Chapter 370: Chapter 370: It Seems Like the Time Has Come (10)
Translator: 549690339
He glanced at the driver, waved him away without saying a word, and walked into the convenience store with a slightly unsteady gait, under the driver’s worried gaze.
He tried to suppress the churning in his stomach, selected some snacks, paid for them, and carried them out. Halfway across the road, he stumbled and fell.
From the time he was a child, he had never felt so embarrassed. In the moment he lay on the ground, a strange heat welled up in his eyes.
The driver rushed over, reaching out to help him up. Noticing the fallen snacks, he bent down to pick them up, but Steve had already regained his composure. “I can do it myself,” he said, his voice as flat and tasteless as plain water.
“Mr. Burton.”
“I said I’ll handle it myself.” His voice turned somewhat sharp, and the driver, sensing his determination, took a small step back. Then, slowly bending down, Steve picked up the various colorful bags one by one.
As long as he was doing something for Ruby, he never allowed anyone else to take over.
It was difficult for him to pick them up. When he stood up, he noticed the puzzled look in the driver’s eyes and realized he was wondering why Steve bought a bunch of kids’ snacks in the middle of the night.
Without a word, Steve carried the snacks back to the car, then turned to the driver who had also gotten back in, and said, “Let’s go back to The Sapphire Bistro.”
The driver’s astonishment became even more intense.
Arriving at The Sapphire Bistro, he left the snacks quietly on the back seat and returned to the private room, acting like nothing happened.
In those three years, he could only draw upon his past habits to imagine, in a numb and unfeeling manner, their life as it was before.
He knew it was nothing more than his own obsession.
And obsession often had elements of self-imposed confinement.
Compared to the myriad emotions swirling within Steve, Ruby stared at the bag of snacks with a slight surprise.
For a moment, deep inside her heart, she felt a surreal sense of time rewinding, as if their tumultuous parting three years ago and their subsequent friction-filled reunion never happened.
She hadn’t eaten these unhealthy snacks in years, but now she found herself opening her favorite potato chip bag with gusto, like the late-night snack-loving girl she once was, happily crunching them with an expression of pure satisfaction.
It seemed she had also forgotten her fear of him and the tension she felt in his presence. Instead, she felt that the person standing before her was the very same young boy who accompanied her through their carefree childhood days.
She shoved another potato chip into her mouth, then took one out, leaned half her body over the railing, and handed it to Steve on the other side. “Here, eat.”
Repeating a gesture she had done countless times before, she did it smoothly and naturally.
He hesitated for an instant, then opened his mouth.
The crisp potato chip entered his mouth, but he forgot to chew, his gaze fixed on the woman across from him as she tore open other snacks and tasted them one after another.
As always, she didn’t consume much, and her hands were sticky after finishing the snacks. She habitually leaned her body over the railing again and wiped her hands on his pristine white shirt.
