If he wasn’t being bullied by their classmates, she might never have remembered his existence.
“That time I was wondering why I am even alive. Just to be mocked by my classmates?”
“And then?”
“Then I thought to myself that I can become better. I started losing weight, and buried myself in studies. If others invested one hours, I would invest at least ten times as much, or even more! I noticed that the more I changed, the more extrovert I became. Now I couldn’t be more happy with my life.”
James raised his thumbs to Jenny. “I know you can do that too.”
Jenny paused for a while, and shook her head.
“No, I can’t. You can do anything to lose weight and improve your studies, because you have your family believing in you, but I…”
She didn’t have anything or anyone.
She even sold her virginity.