I declined Charles's invitation to have a meal together and planned to go to the balcony to get some fresh air.
I heard Charles's voice as soon as I arrived at the door, sounding relaxed.
"Finally, I don't have to have meals with Norah today. You have no idea how gross I fell when facing that face every day."
"Mr. Graham, then how about having meals with me? You don't like it either?"
"No way. She has nothing to compare with you!"
After saying that, he wiped off the rice from the corner of her mouth.
"You are my friend."
So it turned out he felt impatient when having meals with me.
"Norah, there are still some matters at the company today. I'll come back a bit late. You can eat first."
At eight o'clock in the evening, Charles called me.
"Norah, have you eaten dinner?"
"Yeah."
"Go to sleep first tonight. You don't have to wait for me. There's something going on at the company."
Just as I was about to agree, I heard a woman's voice from the other end.
"Charles."
It was the voice from the balcony that day.
He explained anxiously, "Norah, don't misunderstand. That's my assistant."
I made a sound of agreement and hung up the phone.
Maybe afraid that I would misunderstand, he came back in less than an hour and brought me my favorite cake.
He shared the little things with me every day, but later I found out that he would send them to Annie first and then forward them to me.
Including replying our messages, Annie was always before me.
When encountering an interesting video, he and I ended the topic early.
But he could chat with her for a long time.
Today was our wedding anniversary. He finished work early and booked a restaurant.
"Norah, happy anniversary."
He took a necklace from his bag and put it on me.
It was one that I particularly liked recently.
I smiled and said, "You too, happy anniversary."
After dinner, he took me to see a fireworks show.
Our names were shown with the fireworks display. There was also a big heart behind them.
The next day, I brought the necklace to the company.
I used to really like this necklace.
But I ran into Annie at the corner.
I walked up to her and glanced coldly at the necklace around her neck.
It was exactly the same as the one Charles gave me.
"Miss Cook, did you buy this necklace yourself?"
"A friend bought it for me."
She raised her hand and touched the necklace, looking proud.
"Oh, how come this necklace is exactly the same as yours?"
I just smiled and took off the necklace around my neck, throwing it into the trash can.
"This necklace is nearly 800 thousand dollars. It seems that Miss Cook has some money!"
She looked pale and forced a smile.
"It should be an imitation, right?"
I sneered and left.
After work, Charles said he would cook dinner tonight to celebrate my success in winning the big project.
I went to the supermarket with him, and he bought a lot of vegetables I loved to eat.
"Congratulations, Norah. The company has made another breakthrough."
After the toast, he paused and spoke again.
"Norah, I heard about the company's situation this morning. You used to like that necklace. Why did you throw it in the trash can?"
"Nothing, I just suddenly don't like it anymore."
"You need to change your temper."
He shook his head and thought I was a bit willful.
"Next time, if you don't like it, don't say misleading things.
Today, Annie cried. How will her colleagues at the company see her in the future?"
The smile on my face disappeared, and I looked at him steadily. It turned out that he was standing up for Annie.
"I didn't name the price, did I? Or is her friend that rich?
I just said the truth. Why do I have to care how others see her? What does it have to do with me?"
"Norah, can you stop being willful?"
He almost shouted, as if he had been tolerating me for a long time.
I lost my appetite, dropped my chopsticks, and went back to the bedroom.
After a while, Charles came over to apologize to me.
"Norah, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to be mean to you."
"Hit me to vent your anger if you like."
As he said that, he grabbed my hand and hit himself on the face.
