Free Web NovelChapter 721: Chapter 692: Love in a Parallel Universe [014]
(Additional Update for November Monthly Tickets 8.5/13)
After a while, the waiter brought the food.
The duck leg waffle looked crispy, though a bit oily, it was appetizing at first sight.
Perhaps noticing they hadn’t ordered wine, the waiter asked if they needed any.
Simon Forrester politely said, "No need."
Sienna remembered he drank; that time at The Imperial Hotel, he said he had drunk, so he wouldn’t drive. Today, they came by taxi, so he could have a drink.
Why didn’t he drink today?
Why not drink?
???
Since Simon Forrester rarely spoke during meals, by the time they finished dinner, Sienna hadn’t had a chance to talk to him.
As they were about to leave, he directly called the waiter to pay the bill; she didn’t even have the chance to offer.
She was a bit anxious and felt apologetic, "I promised to treat you to dinner."
He smiled, "Next time, you can treat."
"So now I owe you a meal and a cup of coffee."
"Hmm, you have to treat me twice."
Sienna was overjoyed.
She now had two legitimate excuses to ask him out!
Yay!
.
They took a taxi back to the hotel, and just as they were nearing Hyde Park, Simon Forrester suddenly asked if she wanted to take a walk in the park. freewebnovёl.ƈom
She was filled with melancholy about their impending separation and blushed as she said "Okay."
They got off at the park entrance.
It was almost ten o’clock, and a cold breeze was blowing.
Sienna walked beside Simon Forrester, hunching her shoulders, intending to take off the cashmere scarf she wore as a shawl and wrap it around her neck.
As she was about to do so, he suddenly stopped, turned to look at her.
She stopped too, looking up at him.
He curved his lips and pulled the scarf from her shoulders up to her neck.
"Don’t catch a cold. It’s quite windy."
She shyly lowered her eyes, glancing over the rise and fall of his Adam’s apple, feeling a tickling sensation in her heart.
Hyde Park was large, with sturdy tree shadows on both sides of the path, distant low calls of waterfowl, and the autumn wind howling. In the deep autumn night, it was desolate all around.
Sienna and Simon Forrester walked side by side along the park path.
They walked in silence for a while, then Simon Forrester suddenly said, "I have a morning flight back home. What about you?"
She snapped back, "I might need a few more days."
He nodded, asking again, "Is work going well?"
"Quite well," she smiled, "I have my dad’s friends here, they’ve been helping me."
"That’s good. Finish things early and return home early."
"Okay."
As they walked, they reached the pond.
In the darkness, a few white swans floated on the pond, and Sienna exclaimed with joy, "Swans!"
Simon Forrester looked over, smiling, "Let’s have a look."
The girl held onto the railing of the pond to watch the white swans. Under her thigh-length white coat, her long, straight legs in skinny jeans showed a sliver of slender, fair ankle.
She was watching the swans in the pond, but he was watching the swan in his eyes.
.
They returned to the hotel; it was almost eleven.
Simon Forrester walked her to her room.
"I’m here, thank you for walking me back." She blushed as she looked at him. "Rest early."
"Alright. Go on in."
This time, he didn’t turn around to leave immediately but stood in the hallway with hands in his pockets, watching her.
She turned, her face red, took out her keycard, swiped it to open the door, and looked back again, "I’m going in then. Good night."
"Good night."
At that moment, she told herself to remember his face clearly.
The door closed. She leaned against it, staring at the void above her for a long while, then turned to look through the peephole.
There was no one outside anymore.
...
After Simon Forrester left, Sienna felt like she’d lost her soul, checking her phone for time zone calculations every day, but the call she was expecting never came.
Even after she returned home, Simon Forrester didn’t call her again.
She was in a bad mood, and at this time, her parents pressed her for a blind date.
"I don’t want a blind date! I don’t want a boyfriend right now!" She sat on the bed pouting with her teddy bear, ignoring Quentin Thorne and Melinda Linton.
Melinda advised, "Annie, you’re 26, not young anymore. Even if you find someone now and date for two years, you’ll be 28. Mom had you at 18."
"You’re saying it too!" Sienna looked at Quentin Thorne angrily, "Dad, as a High Court Chief, you actually had a child out of wedlock!"
Quentin Thorne laughed heartily, "What out of wedlock? Your mom and I have a marriage certificate."
"In 1990, the legal age for marriage for women was 20. You must have had me and then got the paperwork done!"
Realizing his daughter was changing the subject, Quentin Thorne brought it back, "This boy is the son of Dad’s old classmate, very well-behaved, a police officer at the West District Police Department. His father is a prosecutor, a good match for our family."
"I don’t like police officers!"
Right now, her mind was all on Simon Forrester, how could she like a police officer? Even if his father was the president, she wouldn’t be swayed.
Quentin Thorne and Melinda Linton exchanged glances, taking a step back, "Annie, how about this, just have a meal with the boy, if you really don’t like him, Dad will turn it down, okay?"
"No meal!"
Quentin Thorne was at a loss, Melinda Linton stepped in, "Annie, your dad has already promised his friend, if we go back on our word now, how can your dad face his friend? Be good and just have one meal."
This comment struck Sienna’s heart.
Her father, being a prestigious High Court Chief, would look bad if he went back on his word over such a small matter with a friend.
Her attitude softened, "Just one meal? If I say no after, you guys have to refuse immediately!"
"If you kids aren’t a match, there’s nothing parents can do. That way, I can explain to Mr. Sutton."
Sienna compromised, "Alright then."
...
On Friday evening, after work, Sienna took a taxi straight to The Imperial Hotel.
Yes, tonight she was having dinner with the blind date her father set up at The Imperial Hotel.
This hotel brought back her sorrowful memories; she remembered meeting Simon Forrester here last time.
It had been half a month since Simon Forrester last contacted her.
Lowering her head dispiritedly, she took the elevator to the restaurant, telling the waiter she was looking for Mr. Sutton. The waiter promptly led her to a window seat.
The other person hadn’t arrived yet.
She sat at the seat facing away from the door, staring blankly at the night view outside the window.
What might he be doing now?
Is he busy?
Otherwise, why hasn’t he contacted in half a month?
If it wasn’t for seeing his photos at a gala on the SY official account a few days ago, Sienna would’ve thought something happened to him.
Alas.
She now began to think that the two encounters in London and the gifts he gave her were merely gestures of goodwill to a fellow country person in a foreign land.
He was inherently kind and gentlemanly, sharing a meal, having coffee, giving small gifts from trips, perhaps to him it was just a matter of etiquette.
If there was genuine interest, how could he not contact her in half a month?
——
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