Amber though, If he didn’t drive away, didn’t take his phone with him, and when she went back to her apartment and confirmed that his wallet was still at her place, then she could easily deduce where he actually was.
Previously, he’d mentioned that he had also bought the place next door.
Amber found a key in his wallet and tried opening the door next door. The floor she was living on only had two apartments on it, ever since she’d moved in, no one had ever lived in the other apartment. She slid the key in, and it opened with a smooth click.
***
Amber blinked before walking in. To her surprise, this apartment was actually already furnished, but because it had been uninhabited for a long time, the furniture looked somewhat old and in disrepair.
This place was cleaned very well, however, almost to the point of being completely dust free. The cleanliness even somewhat intimidated Amber, she first went back to her place to grab a clean pair of shoes first before entering.
Ian was indeed inside. After circling around the apartment interior, she found him next to the balcony. He was currently cleaning, with a rag in his right hand and a spray bottle in his left as he stopped on the floor and seriously wiped down the furniture and the corners of the room. Behind him, the sunset gave the clouds a fiery tint as it also dripped down the side of his face, creating a quiet but dazzling moment.
Amber exhaled, walked over, and hugged him.
He paused for a moment. Amber was afraid that he’d break away from her grip again, so she hugged him even tighter as she whispered into his ear with a slightly sour tone, “Ian, why are you cleaning this place so thoroughly? Are you planning on raising a mistress here? Since I’ve made you mad, are you going to find a mistress to accompany you?”
Amber had absolutely no experience with coaxing a man, and as she said this, her heart and liver were trembling in trepidation. Indeed, Ian couldn’t even be bothered to deal with her antics. He lowered his gaze and coldly said, “Scram!”
“No. I won’t.” Amber decided to double down on her nonsense, refusing to let go of him. “We’re a couple. If you’re about to raise a mistress, I can’t leave, and I can’t let you leave either.”
Yup. She would make up an imaginary enemy to resolve their all-too-real conflict from earlier.
Ian smiled coldly. “So you’re also this shamele-”
But before he could finish his insult, Amber leaned down and, imitating his previous actions, tilted his head towards her and kissed him.
For couples, although it was a bit shameless to forcibly kiss the other party while arguing, it was also quite an effective strategy to resolve conflict.
Amber was a good student. She implemented all that she had learnt, but her kissing skills were somewhat rusty, and she didn’t go any further than kissing his lips.
Ian looked at her, and she looked back at him with her bright eyes. He was very, very close to her, so close that his nostrils were filled with her gentle fragrance and the only thing that he could see in her eyes was the reflection himself.
Almost unconsciously, he opened his mouth and accepted her kiss.
Under the scarlet clouds of sunset, the two them melted together, and all of their previous conflict dissipated away.
Ian said, “I waited here for you for so long.” His tone was cool, but there was still a trace of grievance within it.
Amber thought about how he must have looked as he cleaned and waited for her, and her heart melted into a little puddle of water. “I’m sorry that I made you wait for so long.”
She kissed him again, but he avoided it this time, softly saying, “I’m dirty.”
“I don’t mind it.” She smiled, pecked at his lips again, and also kissed his eyes and face. “I love you, as well as every speck of dust on your body.”
Amber honestly felt that she had never said anything this mushy before, but at least the result was good. Ian smiled, touched his forehead to hers, and cutely said, “Amber, you’re just trying to coax me into accepting other people.”
“Then, are you willing to accept them?” She wrapped her arms around his neck, and seriously said, “I’m an independent person, so I need to have my friends, family, and a career I love. All of these things are non negotiable for me. I cannot abandon them, so can you learn to love them as you love me?”
Ian didn’t say anything, instead responding by embracing her with his arms and a long and fierce kiss.
And so their conflict ended, just like this. Ian had learned how to compromise, and now knew that Amber had a bottom line, one that even he couldn’t cross.
He didn’t try to step past this bottom line again, but he still did a very childish thing. He put all of Amber’s old furniture in the apartment next door. The floor plans for the two apartments were the same, and after he “decorated” it with her old furniture, it felt almost exactly like her old apartment.
And then he even changed the directory; there was now a beautiful and eye-catching sign by the elevator that “considerately” labeled the apartment as “Dr. Camille’s home.”
But it was pointed at the fake apartment next door.