CHAPTER 74: CONVERSATION WITH PHOEBE
Winter’s POV
“Uncle Ian!” Elisse cooed upon seeing Ian enter the house.This text is © NôvelDrama/.Org.
Ian then smiled at her and patted her head. “Hello there, Elisse. Are you going to school now?”
“Yes, Uncle!”
“Oh, that’s good. You should behave at school and defeat all your classmates, okay? Make them see how smart you are!”
I laughed. “Coming from someone who used to skip classes in middle school, huh?”
“H-Hey! What skipping classes are you talking about? We both know I’m one of those smart kids before.”
“Oh, come on, Ian. Don’t try to lie to Elisse anymore.”
He sighed. “Fine. But that’s why you shouldn’t be like me. You need to be smart and be better than everyone!”
“That’s right. Don’t be a fool like your Uncle Ian.” I said while looking teasingly at Ian.
The three of us laughed. We didn’t even notice Matthew, who just went downstairs from his room.
“Uh-hum! Elisse, let’s go now. You’ll be late if we don’t hurry up.” he said without even looking at me or Ian.
“Bye, Miss Winter! Bye, Uncle Ian!”
“Bye, Elisse!”
As soon as Elisse and Matthew left, Ian came over to me. “What’s with that guy? It’s so early in the morning and he seems to have a bad mood already.”
“Well, that’s probably because he just saw you.” I laughed.
“As if I came here to see him.”
“Oh, Ian. When will you and Matthew finally hang out with each other? We don’t know, maybe the two of you are really meant for each other. You know how the saying goes, the more you hate, the more you-
“Shut up, Winter Wesley!”
I just shook my head while trying not to laugh.”Fine, fine. By the way, I don’t remember asking you to go here. Why are you here?”
“Well, I just realized that I wouldn’t be able to focus on my work if I let you meet that woman alone. You know, she might do something to you.”
I walked towards him and cupped both of his cheeks. “Oh, you’re worried about me? What a sweet, sweet man you are! Ah, I’m so touched!”
“S-Shut up!” he brushed my hands off him while his ears were turning red.
“Well then, might as well you help me choose what to wear.”
***
“Just stay there, okay? If ever Phoebe slaps me, then let her.” I kept on reminding Ian while we were inside his car, going to the coffee shop where Phoebe works as a waitress.
“Ah, I know that already! I’ll just watch you from my car. Just don’t blame me if that woman suddenly kidnaps you and takes you to a place where you can’t escape.”
I smiled. “You should be a writer with that wild imagination of yours, Ian. Go on and find a good company and apply.”
“Just go there already!”
I even checked myself in his side mirror before finally deciding to step out of his car and directed towards the coffee shop. As soon as I stepped in, I saw Phoebe serving the other customers with a wide smile on her face. I couldn’t help but smile while looking at her.
She became more beautiful since the last time I saw her. She grew taller and her hair looks perfect on her. Those dimples in the corners of her smile added up to her adorable demeanor.
“May I get your order, Ma’am?” she wasn’t looking while asking me that.
“Phoebe.”
That’s when the smile on her face faded. She raised her head up and met my eyes. She obviously got so surprised upon seeing me that she didn’t know whether to smile or give me a different reaction. “W-Winter?”
“Long time no see, Phoebe.”
Since it was still working hours, I had to wait for her to have her break before she finally got to sit on the chair across from mine.
“P-Phoebe, thank you so much for allowing me to talk to you. It’s really been such a long time. You’ve changed a lot. You became more beautiful.”
Her head remained lowered. “Y-You’re right.”
“How are you now, huh? After so many years, a lot of things happened. Are you doing fine now?”
“I’m working part-time as a waitress.”
“Y-Yes, I know. One of your co-workers told me that yesterday.” I smiled. “I just saw you yesterday when you dropped by to say hi to your co-worker. The moment I saw you smile, I already knew it was you. Ah, I still can’t believe I’ll see you again.”
She didn’t respond for a while. I thought she just couldn’t think of any topic to bring up, so I just decided to talk again. “By the way, thanks for this coffee. I am the one who disturbed you, but you’re still the one who treated me coffee.”
“Are you disappointed to see me alive?”
“And also-h-huh?”
Phoebe raised her head and looked directly into my eyes. “It’s been years already, and you’re still the Winter I know. The Winter who always wants everyone’s attention, the Winter who’s so good at pretending to be someone.”
“P-Phoebe, what are you saying?”
“Stop playing the innocent cad now, Winter. We both know you wanted what happened to me back then. Because of all your pretensions and lies, I almost died!”
I looked at her, confusingly. “W-What are you saying, Phoebe? I don’t understand you.”
She stood up, her eyes were full of tears. “That’s alright. You never understood me, anyway. Because you only care about yourself, you only care about getting the attention of everyone!”
“That’s not true, Phoebe! You know how much I cared about you! Especially when you–”
“Shut up! Why did you even show yourself to me? I’m living a peaceful life now, Winter. What else do you want from me?”
“Phoebe…”
“I don’t want to see you again. Please, Winter. Do me a favor and don’t ever show your face to me again.”
Before I could even speak again, Phoebe already left.