"No. It's not …. I wasn't talking about you. Don't take it personally." Mark reached out his hand across the table and grabbed my hand.
I forced myself to smile and drew back my hand. " Got it. Okay, I'm full. You can keep eating."
I should have known I should not hold on to an impossible dream.
I had thought that was the end of it, but I never expected that the joke was not over yet.
The next morning, I turned off the alarm and did not get up early to make breakfast. By the time I woke from a second round of sleep, it was already ten o'clock.
I was surprised that Mark had not knocked on my door in anger, wanting me to make his breakfast. Then I saw a note on the dining table.
[To Tessa Steward. Tessa, I have to go so I can take care of something. Wait for me to come back.]
Where did he go? What was he dealing with? When would he be back? All these questions entered my mind. Unfortunately, he did not explain all of these in his note.
I picked up my phone and tried to write a message to him. However, after deleting several of the messages I had written, I did not send him anything.
A few hours later, I received a short message from Mr. Hanson.