Chapter 201 - Sincerity
Chapter 201 – Sincerity
Because the air was getting colder and snow had started to fall, Linda and Paul decided to stay at Anne's apartment until the afternoon. They decided to stay at Anne's apartment, because public transportations had stopped operating due to the extreme weather changes. Anne actually allowed Linda to take her car back to the apartment but Linda refused. She insisted on staying at the apartment because she was worried about Anne's condition. Especially now that she was having her period, even if she went back to her apartment, she couldn't make love to Paul.
Slap!
Anne punched Linda's shoulder. "Watch your mouth, Linda," said Anne annoyed, she really didn't expect Linda to be that vulgar.
"Why is that? I'm serious Anne. I'm on my period, so even if I go back to my apartment, it's useless because Paul and I can't do our favorite sport," said Linda quietly without guilt.
Seeing Linda's behavior, Anne could only shook her head slowly. Linda went into the bathroom after asking for a sanitary pad to Anne. Anne, who had just come down to the first floor, smiled when she saw Paul had made a bed for himself under the window. Tonight, Linda would sleep with her on the second floor and Paul would sleep on the first floor.
"Is everything enough, Paul?" Anne asked quietly to Paul who had just made his bed. Luckily, Anne had a spare floor mattress which she kept well in the closet.
Paul, who was focusing on tidying the floor mattress, immediately raised his face and smiled at Anne. "This is more than enough, Miss, back then when I was living off the street, I would curl up under the sewer during winter."
"The sewer? Are people actually live in such a place?" asked Anne in disbelief. She thought that humans who lived in sewers only existed in movies.
"There are, Miss, for us homeless, the sewers are the best homes. We can sleep and rest from the sun and the cold snow there, but we'll be driven out of that place when the rainy season comes, because usually the sewers will be full of water, Miss," Paul answered quietly, remembering the dark days that had ended three months ago when he worked for Anne at the flower shop.
Hearing Paul's words made Anne truly grateful for her life. Even though she was very poor and often changed places when she lived in Germany, she didn't end up living in a sewer. Anne held her chest subconsciously. She was grateful in her heart and thanked God for all the blessings she had received so far.
Seeing Anne silent made Paul also speechless. He felt bad talking to Anne like that. "Are you sorry you hired me, Miss?" Paul asked Anne carefully.
Anne waved her hand quickly, "No, of course not. What are you talking about? What matters to me is that you are honest and willing to work hard, Paul. Working in a flower shop takes effort and patience too, so I hope you can put up with that. And the most important thing for me is that you don't hurt Linda, she's my only good friend, Paul. Even though she can be annoying sometimes, but believe me Linda is a good girl, so I hope you never let her down. Because if you hurt Linda, you're hurting me," answered Anne quickly.
"I understand, Miss, I can't hurt Linda. That's why I save two-thirds of the salary you give me in the bank and I plan to use it to buy an apartment when Linda and I get married," Paul said shyly.
"Married…"
"Wooo wooo wooo who wants to get married? What are you guys discussing? It sounds so serious to talk about marriage like that, who really wants to marry?" asked Linda who had just come out of the bathroom after changing her pads, cutting Anne's words quickly.
Anne and Paul fell silent for a moment when Linda joined in, "Who's talking about marriage? You heard me wrong, Linda, it's clear we're discussing Paul's bed. I asked him if his bed was comfortable or not, not about Paul's marriage. What are you thinking about, Linda? Get rid of that dirty thoughts from your mind, Linda," Anne quickly answered Linda's question by shifting the discussion to another topic.
"Obviously I heard you guys discussing marriage, why am I the one to blame? After all, what does marriage have to do with being a pervert? Aren't those two things irrelevant, Anne?" Linda asked in confusion. She felt like an idiot at the moment.
Hearing Linda's words, Anne immediately gave the code to Paul with a wink. Paul, who could read the code from Anne, immediately acted quickly. "Yes, Linda, no one is discussing about marriage. Miss Anne and I were actually discussing this bed of mine. She can't believe that I've lived in sewers, Linda," Paul answered quietly, trying to calm Linda. Whenever he talked about his past, Linda would definitely melt and not say much.
And sure enough, after hearing Paul's words, Linda's face changed instantly. She looked very sad when Paul mentioned about his past, because Linda had been told everything by Paul about his life for almost ten years living on the streets after running away from criminals who would sell his internal organs on the black market.
"Don't fire Paul, if you dare to fire him, I will be angry with you, Anne," said Linda curtly, glaring at Anne.
"Fire? Who wants to fire him, Linda?" Anne asked slowly to Linda who looked very serious.
Instead of answering Anne's question, Linda shed tears. Being reminded of Paul's past made her weak and Linda suddenly burst into tears in front of Anne. Seeing Linda cried made Anne confused. She quickly grabbed Linda and hugged her tightly. Anne knew that Linda was sensitive because she was on her period. The mood swing of a woman who was on her period was really unpredictable. That was why she acted quickly.
"Come on upstairs, let Paul rest. You should rest too, I'm tired too," whispered Anne softly as she hugged Linda.
Linda, who was really sad, could only nod her head as a sign that she agreed to Anne's suggestion to go to sleep. She then invited Linda to go up to the second floor. Anne winked one eye back at Paul, and he gave a small nod in return. He seemed to understand with a hint from Anne. After Anne and Linda went upstairs to the bedroom, Paul turned off the first floor light. He wasn't used to sleeping with the light still on like Linda, which was why they were perfect for each other.
"Drink first, why are you suddenly crying? You crybaby," said Anne quietly as she handed her a bottle of drink to Linda.
Without a word, Linda accepted the bottle that Anne had given her. She drank half of the bottle in seconds as if she had just run a marathon and was very thirsty.
"Thank you, Anne."
"It's okay, let's go to bed. It's getting colder, Linda, I don't want to get sick," replied Anne quickly as she laid down on her soft bed.
Seeing Anne lying down, Linda followed her. She then laid down right next to Anne.
"Anne."
Anne, who had closed her eyes, responded, "What is it, Linda? Do you need something?"
"Thank you for accepting Paul, I'm really so grateful to have met him. And it's all because of you. That's why I want to say a big thank you to Anne." Linda answered quietly while looking at Anne, who had closed her eyes.
Slowly, Anne opened her eyes again. She smiled at Linda, who was right in front of her face. "Don't thank me, thank God. Because believe me all of this happened because of His intervention, now let's go to sleep. I'm tired, Linda, tomorrow morning will definitely be tiring for us. So we better go to bed early," Anne ended her conversation by covering her mouth with her hands because of yawning. She then closed her eyes again.
Seeing Anne closed her eyes again made Linda smile, "You indeed have an extraordinary heart, Anne, I am grateful to be your friend. God will surely repay all of your kindness, I am sure of it." Slowly, Linda's voice was no longer heard. She finally followed Anne to sail into the dreamland.
To be Continued