Chapter 4

FREYA

"Where are you, babe?" Colin asks me as soon as I pick up the call. "Do you want me to come to pick you up so we can spend some time together? I also need to pick up some clothes from the nearby mall, and I thought having you around would help me pick out something nice."

"What for?" I reply. "Are you picking out clothes for your new job or something? Or are you planning to keep interviewing with other companies?"

"Yep, and yep, and yep." He sighs. "I'm going to keep looking."

"Sounds good." Licking my lips, I stare at the dial on my wrist. "I have to do something before I leave anyway. Also, I'm at the library, so I got to go. Text me when you get here."

"All right, sweetie."

When I put my phone back on the table, a woman sitting across the other side of the room watches me silently with a poker face. It's not a passing look, but a full-on gaze as if she's apprehending me or she's personally offended that I decided to pick up the call from my boyfriend while sitting inside the library near the bookcases. Her gaze doesn't waver for a long minute as she licks her lips and then exhales through her mouth. The only reason I chose this side of the room was it was deserted, with no one in hearing distance.

But the constant gaze from that woman makes me uncomfortable, so I then decide to focus on the research paper in front of me. Thinking that I shouldn't be wasting time, I begin jotting notes down on my smart tablet to apply for an assistant position at a nearby university from my new apartment in Colorado. It's not like I have enough experience to get hired in this kind of workplace position, but I thought it was worth shooting my shot.

Also, it would prime me for further making a decision about if I want to keep pursuing my education since I have been in two minds about it and cannot get to a stance soon enough.

A ping on my phone makes me check the screen.

"I am almost here. Give me five minutes. I need to check something in my car."

Hmm.

He's just saying that because he must have some stupid surprise planned for me.

He always does that.

That's so Colin!

When I read the message, I get ready to get up and leave. As I'm tidying up my things and moving to the bookcase to return the research paper back to its place where I picked it up, I'm thinking about Colin and how nice he has been to me recently. The woman from across the room appears in front of me. It almost shocks me because I didn't see it coming. At most, I thought she was giving me the side eye for being on the phone not minutes earlier.

"Hi," she greets me. "Do you come here often?"

I don't know what I should answer her as the situation baffles me. Since she doesn't know me, she has no chance of knowing I'm not a fan of small talk. And I'm also not into revelling in deep conversations with strangers. It also takes me a minute to regain my composure to find a suitable response for her in my head.

"Oh, yeah." Clearing my throat, I arrange the books and the research papers to make them look neater as I tuck the thing I borrowed away. "It's a great resource aside from whatever you can find online."

"That's right." When I stare closely at her, I realise she's a lot older than what she appears to be as thin fine lines crease on her forehead as she makes a face while thinking about something. "I was wondering if you are studying at the university down the road."

Shaking my head, I gesture with my hands that my answer is a 'no.'

"I just graduated. And I'm moving to a new city since I have got a job there."

"Ah!" She smiles as if she's proud of me. "You're already done with your university degree? And a job? Does that mean you'll be moving out of the city soon? Like, say, in a week or something?"

"Yeah." I wonder why I'm telling that to her. "That sounds about right."

Why is she so interested in my life?

Do I know her?

Or she's just nosy?

When I stare at her face longer, she appears to be familiar, but I can't seem to place the face where in my memory.

Where have I seen her before?

As I'm thinking about the question in my head, my phone buzzes again in my purse. Immediately, I pull it out, and it's Colin telling me he's waiting for me outside. Tapping on the screen, I quickly text to tell him that I'll be out in a few minutes.

When I put my phone back in my purse, I catch the woman looking at me intently. Not knowing how to bow out of this conversation, I nod my head and simply leave because that makes the most sense to me.

As soon as I pivot on my heels, I hear the words come out of her mouth.

"Nice to meet you, Freya. I'll see you around."

Before I can turn around to face her and question her, she sidesteps me out of the room at breakneck speed in her red high heels.

The entire run-in leaves me curious and awestruck.

***

"Don't you think that grey shirt looks good on you?" Colin stands beside me, trying new shirts for his upcoming job interview. "I think it fits you well." A small, sly smile takes over my face. "To be honest, it looks too good. Can't wait to rip it off of you when you get home after a long day of work."

Colin laughs, closing his lips to the side of my head, and plops a kiss there.

"You can do whatever the hell you want, babe, but I'm not buying this expensive piece of shit." Scrunching his eyebrows, he stares at the price tag. "I guess I'll go with that white shirt since we will still have to do a bunch of shopping when we get there. We'll have to save something from our monthly payments to spend on home renovation and decor. We need to build that into our budget. Don't you think that, sweetie?"

Nodding my head, I purse my lips.

"You never take my choices into account." Throwing my hands up in the air, I take a step away from him to examine a sea-green shirt that catches my eye. "Okay. Fine. Do whatever you want." I mumble under my breath. "Why did you bring me here when you didn't even want to listen to me?"

Colin chuckles.

"I can still hear you, babe."

I throw the shirt in his direction, and he catches it effortlessly.

"From next time, pick out your clothes yourself."

Colin puts the shirt with the hanger back on the clothing rack and chases me through the different aisles of the clothing store. People stare at us, and staff members give us a stink eye, but that doesn't slow us down. Since he breaks out into a slow jog after a few minutes of chasing me, I jog faster to get away from him until I slow down into a clothing aisle towards the back of the store, and he catches me, pulling me closer in his arms. He kisses me with conviction, and I return the kiss, even though my ears burn from embarrassment because I know someone shopping in the next aisle is watching us while shaking their head.

But it doesn't stop me and him, neither does it slow us down. We exchange kisses for a good minute or two before walking back to the aisle to pick up the white shirt he chose and get it checked out at the billing counter.

When Colin has paid for the clothes, we walk out of the department store hand in hand, and Colin casually kisses the top of my head again. We don't say anything until we get into his car.

"Babe, are you coming over tomorrow?" His voice is more solemn than before. "I think I'm going to stick to packing my stuff since you know I don't like to celebrate stuff."

"It's your birthday, babe." With curious eyes, I see him wiping the car's dashboard with a wet wipe that he extracts from his glove box. "How can you stay inside your apartment all the time? Why don't you come over? I'll cook you a nice dinner since my parents will be away somewhere attending a work conference tomorrow night anyway."

"You know I don't like celebrating my birthday, don't you?" He makes a sweet face. "Can't we keep it on the down low for the time being and not make a huge deal out of it?" His eyes are on the driving wheel as he keeps wiping the dashboard. "If you really want to do something for my birthday, then maybe we can do something in the evening. We can go out or order in. Your choice."

Putting my hand on his to stop him from wiping more of the windscreen, I side-hug him.

"It's fine if you don't want to make a huge deal out of it." I exhale. "You know that you're special, don't you? And you deserve to feel good on your birthday, so as your girlfriend, it is my job to make you feel good." I kiss the side of his face. "Why don't we decide what you want to do later and do whatever you want." I smile at him. "We can definitely watch a movie and order some fried food. And crack open a case of cheap wine or vodka, whatever your heart desires, babe."

"Thanks for understanding me, sweetie, and also for being so supportive." His smile reaches his eyes. "You're amazing."

"That I am, but don't you dare feel alone even if we decide to do nothing on your birthday."

He nods his head, giving me a small kiss. Then he starts the car, and we drive home back to his apartment.