No Snow Falls in the North

“Edward, can you hear me? The wind in North City is too strong.”

Through the screen, Claudia George pulled her down jacket tighter around her. She had a slight frown as she breathed out a puff of white air.

I stared at my phone and said softly, “I can hear you.”

“That’s great. My signal here is quite bad.”

She lifted the phone higher and revealed the scene outside her window.

Under the streetlight, the snow was blowing against the window. It left a thick layer of snow on the windowsill.

“Such bad weather. The temperature suddenly dropped like that. I feel so stiff from the cold.”

She rubbed her hands. Her eyes looked tired and apologetic.

“Edward, I’m sorry. You have to deal with the relatives alone the day before our wedding.

“But this project is too important for our future. The client had a very serious data error. I really had to personally come here to address it, otherwise, my bonus for this season would have been taken out.”

Claudia paused and sounded even gentler.

“Don’t worry, though, I’ll pull an all-nighter to complete the data verification and catch the first flight back home tomorrow. I won’t delay the wedding at all.”

I looked at her bloodshot eyes.

She was tired because she had accompanied me to try on tuxes just yesterday.

The shopkeepers had said that I was a lucky man after seeing how well Claudia treated me and how she attended to every detail relating to me.

However, I nodded and forced a habitual smile.

“Got it. You have a sensitive stomach, so don’t drink anything that’s too cold. Make sure you make yourself some hot tea in the flask that you brought.”

Claudia smiled.

“Yes, sir. I know you’re the one who loves me the most.

“Don’t worry, I’ll make you the most handsome groom tomorrow.”

The video call ended.

My phone dimmed, and the screen reflected my tear-stricken face.

I tapped on the weather app and keyed in ‘North City’.

The live weather popped up. [Sunny, 60F, breezy.]

It was a super El Nino year. North City was experiencing its warmest winter in history.

The trees had yet to shed all of their leaves. It was impossible to have a snowstorm there.

After exiting the weather app, I logged into my social media app and scrolled downward.

The new intern at Claudia’s company, Nick Reid, had posted some photos ten minutes ago.

His location indicated Starry Resort, Ocean City.

The caption read, [I mentioned that I wanted to see snow, and she immediately made my wish come true.]

There was a photo of a snowy mountain with people on snowboards. There were also two sets of hot soups.

The very last photo was of a foggy window.

It was snowing heavily behind the glass, and it looked exactly the same as what Claudia had shown me during her video call.

There was a heart shape drawn on the window.

From the reflection, I could see a blurry female figure dressed in a black down jacket.

I switched off my phone and placed it back onto the table.

There were a lot of wedding decorations in the living room. On the couch, there were some wedding favors to be given to the guests tomorrow.

I pondered for a little while before picking up the phone. Then, I called the wedding planner, Hannah Smith.

“Mr. Anderson, it’s so late. Are there still any adjustments to be made for tomorrow’s agenda?”

Hannah sounded a little tired.

“There are some minor changes.”

I sounded very calm.

“Please help me cancel tomorrow’s wedding.”

Hannah was silent for a long time.

“Mr. Anderson, are you kidding? The food for all the guests was prepared, and the venue was just decorated with fresh flowers.”

“I’m not kidding.”

“What’s wrong? Did you have a fight with Claudia? It’s too close to the wedding. Why can’t you hold your temper until after the wedding’s over?”

I looked down at my engagement ring.

“She’s not coming.”

Hannah paused.

“But you’ll lose a lot of money…”

“I don’t want the deposit back. You can still charge me the termination fee. Please take the decorations down.”

After a while, Claudia sent me a text message.

[Edward, the data issue is more complicated than expected. Most likely, I’ll have to work until four in the morning.]

[If I don’t get home on time, you should just head to the hotel first. Don’t wait for me. Love you.]

I stared at the text message for a very long time before finally replying.

[Alright, take care.]

Maybe I did not have to wait for her anymore.