Hiding Behind Her Superficiality by Kyla Olson

Early the next day, Elspeth was woken up by a call.

She rubbed her eyes, then reached out and felt for her phone below her pillow. Then, she answered the call.

Her eyes were swollen from the grogginess. It was already 10.00PM last night when she was done entertaining the guests. By the time she washed up and lay in bed, it was already past midnight.

The voice coming from the other end of the line was familiar and cold. The man’s hoarse voice sounded. “Elspeth.”

The woman woke with a start. She sat up on the bed, and the sunlight from the window coincidentally shone in her eyes. She hastily covered her eyes as she said, “Are you back, Gilbert?”

“Hm, I thought I told them to inform you yesterday. Are you still in bed right now? Are you slacking off because I haven’t trained you in a while?”

Gilbert’s voice was low and crisp, and it sounded especially nice in the morning when he was still half-asleep.

“Of course not! How could I possibly slack off? I woke up at 5.00AM and went for a jog, then went home for a nap. I never slack off.”

Elspeth lied, her eyes darting around as she did so.

When she saw that the quartz clock on the milky white wall showed noon, her face turned pale.

“That’s quite a long nap you took.”

Gilbert couldn’t be bothered to expose her. He was pulling his luggage behind him while he walked, and the wheels were rumbling on the ground.

“Where are you now? Shall I go fetch you?” Elspeth propped her phone between her ear and shoulder as she began rummaging through her closet. “Or just tell me your location, and I’ll go find you.”

When Gilbert heard the crashing noises on the other end of the line, he knew that Elspeth was probably bustling about again. He couldn’t help but let out a chuckle. “It’s okay, you don’t have to come and get me. I’m already at the rented house.”

“What?” Elspeth was slightly stunned. “It’s not like you’re lacking money; why would you stay at a rented house?”

As they spoke, Gilbert had already arrived at a slightly worn-down residential building. He proceeded to open the door with a key. It wasn’t a huge room, but other than the thin layer of dust, it looked clean and tidy.

“Before I was 18, I stubbornly moved out and started working. This is the very house I lived in back then, but sadly…” Gilbert narrowed his eyes as he began to reminisce. “Sadly, my parents passed away after that, and I never came back.”

Elspeth knew this incident had always bothered him, so she didn’t say much about it as she changed the topic. “Well, Harper and I will visit you tonight after 6.00PM. Let’s get some drinks.”

down his backpack and sat on the couch, propping his feet up. “Oh, what’s this? Is Mr. Winthrop willing

What’s more, Harper is totally out

said something wrong as she

supposed to do.” Gilbert had always been a decisive person, and he

she sat on the pile

heart was

was very light and based on its frequency, it sounded

the door to see Callum standing in front of her. His

you going out

opened her mouth, but she couldn’t say

of it, Callum must have heard

going out tonight

as could be, but Elspeth saw a look of disappointment flitting

matter?”

head and said, “Nothing. Go ahead. Don’t come back

not

I

words and smiled

around and went back to the

non-stop. With great effort, he took out his phone and

They visited the amusement park, went on

photo of a yellowed

was

those photos, his heart seemed to have

and

Elspeth liked someone

her mentor. They spent their happiest times together, and they looked so

letter

ever treated you like

and that

lowered his gaze,