Me After Meeting You

Amber looked at Susan accusingly. “Dr. Susan, I’m really trying to talk to you seriously. I’ve suddenly fallen from being a nice little member of the bourgeoisie to a homeless person. I don’t have clothes to change into, a place to stay, or anything to eat or wear. Can you pity me a little?”

Susan patted her comfortingly. “Alright, I’ll give you some things to eat, a place to stay, and even someone to sleep with. Don’t worry, I won’t let you wander the cold world alone.”

But after she said this, she started uncontrollably laughing again. “But even if he didn’t notify you beforehand, then did he not at least prepare a place for you to stay?”

Amber didn’t want to talk anymore. Susan glanced at her as she asked, “So he did prepare one, huh? You don’t want to stay there?” She stretched out her hand and tugged at Amber’s scarf.

Amber resisted warily. “Keep your eyes on the road!”

Susan was driving attentively, and clicked her tongue several times in response. “Isn’t it nice to be young, to mess around like this?”

Amber looked at her exasperatedly. “You’re young too.”

Susan shook her head, looked at the rearview mirror, and focused on backing the car up. “As you said, why should I find a man to marry? At this age, with my money, a car, a house, and kids, there’s no reason for me to find a man who will only make me feel uncomfortable.”

After she said this, Amber stopped trying to persuade her. Everyone had their own way of living, and as long as it was healthy, there was no need for her to force Susan into something she didn’t want.

And so, the topic was dropped just like that.

Amber was too tired from work and didn’t want to make dinner, whereas Susan never cooked. So, the two of them ate out. Halfway into dinner, Ian called her. “You’re not coming?”

Amber very much wanted to play ignorant. “Go where?”

Her apartment was completely empty right now! But since she was spending his money for the renovation, she couldn’t look a gift horse in the mouth. “I’m staying with a colleague.”

Ian was flustered. ‘Damn, I miscalculated!’

Now, all he could do was start whipping the lash and hurry the renovation process up. There wasn’t any need to change out the foundations; all he needed to do was order new furniture, buy a new sofa, and other similar surface adjustments. Everything proceeded very quickly, and the renovation was finished in half a month.

When Ian’s grandparents found that he was helping Amber renovate her apartment, they became particularly happy, and the two of them even personally went to his office to instruct him. “When you renovate the place, remember to have any formaldehyde scrubbed away. Your skin’s very sensitive, so you want to make sure that the place is spotless when you move in.”

This point was fair, and Ian noted it down.

And then Ian’s grandmother said, “You need to marry her quickly, or else the wedding ceremony will be annoying to manage once she’s pregnant.”

Mr. Axton was shocked. He was just thinking about getting Amber in bed, and hadn’t thought about babies at all!

Yes, this was also a fair point. He didn’t want a baby, so he had to use contraception!

***

The move-in day was scheduled relatively soon. The weather was returning to a nice temperate band again. Conveniently, the move-in day was on the weekend, so Amber would have time to clean up after moving back.

Amber’s first look at the new place was when she moved back in. She was normally very busy, and couldn’t be bothered to visit while it was being renovated. Since her suggestions wouldn’t be taken into consideration anyways, she might as well leave it be.

She had expected that, like Ian’s personality, the apartment would be cold, ascetic, and perfectly symmetrical. However, in reality, her new apartment was bright and sunny. The blues and whites on the wall paired well together, and the overall atmosphere was very tasteful and stylish.

Amber made a few turns once inside. The master bedroom hadn’t changed much, but what shocked her most was the guest room, which had become a study.

The original wardrobe had been removed, and the neighboring wall was replaced by a full row of bookshelves. The tatami mat by the window had also been removed, replaced by a big study desk, and there wasn’t a bed or wardrobe anywhere in sight.

Mr. Axton’s plan had thus come to light-he didn’t want anyone staying over with them at all, and neither did he want any interruptions.

After seeing this completely different room, Amber didn’t know what to say. All she could do was massage her forehead and console herself that it was fine. If she didn’t have a bed, she could just buy another again later. o()o

Even with regards to moving, Ian’s personal style shone through. A few large trucks came to move all of his things up the building and into the apartment, and then all the workers left. Then, he rolled up his sleeves and started to unpack everything.

Well organized boxes filled the entire living room, and Amber wryly asked, “Aren’t we going to find people to help unpack?”Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

Ian glanced at her. “It’s our home. Why do we need others’ help?”

Amber fell silent, before finally nodding. “That’s true.” And then she also rolled up her sleeves and started unpacking and putting things in their proper places.

Actually, although there were many boxes, most of them were filled with books. Since they now had many large bookshelves, they had to fill them all. While unpacking, Amber realized the benefits of having a partner with OCD, as everything was packed nicely into the boxes.

He had packed all of Amber’s things meticulously, her clothes, her pants, her shoes, her underwear (-_-||), and even her books were all organized neatly. Amber’s books were organized by subject, and each had a note on it, detailing where it had originally come from.

As a result, although they had plenty of things, once it was all unboxed, they were placed rapidly. It moved along without a hitch, until Amber reached an unmarked and unlabeled box.

She was somewhat curious, and as she prepared to open the box, she asked Ian, “What’s inside this box?”

Ian turned around and glanced at the box before coolly saying, “A gift from Billy.”

‘Huh? Billy was the type to give gifts?’ Curiously, Amber cut open the wrapping tape with a pair of scissors and removed the tape, only to see a whole box of condoms!

The condoms’ packaging were particularly striking, all packed neatly, labelled with descriptions like “original,” “super thin,” “super comfortable,” “super safe,” and a variety of other similar words.

Amber didn’t know what to say. “….”