Female Novel
Chapter 35
John hastily headed out, with water still dripping from his wet hair. He might’ve been too rushed whenhe was drying himself in the shower earlier, and he didn’t even towel his hair dry. He wore a cold andstern expression on his face, showing how much of a bad mood he was in. It felt like he had only takena few steps out from his room before he arrived at the elevator, but the elevator had already gone downwhen he got there. He annoyedly jabbed the button for the elevator before waiting with his browsfurrowed. Once the elevator came, he went down and immediately left the hotel for the beach.
There were still small groups of twos and threes hanging around at the beach when he arrived. Thelighting at the area was dim, and some individuals who couldn’t control themselves just hugged andkissed one another in public. John found himself focusing on these people, but he stared at a fewcouples only to find that they weren’t Sophia. He ran his tongue across the back of his teeth. If I hadn’tpromised Old Mr. Constance that I would take good care of Sophia for the rest of her life, I wouldn’teven have come out to the beach. With that thought, he continued to walk further down the beach.
At the same time, both Sophia and the singer were indeed standing by the sea, feeling the breezeagainst their faces as they chit-chatted. She found out that the singer was a drifter that traveled all overthe country. He said that he’d stay once he found a good place and leave whenever he got bored. Withher arms wrapped around her shoulders, she asked, “Why haven’t you thought of settling down?”
The singer smiled as he explained, “Perhaps I haven’t found the right person to make me want to settledown.” He then turned toward her. “What about you? Was that really your brother?” novelbin
She shook her head. “No, he’s just a friend. He’s here for work, but I’m here for…” She paused andlowered her head with a light chuckle. “I’m here to heal myself, I guess. I got a divorce just recently.”She was simply too desperate to find herself a listener, someone who’d let her talk.
Her words clearly came as a shock to the singer. He looked at her for a little before he said, “You lookreally young; I wouldn’t have expected you to be married.” He paused. “Why did you get a divorce? Didyou guys have a fight? Or was it a matter of someone doing something morally incorrect?”
She shook her head again. “No; no one did anything wrong. It was simply because he didn’t love meanymore. Why should I hold onto a man that doesn’t love me, right?” She turned to the singer andsmiled lightly. He was at a loss for words then.
With his guitar still in his hand, he contemplated for a moment before he offered, “Why don’t I sing youa song? I’m bad at comforting people.” Sophia thought of the slow, melodious song that she had heardat the bar earlier and how much she liked it. She therefore nodded and said, “Sure.” The singer thensat himself down on a huge rock nearby, cleared his voice, and began to sing while he strummed onthe guitar.
Sophia stood beside him, her body facing toward the ocean and her hair ruffled by the sea breeze. Thesinger’s voice was muffled by the sound of the wind, and she couldn’t hear it too clearly, but she felt anoddly depressing sensation in her chest regardless. Up to this point in life, she had been throughcountless experiences—most of them bad ones—but she had never cried over them. She was nevergood at expressing her emotions through her tears, but right then, she didn’t seem to have control overher feelings. With a smile still on her face, she rubbed her hands across her eyes as she said, “I don’tknow what’s up with me; my eyes are a little uncomfortable.”
The singer glanced at her, his voice pausing for a moment before he continued. John arrived to see thisscene happening. Sophia was standing by the ocean, with her face in her hands and her body huncheddownward a little. She was already a skinny and small-framed girl to begin with, and she lookedespecially pitiful now that she was curled up like this. He didn’t even pay any attention to the manbeside her as he watched how Sophia’s shoulders were trembling. She might be crying, but the sound
of the ocean drowned her cries. John simply stood on the spot and watched her without heading overimmediately.
Once the singer finished the song, he thought for a while before he stood up and edged toward Sophiawhile reaching his arm out. “I don’t have anything to dry your tears; why don’t I let you use my sleeve?”It only took a short while for her to dry her tears before she laughed and replied, “It’s fine. The seabreeze dried most of it.” The singer watched her as he heaved a sigh. Then she tidied her hair upbefore she turned toward him and uttered, “I feel a lot better now. Your song…” She froze right then, asshe saw John standing a distance away from them.