The man was puzzled by her reaction. Who wanted to commit suicide? But seeing the girl’s red, swollen eyes and her anxious, breathless state, he patiently explained in a gentle voice, “I wasn’t trying to commit suicide. I just finished my morning run and was standing by the lake, contemplating life.”
Agnes looked at him with disbelief, her chest still heaving violently. She had been really scared just now.
Tom met the girl’s skeptical gaze, noticing her worried and frightened expression. He gave her a warm and pleasant smile. “Really, I wasn’t trying to commit suicide. I’m fine,” he said with an upward curve of his lips.
In fact, Agnes’s eyes weren’t swollen from crying just now; she hadn’t cried. They were swollen from crying over that pesky cat last night.
After two minutes of eye contact and her assessment, she finally believed that he wasn’t fragile enough to commit suicide. She suddenly felt awkward, avoiding his eyes, not knowing what to say for a moment.
“What’s wrong? Didn’t sleep well last night? Or have you been crying?” It was his turn to ask with concern.
“I didn’t cry!” the girl denied, “I stayed up working for a while.”
Tom smiled but didn’t expose her lie.
“Meow~”
The little Bubu in the girl’s arms saved the day. The little creature lifted its tiny legs towards Tom, “Meow~ Meow!” Its two beautiful eyes stared at him unblinkingly.
It was clamoring to be held!
Tom’s gaze fell on the kitten. He took two steps forward and extended his hand towards little Bubu, “Come here, let Daddy hold you!”
Seeing the kitten improved his mood considerably.
“Meow~” Little Bubu cooperated perfectly. As Agnes was about to hand it over, the little one leaped directly onto the man’s shoulder.
“Be careful not to fall!” Agnes exclaimed, stepping forward with her hands raised to protect it. Her unsteady balance almost made her fall into Tom’s arms.
Tom Fritz reached out to steady the kitten and looked at her gently.
In front of the man, there was a noticeable height difference; even on tiptoes, she couldn’t reach his shoulders.
For a moment when she met his gaze, she felt a bit dazed. His eyes were like deep ink, profound and bright.
“Bubu has excellent balance; didn’t you notice?” Tom said as he took the kitten off his shoulder and looked away.
The girl withdrew her hands and honestly shook her head, “I really didn’t notice.”
“You cried last night?” Tom saw through it and asked directly, “Was it because of work or something else?” His tone carried no mockery, only concern.
How could she talk about personal matters with him?
So Agnes shook her head, “No, really just stayed up late.” She indicated that she didn’t want to discuss it further.
“Life is never smooth sailing; as long as we’re alive, there will always be troubles,” Tom Fritz said with a heavy sigh. He seemed to be talking about both of them.
But Agnes couldn’t understand what troubles he could have. Such a successful person-a high-profile chemistry professor-why would he come alone to the lake early in the morning to contemplate life?
Did he have insomnia last night?
At his level of success, did he have no friends?
Did he have to digest all problems by himself?
“What do you want to ask?” Tom Fritz petted little Bubu in his arms. “Are you curious about something?” His gaze fell on the girl in front of him as if he could read her mind.
The girl quickly came back to reality and focused on asking him, “Have you had breakfast?” She didn’t want to pry into his privacy.
The man shook his head, “No. Have you?”
At this moment, the aroma of roasted sweet potatoes wafted over, followed by an old man’s shout, “Sweet potatoes! Do you want some sweet potatoes? Freshly roasted and sweet!”
Both standing by the lake turned their heads simultaneously and saw an old man on a small tricycle appearing on a nearby path.
Tom Fritz instinctively started walking towards that direction.