Love You Can’t Say

“Nothing, Mario. You can find out what you want. There’s no need to ask so many questions. And don’t be taken advantage of like a fool.”

At the end of the day, there were too many people involved in Diana’s death. Nova Pearson was guilty, but if I said this now, how was I any different than she was?

We left early in the morning. The cemetery was far from the city, so I looked at Clarie staring at the gravestone and said, “Clarie, we should go home.”

Clarie nodded and looked at Mario. After a pause, she said, “Goodbye, Uncle.”

I was stunned for a moment, and Mario’s slender body stiffened slightly. “Good-bye!” he said, as if delusional. And his voice was trance.

I led Clarie up the steps of the cemetery. She was small and walked slowly down the steps, so I carried her on my back.

The steps were so long that it seemed like you couldn’t walk to the end. “Clarie, did you like that uncle back there?”

I knew Clarie. She rarely talked to someone she didn’t know without me introducing her, but today she called Mario Uncle.

“I can’t say I like him. I just think he’s different from other uncles.” She said with a good look.

I laughed. After all, they were related by blood, and in any case, there was no way to get rid of it.

“Mom, don’t you like that uncle?” She lay on my shoulder as if she were sleepy.

I thought about it and shook my head. “I don’t like him, and I don’t hate him. It’s just that he owes the people who mean the most to me.”

“Oh, I see…”

There was a long tone. She must have been sleepy.

We left the cemetery and Clarie was asleep on my back. It’s not easy to get a taxi here, so I waited on the side of the road.

The window of the black Jaguar was rolled down as it pulled up to the side of the road to reveal Mario’s cool face.

“I’ll take you home!”

I shook my head and said no. “No, it’s still early. I can take a taxi.”

Nova Pearson turned from the passenger seat and looked at me with a beautiful smile on her face. “Miss Kennedy, it’s not easy to get a taxi here. Just get up and ask Mario to drive you home.”

I pressed my lips together, unwilling to say more to her, and said, “No!”

“You have a child with you. It’s not convenient to take a taxi. Come on!” Mario spoke, his eyes on Clarie.

I scowled and felt vaguely unhappy.

Fortunately, I saw a taxi coming not far away, so I raised my hand and stopped it. Then I looked at them and said lightly, “The car is coming, thank you!”

Clarie was fast asleep when we got in the car, and barely awake when we got back to YT Apartment. I put her back to bed, cleaned up, and picked up my phone to order some food for the house.

There was a couple of missed calls on the screen from Dennis and Alex. I came back late last night. I was supposed to let Alex know I was okay, but I forgot.

It was not the weekend. Alex should still be at work. I texted him to let him know I was okay.

I called Dennis back. The phone was connected, and there was silence on the other end. The man’s voice was deep and reserved, “Busy this morning?”

I put the clothes I had changed in the morning into the washing machine. The mountain road was muddy, and dirt was inevitable.

“I took Clarie out for a walk.” Clarie seemed to wake up and there was movement in the bedroom.

I got up to have a look.

“Any plans for the afternoon?” Dennis said on the other end.

“Maybe we will go for a walk.” Clarie did wake up and sat on the bed playing with the lamp on the bedside table.

When she saw me, she said softly, “Mom, I’m hungry!”

I nodded and said into the phone. “I’m cooking for Clarie. Catch up later.”

“Okay!” He said softly.

I hung up the phone, and before long, the doorbell rang, maybe it was the takeout.

I opened the door and saw Alex carrying a lot of things. When he saw how long it took me to come, he said, “Did you just fall asleep?”

I smiled. “No, aren’t you working today? What are you doing here?”

He carried the bags into the kitchen and sighed, “The fridge is empty. You guys haven’t eaten yet, have you?”

I nodded, and Clarie was already hugging his thigh and screaming that she was hungry.

He handed the dessert to Clarie and said softly, “Clarie, eat some of this, and I’ll make you dinner.”

Then he looked up at me. “Where have you been this morning?”

“We took a trip to the cemetery.” I said, stuffing things in the fridge with him, “We ran into Mario at the cemetery this morning, and Nova Pearson.”

After a pause, I said, “Nova Pearson seems pregnant.”

He stopped and frowned. “Mario’s child?”

I shrugged. “Maybe!” It looked like it.

He looked at Clarie, pressed his lips slightly, and lowered his voice. “Never tell him about Clarie.”

I pressed my lips together. “It’s possible he already knows, since Clarie is kind of like him.”

“So what? Will he take Clarie by force if you don’t say so?” He said angrily. “If it hadn’t been for Nova Pearson, Diana wouldn’t have died. Damn it!”

Clarie was probably hungry and sat quietly eating.

When Alex showed up, I was basically out of the kitchen. A text message from Dennis said, “It’s raining in City P. Is it raining there? Remember to take an umbrella when you go out.”

I smiled, thinking the man was so cute, and replied, “Yeah, I know.”Upstodatee from Novel(D)ra/m/a.O(r)g

“Put on more clothes. I’ll come to see you after a few days.”

“Okay!”

“Did you miss me?”

“Yes!”

“I miss you, too!”

I laughed. Alex cooked and called me. I nodded and texted back, put down my phone and hugged Clarie into the kitchen.

In the afternoon.

Alex said he was going to take Clarie out. I was a little tired, so I just stayed in YT Apartment and rested.

Not long after they were gone, I hardly slept, and when I awoke, I found myself feeling very ill.

Outside, it was foggy and depressing. I really couldn’t be alone. It was easy to get depressed.

After washing, I went out with my umbrella.

Newton Town, misty and rainy, was beautiful, like an ink-stained landscape painting. Passing by the George Group, I saw that it had changed a lot.

The change in four years was impressive enough. The office buildings had been refurbished, new luxury towers had been built around them, and shopping malls had been built around them in what would have been a downtown area.

I stood still for a moment. Coming back here after four years, I was in a different frame of mind.

It was still early, and I was sitting in the square. There were people walking back and forth along the road, some lovers holding hands and laughing, and some old people walking with their hands. Time seemed to go faster.

When Dennis was sitting next to me, I was distracted for a moment. Seeing his smile on his face, I couldn’t help saying, “Aren’t you in City P?”

He smiled and said, “I thought you were still in HL Area, but I didn’t think you were back in Newton Town. Why didn’t you tell me?”