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

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

living alone?” I

used to live with another

scrutinized me with narrowed eyes. “Why don’t you move in with me

the place much tidier. I might go insane

time. I don’t feel like tidying things up when it’s just me here. After

as if she wasn’t doing well financially. She had

said, “I need my freedom as an adult, okay?

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

heels when I

that, the doorbell rang, and she

grab lunch together,”

state of the place and said, “Ms. Oberick,

gestured for the woman to do what she had to do. “So, what do

anything in particular, so I went with something random. “What about fish? I’ve been craving

great!” She went into her bedroom and bustled around a bit. Luckily, she didn’t waste too much time, or we would probably have left the house

place, so we found a restaurant that served fish and chips and ordered what we wanted before

moment we sat down.

just another arranged

actually thinking about it. “Are you two planning