Couldn’t Hide the Feelings - Chapter 29

The airport was spacious and brightly lit.

People came and went around, and all kinds of voices covered Ashley’s sobs.

She felt a little embarrassed, wanted to find a hole to hide and tried to hold back her tears and pretend nothing had happened.

Anyway, at least not like this.

She felt extremely ashamed.

The woman was very beautiful and soft. She looked like a very good person.

In terms of life and emotion, she should be able to help him a lot. Unlike her, she was wayward and rebellious in everyone’s eyes, like a burden, always bringing him trouble.

From the beginning, she was an extraordinarily superfluous existence.

Of no use.

He also needed to use extra energy to take care of her when he was busy.

Looking at the way Ashley dared not cry, Jacob suddenly remembered the first meeting with her.

At that time, she would cry wantonly and had no scruples about anything.

Has she really grown up?

Or maybe his tone just went too far.

Jacob pursed her lips.

He had no tissue on him, so he could only wipe her tears with the sleeve of his coat covering her: “Don’t cry, brother doesn’t think you’re in trouble.”

“…”

“It’s cold here. Put on your coat.”

Ashley sniffed and obeyed.

“You can figure it out for yourself. It’s good to know you’re wrong.”

Jacob said slowly, “We don’t want to be angry with you, we are just worried that something will happen to you, and we are in a hurry, do you know that?”

She looked down and choked, “I know.”

“Get up and wash your face.”

Jacob looked at his mobile phone, and he seemed a little uncomfortable. He coughed twice before continuing to say, “Brother will take you to lunch first.”

Ashley shook her head slightly: “I’m not hungry.”

“Why aren’t you hungry?”

Jacob stood up and said faintly, “Are you going on a hunger strike for a man?”

“…”

“Kiddo.” Then Jacob looked around and pointed not far away. “The toilet is over there, can you see it?”

Ashley paused for a few seconds and nodded.

“Go and wash your face.”

Jacob thought for a moment and then said, “Give me your ID card. Brother will buy a ticket for you. I’ll see you later. Don’t go anywhere. ”

Seeing this, the woman next to her said, “I’ll take her there.”

Ashley handed him her ID card from her bag, stood up silently, and subconsciously looked in the direction of the woman.

The next second, Jacob said, “No.”

Listening to the word, Ashley walked in the direction of the toilet without saying a word.

After walking some distance, she suddenly stopped and looked back.

Ashley could see the two people still standing in the same place.

The woman wore a black slim dress, showing her good figure, with a retro pattern on the skirt, which reached to the middle of her calf.

She was tall, about 1.7 meters, and she was only half a head shorter than Jacob after wearing the high heels.

With a smile on her face, she said something to Jacob, then reached out and patted him on the arm.

Then Ashley saw that Jacob also smiled.

She pursed her lips hard and withdrew her eyes.

Ashley went into the toilet and looked at herself in the mirror.

The eyes were red and swollen, the nose was red, and there were tears on her face.

She bowed her head and washed her face with water over and over again.

The cold water irritated the skin and re-stimulated her lacrimal glands.

No matter how she washed, she would still shed tears.

When an old woman saw her like this, she subconsciously asked, “Are you all right, little girl?”

Ashley pulled out a tissue, looked down, and said, “The water is too cold.”

She seemed to have found a reason for the outbreak, and tears fell uncontrollably, “Why is the water so cold… ”

“Then just stop.” The old woman did not feel this reason strange, sighed, took a hot-water bottle from the bag, and handed it to her. “It’s a little cold these two days. Remember to put on more clothes.”

Ashkey didn’t take it, sobbing, “No, thank you.”

The old woman said nothing more, but with a few more words of appeasement, she left.

After a while, Ashley managed to adjust her mood.

Noticing the suit coat, she took it off and walked out with it in her arms.

Jacob was waiting for her outside.

He was the only one left this time. The woman was not with him.

Ashley walked over.

