Summer booked a flight and started to plan her journey after she decided to visit Jessica.
Since it was raining on Jessica’s side, she bought water-proof luggage, many of Jessica’s favorite snacks, and some daily necessities.
Thinking back, it was Jessica who had always been worried about her. Meanwhile, it seemed as though she had done nothing for Jessica. She felt embarrassed as she thought of it.
Her flight was two days later.
Upon deciding the time of departure, she wanted to tell Leonardo that she was going for a long-distance trip.
In the evening when Leonardo came over for dinner, she told him about it.
Leonardo was silent for a few moments.”Going where?”
Jessica was shooting her movie in a remote village in the mountains. Summer gave him the details of the location, and he rummaged through his mind, trying to figure it out. However, he could not make head or tail of where it was.
“It’s just a small village, far away from Hoover City. It might take some time. I can’t be sure when I’ll be back.”
She served Leonardo a bowl of soup as she spoke.
“What about Rosie?”Leonardo frowned.
“Aren’t you here? You’ve been doing a good job looking after her.”She sincerely thought Rosie was in good hands with Leonardo taking care of her, whether in the past or present. Maybe she had set too low a requirement for Leonardo in the first place.
He put down his chopsticks and looked up at her intently.”Don’t you worry, Summer?”
“Worry about what?”She looked puzzled.
“I still haven’t recovered from my amnesia, and Rosie’s staying with me, but you want to leave us and go to a faraway place. Do you think that I have no other women, or are you just confident about fighting for the custody of Rosie?”
He was taking a hard line, but he was not being very expressive.
Summer was startled. Shortly after some contemplation, she still could not work out what he meant. She looked him in the eye and asked,”Can you spell that out in simple words?”
“I thought I’ve made it clear enough.”
Leonardo sounded angry, but his face was expressionless. He did not slam his chopsticks or leave either. Instead, he continued to eat his dinner.
He kept his head low, and from Summer’s eye level, she could only see his forehead and furrowed brows.
“You don’t want me to go?”She tried to sound him out, but he ignored her question.
She frowned.”If you don’t say a word, how am I supposed to know what you’re trying to express?”
Leonardo put down his chopsticks and got to his feet, wanting to leave.
She quickly got up and stopped him.”You think I shouldn’t spend time on other people and things, right?”
His brows twitched, but he said nothing.
She started to think that she had guessed correctly.
“I can tell you, Leonardo, I care about you and Rosie a great deal. You two are more important than anyone else to me, but Jessica is also important to me. I have my life, friends, and career besides a lover and a daughter. My world can’t possibly revolve around you alone.”
She had never treated Leonardo as her entire world. That probably had something to do with her upbringing.
Leonardo did not even look at her.”It’s up to you.”His voice was cold, and he shook her hand off before he left.
He slammed the door shut, leaving Summer alone again.
She went back in and sat down at the dining table. Summer picked up her chopsticks but soon put them down again because she had no more appetite. She was deep in thought.
Outside Summer’s place, Leonardo walked to the elevator with a frosty expression.
He was upset with Summer, who initially appeared solicitous and a little different as of late. Out of nowhere, things got worse. She wanted to leave him and Rosie to go on a trip.
As the elevator doors opened, he suddenly recalled what Summer said,”My world can’t possibly revolve around you alone.”
Many women had tried to revolve around him, but they never had a chance. Yet, she dismissed him so summarily like he was not that important.
The more he thought about it, the more furious he got. He turned around and went back to her house to knock on her door angrily.
Summer quickly stood up and went to answer the door. Had Leonardo returned?
She peeked through the spyhole and saw that it was indeed him.
She knew him well;he had never been a person who would easily humble himself. That was all the more so when it came to his current self.
She still opened the door despite those thoughts.
She stood in the doorway and said nothing, waiting for Leonardo to make the first move.
They both stood silently, looking at each other for a while. Finally, Leonardo spoke.”How long will you be going? I need to know the precise time frame.”
“Ten days,”she said after she pondered for a while.
The place where Jessica worked in was too remote. Going there involved taking a plane, a train, and a car ride, which would take four to five days for the round trip.
She was traveling all the way to see Jessica and not expecting to only stay a night.
“That’s too long,”Leonardo said without even thinking.
She was stunned for some time but tried to explain,”The journey alone will take four to five days. Ten days isn’t long.”
“Five days at the most.”He stared at her, his face was impassive.
Summer was dumbfounded. Five days was just enough for her to take a glimpse of Jessica.
Jessica had been working in the field for so many years, yet Summer had never visited her on-site.
Leonardo did not give her a chance to retort as he started to threaten her,”I’ve decided. Be prepared to bear the consequences if it becomes more than five days.”
“Leonardo!”
She could only shout his name once since he blocked her out and immediately left.
He was leaving for real this time.
Bear the consequences if it became more than five days?
She thought that it was an unreasonable demand.
He was behaving like a tyrant. She had told him the journey itself would take four to five days, yet he only gave her five days.
She could not reason with him, and he would not listen either.
Why should she be intimidated when he refused to listen to her explanation? She had decided;she would not surrender to his threat.
…
A day before departing, Summer went to visit Rosie in Leonardo’s place.
It was a Saturday. When she arrived, she spoke to the maid, who told her that Leonardo was in the reading room.
She stayed there the entire afternoon, but Leonardo did not come out of his room. He only called the maids by phone and asked for anything he needed to be sent upstairs.
Summer knew that he was still angry and did not want to see her.
In spite of that, before she left, she went upstairs and knocked on his door.