Helen’s POV:
"Shall we go? I’ll drive you home."
Phil had sensibly made up his mind not to pursue me anymore.And in the process, he had always been
open and aboveboard so things didn’t get awkward between us.He told everyone frankly that I didn’t
want to be his girlfriend because it just didn’t work out between us as a couple.
As a result, our friendship now was not misunderstood by others and we didn’t have to feel awkward
with each other.
"Helen, why don’t you accept a free ride home?" Others laughed and joked about it, but I took it in the
right spirit.
"No, thanks.It’s okay.I’ve already arranged a lift to pick me up."
I refused kindly with a smile.I had just received several messages from George.
He said that he would pick me up.his car was now parked one block away from the restaurant.
"You’ve arranged for someone else to pick you up? Who is this lucky person?"
Phil didn’t believe me and thought that I was just trying to be polite.
"Helen, have you finished?"
Suddenly, George walked towards us and glared at Phil in an unfriendly manner.I stared at George, not
knowing what to say.Why did he have to show up like this? I’d told him to wait for me in the car and that
I would join him shortly.
Fortunately, the other colleagues had left.But Phil was still there, witness to this unasked for scene.We
were in an awkward standoff.
George walked up to me, nodded briefly at Phil and quickly looked away, as if he was shooing a fly on
the wall.
"Let’s go home," George whispered to me.
Phil was stunned.He must have assumed that George and I were back together.
My life was too complicated for me to offer any explanation to Phil so I did not.
Phil took a look at George and then at me.
And then again at George and then at me.
"Helen, my mother wants to invite you to come home with me for dinner this weekend," he smiled.
I couldn’t help laughing.
"Come on, Phil.Grow up."
I knew he deliberately said that to give George the wrong impression about us.However, I didn’t try to
explain it to George, nor did I feel the need to.
"Humph!"
Phil gave George a dirty look and left without saying goodbye.His dislike for George was written all
over his face.
After Phil left, George and I were left alone there.
George and I were both angry with each other so neither of us took the initiative to talk.That was until
he couldn’t take it anymore.
"You are having dinner with him and his family this weekend? Don’t you think you owe me an
explanation?" George broke the silence.
I hated it when he talked to me in an interrogatory fashion, as if i had done something to betray him.
"It’s none of your business! Besides, I told you to wait for me in your car.Did you listen? Why did you
barge in here without checking with me first?" I glared at him, justifying my anger.
"I didn’t do it on purpose.I’d been waiting for you for so long that I thought maybe you couldn’t find
where I was parked, so I came to fetch you."
His words sounded reasonable and his expression conveyed innocence.Somehow, I felt a little guilty,
and my anger deflated like a balloon.
"Helen, are you ashamed of me?" George asked seriously when we got into the car.
"Does it bother you that someone will find out about us?" There was a note of complaint and self-
abasement in his voice.I rolled my eyes inwardly and didn’t want to broach the topic.
"Why should I take you to meet my colleagues? We’re seeing each other, anyway.I don’t want anyone
to misunderstand our relationship."
"I understand if you don’t want me to meet your colleagues," George chuckled lightly.He didn’t sound
angry anymore.
"But going to a man’s house to meet his mother is more likely to be misunderstood."
"Mind your own business.I can go wherever I want to." I turned my head away from him.
George fell silent and didn’t speak again.Had I been too harsh with him? But what I said was the truth.
George was always like that.
He would burst into my life at the most inappropriate times, fracture my heart and then even interfere in
my personal affairs.I turned my head ever so slightly in order to catch a side wards glance at him.
But being afraid he might notice, I turned again and looked out of the window.
When I got home, I turned on all the lights as usual.I couldn’t stand darkness.
It seemed I metaphorically wanted enlightenment.
The living room was empty.
There wasn’t even a sofa for George to sit on.He stood in the doorway with mixed emotions.
"I will help you buy new furniture tomorrow.Look at this empty apartment.It’s totally uninhabitable," said
George.
I took a look at him, annoyed that he had followed me in.
Why did he come into my apartment without seeking my permission? Why did he always walk in here
and make himself at home? Did he plan to stay the night again? We were not even friends with
benefits, and I was definitely not in the mood to have sex with him.
"You can leave now.Thank you for the lift," I said flatly George burst into sarcastic laughter.
"You’re burning your bridges, Helen.Do you think I’m the kind of person who can be bought and sold so
easily?"
I looked at him, surprised at his choice of words.He had always been principled and steady.
But now I discovered that he had a thicker skin than before.He used to be so proud that when I would
offend him, he would slam the door and leave.
However, now, no matter what I said, I couldn’t hurt him.He was a different George altogether He
stubbornly refused to leave.
Giving him a disdainful glare, I went to the bathroom.
After taking a shower, I blow dried my hair in front of the mirror.
Suddenly, I sensed that something was wrong.
The bathroom light became dimmer and dimmer till it turned off completely.My reflection in the mirror
grew blurred and gradually turned dark.I could still feel the warmth of the dryer in the air, but my all my
limps strangely turned cold.I could not move even an inch, as I felt my whole body stiffen like a corpse.
The feeling of being enveloped in darkness overcame me.I stood there, frozen to the spot, knowing that
I was hallucinating.I yelled out loudly to George to come and help me.I waited for what felt like an
eternity, but he still didn’t respond.
The bathroom door was still closed and George didn’t show up.I was in the grip of terror.I felt as if a
pair of invisible hands was throttling me.
The suffocating feeling swallowed me up and time seemed to stand still.
The sound of the hair dryer was getting fainter and farther and finally disappeared.I felt like I was in a
vacuum, cut off from the rest of the world.I was plunged into an abyss of stifling, evil darkness.I didn’t
know how much of time had passed before the invisible hands gradually loosened.
My body wobbled a little, and I stretched out my hands to the wash basin for support.I finally steadied
my body and stood firmly.
The feeling of suffocation gradually disappeared and I gasped for breath.
When I looked in the mirror again, I realized that the light was still on and my reflection was very clear.
What type of hallucination was that? I quickly calmed myself down, dried my hair and walked out of the
bathroom, acting like nothing ever happened.
George was folding my laundry.He probably didn’t hear me call him at all.Or maybe I didn’t even call
out to him.It was just all in my head.
Are you feeling unwell? You look so pale like you saw a ghost."
George raised his eyebrows at the sight of me.
"No, I’m fine.I’m just a little tired,"I replied.
Instead of sharing with George what had happened in the bathroom, I quickly went to bed and got
under my covers.at that inopportune moment, I received a video call from Lucy.
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