Tenant’s Secret Love

Chapter 17: Meeting again after three years

In fact, I didn't sleep much that night. I asked myself, I want to go back to the past, to the days when Brittany still loved me, and we held hands and rejoiced in silence.

But I ultimately live in the present, in the back of her head as she turns and walks away, and then I think of her fiercely, and laugh at her heartlessness!

The night turned into morning, and I didn't know when the sun shone through the gaps in the curtains and entered my room, finally resting on the glass vase with flowers in it, creating a colorful halo, as if to indicate that it was going to be another great morning.

Yes, even if there was no indication from the sun, it was still going to be a great morning, because a new couple was going to get married today. I shouldn't pollute this morning and their wedding with anxious emotions. I told myself that I had to have a sunny attitude.

I took out the most handsome suit from the closet, shaved my beard again, found a hair dryer and gave myself a very energetic hairstyle. I smiled at the mirror and made sure I was very sunny before I was ready to leave the room and go to Harlan and Natalie to give my wedding blessings.

...

It was almost noon when I and a group of guests were waiting outside the hotel for the bridal convoy and also for Brittany, who was accompanying Natalie as a bridesmaid.

The bridal procession was late, and I heard that there was traffic on the road. This was torture for me. At this time, I would rather have seen Brittany earlier. What was hard to bear was precisely this anxious waiting before meeting. Anyway, it was inevitable that we would meet, so I might as well get it over with. Maybe after meeting, we would just tacitly treat each other as strangers. That would be best!

I squeezed my way out of the crowd and sat on the stone bench opposite the hotel. My emotions were even more anxious. This kind of anxiety is hard to describe in words. I always feel that Natalie and Harlan's wedding, which symbolizes a happy ending, is a kind of harsh torture for me.

This kind of torture is not only emotional but also material. Why is it that Harlan and I graduated from the same school and started out from the same starting point? Now he has made a small success of his career and has found happiness with his loved one, while I am so down and out, living alone with no fixed abode and in debt everywhere.

In the midst of my self-interrogation, my heart is filled with unbreathable loneliness and loss. At this moment, I really hope that there is a woman by my side to help me hide away this loneliness and loss, so that I can go bless Harlan and Natalie with a happy smile that at least looks that way.

After smoking a cigarette, I finally took out my phone from my pocket and dialed the number of my female tenant, Renee.

After a moment, Renee answered the phone, and I hurriedly asked, “Have you woken up yet?”

“Why?” Renee sounded a little wary.

I smiled, trying to put her at ease before I said, ‘Actually, I'd like to invite you to dinner...”

“That's not necessary. We're not that close,’ Renee refused without even considering it.

“It is necessary. You lent me money and let me stay here, which was practically a second chance for me. If I don't invite you to dinner, I'll really be the scum you call me!”

Renee was silent for a moment, and I took advantage of the opportunity to say, “Come on, I've already chosen the place. I sincerely hope that you will give me a chance to completely get rid of this despicable title of scum.”

After another moment of silence, Renee asked me, ‘Where is the restaurant?”

“Yaming Hotel.”

“Yaming Hotel? Did I hear you right?’ Renee asked with doubt in her voice.

“Of course you heard me right. Only a five-star hotel can show my sincerity in inviting you to dinner, so...you must come. This meal is worth a week's salary!” I emphasized the words with sincerity and pretended to be ‘pained’ to say so.

“Got it, just give me 20 minutes.“ After a pause, he added, ‘Don't be so extravagant in the future. It's the same anywhere if you sincerely invite me to dinner.”

I didn't expect Renee to consider my financial constraints, and I was stunned before I could reply, ’Got it, I'll wait for you outside the hotel.” After that, Renee and I hung up our phones separately. I finally felt a sigh of relief in my heart. I thought, “If I can trick Renee into coming with me, I won't feel so lonely and down in the dumps later!”

A quarter of an hour passed, and the wedding convoy had not arrived. It looked like they had encountered an unprecedented traffic jam. At this time, I was not as anxious as I had just been, which made me feel that calling Renee was a very wise decision.

After another five minutes, I saw the red Audi Q7. Renee had really kept her promise and come. She parked the car in the open parking lot, and I immediately went to meet her.

We stood next to the fountain in the hotel square. I said, “I was a little worried that you wouldn't show up, but I see you're right on time, exactly 20 minutes.”

“Unlike some people, I don't take not keeping my word for granted,” Renee shot back.

I laughed and said, “You're the someone I'm talking about. You can say that to my face, I won't be mad.”

“You're not mad because you're shameless!”

Renee shot back again.

I laughed again, but didn't say anything else.

Renee looked across at the hotel opposite and asked me, “Can we go eat now?”

“Of course we can, but we'll have to wait a little while, there are still a few people to wait for.”

“Are there other people?”

As soon as Renee finished speaking, the crowd, which had been waiting, started to clamoring. Then eight cars with the word ‘wedding’ on them and decorated with ribbons drove in a line into the courtyard of the hotel. They had finally arrived!

I couldn't help but stare uncontrollably at the bridal car carrying the bride. I knew Brittany was also sitting in that bridal car, and my breathing suddenly became disordered.

Harlan, dressed in a groom's suit, first got out of the bridal car, then went to the other side of the car and helped Natalie open the door. He held her in a princess carry and carried her off the car. This embrace made the crowd applaud and cheer, and the overflowing happiness instantly overwhelmed me.

Amidst the crowd's commotion, I finally saw Brittany get out of the car. She was holding a bouquet of flowers in her hands, wearing a sapphire blue dress. The midday sun shone on her arms, making them glisten. Her face was still so beautiful. Under her willow-leaf eyebrows, her peach-colored eyes seemed to be moving like ripples in water. Among all the women I know, her eyes are the most beautiful.

Brittany handed the flowers in her hand to Natalie, who was being held in Harlan's arms, and then joined the crowd applauding and cheering, without once looking in my direction the whole time. Maybe she didn't care that I was there at the moment either.

I was silent for a long time, took a deep breath, and said to Renee, who was beside herself with confusion, “My friends are here...let's go in and eat.”

Renee's face was cold: ”You came to your friend's wedding, and you didn't really invite me to dinner, did you?”

“I'm very sincere, it's just that there are a lot of people.”

“Scum!” Renee cursed me. She took out the car keys from her handbag and turned to walk towards the car parked not far away.

I couldn't let Renee go. Yes, I tricked her, but this kind of trick didn't hurt her at all. At least she could still have a meal at the wedding banquet. Since she was already here, there was no reason for her to leave.

I raised my hand and pulled Renee back, my tone getting heavier and heavier as I spoke. “Why are you so stubborn? I invited you to a friend's wedding banquet, what's wrong with that? Just eat and drink your fill, it won't make you gain weight!”

Renee slapped me with her bag and said as we walked away, ”I'll stress this again, I don't like people lying to me... From now on, I don't want to have anything to do with you, a liar and scum, so please go back and immediately move out of my house.”

Although I did not expect Renee's reaction to be so drastic, I still raised my hand to stop her from leaving. In the tug of war between the two of us, a figure stood opposite us.

My hand was still holding Renee's arm tightly, and I looked up at the person coming from the opposite direction, my heart pounding violently... Meicai and I were standing opposite Brittany!

Three years later, we finally stood face to face.