Aurelia walked outside and met Leslie’s gaze, her mind wandering off again to the emergency contact


    he set up.


    “Why haven’t you slept?” she asked.


    Leslie noticed her nose wrinkling at the smell of cigarettes and put the cigarette out.


    “I couldn’t sleep. What about you?”


    “Um… No reason. I just saw a piece of news that made me quite emotional.”


    She couldn’t bring herself to ask him about the emergency contact, fearing that she may be


    overthinking.


    “What news?”


    “It’s about the ident on the bridge. It’s nothing big.”


    Not wanting to let it slip, Aurelia changed the subject.


    “Are you worried about work?”


    “I suppose so.”


    Leslie didn’t tell the truth.


    Daniel had just called him to say that the big shot in the Synder family wanted to meet


    him. It had been over a decade since theyst met, and Leslie felt nervous.


    Aurelia met the dark look in his eyes, realizing that he seemed frustrated.


    She didn’t know much about his work and couldn’t be of much help.


    After a few thoughtful moments, her eyes lit up, and she said, “Just wait. I have something great.”


    Leslie watched her in confusion, wondering why she always seemed so energetic.


    Sometimeter, she walked over with a tray. Apart from two sses, there were two odd- looking


    ornaments as well.


    She pointed at the ornaments.


    “Mr. Synder, pick one.”


    “What for?” he asked.


    “To eat,” Aurelia said solemnly.


    He fell silent and wondered if she had lost her mind to the point of eating ornaments.


    “You pick. It’s a surprise,” she said.


    Leslie examined the ornaments before him. There was a bear and a rabbit.


    Not given much of an option, he randomly chose the bear.


    Aurelia picked up the bear and said mysteriously, “Watch closely. I’ll perform a magic trick for you.”


    There was a tinkling sound, and a bear–shaped ice cube dropped into the cup, instantly coating the


    cup with ayer of mist.


    “Ta–da! Not bad for a five dor magic trick, right?”


    Aurelia chuckled.


    The wind tousled her long hair and revealed her delicate features as she smiled.


    Leslie was momentarily stunned, then realized he was rude for staring and shifted his gaze to the cup.


    It turned out the ornaments were actually ice cube molds.


    Aurelia ced the rabbit–shaped ice cube into her own cup and poured some c into it.


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    She said softly, “I hid the c. I was afraid you wouldn’t like having snacks at home.”


    Leslie nced at the c.


    “There’s just one bottle of c?”


    Aurelia’s hand paused, and she chuckled.


    “You noticed that too? Wait a moment.


    A minuteter, Aurelia retrieved the snacks she had bought from the cupboard, all of which only


    children would eat. There were even chips.


    “Cheers.”


    Aurelia clinked her ss with Leslie’s, then sipped the ice–cold c, feeling refreshed and rxed.


    After setting down her ss, she noticed Leslie hadn’t moved and was looking at her with surprise.


    “What’s wrong? Don’t you like it?”


    Aurelia looked at Leslie cautiously.


    “No,” Leslie replied.


    He raised his ss and took a sip of the c.


    He didn’t know if it was because of Aurelia or the refreshing sip of c, but the suffocating feeling in his


    chest seemed to somewhat dissipate.


    Aurelia began rmending small snacks to him.


    The gentle night breeze felt encouraging, and she grew braver.


    She picked out a box of sour treats from among them and offered a piece to Leslie’s lips.


    “Mr. Synder, try it. It’s delicious.”