Me After Meeting You

“I can sign the contract, but can I consult my own lawyer first?” Seeing the two both turn towards her, she weakly explained, “The fee for breaking the contract is simply too high ….”

Silence.

After a while, Ian finally waved his hand at her.

The lawyer sat back down and Amber let out a sigh of relief before quickly moving outside to speak on her phone.

In truth, she didn’t have a lawyer at all, her actions were simply to delay signing the contract. Although she had many people in her contact list, most of whom were doctors, patients, relatives, and friends, and some of them were lawyers, Amber had no actual plans of contacting any of them. Instead, her fingers moved unconsciously on her phone’s keyboard and punched in on Calvin’s name. Somehow, she ended up calling his number.

As she listened to her phone ring while the call was connecting, her anxiety almost consumed her. What would she say if he did pick up? But as the ringing repeated, she became calm again.

But Calvin didn’t pick up.

Amber put her phone away, smiled and then walked back into Ian’s office. “Give me the pen.”

The lawyer handed her a pen, and Amber signed her own name on the somewhat ludicrous contract.

Ian looked at her lazily. “Your lawyer didn’t give you any advice?”

As she signed her name, Amber said, “His only advice was to not break the contract once I’ve signed it. But ….” She put down her pen, smiled at him, and then finished her sentence. “If you end up finding someone else that you truly love and want to break the contract because of that, then I won’t force you to pay any reparations.”

He didn’t respond, merely looking at her with a penetrating gaze while smiling coolly.

And it was that smile that finally erased any doubt left in Ian’s heart. It made her feel like, even if she really did pay that astronomical fee, as long as she could reduce the despair in his smile by even a fraction. Then, as a doctor, it would be worth it.

Having signed the contract as well, Ian brought Ian out again. This time, she was too lazy to even ask where they were going, and the result of her laziness was that they ended up going to Ian’s house.

Amber only realized this as she stepped inside. In her nervous haste, she stammered out some nonsense. “We’re? Going to your house?”

Ian nodded.

“For … what?”

“After entering a relationship, we naturally have to meet each other’s parents, don’t we?”

“….”

Ian’s long legs propelled him forward with just a few strides. Amber lagged behind, alone and assaulted by her thoughts.

Just a few days ago, Silvia and the others had joked that they were going to give her an award for being a model late-blooming wife and parent. But now, she was already at the stage where she was meeting her significant other’s parents.

But since she had already signed that ludicrous contract of her own will, the rest … didn’t seem to matter so much, Amber despondently rationalized. The next time she met her classmates, she was certain that she would receive a caring doctor award instead.

***

The Axton family lived close to the southern shore, not far from the Axton Hotel and was situated in a very prosperous neighborhood. Their courtyard was exquisite and refined, there were two gigantic cherry apple trees in the courtyard, but despite the leaves turning yellow in the autumn air, not a single fallen leaf could be seen on the ground. The entire yard was clean and tidy. The stark contrast to the bustle and noise of the city led to an unusual feeling of peace and serenity.

Since it was still quite early and Ian had shown up unannounced, only his grandparents were home. The two were both wearing glasses and playing poker. Strangely enough, both of their faces had been drawn on with colored markers. Upon seeing Ian suddenly bring a girl home, they quickly started cleaning up.

But the sofa and the table’s mess was too big to be cleaned away that quickly. Ian glanced at his surroundings idly as he said, “Don’t bother. I’m just here to tell you that I have a girlfriend now. There’s no more need to set me up on anymore blind dates.”

Having spoken his piece, he quickly turned around to leave, but his grandmother ran behind him, calling out, “Aiya, aiya! What’s the hurry, we’re almost done packing!” His grandfather, on the other hand, simply rushed forward and grabbed Ian’s clothes.

Ian stopped walking and lowered his head to look at his grandfather’s hand. His grandfather let go of his clothes, which now had a big black spot on them, it was a memento from the poker game the grandfather had been playing with his wife, which involved the winner drawing on the loser’s face.

Ian’s grandfather laughed and patted at the spot on Ian’s clothes. “It’s dirty, go get it washed.”

Amber saw green veins bulge out on Ian’s forehead. However, he managed to restrain himself, not saying anything and instead turning around and briskly walking up the stairs. Amber stopped herself from laughing. Turning around, she saw Ian’s grandfather smiling at her. “Come here and sit with us! That boy’s a clean freak, so he probably won’t be down until he’s washed it for at least one or two minutes.”

Ian’s grandmother obligingly pushed everything off of the table and the sofa before the housekeeper could get to it, kicked it all underneath the sofa and then waved her hands at Amber. “Come, come. Sit here.”

As they said, there was usually a reason behind people becoming clean freaks. Amber suddenly felt a bit of compassion towards Ian. She sat next to Ian’s grandparents, who were adorned with benevolent faces still marked from their poker game, which stressed her out an unusual amount. “Don’t you want to wash your faces?”

“Ah? Oh!” The two finally realized the state their faces were still in, and rushed to the washroom to wash their faces. When they returned, they had become two hale and hearty grandparents, meticulous in their appearance, Ian’s grandfather had brushed his hair and combed it back and his grandmother had changed into new clothes and styled her hair into a tidy bun.

The three people looked at each other, six eyes between them. Before Ian’s grandparents could react, Amber finally recognized them. “It’s you two,” she said, somewhat surprised.

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