Shadows of Obsession

Argue

The creaking sound of the train changing tracks and the occasional low coughs and snores in the carriage rose and fell. In this gently trembling journey, they were scattered by the night wind, turning into a silent pantomime.

Ella pushed the window up and used her body to block the wind, looking at the scenery rushing past outside.

She didn’t know how long she had waited before the sun climbed up from behind the distant hillside. On the wild, overgrown land, there stood one electric pole after another, with wires stretched taut like musical staves. Amidst the yellow weeds, a small green tree occasionally appeared, swaying and retreating in the view.

When Lauren woke up, the aisle already had a cart full of snacks. Ella bought two boxes of milk, some chocolate cookies, and potato chips, each of them holding a pile.

Ella left for a while to get a ticket for Lauren. When she returned, Lauren had already opened a box of pineapple crisps and was eating them. Ella leaned in. "How is it, tasty?" She reached out and wiped the crumbs from the corner of Lauren's mouth, making his eyelids twitch. She grinned and said, "How did you get crumbs everywhere?" Lauren blocked her hand, seeming displeased but not truly so, and muttered, "Nonsense." Ella chuckled, tilted her head to look at him, and reached out to wipe his mouth again.

Lauren lowered his eyes, waiting for Ella to clean up. He then tore open a chocolate cookie and handed it to her, "Want one?" Ella's eyes sparkled, and she unconsciously wiped her hand on her clothes before reaching out to take it.

Lauren lowered his head and ate his own, occasionally glancing sideways at Ella. Although he was still quiet, it was more reserved than melancholic.

When the train stopped in another city, the two of them exited the platform. In front of the station, there were various street stalls, offering a dazzling array of goods. The iron barrels for roasting sweet potatoes were mostly rusty but emitted a fragrant aroma. Dozens of taxis lined up, waiting for passengers.

"Want to take a cab?"

Ella heard this and, holding the snacks, looked back at Lauren, "Let's walk and find a place to stay as we go." Various motorcycles spewing black smoke sped up between the gaps in the cars. They found a third-rate hotel. When registering their names, Ella leaned her elbow on the counter and cheerfully said, "We're buddies, brothers, friends, old classmates." Lauren stood about three or four meters away. After a while, he heard the sound of keys jingling and reached out to catch them—Ella had tossed him the room key. Ella remained at the counter.

"I need a map. Which restaurant around here is good? What are the fun places to visit, miss?" When they were younger, Ella would call every woman "miss," charming them completely.

Even now, when he met someone around his age, he would occasionally slip and still use that term.

She inquired for a while, and then the two of them went into the room and washed up briefly. When Lauren came out of the bathroom, he saw Ella going through his wallet and quickly took it back.

Ella glanced at him, "What are you doing? I'm not stealing your stuff."

Lauren kept his head down, clutching the wallet, uncertain of what he was afraid of.

After a while, he opened the wallet in front of Ella as a symbolic gesture, "It's nothing, just cards." Ella watched him fumble through it, then laughed lightly, "It's just a photo." Lauren's expression changed, and he instinctively opened the wallet again. The photo of him and Jennifer was prominently placed in the middle. He came to his senses, "You mean this?" Ella seemed to have forgotten the incident. She jumped onto the bed, tried lying down, then flipped over, sat up, turned on the TV, and started pressing the buttons randomly.

Lauren was left standing there, his thumb unconsciously rubbing the wallet's leather, as if trying to touch something beneath it. After a while, he relaxed, his eyes looking elsewhere.

When it was time to eat, the two of them went out to find a Chinese restaurant. Ella carefully chose a few small dishes and then handed the menu to Lauren, urging him a few times before he finally pointed to the spicy crab.

Ella asked the waiter, "Do you have crab?"

The waiter replied, "Yes."

They waited for a while with hungry stomachs, watching several orders of spicy crab being served to other tables, thinking each time that it was theirs, but it never was.

After half an hour, Ella grew impatient. Every time a server passed by, she would stop them from asking.

Finally, the rice and small dishes arrived, but there was still no sign of the spicy crab.

Ella's face turned dark, muttering, "What kind of service is this? Can't even have a meal in peace." Lauren frowned slightly but didn't show much agreement.

