The passionate kiss lasted for a long time before he finally released her lips, reluctantly saying, “Looks like I need to be a bit more forceful with you, you little troublemaker.” He swept her up in his arms.
“Don’t, don’t, I can walk myself…”
“Enough, it’s almost 11 PM. If you say it one more time, it will be too late.”
On Monday morning, he had to leave before dawn. Khanyi saw him to the door, and he leaned down to kiss her tenderly before pushing the door open and walking straight to the yard where his car was waiting. The driver had already started the engine, and the headlights were on. She ran back to the second-floor bedroom, standing on the balcony and waving at him. It was still pitch black outside, but she could clearly feel his deep gaze from the passenger seat of the car. She watched the car lights disappear into the darkness…
After sending him off, it was a dreary week. She listened to the radio, flipped through books, wandered around the house and yard. The guards no longer stopped her and even saluted her politely, as if she were the mistress of the house. Every day at 12:15 PM, he would call her on time.
She didn’t have to wait because he was always punctual, and just before hanging up, he would tell her that he would call her again at the same time the next day. Every time at this moment, she couldn’t help but want to smile, but when the call actually ended, her mood would turn melancholic again.
On Thursday noon, Annabel came to visit her. Khanyi had asked the kitchen to prepare a simple lunch and some snacks and fruits for dessert. Now Abigail and the chefs were very polite to her and would try their best to meet her requests.
In this small reception room, there were simple, classical sofas and a tea table, and the air was filled with a sweet, light fragrance of lemongrass mixed with fruit. Khanyi held a thin booklet and said to Annabel , “The book you lent me, I’ve finished reading it. Here, I’ll return it to you.”
“It’s fine, no rush,” Annabel said, taking a bite of a crisp red apple and waving her hand.
“I should return it to you. This is your original manuscript because I’ve copied it once,” Khanyi said with a hint of pride.
“What? You copied a book at home?” Annabel nearly choked on the apple and hurriedly took a sip of tea.
“With nothing to do all day at home, besides reading, there’s really not much else. What about you? You’re busy every day; is there anything I can help you with?” Khanyi kindly lifted the teapot and poured her a shallow half-cup.
“Thanks, but that’s unnecessary. Those are just tedious lab reports…”
“What’s going on in Philip’s lab?” Khanyi asked cautiously. She remembered her time trapped in Dr. Jaxon’s lab. Although she didn’t know what experiments were being conducted on the women and children there, the bloodshed and horror were still fresh in her memory.
“Research on genetics and heredity,” Annabel sipped her fruit tea, tugging at the corner of her mouth, and said lightly. “By the way, what did you study in the U.S.?”
“Music and dance, and a bit of everything else, at a church school…”
“Such elegant arts! Speaking of dancing… the university’s student welfare association has opened a new fitness club. Come join me for a class?”
“Can I go?” Khanyi felt a bit excited; her life had been too dull and boring these days.
“Of course! There’s a class tomorrow afternoon for body exercises.”
“Tomorrow is Friday…” Khanyi instinctively glanced at the calendar on the wall.
“Yes, what about Friday?” Annabel asked, puzzled.
“Nothing, nothing,” Khanyi’s eyes darted to the large clock in the corner, which had just chimed. It was already 12:10 PM, and she couldn’t help but laugh, not even realizing that her mouth had opened like a sweet crescent moon and wouldn’t close again.
Sure enough, five minutes later, the phone rang on time. Khanyi jumped up from the sofa and hurried to the room next door on the second floor to answer the call. His slightly hoarse, magnetic voice came through the receiver. She knew they usually only had a quarter of an hour to talk, and the earlier part of the conversation was always small talk. It was only in the last few minutes that he remembered to mention something important, “By the way, tomorrow, Annabel is taking me to her school; there’s a fitness group there.”
He seemed to pause for a moment, “Baby, go ahead. Let the butler take a call; I’ll arrange a car for you.”
“No need, Annabel is riding her bike here; she’ll pick me up tomorrow at noon…”
This time he firmly refused, “A bike? No, that won’t do. I can’t trust you two. Listen, baby, give the phone to Albert; I’ll talk to him.” His tone was gentle but so compelling that Khanyi had no choice but to call the butler and hand him the phone, then walked back to the small reception room.
“Hehe, sweet phone call?” Annabel teased her, laughing so hard she could hardly catch her breath. Khanyi shyly nodded and sighed.
“What’s wrong?” Annabel stared at her in confusion.
