The short distance shortened step by step, finally overcoming all obstacles and standing in front of her.
Pedro Langley lowered his eyes, seeing her lips curl into a light smile, seeing the starlight in her eyes, seeing her liveliness and sincerity, his mouth curved slightly.
All the bad emotions vanished in an instant.
"Didn’t succeed?"
Tucking the stray hair behind her ear, Nora Scott casually asked.
Pedro Langley made a sound of agreent, "Didn’t succeed."
"You’re quite happy about it, aren’t you? Just how clueless are you?" Nora Scott asked with a raised eyebrow, glancing at him sideways, "Why, are your standards that high?"
Pedro Langley’s eyes flickered slightly.
Who knows who raised his standards.
Although thinking so, when he spoke, he said, "The other party wasn’t interested."
"..."
Nora Scott was slightly taken aback, thinking of the woman’s admiring eyes and looking at his serious deanor, she was slightly surprised: How does he maintain such composure while spouting nonsense?
Though she understood, she didn’t expose him, Nora Scott nodded, "Oh, better luck next ti."
"Little girl, your roasted chestnuts!"
From a nearby shop, the owner poked his head out, waving at Nora Scott.
"Hey."
Nora Scott responded, took two steps to the side, and casually took the packaged roasted chestnuts.
She thanked him, the owner waved her off, and gave her a cheerful, friendly smile as he turned away.
Just as she took a step back, Nora Scott handed the roasted chestnuts to Pedro Langley, asking, "Want so? These are hand-roasted, with a craft of twenty or thirty years."
Pedro Langley was taken aback, then chuckled softly, taking the bag, "It would be a waste not to eat them."
Nora Scott shrugged, took out a freshly roasted ear of corn, peeled back the bag to reveal a section, and took a bite.
Sweet and fragrant.
When her eyes lifted, she saw Pedro Langley quietly watching. She lowered her gaze to the corn, saying, "I only bought one... want a piece?"
"Sure."
Pedro Langley nodded.
Nora Scott, who was initially being polite, was montarily taken aback by his straightforwardness, paused, and thought about the tis she freeloaded als at his house. She sighed internally, muttering, "You’re really not picky."
Just as the words left her mouth, she broke the corn into two halves, offering the bag-wrapped half to him.
When Pedro Langley took it, he handed her two peeled chestnuts in return. She accepted them, and the warmth from the chestnuts was comforting, their soft and sweet taste filled her mouth with a cozy warmth.
Seeing her enjoynt, Pedro Langley smiled gently.
Pulling off two corn husks, Nora Scott glanced at him slyly, "Not heading straight back?"
"No." Pedro Langley pulled down the plastic, holding onto a small piece of corn, saying, "Walking."
He took a bite of the corn, the unique roasted fragrance wrapped around it, the outer layer slightly charred but the inside sweet and refreshing, exceptionally delicious.
Nora Scott suggested, "Well, let’s take a walk then?"
"Okay."
Carrying the bag of roasted chestnuts, Pedro Langley walked beside Nora Scott.
There’s a river nearby, the closer they walked, the stronger the river breeze beca, and the cold wind mixed with snowflakes could make soone feel like a popsicle.
Luckily, it was New Year’s Eve tonight, and there were many people coming and going. Everyone joined the ranks of ’popsicles’, driving away the cold with enthusiasm and joy; even with chattering teeth from the cold, they were still excited.
Nora Scott, biting into the corn that had cooled in an instant, spoke slowly, "Hey, that question you asked last night, I thought about it seriously."
Pedro Langley looked at her quizzically, slightly furrowing his brows, responding calmly, "What did you think of?"
Nora Scott paused in her steps, turning sideways, the wind scattered her hair, strands crossing her eyes, obscuring her face and ssing up her features.
She said, "Your question was pretty boring and had no aning from the start."
Pedro Langley squinted his eyes.
"Without you, didn’t I not et anyone else that year either?" Nora Scott asked with a smile.
Turning around, her hair blown behind her like a waterfall, tossing and turning, she squinted at the scene ahead, the crowd, the snowflakes, Long Street, the neon lights... everything was in view, all beca scenery.
Pedro Langley stood slightly behind her, in his mind was the image of her smiling, in his ears were her recent words, and in front of him was her hair flying wildly.
The willful black hair in the wind, just a reach away, it could be touched.
"If it were soone else, maybe better than you, maybe worse, but—" Pausing her words, Nora Scott brushed her hair with her fingers, looked over calmly and freely, "Such a multitude of hypothetical possibilities inherently have no aning, don’t they?"
Gazing at her calmly, Pedro Langley suppressed the turbulent waves in his eyes, asking calmly and composedly, "What about after?"
Seeming to not understand his aning, Nora Scott furrowed her brows in confusion, "What?"
Pedro Langley, looking into her bright eyes, asked word by word, "Have you t anyone since then who made you want to get a tattoo?"
Nora Scott paused, thought carefully, and admitted, "Regrettably, no."
Throughout, Pedro Langley’s expression remained unperturbed, his tone so calm, as if devoid of any emotion, like ordinary chit-chat.
Only he knew, until hearing the words ’no’, the heart that had been hanging high finally settled firmly.
The ground was soil and nutrients, imdiately sprouting roots and growing, stable and calm.
"However," Nora Scott added, her voice light yet direct, "that’s all in the past."
It’s past.
Five years later, they should have already moved on, not being trapped by the past.
She could ignore whether the driver resigned; whether Pedro Langley’s move next door was a coincidence; whether Butler Loxley and Jack Carter’s goodwill was soone else’s idea...
But words needed to be made clear.
Not too outright, but Pedro Langley should understand.
With his gaze covering her, taking in her whole silhouette, Pedro Langley was silent for a while, finally nodding slightly, "Okay."
He understood her aning.
However—
Who said he had to ’understand’ it?
He had all the ti in the world to accompany her slowly.
In the five-year gap, she hadn’t found soone she was satisfied with, and he had even more ti in the future.
Five years, ten years, thirty years...
As long as she was in sight, any length of ti was okay.
And Nora Scott, who received Pedro Langley’s affirmative response, didn’t overthink, felt relief in her heart, and her brows and eyes relaxed.
She turned back, "Are you going back?"
Pedro Langley countered with a question, "What about you?"
"There’s going to be fireworks by the river at midnight, I plan to stay and watch." Bringing the corn to her mouth, Nora Scott took a bite.
Pedro Langley said lightly, "Then let’s do it together."
Nora Scott glanced up at him.
Pedro Langley looked back unhurriedly, saying leisurely, "It’s been a while since we reunited, let’s celebrate the New Year without any fuss."
Nora Scott raised an eyebrow in amazent, "Can that be a reason too?"
"Ca up with it on the fly."
Pedro Langley casually dismissed.
This reason indeed made Nora Scott give it no more thought, she chuckled, nodded, and said, "Alright then, since we’ve t."
Two people celebrating the New Year together, it was bound to be more lively.
After all, in the vast sea of people, she hadn’t t anyone else, but coincidentally, she ran into him—
One could call it a wonderful stroke of fate.
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