Seeing the coat in her hand, Jacob frowned, “With did you take off it?”

“I just washed my face for fear of it getting dirty.”

Ashley lied casually, with a heavy nasal voice, “And I’m not cold.”

She looked at Jacob, “Here you go.”

Jacob made no other moves but stared at her steadily.

After a while, he sighed a little imperceptibly, and his eyebrows drooped, “Are you angry at brother because of my words?”

Ashley shook her head and said, “No.”

“Are you children forgetful?” Jacob put the coat on her again. “It’s only been a year, and you’ve become like a stranger to brother.”

“…”

He said slowly, “You’ve made brother so sad.”

Ashley didn’t know what to say, so she changes the topic, “Do you get a plane ticket?”

“Well, I bought it for you. Two o’clock in the afternoon.”

Jacob gave her the boarding pass and ID card. “I’ve already taken the boarding pass for you. Let’s have lunch first. I’ll take you through the security check later.”

“Okay.”

After a few seconds of silence, Ashley said again, “How much is it?”

“Not much.”

Jacob loosened the tie on his neck and didn’t care much, “What do you want to eat?”

Ashley, “Whatever.”

Jacob took her to a McDonald’s in the airport.

The two ordered something casually, but neither of them seemed to have much appetite.

He didn’t mention the woman, nor did he say where she went.

Ashley didn’t have the courage to ask.

She was afraid of hearing the word “girlfriend” from him. She would not be able to keep her expression.

Maybe he noticed that she was in a bad mood, he would say a few words to tease her from time to time.

His voice was a little hoarse and he always coughed when he spoke.

Ashley couldn’t help asking, “Are you sick?”

“Yes.” Jacob said casually, “I have a cold.”

Ashley was quiet for a while, and then said, “Remember to take the medicine.”

Jacob smiled, “Thanks for Little Ashley’s concern.”

Playing with the box given by Ashley in his hand, he raised his eyebrows and asked, “Can brother open it?”

Ashley bit the French fries and nodded silently.

There was a tie inside.

Dark red background, black and white stripes embellished.

Jacob did not touch it. After a few glances, he closed the box and bent the corner of his eye. He seemed to be in a very good mood, “Thank you, Little Ashley. When I receive this gift, I’m very happy even if that means I’m older. ”

Ashley nodded. Soon, she wiped her hands with a paper towel, pulled all the cash she had brought out of her schoolbag, and stuffed it into the pocket of the suit coat.

The two sat for a while.

Seeing that the time was almost up, Jacob got up and sent Ashley to the security checkpoint and told her, “When you go back, listen carefully to your parents, study hard, and don’t be unhappy about this anymore.”

Ashley took off the coat and returned it to him, “I see.”

She paused for a few seconds and suddenly said, “Brother Jacob, you don’t have to tell me.”

—If you are in love, you don’t have to tell me.

Jacob did not understand, and his eyelashes moved, “Hmm?”

Without explanation, Ashley forced a smile and walked backward in the direction of the security checkpoint.

Then she waved to him, “Then, I hope you are happy every day.”

Maybe the window seats have been sold out, Ashley’s seat was on the edge of the aisle.

She didn’t cry anymore. After getting on the plane, she asked the stewardess for a blanket and slept.

She had a dream.

She dreamt that she wasn’t thirteen when she met Jacob.

But eighteen years old.

She dreamt that there was still an age difference of seven years between her and Jacob, but it was no longer an insurmountable gap.

She dreamt that her dream come true.

She dreamt that it turned out that secret love can be more than just a one-person thing.

Getting off the plane.

Ashley turned on her cell phone and called Liam.

After a few hours, his anger reined in a lot, and his voice was particularly calm, “Come to exit T2, and I’ll wait for you here.”

She followed the flow of people out.

When Ashley saw Liam’s figure outside, she bowed her head and hung up the phone.

Liam came over and glanced at her face. He wanted to say something, but soon swallowed it all back into his stomach.

