Tenant’s Secret Love

Chapter 29: Elopement

In the doubtful eyes of Natalie, I said, “Don't look at me with those doubtful eyes. Haven't you ever criticized Harlan? Between lovers, criticizing each other is beneficial to the healthy development of the relationship. Who here doesn't know that I, Lucas, have excellent character?”

Afterwards, I complained to Renee, “Don't mess around. If you want to insult me, let's go home and talk about it while flirting. These people are all bad friends, so don't go along with them.”

“Lucas, you're really crazy. You've insulted a whole group of people just to protect your own high image!” Robert said.

“I've always been good at this!”

This time, Renee took the initiative to respond, “So I said you had a bad character, and I wasn't wrong, was I?”

“Absolutely right!” Everyone agreed, then smiled knowingly, and they raised their glasses to clink again, and the atmosphere finally became a bit more lively.

I drank the rest of the half-bottle of beer in one gulp, slightly relieved, but in the corner of my eye I looked at Brittany. Since we entered the bar, she has been even more silent than Renee, only occasionally speaking a few words to Robert.

Everyone continued chatting. Although I was sitting next to Renee, I didn't dare to make even the slightest physical contact with her for fear of her turning her back on me. I now just hoped that the party would end peacefully and that I would never want to attend it again in the future, no matter what. At the moment, the pain in my heart was known only to myself. I just wanted to stand behind Brittany and Robert and silently wish them happiness, rather than doing what I was doing now.

Compulsorily joining in with the laughter and anger of the others filled my heart with pain, but I couldn't escape it.

People, wearing a mask that doesn't fit not only hurts the face, but also the heart!

Robben, who was far away, finally finished singing. He took the microphone and looked over at me and said, “Lucas, come up and sing a couple of songs to entertain your friends.”

As soon as Robben finished speaking, Brittany was the first to applaud, followed by Harlan, Robert, and the others, who also applauded and whistled, and the atmosphere in the bar immediately picked up.

I scanned the crowd, nodded to Robben, and then walked towards the stage.

Robben handed me the guitar in his hands, and he took a bass from the band members to collaborate with me. I took a deep breath and asked for “Elope” by Michael Zheng.

“An elope for you... all,” I said, plucking the strings of the guitar, and closing my eyes, some fragmented images came back to mind.

“Dedicate your youth to the glorious city behind you, and for this beautiful dream we pay the price. Leave love to the most sincere girl by my side. You sing with me, you wander with me, and we suffer together. It wasn't until now that I suddenly realized that what I have longed for is true love and freedom. I want to take you and elope, run to the farthest town

I want to take you and elope, to be the happiest person... Elope, elope, elope...”

In a voice that was tearing, I improvised and sang three elopements in a row. My emotions were completely released at that moment. Before Brittany left the country, we were forced to be desperate. We hid from Shanghai to Suzhou, and then tried to elope from Suzhou to Tibet. At that time, we naively thought that with the courage in this song, we could elope to the ends of the earth, and that with a guitar and two people, running all the way would be the happiest thing in the world. We even thought that eloping would allow us to steal away from the real world and live our lives as two people...

The heavy metal music tore through the longing, and all the worldly noise drowned out in this song “Elope”. I have never been so uncontrollable and hysterical, I wanted to tear the world apart, to tear away the falsehood!

The music died down, and the applause started to thunder. I still kept my head tilted, and after a long time, I gave the guitar back to Robben next to me, and walked towards the bathroom without looking back.

In the bathroom mirror, my face was covered in water stains, but I was glad that I had finally fooled the world and successfully concealed the pain and tears of frustration.

Once, she was my faith in this city of desire, but now that faith has collapsed mercilessly, so all the hurt, pain, and longing are suppressed deep down inside, finally becoming too much to bear and mutating within the time of a song, wracking my nerves.

...

Outside the bar, everyone said their goodbyes. The three of us men were a little drunk. Harlan put his arm around Natalie's shoulders and walked towards their car first, while Brittany supported the unsteady Robert. Only Renee and I maintained an imperceptible distance.

Brittany helped Robert into the car. When she thought she was leaving, she turned back and walked towards Renee and me.

She stood in front of Renee and me, but didn't look at me. She said to Renee, “Go back and give him a glass of milk with honey in it. His stomach isn't very good.”

Renee nodded, and Brittany then looked at me, who was a little unsteady on my feet. Then she nodded to Renee, didn't say anything else, and turned and walked towards the car over there.

I stared at her back for a long time, unable to come back to my senses!

“She's already gone...” Renee next to me said to me.

“Oh,” I numbly responded.

“Where do you live? I'll give you a lift home.”

“No, I'll just take a taxi.”

Renee smiled and said, “I promised your ex-girlfriend that I'd help you make a cup of honey milk, and I don't like to go back on my word.”

“Let's go then.”

...

Renee drove, and I sat in the passenger seat, watching the car weave through the city's lights and shadows between the tall buildings. I felt a little dizzy, and I knew the alcohol was starting to kick in.

After a long silence, Renee finally asked me, “You were singing that song to your ex-girlfriend, weren't you?”

“Her...name is Brittany.”

“Why, don't you like people calling her your ex-girlfriend?”

I replied awkwardly, ‘Isn't it better for two people who have already severed their relationship to be called by their names?”

Renee laughed and said, ’I'm afraid you're not as clean as you say you are.”

I didn't respond, staring at Renee for a long time, and suddenly said, “Drive faster, I feel a little sick.”

“Then get out and throw up,”

“Go home and throw up, just drive faster,” I urged again, and my words came out fluently.

Renee slammed on the brakes and the car came to a sudden stop. “Get out and throw up, isn't it hard to hold it in? There's a river over there,”

Although I felt dizzy, I didn't feel like vomiting. The reason I said I was going to vomit was because I didn't want to talk to her about Brittany. However, the inertia caused by the sudden braking almost made me vomit all the alcohol that had built up in my stomach. This woman always seemed to be able to see through my lies and then punish me for them.

I opened the car door and rolled to my feet, then ran towards the river and vomited hysterically.

I was a little weak and lay flat on the ground in a big “C”. I looked up at the twinkling stars and felt dizzy again.

Renee came over to me and handed me a tissue, saying in a reproachful tone, “Let's not drink so much again!”

“If you hadn't... slammed on the brakes like that, I wouldn't have thrown up,” I said, still not quite in my right mind.

“Really? So you were just playing a trick on me?”

I realized that I had blurted out the truth again, so I simply pretended to be dead and lay motionless on the ground.

“Go ahead and pretend, I'm leaving,”

I remembered the night Renee had left me in the middle of nowhere, and grabbed her hand, saying, “Don't go...”

I held Renee's hand tightly, afraid to be left alone in this area where few people or cars passed by.

Renee was a little panicked, struggling while asking me to let go. I held her legs tightly, as if I had found a support, a comfort, and a lost past.

“Lucas, let go of me, you've had too much to drink, don't get drunk,“ Renee's words made me even more nervous. This kind of physical contact was too intimate for us.

“Let me hug you for a while, don't go...” My voice was choking.

“I'm not Brittany, Lucas, wake up!” Renee held me by the shoulders, struggling violently, and finally pushed me to the ground, running away towards her car.

Once again, I was lying on the ground. My world was dark, and the cold autumn wind gradually brought me back to my senses. After lying there for a while, I got up and walked towards Renee's car. Renee, still shaken, firmly refused to let me sit in the passenger seat, and drove me to the back.

The car started up again, taking me towards the lights in the distance as I gradually came to my senses and felt lost.