When There Is Nothing Left But Love

“Do you want a Dad?” I asked her.

Surprisingly, Summer was more sensible than I expected. She shot back, “What about you?”

I smiled lightly. The darkness slowly descended over the city. On the way home, I gave her a bag of freshly baked chocolate buns.

The buns tasted delicious as we savored them, sitting on a stone bench in the yard.

Sometimes, I would dream of a young Macy running towards me with her arms full of mangoes.

We would slice the mangoes up and mix them with sugar. Our entire afternoon would be dedicated to doing only that.

I started sleeping better after Summer had gotten used to living in R Province. In fact, the sun was usually already high in the sky whenever I woke up.

There was a resort next to the R Province lake that was constructed about half a year ago. After finishing work at the restaurant, I headed over to the hotel to start my janitorial job.

The job was relatively easy. I only took up the job because it was near Summer’s school, so it was convenient for me to drop her off and pick her up.

It was late evening when I finished cleaning the hotel and changed into a set of new clothes, preparing to pick Summer up from school.

“Going to pick your daughter up?” Colin asked, leaning against a door frame.

the hotel manager—a tall, broad man in his late thirties with a handsome face. I turned to look at

“I

who interviewed me when I first applied for a job here. Looking confused as he read over my resume, he had

is equal.” I shrugged. “Besides, the salary of a

of the job positions in the hotel had trial periods and promotion periods,

the janitor position was different, and

the two of us together. We eventually became closer after learning that we were both

times when he couldn’t pick his son up from school and would occasionally ask me to pick his

in his car. The drive

were also several senior citizens in the

really bright today, so why don’t you sit down over

laughed. “I’ll be fine! Five minutes isn’t that long.” Perhaps it was the postpartum side effects, but my body was easily prone to becoming sore and tired in recent

an opening for a position with an attractive salary package. The only

can’t go on business trips. Summer gets scared when

forehead and grinned. “There are not many business trips to attend to. Besides, you will receive two paychecks—another one as a receptionist. After all, R

blinked owlishly. The offer did sound tempting. “How much is the

then said, “You’re a graduate of a well-known university. Being a janitor is a waste of your talents. Plus, living costs are going to increase as Summer grows up, and your current salary isn’t going to cut

wrong. The expenses and cost of buying a house after leaving J City had left me with

and interests at her age. I was considering signing her up for an art class just a