He grabbed her by the wrist and said faintly, “Forget it, I won’t scold you. Let’s go home. ”

“…”

“Mom asked for leave from your teacher.”

Liam’s tone was very bad. “When you get back, how are Dad and Mom going to scold you? I can’t help you. Because I want to scold you, too. ”

“…”

“You’re really…”

Before he had finished his words, he heard Ashley sniffing.

Liam stopped her voice, looked back, and stared at Ashley’s drooping head, unable to see her clearly.

He stopped, sighed suddenly, and opened his arms to her, “Hey, kid.”

“…”

“Don’t cry, it’s no big deal to be lovelorn.”

Liam said, “Come here, hug me.”

When they got home, Tim and Grace had not come back yet.

Her trip seemed to be just going to school in the morning, leaving school in the afternoon, and then coming home.

Everything was no different from the usual.

Ashley walked into the room and silently put together the dolls on the bed, the gifts given by Jacob over the past few years, and the milk bottle on the windowsill.

She stared at the empty position of the nightstand and thought of the piggy bank she had smashed to pieces.

She got up and tore off the picture of Silver River University affixed to the wall.

She stared at it for a long time.

Tears suddenly began to fall again, one by one on it.

She kept recalling Jacob’s smile at that woman.

Her whole body trembled because she was holding back the cry.

She looked up and slowly glued the picture back.

Then, from her picture book, she took out the note that she had sandwiched in, which wrote about the two dreams.

Picking up the pen, Ashley quickly crossed out the second one.

Dreams that couldn’t be realized.

Should be given up.

The man she has liked since she was thirteen.

Her secret love affair began at the age of thirteen.

From then on, she wanted to grow up quickly and be with him.

Now Ashley found out.

Maybe, even if she did grow up, she was already with someone else.

Or, even if she did grow up, in his eyes, she would still be the same kiddo who would cry because she couldn’t hand in her homework.

Ashley began to reduce her contact with Jacob.

He still bought her gifts during the holidays and asked her about her grades after each big exam.

Ashley would reply, but no longer answered his phone calls.

When he asked, she just used “too busy studying” as an excuse to muddle through.

Only during the holidays and on his birthday, Ashley would take the initiative to send blessing text messages.

After all, this person really loved her as a sister and was really kind to her.

She couldn’t do it, completely treating him as if he never existed.

She couldn’t just lose touch with him.

Ashley no longer took the initiative to ask Jacob about his situation and she also blocked his ins.

She devoted all her energies to her studies and chose science when she was in the second year of senior high school.

She also applied to live at school, and for a long time, she didn’t even bring her cell phone.

Her grades were also raised from the middle to the upper.

The little girl’s facial features gradually became clear, her chin became sharp, and her eyes were big and bright.

Her skin was naturally white and her lips were ruddy. When she laughed, there will be two small pear swirls, lovely and beautiful.

She was even jumped to 1.65 meters.

Ashley gradually became famous in her school.

Moreover, the physics teacher of the key class always talked about her and was very proud of her.

As a result, many people know that there was a woman in the key science class, with a very beautiful soft girl face, and most importantly, her grades have never dropped to the top five.

Physics scores were basically full every time.

Good grades and a beautiful face.

When these two points were combined, she became the “goddess” of other students.

Ashley could often find milk and snacks from unknown people on her desk. Rummaging through drawers, she could inexplicably find a love letter.

When she went back to the dormitory after the evening study, she would occasionally be blocked at the top of the stairs to be confessed.

She refused everyone and returned everything.

Gradually, these things become less and less.

In the first semester of the third year of senior high school, a PE student in the next class began to chase her.

After training every day, he will bring Ashley a lot of snacks and pick her up on time after evening training.

She didn’t want to have any relationship with him, but in a moment, she found that the man’s voice and tone were similar to Jacob’s, and then she didn’t say anything to directly refuse him.

Two weeks later.

The P.E. student confessed to her.

