Finally, the day of farewell has come. On a summer afternoon, the rain poured down, whitening the sky. The car gradually moved, leaving the gate of the villa, and heading straight to the international airport.
Erina put her thin hand on the car window as if she wanted to wave goodbye to everything. The steam through the glass still made her feel the cold outside very clearly.
Today, Clement had said in advance that he would not be able to see her off because he was busy meeting a client to negotiate a contract.
She knew that if he wanted to, he could still arrange a time to meet her at the airport. Perhaps he didn't want to make her more awkward by standing between him and Henry.
The trees on both sides of the road swayed in the roaring wind. The first heavy rain of the season plunged the streets into deep silence, evoking immense sadness in the hearts of those who were in love but had to part.
“When you get there, remember to call us so we can rest assured.” Henry said in a low voice.
Erina nodded slightly, still looking out at the vast deserted street. In the future, on the cold, rainy road in a foreign land, there will be no Clement holding an umbrella for her to walk. She will peel the shrimp herself and cut the meat into small pieces every time she goes out to eat. She will welcome the summer sunshine herself, and collect the autumn leaves herself.
After completing the exit procedures, Erina sat down on the waiting bench next to Henry. Her eyes kept moving around as if looking for a miracle. She wished she could have seen Clement before boarding the plane, even if she could just look at him from afar.
Next to her, Henry looked gloomy, his hands clasped together, his head bowed. The moment of separation was getting closer and closer, making his heart ache, his throat choked, and his eyes filled with tears.
If he were still a child, he would hug her legs and beg her to stay, but unfortunately, he was already grown up. If he did that, he was afraid she would hate him even more.
The loudspeaker announcing the flight to country B was about to depart echoed in everyone's ears. Erina and Henry stood up at the same time. Looking at his sad face, she suddenly felt sad in her heart.
“I'm leaving. Goodbye.” She said goodbye in a low voice.
“Erina, take care of your health, I'll wait for you to come back.”
Looking at Henry's steady eyes, Erina didn't know what to say. He knew the reason she left, why did he say he would wait for her? If he waited for her, what would be the meaning of this trip of hers?
After a few seconds of pursed lips to calm down, she spoke softly.
“Don't wait for me. I hope you'll forget everything. Open your heart to receive the girl who truly loves you. Only then will you be happy.”
“You are my happiness, no one else. Erina, it's because you haven't realized it yet. We are destined for each other. Okay, go inside, I'll be home.”
The moment Henry turned his back, tears of sadness fell from his eyes and Erina was able to see them. She continued to look around to find a faint hope.
In the end, Clement still did not appear. She wiped away her tears, adjusted her bag on her shoulder, and decisively walked away.
In the distance, Clement slowly left the pillar, watching his lover's image like smoke disappearing behind the glass. Because he couldn't bear to see her cry, he chose to stand here to see her off.
“Erina, have a safe journey, I'll wait for you.”
The phone in his pocket hummed a sad tune. Seeing Mabel's name on the screen, he immediately pressed the answer button.
“Mabel, what's the matter?”
“Is Erina gone?” Mabel's soft voice rang out on the other end of the phone.
“Yes, just entered the waiting room.” He answered briefly.
“Why is it raining so heavily? You... would you like to have a few glasses of wine with me?”
“Okay.”
Clement hung up the phone and quickly went to the parking lot to get the car. He knew Mabel had only good intentions. His lover left him on a stormy day, so she was afraid he would be sad, so she found an excuse to comfort him. If she hadn't invited him, he would have called Ryder to drink with him to drown his sorrows.
Knowing Clement's preferences, Mabel chose a roadside restaurant as her meeting place.
After waiting for a long time, she saw two luxury cars stop on the side of the road outside, and she immediately guessed they were Clement and Ryder. Just now on the way here, Clement said he would call the young lawyer to go with him.
“Hello beautiful girl, we meet again.” Ryder politely held out his hand.
“Hello Mr. Ryder, you look more and more handsome.” She smiled and replied.
“I know, sometimes being too handsome is also a nuisance, causing many people to have lovesickness.”
As soon as Ryder finished speaking, both Clement and Mabel burst out laughing. It seemed that this lawyer was overconfident. The three of them joked back and forth for a while, then sat down, ordered food, and poured drinks.
