“On purpose?” Justin was baffled. “Why?”
Right when Rachel was going to answer, lightning flashed outside, which was followed. by a rumbling thunder before they heard the pitter-pattering of the rain. Is it raining?” She turned to look at the balcony and closed the windows in great haste.
It seldom poured in Riverdale during winter, let alone spring. It had stable weather-after a few heavy pours, there would be a significant increase in temperature before the people welcomed summer.
With the windows closed and the moisture in the air outside, it suddenly struck her that it had been a year since she returned to Riverdale. It felt like everything had happened in the blink of an eye.
Justin was done with the dishwashing as he pressed the button of the disinfectant cabinet and wiped his hands before leaving the kitchen. “I’ve cleaned up everything. You should go to: bed early.”
“Are you leaving already?” She turned around and pointed outside. ‘It’s raining, though.”
“It’s alright. It won’t take too long to get home by car. He took his jacket from the couch, after which he walked toward the door while reminding her, “Close the windows and doors tightly and don’t forget to lock the door once I’m gone. Be careful when you’re home alone.”
“Wait!” Rachel rushed to him to stop him. “Why don’t you leave after the rain stops?”
Justin was taken aback, for there was obviously no sign of the rain stopping at any moment. Even the forecast reported that it would pour the whole night.
However, she could not let him stay alone in the living room. So, she turned on the television to watch the movie they could not finish together previously. “Is this the movie that we couldn’t finish?”
The lights in the living room were dim whereas the movie was playing on the projector screen. In the movie, the sunlight streamed through the air and reflected into colorful rays upon the pasture, in which the couple, who had grown up together, was scampering amidst the levitating bubbles.
Literary films never failed to be soporific, it was the opening Rachel had watched multiple times and one of the main reasons she failed to finish the whole movie every single time. It was because she would start yawning when they were halfway through it.
Needless to say, this time was no exception. As he stared at the sleeping woman who was curled up at the corner of the couch, Justin’s gaze softened and he pulled the quail to cover her exposed calves. He could not thank the rain. more than ever right now.
At the same time, the scorching sun was hanging high up in the sky in Tahiti, which was a million miles away from them.
Beneath the parasols were four figures wearing sunglasses and laying on the recliners by the beach, enjoying their holidays while sipping on fruit juices. The two adults and children were in sync as they took a sip of their drinks before fanning themselves.
Gloria turned to look at the kid beside her. “Charlotte, what do you think your parents are doing at home these two days?”
In a polka dot swimdress, Charlotte had her. legs crossed in a languid manner. “Watching movies, shopping and going out for a drive.”
“That’s so lame. Even couples in college do that, so what’s the point of it? Can’t he bring his A-game?”
Charlotte pulled down her red-framed sunglasses to reveal her sparkling eyes. “Dad’s A-game is being rich.”
“Tell me, how much does it even take to do those things together?”
“He needs to rent the whole cinema for a movie date, buy bags for her and drive a sports car when going out for a drive-
“Why are you being so materialistic at such a young age? Who taught you these?” The more Gloria listened to Charlotte, the more ridiculous she thought it was. After thinking about it, she guessed, “Is it Jolly?”
Jolly was the only one who favored this kind of stuff. Charlotte did not have a conception of money at the beginning, but she now knew that money made the world go round after spending some time with Jolly.
“Aunt Gloria, you said Daddy must bring his A- game, but what else does he have other than that? Charlotte began to enumerate the list with her fingers. “He’s neither as handsome as Leroy nor as patient as Uncle Julian. He doesn’t even have Curly Weirdo’s skills in winning a woman’s heart…”
Gloria was rendered speechless as she thought, I wonder how Justin will react once he knows this is how his daughter speaks of him.
“But your mother is not someone who will be swayed by money. She doesn’t like bags, shoes, clothes and whatnots. Her only pastime is watching movies and renting the whole cinema doesn’t cost that much.”
“That’s not completely true.” Samuel turned toward them abruptly with half of his face covered by blue-framed sunglasses. In ant indifferent voice, he said, “Who says that our mother doesn’t like spending money?”
Not only was Gloria baffled, Victor was equally confused. Samuel continued, “I bet you don’t know about this-she loves collecting seal stamps.”
“Seal stamps?”
“Antique seal stamps.” He gestured to describe the stamp. “I remember that she has a golden seal stamp which is this big. It dates back to centuries ago. Mom used up her annual salary and year-end bonus just to buy it. She said that a seal stamp tells a story of an era, but I don’t understand and I’m not interested in it at all. All I know is that it’s a waste of money to indulge in such a hobby.”
He said while shaking his head like an old man because he could only buy cheap snacks that year due to that d*mn seal stamp.
Meanwhile, Gloria was absorbed in her reverie. During their days overseas, Rachel held a high. management position in SG Corporation which was second to its business partners. Taking into account that she was paid with commissions for the projects she handled as the sales representative, her annual income had gone through the roof.
Therefore, Gloria could never understand why Rachel needed to share the payment with Jolly in purchasing a house.
Now, the truth was revealed-Rachel had spent her hard-earned money to buy her precious seal stamps.
Since she studied archaeology and worked as a librarian in Riverdale Library before marrying Justin, it was understandable that she had an inherent predilection for antiques.
At that moment, Gloria and Charlotte exchanged looks as they were giddy with excitement. They were worried that Rachel was void of materialistic desires and Justin would not have the opportunity to whet her preferences. However, this was his chance!
As the blazing sun shone on the beach, the waves pounded against the sand and one could see some crabs digging a home for themselves. Meanwhile, the gang of four were in the middle of concocting a plan.
The rain did not stop in Riverdale. Steven woke up shivering and sneezed as soon as he opened his eyes. “Ah choo!”
Gazing at the fluttering curtain and raindrops that were splattering into the room from the opened window, he sniffed before letting out a loud sneeze again. “Ah choo!”
I think I’m gonna catch a cold. There was no one else at home at the moment. With his head clouded by haziness, he could not fall asleep anymore and hence the decision to put on his jacket and take his umbrella to head out for some midnight snacks.
There was a convenience store nearby, so he did not need to go far. As soon as he reached the entrance, he saw a man and a girl pushing and pulling in the rain.
“It’s here, not there.” The strong man yanked the girl over toward an alley.
She seemed wasted because her steps were wobbly. Even though she did not scream, her body was reacting repulsively to protest, albeit feeble.
Noticing that the girl was struggling to free herself, Steven was concerned. He sprinted to them after tossing away his umbrella. “What are you doing? Let go of her!”