His voice was still similar to that of Jacob, but his tone was nervous and stumbling.

Ashley has never heard Jacob have such a tone, which made her instantly regain her mind. According to Jacob’s words, she seriously rejected his confession.

She thought she was emotionally stubborn.

If she liked one person, it was hard for her to like another.

But no matter how she was, she couldn’t spoil the relationship between herself and others.

She couldn’t choose a person who was a bit like him and use that person as a substitute.

Just because of this matter, Ashley occasionally felt.

When she thought of Jacob, she didn’t seem to feel so sad.

Because of the memory with him, only the last time they met was gray.

The rest of the time was with mottled colors.

Fresh and beautiful.

At the end of June of the following year, Ashley’s college entrance examination results came out.

She played steadily, more than 100 points higher than the line.

With this score, she could go to both universities she was considering.

Her parents hoped that she could apply for South Star University and did not want her to go too far away.

After thinking about it for a long time, Ashley finally applied to Silver River University.

It was different from what she used to think. Just because she wanted to apply for the digital media art major, by comparison, Silver River University was better.

On the day she checked in at school, Ashley didn’t bring much luggage, only carrying a schoolbag and a suitcase.

Originally, Tim asked Liam to accompany her, but Ashley felt she could make it by herself. It took them a long time to agree to let her go alone.

Liam said to ask Jacob to pick her up, but Ashley also refused.

She said, “We haven’t met each other for a long time. It’s not appropriate to bother him.”

Ashley got off the plane, left the airport, and got on the school bus.

Under the leadership of her seniors, she checked in, got the dormitory number, and bought her own daily necessities.

She greeted her roommates and got acquainted with them gradually.

She took part in military training, and after that, she began to attend classes and participated in community activities.

Doing all the things she wanted to do before, except for one thing missing.

The main purpose of her coming to Silver River.

It seemed that in the process, it gradually became an unimportant thing.

A day in mid-October was Ashley’s roommate’s birthday.

They took the subway and went to a seafood restaurant for dinner.

When it was over, seeing that it was still early, they decided to sing at the nearby KTV.

Tomorrow happened to be Saturday, and there was no access control in the school.

They spent more time drinking than singing.

Ashley wanted to stay out of it, but she still had a couple of drinks.

There were more than a dozen people in the small room. Ashley was easy to get drunk and soon felt a little hot and stuffy.

She felt so noisy and annoyed that she ran out to get some air under the excuse of going to the bathroom.

In addition to the main gate, the KTV also had a small door, which was followed by a corridor connecting a nearby supermarket and KFC.

It was cool and comfortable outside.

The light in the hallway seemed to be broken, flashing.

Her line of sight was also too dim.

Ashley was lying on the railing, trying to get her cell phone out of her pocket.

Inexplicably, she found a square thing in her pocket.

She didn’t hold it steadily and it fell to the ground not far away.

When she looked down, she found that it was a pack of ladies’ cigarettes.

Ashley was about to go over and pick it up when she suddenly found a man standing near where the cigarette had fallen.

He was tall and thin, wearing a simple white shirt.

From her view, only the outline of his side face could be seen, which was obscure.

The man leaned against the wall with a cigarette at his fingertips, which was glowing scarlet.

She felt a little familiar.

But she didn’t dare to guess what she thought.

Ashley felt that the pack of cigarettes should have been stuffed into her pocket by her roommate. She pursed her lips, lowered her head, took two steps to the cigarette, and was about to pick it up.

At this time, the man made a move.

His eyelids moved and he slowly bent down to help her pick up the pack of cigarettes.

The lights on the top were not flashing dramatically at the moment.

Ashley saw what he looked like.

Long and narrow eyes, with a tempting evil face.

And that frivolous smile.

She saw him staring at the pack of cigarettes and then raised his eyes like slow motion in an old movie, meeting her eyes.

Then he picked his eyebrow, dragged his voice, and asked, “Little Ashley?”

As ever before.