When There Is Nothing Left But Love

It was quite far away, in a neighborhood near the north. Once I got off the car, I called Nora.

The phone rang for quite a while before she picked up. “Babe! Are you here?”

“I’m right downstairs.”

“Okay, give me a second.”

Five minutes later, I saw her limping down the stairs. She seemed rather unkempt in just her pyjamas with her hair simply tied in a messy bun.

She opened the door, and her face broke into a wide grin at the sight of the chrysanthemums in my hands. As she reached out to take them, she asked, “How did you know I liked chrysanthemums?”

What?

I had no idea. If it wasn’t for Armond, I wouldn’t even have thought of it.

At the sight of her happy smile, I couldn’t help but admit, “Armond asked me to buy them. I thought they would be a bit of a bad omen at first, but I saw these pretty pink ones at a flower shop on my way here and bought them.”

She chuckled. “I guess Mr. Murphy is still on his toes when it comes to this stuff. I only mentioned it once, and yet, he remembered. Looks like I might be likely to be marrying Mr. Bachelor in the future, huh?”

After that, she invited me in, and I followed her upstairs. Her house was incredibly messy, which left me a bit speechless. “Quick question – how do you live in a mess like this?”

She stuck the flowers into a random vase and gathered large bunches of messy clothes off the sofa and onto the bed. “I can’t sleep if it’s too tidy.”

struck speechless once

around the house. It wasn’t very big – it was maybe eight hundred square feet with two bedrooms, a

you living

poured me a glass of water. “I used to live with another girl, but

with narrowed eyes. “Why don’t you move in with me so we can split the

a nod. “But you need to keep the place much tidier. I might go insane if it’s this messy all the

messy all the time. I don’t feel like tidying things up when

go home?” It wasn’t as if she wasn’t doing well financially. She

and said, “I need my freedom as an adult,

my mind around her logic at all. With a shrug, I asked, “How’s your injury?” I couldn’t help but look at her leg after noticing her

when I fought with Tessa, so I sprained my ankle. Anyway,

moment she asked that, the doorbell rang, and

up, think of something so we can grab lunch together,” she pestered as she

She seemed completely used to the state of the place and said, “Ms. Oberick, I’m here to help

had to do. “So, what do you want to

with something random. “What about fish? I’ve been craving

didn’t waste too much time,

a mall near her place, so we found a restaurant that served fish and chips and

sat down.

“We were just another arranged marriage. Mr. Bauman was the one behind our relationship, so there’s not much to

if she were actually thinking about it. “Are you two planning to go back