Leonardo felt a little thirsty. He took the glass and drank a mouthful. Looking up and seeing the hesitation in Summer, he glanced at the glass, and as if after taking a deep breath, he asked Rosie, “Where did you get the water?”
Rosie pointed to the toilet with an innocent look on her face. “There is water inside there. Daddy, do you want some more?”
Rosie was treated like a princess at home, with an army of maids taking care of her everything. How could she know what water was drinkable?
Leonardo pressed his lips together, his face sinking. “Never get drinking water from there.”
“Why is that? Pretty lady says the water tastes good.”
Only then Summer realized she had drunk from this glass just now. So had she and Leonardo not kissed indirectly? As Leonardo glanced at her, as if he was thinking of the same thing, Summer quickly looked away.
“My fiancé should be back soon. I’ve got to wait for him.” She then hurriedly walked out. Unknown to her and while she was talking, Leonardo stared at her lips all the time.
…
Out of the house, Summer leaned her back against the wall and took a long, deep breath. Why was she nervous in front of Leonardo? Just because they had drunk from the same glass? Why did she feel as if her heart would pop out of her chest? She never had this feeling, even if she was staying with Stanley. Besides, Leonardo’s personality was so cold. Not to mention he had an out-of-wedlock daughter. He was nowhere as good as Stanley.
After a while, after her breathing normalized, she saw Stanley emerging from the elevator. Stanley saw her. Striding up to her, he asked with concern, “Where have you been? I arrived home just now and saw your mobile phone and keys, so I went down to the convenience store. Probably the store owner might have seen you.”
Stanley and Summer both had outstanding appearances, both staying in the neighborhood. So the convenience store owner knew them.
Summer thought of the glass. Feeling guilty, she looked away. “I forgot my keys. Just now I was in the neighbor’s house.”
The corner of Stanley’s lips curled up in a smile. “You are so careless! It looks like you can’t do without me.”
Just then, the door beside them opened. Summer and Stanley looked back and saw Leonardo standing in the hallway in some black casual wear.
Stanley was reaching to hold Summer’s hand just now. When he saw Leonardo, he stopped.
“Ahh, so Mr. Emerson is our new neighbor.”
She did not know if she had misheard it; she did not feel a hint of surprise in Stanley’s voice. He sounded as if this was expected.
Leonardo stood there with his arms crossed. “I didn’t know we could be neighbors. What a surprise.”
“Hope we can get together next time. We’ve got to go back for dinner.” Stanley smiled at Summer gently. He could only hold the back of her hand because she had curled up her fingers.
It was a sign of rejection. Each time Stanley touched her, her body would naturally react this way. Stanley would usually let off his hand when this happened. But this time, he seemed to be doing the opposite. Instead of letting go of her hand, he held her tight.
As Leonardo’s eyes swept over their hands that were held together, an unexplained emotion rose within him. “What a coincidence. We haven’t had dinner yet.”
“This late?” Summer asked surprisedly. It was almost nine now, yet they had not had their dinner? Leonardo was an adult. But Rosie was still small; she could not bear the thought of seeing her go hungry.
Leonardo replied with an “Mhm”. Not a sign suggested that he was lying.
“You two can come over for dinner if you don’t mind. I’ve made quite a few dishes.”
As soon as Summer’s voice trailed, Leonardo said, “Okay.” There was no change in his tone of voice. But his reply came without even thinking. It gave the impression that he could not wait.
Leonardo turned back and called into the house. “Rosie, let’s go for dinner.”
Rosie ran out in her slippers. “Didn’t we just have our dinner?”
“That was lunch.” He held her, and his expression was entirely natural.
“But Uncle Tim said…”
Rosie wanted to argue with him, but he cut her off.
“Uncle. Li and Aunt Jarrett invite us to dinner. What should you say?”
“Thank you, Uncle Li and Aunt… Jarrett…”
Rosie noticeably hesitated when she had to call Summer an “aunt”. She was so pretty. So why called her ‘aunt’? She looked at Leonardo, then at Summer, feeling confused.
…
Leonardo brought Rosie to have dinner at Stanley’s house. While Summer served the food to the table, Stanley helped lay the table. Rosie liked to join the fun and volunteer to fetch the bowls. Stanley handed said to her, “Would you like to help me with the chopsticks?”
“Okay.” Rosie grinned from ear to ear as she placed the chopsticks on the dining table.
Stanley came over and patted Rosie on the head. “Well done.”
Rosie smiled at him, then came up to Leonardo, climbed onto the chair to sit beside him. There was no child’s chair here, so she had to make do with a normal chair. Seeing that Rosie was struggling to get on the chair, Leonardo lifted her up.
“What did I say yesterday?”
“What did you say?” He had said so many things yesterday. How could a child like her remember everything?
“Don’t talk to strange women,” Leonardo reminded her.
“I’ll remember that.” Rosie nodded her head up and down.
“By the same token, don’t talk to strange uncles.” While speaking, Leonardo shot Stanley a look. Their eyes met, and neither wanted to give in.
Summer heard what Leonardo said as she fetched food out of the kitchen. She could sense the abnormal atmosphere at the dining table. The way they stared at each other showed that there was no love lost between them. That put Summer between a rock and a hard place.
She glanced at Rosie, who was fiddling with the chopsticks, and said, “Let’s eat.”
The two men looked away in unison the moment Summer spoke.
Stanley served some dishes to Summer. “You should eat more. Next time, you don’t have to wait for me for dinner.”
“It’s all right. I don’t feel like eating alone.” While she spoke, she served some dishes to Rosie.
Leonardo glanced at the two who sat opposite him, eating nothing.
“Daddy, what would you like to eat?” Rosie asked thoughtfully with her head tilted.