Sendoff
They came to the porch, and Toby bent over to change his shoes. Sonia opened the door, and a gust of
cold breeze smacked her in the face. She shivered from the chill that ran through her body.
Toby noticed that, and he frowned. He then took his scarf off and wrapped it around her shoulder. “I
should have asked you to put on another layer. Alright, that’s enough. You should go back to the
bedroom now.”
“It’s alright.” She shook her head and held the scarf on her shoulders. She was refusing to leave. “It
won’t take long, and nothing will happen. I’ve never sent you off to work before. This seems fun, and I
want to try it. Don’t tell me to go back to the room.”
He noticed the light in her eyes, and he couldn’t bring himself to ask her to go back to her room. He
patted her head lovingly and relented. “Fine, you can send me off if you want to, but just to the door,
alright? You don’t have to send me off to the lift.”
“Alright.” Sonia nodded. She knew he wouldn’t let her even if she wanted to send him all the way to the
elevator. The weather outside would only get colder, and he wouldn’t let her suffer that. Letting her
send him to the door was already the limit, and she wouldn’t want to challenge that.
Toby stopped patting her head and pulled her into his embrace, happy that she listened to him. He put
his chin on her shoulder and said gently, “I’m going now. See you tonight.”
“See you tonight, and drive safely.” She raised her hand and hugged him back, and she patted his
back.
Toby chuckled. “I will. It’s cold outside, so go back in.” He let her go.
“Yeah, sure. You should go now. I’ll go back in once I see you off.”
So she won’t go back in until I leave? Toby had no choice but to leave, but right after he took one step,
he stopped and turned around. Then he gave her a hug and kissed her.
Sonia was surprised at first, but she wrapped her arms around his neck and responded to his kiss in a
moment.
Toby knew when to stop. He had work to do, and she was feeling cold, so he only kissed her for a
minute before he let her go. He looked at her crimson lips and wiped the saliva off the corner of her
lips, and he smiled. “I’m going now.”
“Okay.” Sonia nodded, her face red, and she was a little out of breath.
Toby let her go and left the house. This time, he didn’t stop, nor did he turn around to give her a hug or
a kiss. All he did was go ahead.
Sonia stood at the door and saw him off. Toby came to the lift and turned to wave her goodbye. She
waved him goodbye as well, and after he went into the lift, she put her hand down and stopped smiling.
Then she closed the door and went back to the bedroom. It was cold outside, but the room was
adequately warm.
Sonia took her slippers off and went into the bed. It was still warm, and the moment she went back to
bed, she felt herself surrounded by warm air, and she stopped shivering from the cold. “Nice.” She lay
back down and stretched her arms. Sonia closed her eyes and tried to sleep, since the sun wasn’t fully
up yet.
However, her sleepiness was all gone after she said goodbye earlier, and she couldn’t sleep. Sonia
opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling. She pushed the blanket down to her belly and heaved a
sigh. “I can’t sleep.”
Toby’s right. He said I won’t be able to sleep once I send him off, and now I can’t sleep. She flailed her
legs and messed the blanket up even more before she calmed down. She then turned to the side and
touched the spot where Toby slept in. There was still some warmth there, but it felt a lot cooler than her
side of the bed. Even so, she felt happy to feel that, for it was as if she could feel him by her side.
It was funny though. It hadn’t been long since they got back together, but she was already starting to
find his short absences unbearable. Even though they would meet every night, she still felt empty
during the day. She wanted him to be by her side at all times. He had just left, but she was already
missing him. Oh, why is love so torturous?
She thumped his pillow in frustration, then she fell silent and spaced out. That spacing-out session
lasted for more than an hour, and by then, the sun was already fully up. Sonia heard her phone’s alarm
ringing, and she snoozed it before she got up. She washed herself up and went to the porch to see if
breakfast had arrived. Lo and behold, when she opened the door, room service was already standing
outside, and it was still the same waiter who served them the last time.
Toby must have known that she couldn’t sleep after she sent him off and asked the hotel to send some
room service after he left. Sonia took the breakfast from him and smiled. He knows me best. “Thank
you.” She smiled at the waiter and closed the door before she came back in.
After she put the breakfast on the table, she took a photo of it with her phone and sent it to Toby.
‘Breakfast is here. Do your best at work today.’ She then sent a cute panda emoji to him. The sight of
that emoji reminded her of the photo where Toby saddled her bag. He was in black attire in the photo,
and her bag was beige. The colors matched that of a panda’s, and she chuckled at the thought of that.
Sonia locked her phone and put it on the table before she went to have breakfast.
Toby was probably busy and wouldn’t text her back, so she didn’t wait for his reply. He’ll text me back
after he’s done with work. But the phone rang not long after she put it down, much to her surprise. She
paused for a moment and stared at her phone.
Whoa. I thought he was working. He’s calling me now? She put her spoon down and quickly picked her
phone up, but when she saw who the caller was, her smile faded. It was Tim, not Toby. Why is he
calling me so early in the morning? She took the call curiously. “Hello, Dr. Lancaster.”
“I hope I’m not disturbing you.” He was sitting behind his desk, leaning into his chair. His phone was
held in one hand, and a scalpel in the other.
Sonia shook her head. “No. I’m not working just yet, so you aren’t disturbing me.”
“Good.” Tim nodded.
She tilted her head and held her phone between her head and shoulder. “Why did you call me?”
“Nothing big, really. I just want to know if you have found the genes of Jessica’s child’s father. You did,
right?” Tim asked.
“Yes,” Sonia said. “How did you know? I don’t remember telling you that.” She was going to tell him
after Zane came back with the genes so Tim could help her with its cryopreservation, but she never
expected him to find out before she told him.
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