Ulric laughed above her head, “I’m the one dreaming, aren’t I?”
How could it be her?
He had been having this dream for over ten years, and the longer it lasted, the more he feared waking up.
“What?” Rosalind didn’t quite catch it.
Ulric certainly wouldn’t repeat it. He had already humbled himself enough in front of Rosalind.
“Nothing. I’m done with work. Where do you want to go?”
“Is Johnny at the office?”
Ulric frowned deeply, “Why are you asking about him?”
Rosalind blinked. “Tilda said they wanted to have a meal together, so I asked.”
“He’s there.”
“Oh.” Rosalind nodded and moved closer to Ulric, raising an eyebrow deliberately. “You can’t be jealous just because I asked about Johnny, can you? He’s your good friend!”
“I don’t like you inquiring about other men.”
Rosalind was both amused and exasperated.
She hadn’t expected Ulric to be such a possessive man! She used to think he was quite aloof and indifferent, not caring much about her, even giving her a lot of freedom. It turned out he was just pretending.
He pretended well, but it must have been exhausting!
“How come I never noticed you were this petty before?”
“If you had known earlier, would you have run away?”
Rosalind thought for a moment and smiled sheepishly, “Yes.”
She dreaded anyone being overly enthusiastic or forcing their presence on her. It felt like they were intruding into her world, and her first reaction was always to reject it.
“So that’s why.”
Ulric spoke as if it were the most natural thing in the world.
Rosalind pouted, “Why do you know me so well? Did you investigate me on purpose?”
“For a girl who sat next to me for years and never even borrowed a pen from me, do I really need to investigate her?”
During her school days, she prided herself on not owing anyone any favors.
She preferred others not to owe her either.
It wasn’t about being afraid of losing out. She just wasn’t good at socializing and didn’t know how to handle others’ kindness and goodwill towards her.
“Was I really like that back then?”
Rosalind blurted out and then recalled that she indeed was like that.
“You were stubborn back then. Even if I helped you with your backpack, you’d politely say thank you.”
“So when you returned that letter to me back then, I thought you were rejecting me.”
Ulric still remembered how nervous he was when he placed that letter on Rosalind’s desk. He couldn’t even sit still in his seat afterward, using the excuse of the classroom being too stuffy to go outside and play basketball with his classmates.
His mind wasn’t on the game at all, so he lost because all he could think about was how she would respond when he returned to the classroom.
Would she reject or accept him?
When the bell rang for class, he returned and saw Rosalind holding the letter. His heart sank.
As he walked back to his seat, he heard Rosalind lower her voice and say, “Ulric, is this yours?”
“Yeah.”
“Here you go.”
Ulric hesitated for a moment before reaching out to take it back. The letter remained completely unopened.
He knew then that he was rejected.
Rosalind didn’t even bother to look at what was inside the letter.
“There were many who sent you love letters back then. I thought that one… was just one of many given to you.” She furrowed her delicate brows and pouted, “And I asked if it was yours. You said yes.”