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

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

living

a glass of water. “I used to live with another girl, but she moved in with her boyfriend. Now

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

you need to keep the place much tidier.

giggled. “If you move here, it won’t be this messy all the time. I don’t feel like tidying things up when it’s just me here. After all, if everything’s too perfect, it doesn’t

why don’t you just go home?” It wasn’t as if she wasn’t doing well financially. She had no reason to live in

need my freedom as an adult, okay? We

With a shrug, I asked, “How’s your injury?” I couldn’t help but

replied, “It’s nothing serious. I was wearing heels when I fought with

the doorbell rang, and she

can grab lunch together,”

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

what she had to do. “So, what do you want to eat?” she

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

her bedroom and bustled around a bit. Luckily, she didn’t waste

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

nosing around the moment we sat down. “Babe, tell me everything

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

held her chin in her hand and looked as if she were actually thinking about it. “Are you two planning to go