When the server passed by again, Ella grabbed him and asked harshly, "What's going on? If it doesn't come soon, we'll cancel the order. Do you even have crab?" The young man nodded vigorously, "Yes, of course." He was so frightened that he avoided their table from then on.

Lauren drank his tea calmly, as if he didn't mind the wait at all.

After sitting idly for a while longer, the manager came over, bowed politely, and then carefully said, "I'm sorry, we don't have any more spicy crab." Lauren instinctively reached out to hold Ella's hand, but Ella pulled him up instead. She stood up abruptly, like a firecracker going off. "Let's go, Lauren, we're leaving." Lauren remained seated.

The manager wanted to stop her but didn't dare to be forceful, repeatedly trying to persuade, "No, ma'am, please sit down and let's talk this over." Ella tugged at Lauren a few times but couldn't move him. She looked at Lauren, her face filled with anger and frustration. "Can't you see they're being unreasonable? Why are we still eating here? Let's go somewhere else. We're not paying for this." Lauren quietly said, "Sit down first."

Ella seemed like she had never argued with anyone in a restaurant over food before, unable to stir up animosity no matter what, but she did say, "Just order something else." The manager seemed to see a savior and hurried over to Ella's side, listening as she ordered another dish and quickly instructing the kitchen. In no time, the new dish arrived, but Lauren was still standing by the table, eyes wide open.

Ella took a bite of the new dish, glanced at Lauren, and whispered, "Sit down." Lauren looked at her and asked, "What do you mean?"

Ella put down her spoon, paused for a moment, and said calmly, "What do you think? It's just a small matter, not worth making a big scene over." Lauren smiled and replied, "You think I'm noisy, you think I'm embarrassing." She took a breath and continued, "Yes, you have a good temper, you're cultured, you disdain arguing with them even when they're clearly wrong. Have I embarrassed you?" Lauren stared at Ella.

Ella pursed her lips slightly, picked up her chopsticks, and took a few more bites.

Lauren kept staring at her, then laughed, "You're the one with integrity. I'm just a rogue, how can I deserve you? Damn it... I thought you liked to eat..." He paused, then surprisingly sat down and dug into his food without saying another word.

Lauren and Ella almost came to blows over dinner. After paying the bill, they kept their distance. When they arrived at the hotel, Lauren went up the stairs. As he reached the corner, he stopped and looked back at Ella. He saw her sitting on a bench at the hotel entrance, having bought a case of beer from the counter. She was opening one can after another and drinking them. Lauren went down and grabbed her beer. "Stop drinking," Lauren said firmly. He held the case of beer under his arm. When Ella finished one can and reached for another, she realized it was gone. She looked around for a while and finally noticed Ella holding onto her treasure. Angrily, she said, "Let go of that."

As the can emptied, Ella closed her eyes and remained still.

Lauren watched her for a long time, thinking she had fallen asleep. He walked over, tossed the beer can under the bed, wiped away the moisture, and pulled the blanket over Ella. Suddenly, Ella said, "I really don't understand why I used to think you were just being stubborn and hadn't really changed."

Lauren hesitated briefly, then continued to help her pull up the blanket. Ella kept her eyes closed. "Back then, I just woke up, feeling sore all over, and then one thing after another happened, everything was confusing. But when I saw you, my heart settled. I thought you still cared about me. The look in your eyes was just like before."

Ella heard Lauren starting to shake out his own blanket forcefully, trying to prove how calm he was. Ella smiled and said, "I really thought you were just refusing to admit it verbally, but deep down, you missed me as much as I missed you. Every night I came back late, you were sitting on the couch waiting for me... I really thought you f*****g loved me."

Suddenly, Lauren pounded the bed hard and burst into tears, shouting, "What the f**k am I doing!" Ella turned away, hearing the crying, and slowly turned back. Lauren pulled the blanket up over his face, crying loudly. Ella could only hear muffled sobs.

The hotel had poor sound insulation. Downstairs, there were motorcycle horns blaring, and the next room complained, knocking on the wall. In this cramped space, there were all kinds of noises.

Lauren stood there stiffly, feeling everything was blurry. He could only hear Ella's crying. It was like the sound of gently touching rough leaves, amidst all the noise.