More to Life ✔

Chapter 16 Late night conversation

After staring at her apartment ceiling far too long, Maria rummaged for her phone. The screen's light burned her retinas. One-thirty a.m. yet she was wide awake and had to work tomorrow—stupid jet lag. Her world clock app confirmed it was twelve-thirty in the afternoon in Edmonton. At least her passionate neighbours had fallen asleep or taken a break from their regular nightly activities. If she hadn't felt alone before, she did now.

Sunshine had been bugging her for updates on where she'd explored and who she thought was cute. While Maria found everyone nice, she couldn't envision starting a relationship. Since she assumed Sunshine was distracting herself from the pregnancy announcement anxiety, Maria played along and mentioned Mitch and Tom had both been friendly. As she went to open Sunshine's conversation, a telltale green dot beside Adrian's name glowed. She brushed it off and clicked Sunshine's smiling face instead.

A moment later, a message appeared.

Adrian: Hey world traveller

Had he been waiting for her?

Maria: Hi

Adrian: Free to vid chat?

Really, no apology for the pain he'd caused her and for ignoring her after what he'd said at the show? The guy had some nerve.

Adrian: I miss you

The pumpkin emoji he used brought a candlelit dinner to mind, one he'd prepared after they moved in together. She'd returned from work exhausted, and he'd made salad, ginataang gulay with rice, and fruit parfaits with vegan ice cream. When she'd asked what the occasion was, he called it an 'I missed you' dinner. It was the first time they'd spent hours apart since moving into the apartment. She could still taste the creamy coconut milk covered pumpkin he'd cooked.

What harm could a conversation do? She was miles away, lonely, and jet-lagged.

Maria: I can chat

With a swipe, Adrian's smiling face took over her screen, and she scrambled to her light switch.

Maria squinted. "What's up?"

"It's not every day my friend moves to the other side of the world."

The word 'friend' hit her like those stupid Thai motorbikes would have if Tom hadn't been there. She averted her gaze.

"Poor choice of words, you're more than a friend, but after what happened—" He ran his hands through his unruly hair. "I never thought you'd actually leave."

Maria offered him a weak smile, too tired and overwhelmed to dive into the reason Adrian cared to speak with her again or his persistent doubts. He'd done plenty of things she'd never expected either.

"What's your new place like?"

"Your're looking at most of it, my little bachelorette pad." She panned the camera to the bed, then her little wardrobe corner containing her suitcase.

"Cozy, very minimalist." He almost sounded impressed.

Maria walked to her desk and kitchen corner near the window. "Here's my work station and the kitchen, believe it or not." She showed off the hotplate and the box of dishes.

"How will you manage the contest with just that?"

So he had followed her progress after they stopped talking. "I'll make it work. If most people in Bangkok use it, so can I."

"What's your view like, better than ours?"

"It's pretty." City lights peeked through her blinds, but the metropolis' beauty paled through her lens. "I'm not a hundred percent settled in, but I like it so far. It's smaller than our place, but it's home." She tumbled back onto her bed, black hair splayed in all directions in the corner display.