It was getting late, the rain had almost stopped, falling silently outside the empty restaurant. The small street looked even sadder on rainy nights, making everyone feel sad. Isa held the wine bottle tightly in her hand, her sad eyes staring straight at Henry.
“You're drunk, don't drink anymore.”
“Just this once. I can only sleep when I'm drunk.”
Henry removed Isa's hand and continued to pour more to fill the glass. Perhaps tonight was his saddest night since the day Erina came to his house. She coldly told him to forget everything, but how could he erase all the footprints she had imprinted all over his miserable heart?
Her eyes were wandering around searching for the shadow of her lover, which he caught when he suddenly looked back was like salt rubbed into his heart, it was really too painful.
“Cruel. A cold-blooded and heartless woman.”
Hearing his blunt statement, Venn immediately turned to Isa, shaking his head to indicate that he was not referring to her.
Isa nodded to show that she understood, then raised her glass and took a sip. For her, if she could be the woman mentioned by Henry, it would be great happiness.
In the afternoon, Henry suddenly called to invite her out for dinner, making her secretly happy. When she arrived and heard Venn whispering, she realized that Henry was sad and wanted to find friends to drink with him.
His group of friends were all rich young ladies and gentlemen, who would never sit in places like this. So, he chose her, a quiet girl, who listened more than talked, had a good alcohol tolerance, and didn't cry or whine when drunk.
As soon as the fifth bottle of wine was empty, Henry was also drunk, collapsing on the table, constantly calling the name of the person he loved.
After paying, Venn and Isa helped Henry get into the car. Suddenly, the rain poured down again.
“Please take him home, let me call a taxi. If you take me home, it will take a long time to drive.”
Isa quickly told Venn and then ran back to the porch, took out her phone, and called a taxi. Although Venn wanted to be with her a little longer, because Henry was too drunk, he had to drive away.
The two of them returned to the villa when the clock struck eleven o'clock at night.
Hubert had just finished processing the documents when he saw the car lights flickering in the rain in the yard, so he quickly walked down.
“Hello, Chairman.” Venn bowed politely.
Looking at Henry, who looked like a person with no bones, clinging to Venn and the maid, Hubert just sighed and shook his head. He didn't scold his son because he knew exactly what had caused Henry to become this miserable.
“Please help me take Henry back to his room.” Hubert said softly.
Venn obeyed and together with the maid helped Henry up the stairs, brought him into the room, and helped him lie down on the bed. After pulling the blanket to cover him, they quickly went back out.
Venn bowed to Hubert again and hurriedly left the villa.
“Erina, Erina, my love, Erina. Erina...”
Amid the silence of the night, the sound of the girl's name and the sound of mournful crying rang out. The drunkenness made Henry unable to walk steadily, but it couldn't help him forget her temporarily.
Only by calling her name could he ease the pain of missing her that was tormenting him, like people often groan when they are in pain.
He didn't want to be her younger brother, he didn't want to be pitied by her. He wanted to be her man, wanted to have love between a man and a woman with her.
Why did she give all of that to the man named Clement? Until the last moment, she still persistently waited for him in vain.
Today, one person went to a foreign land, carrying the hearts of two people. By the window frame covered with cold mist, Clement stood silently looking out into the vast darkness.
He knew that when Erina left, he would be very sad, but he never expected that he would be this sad. The distance between him and her now was no longer the distance from the farm to the villa or from city K to province J, but half a world away.
The image of her frantically searching for him at the airport suddenly appeared in his mind, breaking his heart. He really regretted it. He should have run to her and hugged her as soon as Henry left. He was afraid that she would be heartbroken, but now he felt the pain of missing that precious moment.
“Erina, I'm sorry, I'm sorry, Erina, I was wrong, I was so wrong.”
The alcohol in Clement’s body made him unable to keep himself strong, he burst into tears like an abandoned child. The one who left was very sad, but the one who stayed was even more sad.
The afternoon rain lasted until night as if it wanted to wash away all the past of a morning filled with sunlight, human footprints, and dust on the glass window. However, it was difficult to wash away the sorrows of human life.