At this moment, Tom Fritz was sitting in front of his computer in the study, logged into his social media account. He was reading emails, from the earliest to the latest. He couldn’t let a girl’s seven years of youth hang in the balance; at the very least, he had to read every email. So when her social media message came through, he received the notification.
Tom held the mouse and gently clicked on the chat box. Seeing her message, he thought for a moment and replied: “No disturbance at all, no need to apologize.”
Seeing these words, Agnes’s heart tightened. She suddenly felt at a loss for words, not knowing what to say to him. He was online… he was finally online. She still liked him so much, loved him deeply, but at the same time, she was afraid of disturbing him, afraid of causing him trouble. He should be… married by now?
In seven years, so many things could happen. Marriage and children were only natural. So Agnes didn’t mention anything about feelings in her social media messages; she only inquired about his current situation. For instance, “How have you been? Busy?”
Tom patiently and simply answered her questions without mentioning anything about feelings either. There seemed to be a mutual understanding between them.
“Can I have your number?” Agnes mustered all her courage to send this message.
A minute passed with no reply. Two minutes passed with no reply either. Agnes couldn’t help but regret it; she felt impulsive and abrupt. So she sent another message: “It’s okay if it’s inconvenient; I rarely use text messages anyway.” She also sent an emoji along with this line.
She was always so cautious when facing him. The last email she sent last night was just because she knew that such disturbances and persistence were meaningless. Loving someone wasn’t something you could stop just by saying you don’t love them anymore. No one could let go of their feelings through sheer willpower.
Rationality might tell her it was time to let go, but free will couldn’t kill her feelings for him. So the reappearance of “Little Cat” once again stirred waves in this girl’s heart.
At this moment, Tom was on a call with his teacher, who asked if he had recovered his social media account and if there was still hope of finding that thesis paper. Tom Fritz then realized that he had been distracted by these 478 emails and had forgotten about his teacher’s request. He promised to send it immediately.
After ending the call, Tom saw Bubu’s message-she wanted his number? Tom Fritz’s first reaction was resistance; he remembered that this girl was much younger than him and had always treated her like a little sister. Matters of affection needed to be handled properly; he had to show his stance towards her feelings and couldn’t delay her any longer. After all, how many seven years does one have in life?
So he politely refused-“I’m leaving the country and will be canceling my number.” Because he didn’t want to keep her hanging on; he never had romantic feelings for her.
The girl who received this message felt a slight twinge of disappointment, but at least he hadn’t ignored her; he had responded politely. So his reply was perhaps the best outcome for her now.
There was a knock on the door as Agnes turned around; Summer walked in just then. “Who are you chatting with?”
Agnes didn’t close her laptop; she shyly looked away and closed the chat box.
“Mr. Little Cat?” Summer asked with some confusion.
“Summer,” Agnes grabbed her hand and said incredulously, “he replied to my email.”
Summer was extremely surprised. “Are you sure it’s him?”
“It’s him; his account got hacked and he just recently recovered it.”
“You should be careful; could it be a scammer?” Her sister kindly reminded her, “If it’s really him, what do you plan to do?”
Agnes hadn’t had time to think about that question yet.
What could she do? As long as he’s safe and healthy, she’ll silently bless him-it’s that simple. She would keep her love buried in her heart and try not to disturb him or cause any trouble in his life.