Julian couldn’t see the statue she ntioned from where he stood, but he could guess her location. Without waiting to ask for details, he said into the phone, "Stay where you are, I’m coming to find you."
"Okay." Just as Julian was about to hang up, Claire said from the other end, "Don’t hang up until I see you."
Julian sighed, turned around, and headed out the door. "I’m stepping out for a bit, leave the rest to you guys, I’ll be back this afternoon."
"Is Everwood going out on a date?"
"Oh, don’t still think of him as when he first joined the company? He’s not a kid anymore; it’s ti for him to think about marriage."
Julian jogged all the way to where Claire ntioned. From a distance, he saw a girl in a misty blue dress sitting under the statue in the center of the square.
On the phone, she was humming a little tune out of boredom, occasionally whining about why he hadn’t arrived yet.
Julian didn’t speak, silently walking up behind her. "Aren’t you afraid I’d sell you off?"
Hearing his voice, Claire stood up happily, dusting off her pants, raising her sunburned face and saying, "Ms. Yardley!"
Julian looked at her sternly. Her long hair was tied up in a high ponytail, with wisps of hair by her forehead and ears soaked in sweat.
In this kind of weather, you could get heatstroke just by standing still.
"You’re finally here, I was dying from the heat."
"Did you co alone?"
"Yeah."
"You’ve got guts."
Claire giggled, Julian rolled his eyes at her, then started walking towards a dessert shop by the road. Claire picked up her bag and trotted after him, saying, "I wanted to surprise you, but I’ve been circling around here and couldn’t find your company, so I called you."
"How did you know I was here?"
"Shannon told ."
Julian turned his head to glance at her, feeling slightly helpless. Under the sunlight, the diamond hairpin on her head sparkled, and he only now noticed it—it looked just like the one he had given to Shannon Quinn back then.
"Why is this with you?" Julian reached out and took it off.
Claire hurriedly tried to grab it back. "I bought it myself!"
Julian examined it; it was a knockoff, and not even a good one, evident even to an amateur like him.
He thought about it; a high school student like her wouldn’t have money to buy an expensive hairpin.
Her actions, however, made him sowhat uncomfortable. She snatched the hairpin back and pinned it in her hair again.
Julian walked ahead without saying anything further, leading her into the dessert shop. The air conditioning inside was a relief.
"Order whatever you like."
Claire glanced at the nu, asked him, "Are you paying?"
Julian looked at her dismissively, "You have money to treat ?"
She pouted and shook her head. "I’ve been saving forever for this train ticket. I sneaked over here without telling my sister."
"You ca by train?" Julian knew that was a journey of over ten hours.
She smiled cheekily, pointed at a picture on the nu, and said to the server, "I’d like this one." Then she replied to Julian, "Yeah, my back and legs are all sore from sitting for so long."
Julian pressed his lips together, hesitated, and then asked her, "Aren’t you supposed to be in class?"
"I took a day off, and with the weekend, I can just make it back in ti."
"Are you planning to stay overnight here then?"
Claire lifted her head, her big eyes staring at him as if confused by his question. It seed she hadn’t even thought about it.
"I can’t believe you’re so careless. What if I were a bad guy and tricked you? You ca all this way to find by yourself."
"Because I know you’re not a bad guy."
"Bad guys don’t have ’I’m a bad guy’ written on their faces!"
"But I know you definitely aren’t one."
Julian sighed helplessly and said in a teacher’s stern tone, "Don’t let there be a next ti."
She glanced at him and seed unwilling to agree, pretending not to hear, and turned to the server again, "I’d like a cup of this too, thank you."
"Ms. Yardley, do you have to go back to work?"
"What do you think?"
"Can’t you take a day off? I only have today, can you take out for a bit?"
"It’s over thirty degrees outside; where do you plan to go? The hospital?"
It seed she had already thought it through. "Let’s go see a movie then! It’s not hot inside."
Julian remained silent, and Claire, thinking he was unwilling, started acting pitifully. "I traveled so far to co here, spending over thirty hours on a train..."
"Tomorrow. I have sothing this afternoon."
"But I have to leave tomorrow, or I won’t make it back to school."
"I’ll book you a flight for tomorrow night."
Claire was taken aback, then whispered, "I don’t have money."
"Knowing you don’t have money, you still dared to co so far?"
"I traveled thousands of miles to see you, and you’re scolding ."
"Didn’t you co here just for a scolding?"
Claire pouted and muttered quietly, "So an."
After lunch, Julian found a hotel nearby for Claire to stay in.
"You rest at the hotel this afternoon. I’m going back to work. Don’t wander around by yourself. I’ll co find you after work."
Claire nodded, "I want to take a shower, but I don’t have any clothes..."
Julian rembered that there were still so of Sheila’s old clothes at ho and said, "I’ll bring so for you when I get back."
"Is your place nearby? I can co with you!"
"No, stay here!"
Julian thought Claire’s visit was just trouble, but he couldn’t leave her alone.
After a journey of more than ten hours, she must not have rested well. By the ti Julian brought the clothes, she was already asleep on the bed.
Not waking her, he left the clothes by the bedside and returned to work.
Around four in the afternoon, while Julian was in a eting, Claire sent several text ssages consecutively.
It’s fortunate that the girl didn’t know where his company was; otherwise, she would have co straight over.
He quickly replied about his off ti, saying he was in a eting, and only then did she calm down.
"Everwood, want to grab so skewers tonight?"
"Can’t tonight. I have plans."
"What could you possibly have? Your mom and sister aren’t here, and you’d just be ho alone. Co drink with us."
"Who says our Everwood is single? Maybe he’s got a girlfriend. Look at him, when has he ever left work this enthusiastically? He must be going ho to his girlfriend."
"Hey, Everwood, this isn’t fair. If you’re dating, introduce her to us, your buddies."
Julian didn’t bother explaining, going along with their banter. "Get ready for the wedding gifts."
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