Me After Meeting You

“I don’t mind. But have you considered Silvia’s feelings?” Amber almost wanted to say that Trysta must have misunderstood something, but she decided not to worry too much about this.

“You know how she always says things without ever acting on them. If we really let her chase after Calvin, I bet that she won’t even do it. Alright, it’s fine as long as you don’t mind!” As Trysta finished talking, she patted Amber’s face. “I’m leaving. Don’t worry, and enjoy your days. I’ll make sure that your idol’s happy too.”

Maybe it was because Amber had confessed that Calvin was her idol too quickly, but every time Trysta brought up that subject, it was through some kind of banter. And now, she was even publicly helping her friend steal Amber’s idol away. Amber couldn’t help but rub her forehead at Trysta’s antics.

After being misunderstood by Calvin, Amber originally thought that she would feel quite uneasy, that she’d be falling all over herself trying to prove her innocence. In reality, she was more concerned about Elly’s father sudden departure.

After Trysta and the others left, she talked to the police herself and finally obtained his contact information. But when she called his number, no one picked up.

For lack of a better option, Amber temporarily gave up on pursuing Elly’s father and went to deal with other matters. As she walked off, she coincidentally passed by Elly’s ward, and noticed that Elly had woken up.

The room was still dark, its only light source being the moonlight shining through the half-drawn windows. Elly sat at the foot of the bed, and was clutching a pen in her hand as she drew something that Amber couldn’t see.

After thinking about it for a moment, Amber went to her office to retrieve the other sketchbook and a set of crayons. Once she got within five paces of the bed, Elly stopped drawing and her whole body grew taut just like last time, even though she wasn’t looking at Amber.

Amber didn’t go any closer. She directly satdown on the floor, and started seriously sketching in the sketchbook.

This time, she colored her drawings in. The drawing was once again of a somewhat deformed little bunny, but Amber tried her best to use the colors to make her bunny warmer to the eye.

After finishing, she left the sketchbook and the crayons in their original position, and then silently walked out.

Throughout the whole process, Amber had never once looked her in the eye. But Amber didn’t mind; when approaching someone who had been hurt and hurt again, patience was the only path.

***

After returning to her office, Amber took out her phone and found that Calvin had sent her a single message.

“Congratulations.”

From the timestamp, it didn’t seem like it had been sent that long ago. During that time, she should have been accompanying Elly.

After thinking for a moment, Amber replied back, “Congratulations for what?”

This time, she waited a long while, but didn’t receive a response. As she was waiting, the police officer in charge of Elly’s case coincidentally called her. Amber told him about the results of her own investigation through the phone, and the officer appeared to be quite shocked at her findings, saying, “We didn’t know about this. Please give me a moment, and I’ll go to you right away.”

When Amber saw the importance that the police placed on this information, she felt like she could finally breathe. Perhaps the final outcome still wouldn’t be what she desired, but she fervently hoped that the people responsible for this would have to at least pay a portion of the deserved price.

As such, once the policeman arrived, Amber told him about her own experiences in the little town in detail, and also gave him the video footage that Mr. Stanley had given her.

Despite disagreeing with Mr. Stanley’s attitude of protecting himself first, she had none the less promised to keep him anonymous. So, she could only say that the footage had come from a stranger’s number. As to whom that number belonged to, honestly, Amber wasn’t sure if the police could track it.

As soon as the police took the footage away, this matter was out of her hands.

After the police left, Amber felt a strange unease creep over her. Lowering her head, she found that there was a string of missed calls from Trysta, as well as Calvin’s unread reply. “Congratulations on finding your true love.”

Amber abruptly changed the topic, and immediately replied back, “Are you still at the hospital?”

This time, Calvin responded quickly. “Yes.”

“Has Mrs. Kenric finished her checkup?”

“Yup.”

Amber looked at the clock; it was already time to leave work. “Let me treat the two of you to a meal.”

Calvin asked, “Are you still at the hospital?”

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“Give me ten minutes, then?”

Amber agreed, and then decided on a place to meet. She packed up and started walking down the building’s stairs. At this time of the day, there were quite a large number of patients taking the elevator, so Amber instead took the stairs down. As she walked, she tried to call Trysta, but her phone was busy the entire time.

***

In front of the psychiatry building was an expansive carpark. As Amber walked to the entrance, she raised her head and found a black car parked on the opposite side. The car pulled up by her, and Calvin walked out.

Trysta’s call finally connected at this time, and the first thing Amber heard was her grumbling, “I kept calling you but you didn’t respond. Are you off work yet? Come over and eat … that heartless Calvin said that he would treat us, but just as we finished ordering, he ran off again … hey, hey!”

Before Calvin could spot her, Amber retreated into the building once again, and then hid in an alcove as she sighed, “I got it.”

Trysta seemed displeased. “What did you get?”

“Nothing.” Amber smiled. “I don’t have time to go over, so enjoy your meal.”

Trysta got even more upset at those words. “Gosh, you too? Even after I visited you at the hospital today?”

“I’ll treat you next time.” She saw Calvin briskly walk into the building, stop by the side of the elevator, and then quietly wait in a noticeable spot.

Amber also stood where she was, watching him silently. Time passed by quickly; after their most recent reunion, she constantly felt like he had changed greatly.