.
After giving Armandâs reply a glance, Theresa put the phone down and sat on the side of the bed. She didnât let the sadness drag her down for long, as she pulled herself together.
She gathered the things Armand had given her and left the room.
In the living room, Jessica was feeding Joshua powdered milk.
Theresa walked over to them, watching the small beads of sweat on Joshuaâs forehead, as he might be tired from eating all the powdered milk. Watching him suck on a pacifier, Theresa couldnât help but smile, played with his cheeks and said, âYouâre looking more and more like your mother.â
Jessica added, âShe does look like Lola.â
âWell, after all, he is her son.â
Joshua finished eating the powdered milk at that point. Jessica took the milk bottle from him as Theresa held out her arms and said, âLet me take him.â
Jessica obliged her and instructed, âHe just finished eating, so you will need to carry him upright and pat him lightly on the back.â
Theresa followed her instructions as she lightly patted Joshuaâs smooth back.
His whole body smelled like powdered milk, which was quite pleasant to Theresa. She kissed his cheeks, smiled and said, âIâm your godmother, little boy.â
Jessica cleaned the bottle and placed it in the sterilizing machine. Then she stood next to her and glanced at Theresa. Dolores walked over to her and did the same.
âWhat a shame,â Jessica said regretfully.
Theresa could have had her own child, but now?
Dolores tapped her on the shoulder, then walked over to Theresa and touched her sonâs cheeks.
âIâm going back to C-town,â Theresa said.
Dolores was taken aback by her sudden response.
âWeâre not divorced yet, so I donât want to face him right now. After a while, when weâve both calmed down and are ready to get to know each other, Iâll come back.â A while later, she added, âAlso, I will come back to visit you and Joshua.â
Theresa looked at Joshua fondly and said, âHeâs too cute, I canât wait for the day when he starts calling his parents.â
Dolores replied, âHeâll have to wait quite a while before then.
Not until a year and a half would he be able to start talking.
âWell, since youâve already made up your mind, Iâm not going to try to change your mind. Iâll send you when you want me to,â Dolores offered.
Theresa booked the last flight to C-Town. After Dolores sent her off to the airport, it was already close to ten oâclock at night when she returned. Even then, Matthew was still at work, since since Abbott had gone on vacation, he had been very busy and spent much more time at work than before.
However, Dolores had already gotten used to him coming back late.
Earlier that day, Jasmine had also traveled from B-town to the city where Boyce was located by high-speed train.
She did not inform him beforehand because she wanted to surprise him.
Since the last time Jasmine had been angry, Boyce had been sending her a message whenever he was free. Most of the messages were trivial, boring questions, such as âHave you eaten?â, âWhat did you have for lunch?â, âWhat are you doing?â and âAre you busy teaching?â.
Jasmine didnât mind, however, because no matter how boring the messages were, they were enough to keep him company. She knew very well that he wasnât particularly adept at being affectionate, so it was a given that he wouldnât spew affectionate words anywhere he went.
With these little greetings, though they were lame, Jasmine could feel his warmth from the other side of the screen.
She had made it through the interview and was due to go for her internship next week. Therefore, she dreaded being busy after that, so she wanted to meet him before the internship started.
Jasmine looked at the time, it was about an hour to her destination. She started to get excited, as she wondered if Boyce would be surprised to see her or happy.
She smiled as she imagined his reaction.
Delighted, she looked out the window and hoped the time would pass faster so she could get to the place and meet Boyce sooner.
She wanted to see his reaction when a random Jasmine decided to show up at his door.
On her phone screen came a message sent by Boyce that read, [Whatâs up?].
Jasmine saw that it was the same message from yesterday and couldnât help but smile. She replied, [Sleeping].
Sleeping this early?
[Well, not exactly. Iâm thinking about you. I miss you]. replied Jasmine in an instant.
Seeing her message, Boyce started smiling standing in a hallway. He only had time to send her a message after finishing a meeting, and her response revived him in an instant.
Then, he replied, [I miss you, too].
Jasmine blinked and typed: [You want me to come see you, then?]
[There are no more trains scheduled at this time. Besides, itâs dangerous for you to travel alone].
Jasmine smiled: [I guess Iâd better sleep].
[Yes].
Jasmine feared she had misremembered his address and wanted to reconfirm it with him. [Hey, whatâs your address again, can you send it again? Iâll come when I have time].
Without a second thought, Boyce forwarded her address like the straightforward man he was.
Seeing that the address was identical to the one she remembered, she was relieved and replied, [Well, Iâm going to bed now. Good night]. After that, she put her phone in her bag and took a nap.
An hour later, the train stopped at her destination. With her bag, she stepped out of the train and saw that there was a large crowd at the station, mostly people picking up loved ones and cab drivers.
As she exited the station, she saw that it was raining heavily. He flagged down a nearby cab, got in, closed the door and told the driver Boyceâs address.
As soon as he told him, the car took off.
Jasmine glanced out the window again, thinking she was about to meet Boyce. She was both excited and anxious, for she wondered if he would be surprised to see her.
It didnât take long for the cab to reach its destination. When Jasmine went to get her purse, she realized it was nowhere to be found. Panicking, she started to turn her purse over, but to no avail. To make matters worse, her phone was also missing from her purse. It was then that she noticed that there was a small hole in the side of the bag.
Apparently, someone had stolen it.
.
.
.