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Watching Johnathan leave through the foyer, Harriet turned to look at Ellsworth, her expression gradually fading.
He wasn’t polite to her, nor did he allow others to be polite to
him.
Entering the bedroom and seeing Johnathan’s discarded jacket on the sofa, Harriet said calmly, “I’ll go make some tea.”
“Mm,” Ellsworth replied softly, tugging at his tie.
A short while later, when Harriet returned to the bedroom with
the tea, Ellsworth was already sprawled on the bed, asleep.
He hadn’t showered or changed, just fell asleep with his arm
draped over his eyes.
Standing quietly to the side, Harriet stared at Ellsworth for a
long moment, then bent down to place the freshly brewed
green tea on the side table.
Turning around, she looked down at Ellsworth on the bed. She didn’t know whether to approach or keep her distance.
As she stared at him in a daze, Jacquelyn suddenly knocked
and entered the room.
Harriet snapped out of it, turned her head toward the door, and
said, “Jacquelyn.”
Jacquelyn approached with another pot of tea, saying, “Mrs.
Townsend, this sobering tea works even better.”
Harriet replied gently, “He’s already asleep. No tea will help
now.”
Jacquelyn set down the sobering tea, then stood beside Harriet,
looking at Ellsworth on the bed. “Mr. Townsend signed a big
project today. He should be happy, but he doesn’t look it at all.”
Harriet shook her head. “I don’t know.”
“Sylvia Graham!”
Just as Harriet finished speaking, Ellsworth suddenly
murmured a name.
Both Harriet and Jacquelyn’s expressions changed at once. Though they hadn’t caught the full name, the ‘Graham’ part was unmistakably clear.
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Staring at Ellsworth in shock for a long while, Jacquelyn finally
came to her senses and hurried to comfort Harriet: “Mrs.
Townsend, Mr. Townsend is just drunk and confused. Don’t
take it to heart, please don’t.”
At Jacquelyn’s comfort, Harriet tucked away her lonely gaze
and smiled faintly. “I know, I’m fine.”
Why was Ellsworth unhappy?
Maybe it was because she was an eyesore.
Later, while Ellsworth slept, he murmured Sylvia’s name several
more times.
Harriet ignored him, gathered her things, and went to the room
next door.
***
The next morning, as Harriet left her room, Ellsworth also came
out of the master bedroom.
He had showered and changed, once again the spirited
Ellsworth.
They ran into each other in the hallway. Harriet greeted him
openly, “Morning.”
Ellsworth replied nonchalantly, “Morning.”
A little later, as they sat across from each other at the dining table, each ate in silence, not speaking a word to the other.
It wasn’t until Harriet received a phone call and got up to
answer it that Jacquelyn quietly scolded Ellsworth from the
side. She said, “Mr. Townsend, honestly, you called out Ms. Graham’s name all night last night. How embarrassing for Mrs.
Townsend.”
“You should drink less in the future, so you don’t get confused.”
Last night, seeing the loneliness in Harriet’s eyes, Jacquelyn
had barely slept.
Hearing Jacquelyn’s words, Ellsworth paused with his fork in
hand, then looked up at Harriet.
Seeing Harriet act as if nothing had happened, greeting him so
casually earlier, Ellsworth let out a cold laugh. She really didn’t
care at all, not the slightest bit affected.
At the table, seeing Ellsworth not respond, Jacquelyn quietly added, “Mr. Townsend, did you hear what I just said? Drink less
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from now on.”
Ellsworth withdrew his gaze from Harriet and smiled. “Alright, I’ll listen to Jacquelyn.”
“That’s more like it.” Jacquelyn beamed, then reminded him,
“Mrs. Townsend is a good woman, very capable too. Mr.
Townsend, you should cherish your life with her.”
Ellsworth took a spoonful of porridge. “Alright.”
A moment passed.
After finishing her call, Harriet returned to the table, ate a few
bites absentmindedly, then got up to leave for work.
As she walked down the steps toward the garage, Ellsworth’s
car pulled up in front of her.
The window rolled down. Ellsworth, hands on the steering
wheel, looked at Harriet with a relaxed expression and said,
“Get in.”
Looking down at Ellsworth, Harriet finally opened the passenger
door and got in.
Perhaps Ellsworth wanted to talk about the divorce as well.
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As the car drove out of Auburn Heights, neither of them spoke for a long time.
When Ellsworth cracked the window and lit a cigarette, Harriet finally turned to him and said, “Now that the project is signed, let’s go handle the paperwork.”
The smoke drifted out through the crack in the window, leaving
no trace of cigarette smell in the car.
Ellsworth flicked the ash out the window, half-smiling. “The
press conference was just yesterday, and you want to handle
the paperwork today? Is Ms. Chavez always this efficient?”
Harriet’s face darkened slightly. “Ellsworth, you said yourself
that after a month or so, once the project was signed, we’d go
handle the paperwork.”
