When There Is Nothing Left But Love

I pulled a face helplessly. Marcus was always caring and would not make jokes in situations like these. “You would know. I’d forgotten everything.”

“The things in the past are not important,” Marcus said evasively as he blew on a spoonful of soup to cool it down before bringing it close to my lips. “It should be cool enough to drink now.”

When we were having our dinner, my thoughts wandered over to Ashton and Gregory. “You know, even if Ashton was a rich businessman with a lot of duties, he’s a very caring father. He even picked his kid up during working hours.”

Marcus’ eyes flashed; his hands paused momentarily. “What kind of a person do you think Ashton is?”

“It depends on which perspective you’re looking at. As a father, he’s pretty responsible. There were some mistakes on his part, but he undoubtedly always thinks of his child. But as an acquaintance, he has a very odd and unpredictable nature which makes him difficult to interact with. I’m not sure if he behaves like that in front of his child,” I analyzed out loud, hardly conscious that the amount of attention I had paid to him was inappropriate.

“Is that so…” Marcus said blandly but did not offer up his own opinion.

I glanced up distractedly only to realize that his attention had wandered too.

“What’s up with you?” I asked with concern; it was rare for him to lose himself in front of me. “Is everything in the company going well?”

“Everything is fine,” Marcus said with a forced smile as he dropped a piece of salmon on my plate. “Eat up.”

If he didn’t want to elaborate, I wouldn’t think much more about it. I turned my attention back to my meal, but we were both lost in our own thoughts.

the living room, Marcus gave me a

that it was a brand new identification card that had

was the first time seeing my name being written down in print. It felt both strange yet

your new identity and life now. In sickness and in health, it will be yours to control. Do

no greater gift than a formal affirmation of one’s identity. “Thank you, I love it.” I

I saw Marcus off to work,

the door, I saw a BMW parked across the road. Next to it was a man clad in

second, he was headed

“Hello.”

in confusion.

studied my face intently but composed himself a split second later. “I would just like to enquire,” he said politely. “If there are any houses to rent around here.

said. “You could ask the

so I turned around

to you,” he said most courteously as he reached out for the card I handed to

welcome. If we ever become neighbors, we will

“Oh, most definitely.”