Vanessa put down her phone, closed the curtains, and walked towards Theodore with a smiling face, “Theodore, come sit here.” Theodore sat down on the pink sofa, his long legs feeling a bit restless, “Didn’t you say you weren’t feeling well?”
“If I hadn’t said that, would you have come?” Vanessa half-playfully, half-complainingly glanced at him, then knelt on the carpet next to the coffee table. Theodore pursed his lips slightly but remained silent. Vanessa reached out her hand towards him, with a flirtatious and lively tone, “Can I borrow your lighter?”
Theodore took out his lighter and handed it to her. Vanessa leaned over to take it, and her fingers lightly brushed against his fingertips. Her arm felt a little numb, as if an electric current had passed through it. She quickly withdrew her hand, lighting the candles on the cake while saying, “Theodore, do you remember what today is?”
Theodore looked at the cake on the coffee table, somewhat absent-mindedly, “Your birthday?”
Vanessa playfully pouted, “We’ve known each other for more than a decade, and you can’t even remember my birthday. It really makes me sad.”
Theodore licked his lips. Indeed, he did not remember. It seemed that every time Vanessa had her birthday, he only found out on the day and hastily prepared a gift. Vanessa had had many fights with him over this, feeling that he didn’t care about her and couldn’t even remember her birthday. But he remembered Phoebe’s birthday.
Vanessa felt a little sad and disappointed in her heart, but she had gone through so much trouble to bring him here, so she wouldn’t argue with him like before.
“It’s not my birthday, it’s our 12th anniversary of knowing each other. You should remember that,” Vanessa lit the candles.
The flickering candlelight reflected on her face, making her look particularly lonely. Theodore really didn’t remember; some things are easy to forget if you don’t think about them. But seeing how much Vanessa cared, he said, “I remember.” Vanessa didn’t expose him either, to avoid getting angry. “I’ll turn off the lights.”
The lights dimmed, leaving only the candles on the coffee table flickering. Vanessa knelt on the carpet, resting her chin on her hands, looking up at Theodore.
“Theodore, you know what? I still remember that day when my parents and I moved into the government compound. You poked your head out from upstairs and looked at me. You asked if I was Mia, and I said yes.”
You smiled at me, and I still remember your smile, so happy and surprised, as if my happiness was the most important thing to you. My arrival is something you’ve been longing for,” Theodore lowered his eyebrows, not knowing what he was thinking.
“Mia,” Vanessa responded, waiting for Theodore’s next words for a long time, but he stayed silent. She kneeled and sat beside him. She pressed her face against the back of his hand. “Theodore, I am Mia. I have come back, and I will never leave you again.”
Phoebe was dreaming. In her dream, she had returned to the countryside filled with the scent of earth and grass. Her floral dress was covered in dirt. It happened when she tumbled down the hill with a little boy on her back, yet she didn’t mind because she had carried the little boy to the roadside.
She ran to the town, and her mother was searching for her everywhere. When she saw her return, her mother grabbed her braided hair and scolded, “Where have you gone crazy? The last bus to the city is about to leave. Hurry and get on with me.”