Echoes of Unrequited Love

Chapter 73

Jason called again, but suddenly there was a different voice on the line.

“Yeah, I’m at Gate 3, would you mind helping me out, sir.”

“Xaviera?” came the surprised voice through the receiver, “It’s me, Darren.”

To my total shock, the person who was helping my flustered uncle find the entrance to the mall turned out to be Darren. Ashort while later, when we met up, Jason, with a grateful look, told me, “He was the one who helped. The guy’s awesome.”

Darren listened to him finish his choppy sentences without caring about his stuttering and said with a gentle smile. “Sir, you’re pretty amazing yourself, but next time, remember to check the floor number, okay?”

| explained to Jason, “Darren and | are classmates.”

Jason’s face lit up with surprise and he happily said, “Really? That's... that’s fate for you.”

Darren told me he was there to take his cousin shopping and had bumped into my lost uncle in the parking garage. Jason had gotten stuck on the basement level.

Jason looked at me and then at Darren and said, “Xaviera, he helped me out. Let’s—let's treat him to a meal.”

As was only right and proper, | immediately checked with Darren, who said with a chuckle. “You know, | am actually kind of hungry. So, uncle Jason, I'll gracefully accept your invitation.”

4 We went into a local cuisine restaurant.

Darren was the epitome of tact, asking my uncle for his opinion with every dish he ordered, and even thoughtfully ordered a cup of tea for him.

Jason, not a tea connoisseur, just held the cup and gave Darren a.simple, honest smile, starting off a bit stiff but gradually relaxing during Darren’s casual conversation.

It was that instinctive inferiority complex that can surface when a common man meets someone of higher status, but Darren covered all bases, his actions easing Jason’s awkwardness.

| was really touched inside.

When he heard that we were shopping for new clothes for my aunt, Darren was eager to join in, “Perfect, I've been meaning to get a coat for my dear mother as well, and Xaviera, you'll have to lend me your eye for fashion in a bit.”

| nodded, “Just don’t laugh at me if my taste’s old school, Professor Yearwood.”

After the meal, the three of us headed to the women’s clothing section.

Jason chose a tender pink down jacket for my aunt among the array of women’s coats.

“She has skin as white as Xaviera’s.” he explained, bashfully like a young man in love. “She'll definitely look good in it.” My aunt was 49 this year, but to Jason, she was forever young and lovely.

| felt a twinge in my nose. “Let's go with this one.”

“Aren't you going to try it on, Xaviera?”

It was Darren who asked.

| wasn’t planning to buy clothes and declined, “You pick out something for your mom first.”

Darren seemed to read my mind and hesitantly said, “Her figure is pretty much the same as yours, Xaviera. Would you mind trying it on for me?”

Of course, | wouldn't say no to helping out.

Darren picked out a camel-—colored, old money-style cashmere coat. The coat was soft and the fabric was top-notch. | sneakily glanced at the price tag and it was over one thousand.

Definitely fitting for someone like Darren.

When | came out of the fitting room, the sales associate came up enthusiastically, “Miss, your boyfriend has great taste. Look at you, as pretty as a movie star.”

| was about to clarify when a familiar, sweet voice reached my ears, “Oh my, look, isn’t that Xaviera and Professor Yearwood over there?”ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

| looked up and immediately spotted the trio standing diagonally across from us.

It was Hogan, Cecilia, and Hilary.