Sweet to the heart

Chapter17

Robin was stunned. After confirming, he hadn’t misunderstood Frank, he took off his mask, draped his arm around Frank's shoulder, and said, "Sean, this is your wife we’re talking about. She took the initiative to add me on Twitter and asked for my help. It wouldn’t look good if I refused. Even if I have to say no, you’ve got to give me a reason. Otherwise, it’ll be really awkward when I see her at your place in the future."

"No reason necessary. Just do as I say."

Robin noticed Frank’s gloomy expression and guessed that he was probably mad at Emily. A playful smile tugged at his lips. "Could it be that she asked me for help instead of you, and you’re jealous?"

Frank pursed his lips without saying a word, his gaze idly drifting over the phone screen that had already gone dark.

Robin chuckled, "Come on, man. It’s not that big of a deal. It’s just a little thing that your wife asked me to handle. You’re busy every day, so she probably didn’t want to bother you, which is why she didn’t mention it."

Even as he said these words to comfort Frank, Robin turned his head and posted about the situation as a joke in their group chat, not even bothering to hide it in a smaller group. He brazenly shared it in the main chat where all their friends could see.

Seeing the messages in the group chat, Frank’s face grew darker.

"Robin."

Robin caught the warning in Frank’s gaze and shivered. Holding up his phone, he said, "I’ll send a message right now and decline your wife’s request. I’ll tell her I can’t do the magazine shoot."

Frank stared at him intently. Robin glanced down at the chat with Emily. Though he was used to declining offers, those were usually from people who didn’t matter. But now, since it was Frank’s wife, he was unsure how to turn her down. He frowned and said awkwardly, "Sean, I really don’t know how to say no. Maybe you should do it."

He handed the phone to Frank.

Frank took the phone and, without hesitation, typed out a few words.

[Sorry, I’m really busy and don’t have time.]

After sending Robin the invitation to do the magazine shoot, Emily had been keeping an eye on her phone. She barely ate a few bites of her meal. Since Robin still hadn’t responded, she figured it was probably a no-go.

"Hey, stop staring at your phone. Eat something. If a message comes, you’ll hear it."

Emily leaned back in her chair, holding her phone with both hands, and replied listlessly, "I’ll eat later. I’m not hungry right now."

"Still no reply? Maybe you should send another message to follow up."

Emily pressed her lips together. She had already said everything that needed to be said. The fact that he hadn’t replied clearly indicated he wasn’t interested, didn’t know how to refuse, or was still hesitating. Pushing him too hard now might only make things worse.

Emily started thinking about how she could convince Robin to change his mind if he did end up rejecting her request.

Suddenly, the chat window showed that Robin was typing. Emily instantly sat up straight. Seeing her reaction, Summer knew that Robin was finally responding and put down her chopsticks to join her in looking at the screen.

The two of them leaned in, holding their breath.

Three seconds later, Robin’s message came through.

[Sorry, I’m really busy and don’t have time.]

The cold and indifferent tone felt very familiar to Emily. The curt refusal, devoid of any explanation, and the economy of words were just like her reticent husband, Frank.

If not for the "sister-in-law" at the beginning of the message, she might have suspected it was Frank himself replying.

It’s true what they say: birds of a feather flock together. Frank’s friends were just as aloof as he was.

Summer noticed Emily staring at the message in a daze and, thinking she was upset by Robin’s rejection, waved a hand in front of her face. "Hey, are you okay?"

Emily hummed in response, "I’m fine."

Summer tried to comfort her, "Considering Robin’s status, getting him to do a magazine shoot usually requires booking his schedule at least six months in advance, especially since he’s currently on a break. It’s understandable that he didn’t agree when you brought it up so suddenly. Maybe you should discuss it with him further. After all, he did call her sister-in-law. You’ll probably run into him during the holidays, and he won’t want to be too harsh about it."

Emily responded, "Does this message sound like there’s any room for negotiation?"

Besides the polite "sister-in-law" at the beginning, every word in that brief message was filled with impatience, completely devoid of any warmth.

The more Emily read Robin’s message, the more it reminded her of how Frank spoke. Both of them had a knack for ending conversations in a single sentence.

"So, are you giving up on inviting Robin?"

"Give up?" Emily took a sip of juice through a straw. "No way. With an attitude like that, I’m determined to win him over."

"What’s your plan?"

Emily brushed her hair back and pulled out her phone again, smiling. "I’ll ask Frank for help. Robin might not give me face, but he wouldn’t dare turn Frank down. Besides, I’m sure once I get Frank on board, he’ll know how to get Robin to agree."

Summer was speechless. What happened to the "plastic marriage" where you two supposedly don’t interfere with each other?

Emily clicked on Frank’s profile picture and saw that at 7:23 PM, he had sent her a message asking when she’d be home.

She glanced at the time on her phone.

It was now 7:59 PM, so replying 36 minutes later wasn’t too late, right?

Emily typed out a message, taking about 20 seconds to compose it, and hit send.

[I was just having dinner with friends and didn’t see your message. I’ll be home in about 20 minutes. Are you at home?]

After sending the message, it was like dropping a stone into the sea. No response came back.