Chapter 334 I Hope You’ll Always Be by My Side
After leaving Oliver’s place, Courtney dropped him off at his school. On one hand, the school wanted him to follow up and write a report about the topic of anti-narcotics after the military exercise. On the other hand, she felt a little awkward if he followed her home after the truth had been revealed.
Thank God there’s the military exercise as the excuse, Courtney thought in relief.
While she was on the way to the kindergarten to pick up the kids after dropping off Oliver, she received a call from Alexander.
“Where are you?”
“On my way to the kindergarten. I’m halfway there now.”
“Don’t bother.” He intentionally softened his tone, sounding very gentle as he said, “Mr. Harry is on his way to pick up the kids. Let’s go out for dinner tonight.”
“We’re having dinner outside? With Grandpa?” Pausing for a moment, Courtney realized that it was New Year’s Eve tonight. “Then, I’ll go back to change first.”
“There’s no one else but us.”
His voice was especially husky and attractive, which made the blood rush to her face before she spoke. “Wait for me. I’m going back to change.”
“You don’t have to change. Just come in comfortable clothes.”
“No, this is a date!”
During one of the busiest times of Sunhill Enterprise, Courtney felt as though the sun was rising from the West when Alexander actually took the time out to spend New Year’s Eve with her. But now that it turned out to be a date, she felt a stronger need to treat it respectfully by dressing up in her prettiest clothes so that she was the most stunning woman within his sight.
After she got home, she opened up her closet and tried on almost all of her clothes from each season. She even video-called Cameron on the other side of the globe to help her pick out an outfit.
Right now, it was morning in America, and Cameron was seated next to the bed with the sunlight pouring over her face. Looking into the camera, she waved her hand.
“This is too plain. There are only five days apart between Christmas and New Year’s Eve, and the streets are still full of festivities. It’s weird if you dress up so plainly.”
“This one is too flashy. Dressed in red like the others, you’ll just blend into the crowd.”
“This is not bad, but it’s winter over there now, isn’t it? Forget it. You might freeze yourself to death.”
It took her almost an hour before she finally decided on the outfit: a red and white checkered coat—which was very fitting with the festivity—paired with a beige A-line dress and a pair of knee-high boots. The whole look was very suitable for this time of the year.
The meeting spot set up by Alexander was the busiest place in Melrose, the Skylight Plaza. The place was named such because it had a ceiling LED display walkway which spanned over three hundred feet. As it was New Year’s Eve tonight, the starry night LED display was changing dramatically, and the surrounding was filled with joyous music.
“Where are you?” Courtney asked Alexander over the phone. It had just snowed, and the weather report predicted more snowfall for the next couple of days, so it was very cold outside.
“Walk into the ceiling LED display,” Alexander answered in the call. “I’m at the end of it.”
“Oh, okay.” It was so cold that she shivered, then she sniffled as she mumbled, “Why are we meeting outside when it’s so warm in the mall?”
Despite her grumbling, she followed his instruction and walked into the display. Following the path, she stepped down from a platform, surrounded by the sparkling night sky on the LED display the whole time.
“Oh, I’ve never paid attention to it before, but this display is actually quite nice. Let’s hang out here for a while after dinner. I think it’s a rather suitable spot for the countdown,” she said into the phone.
“Sure.”
“The night sky filled with stars is so pretty. I don’t think there are many stars in the sky tonight.” As she trod along the path, she kept speaking into the phone, and when she was almost at the end of the LED display walkway, she looked out and uttered, “I’m here. Where are you?”
When she finished speaking, she had just stepped out of the LED display walkway at the same time, and a two-story high Christmas tree entered her view. Bright decorative lights circled around the tree, together with hanging decorations such as gingerbread man, tiny bells, and presents.
It was no surprise at all for a decoration like this to appear in a plaza during the Christmas season, but what surprised her was the fact that there wasn’t a single person around this gigantic tree. It was still bustling with life when she walked into the LED display walkway, but the people had all disappeared without her realizing.
“Alex.” All of a sudden, she was a little panic-stricken, and she asked, “Where are you?”
The call ended abruptly, and she heard a dead dial tone. Astonished, she lowered her head to look at her cell phone subconsciously.
The lights danced, and a familiar scene appeared on the LED display across her on the second floor suddenly, replacing the skincare commercial which was playing on loop.
The first thing she heard was a baby voice saying, “Mr. Alexander, I’ve turned it on. You can speak now.”
Tina? Surprised, Courtney turned to the source of the voice.
The background on the LED display was the living room at Alexander’s house, and it looked like this video was recorded recently because a decorated Christmas tree stood in the corner of the room.
Facing the camera, Alexander seemed a little stiff despite his usual composed self, and he rubbed his slender fingers on his knees a few times.
“Courtney…” The edges of his lips twitched, and it seemed as if he wanted to put on a gentle smile. Perhaps it was due to his nervousness, he simply looked a little awkward, and Courtney giggled with a hand over her mouth as she saw it.
“There are many things I can’t say in front of you. After several considerations, I decided to record a video like this for you. In March this year, we first met in the elevator of the company. Before meeting you, I was sure that I would be happy to live my life alone and not have anyone affect my life. However, after I met you, my life took on a dramatic turn.” Slowly, the smile on his face disappeared, and his expression turned even more warm and soft. “Maybe it was that first time when you came over to my place to cook for Jordan. I suddenly felt that it wouldn’t be that bad to get married when I looked at you. That thought shocked even myself, and we’d known each other for barely a month at that time. So, it really turns out that time has nothing to do with the love for a person.”
While Courtney was unaware, people slowly started to appear in the quiet plaza.
“After that, I would think about you all the time: when the sun rises or when I look at the moon, when the day is sunny or raining, and even now when it’s snowing.”
At this point, Courney felt a chill on the tip of her nose. Lifting her head, she saw snowflakes drifting down, and they fell on her shoulders, arms, and her open palms.
“I hope you’ll always be by my side.”
The video stopped playing, and a song which many people had heard before—‘Can’t Help Falling in Love’—suddenly started playing from the Christmas tree.
Without her realizing, children dressed up as the seven dwarfs ran toward her from somewhere. The children dressed in different colored costumes each held a present, all different in size, and they shoved the gifts into her hands.
Before she even had the time to react as she was holding a pile of presents, Snow White, Rapunzel, Elsa, and almost all the characters from Disney appeared before placing a rose and present into her arms.
In the blink of an eye, a small hill made up of piled-up presents stood next to her. Stunned, she held a huge bouquet of deep-red roses in her arms without any idea what was happening nor what would happen next.
