Chapter 19: Apology 1

We bathed together and nothing too deep happened then Ann went to cook. She made Chinese dishes: dumplings and hot pot. When she brought them to me in the room, I cleared the plate and asked for more. I rarely let her cook, and when she did, I treasured it besides, the food was delicious. I don’t even know who taught her Chinese cuisine.

When we finished, she took the plates to the kitchen, washed them, did our laundry, and cleaned the house. She was in such a good mood she even sang while she worked. After the chores, she came back to the room, and I gave her a full-body massage. During the massage, she fell asleep.

The next morning, we woke up, did our routine, and went to school. As we were about to enter class, we saw Ann’s roommate standing by the door, clearly waiting for someone. She approached us immediately.

Roommate: “Hey, Ann. Hey.” She waved at me.

Ann: “Hey.” She smiled.

Roommate: “Can I have two minutes of your time? I promise I won’t be long.”

Ann: “Yeah, that’s fine. What’s up?”

Me: (Whispering in Ann’s ear) “Babe, I’ll excuse myself. I won’t be far. Wait for me here and try not to get physical.”

Ann: “I won’t.”

Roommate: “You two are such a lovely couple.”

Ann: “Yeah, we are.”

Roommate: “I saw the trending story… I mean, the one the blogger posted later.”

Ann: “Yeah. I’m glad she clarified. At least I won’t be seen as some sadist in a life or death relationship, and my man won’t be labeled a gold digger.”

Roommate: “I have a confession. Promise you won’t get mad?”

Ann: “Well, it depends. But I’ll try to keep my cool.”

Roommate: “The thing is… I was the one who sent the first story to the blogger.”

Ann: “What? How could you? You weren’t even in school. You don’t even know him. Do you hate me that much? What did I do wrong?”

Roommate: “I can explain.”

Ann: “I hope your explanation is good enough.”

Roommate: “You know I’ve been away since school resumed. I went to Country H to see my mom I hadn’t seen her in a long time, so I didn’t want to leave early. Anyway… How about we sit down instead of standing here?”

We sat on the stairs leading to my classroom, and she continued.

Roommate: “Even though I was away, I kept an eye on the school group chat in case of important updates. Then I saw the news about you and your guy being in a relationship. You know he’s a lot of girls’ crush plus he aces every exam, so his name’s always on the school forum.”

Ann: “Wait, he is? I never noticed that.”

Roommate: “Really? Wow.”

Ann: “Okay, so what happened next?”

Roommate: “I was excited for you. I even posted about it on my status. That’s how my friend Nancy saw it and replied. She liked the post first, then told me she used to be his girlfriend that he dumped her when she moved abroad to study and her family relocated. She said she’d been trying to reach him, but he blocked her and changed his number. Now that she’s back, he doesn’t care about her and told her she’s not worthy of him. You know how much ego women have… Having someone you love shame you like that is a huge blow.”