Chapter 383
Edward soon left.
Seeing that Yannis couldn’t take his eyes off Zinnia, Toby tactfully said, “Mr. Perkins, I should get back to the office. There’s some business I need to handle.”
Yannis replied, “Okay.”
Finally, only Yannis and Zinnia remained.
Now that she was alone with Yannis, Zinnia suddenly regretted staying behind. Feeling nervous, she fidgeted with her bag. Suddenly, she felt warmth on the back of her hand. Looking down, she saw that Yannis was holding her hand. Her heart skipped a beat.
Yannis said gently, “Let me carry the bag for you, Zinnia.” As he spoke, his fingers slid down and hooked onto her crocodile leather clutch.
Zinnia’s ears burned with embarrassment. She thought, ‘So I misunderstood after all. I thought he was going to hold my hand. Yet, strangely enough, in that moment, she hadn’t even wanted to pull away.’
“Thanks,” Zinnia said.
Yannis replied, “Zinnia, you’re being so distant with me.” He lowered his gaze, a shadow passing through his eyes.
Although he knew she’d lost her memory and no longer remembered him, actually feeling her estrangement still made his heart ache.
Zinnia gazed at his dejected expression, her lips slightly parted as if to speak, yet no words came out. She had no memory of their past together and no idea what their relationship had been like; all she could do was maintain basic courtesy.
She never expected that her courtesy could hurt Yannis so much.
Yannis smiled and said, “It’s alright. Let’s go. I’ll show you around Jinston, Zinnia.”
Just having Zinnia here, alive and well, was a blessing Yannis never dared expect. All he truly wished for was that she would live, even if she no longer remembered him.
“Alright,” Zinnia replied. She lowered her gaze, trying to hide the remorse in her eyes.
Yannis led Zinnia to his car. He opened the car door, glanced back at her, and called softly, “Zinnia.”
Zinnia slid into the passenger seat.
Only then did Yannis walk around to the driver’s side and get in.
Zinnia surveyed the car’s interior.
The decor was simple yet luxurious, but the passenger seat was covered with cartoon stickers: a cute sheep right next to SpongeBob and Patrick Star. Glow-in-the-dark star stickers dotted the ceiling.
Zinnia thought, ‘It is a girl’s touch. After all, Yannis is the last person one would expect to decorate like this.’ She pressed her lips together. Her fingers picked at the hem of her shirt.
She told herself, ‘Well, he’s not exactly young anymore. Of course, he’d have someone special by now.’ Her mind was a jumble until the crisp, minty fragrance drifted to her nose, making her frown slightly.
Zinnia snapped out of her thoughts and found Yannis leaning close to her. She could see his long, thick lashes and striking eyes. As her gaze traveled down, she noticed his straight nose.
Only at this close distance did she spot a tiny red mole at the edge of his nostril. His thin lips were naturally rosy. She thought, ‘He is beautiful.’
Zinnia had no idea why Yannis suddenly leaned in so close. She instinctively held her breath and whispered, “Mr. Perkins?”
Yannis gazed down at her, his eyes lingering on her bright, lively face. Deep restraint burned in his eyes as his Adam’s apple bobbed. “Let me fasten your seatbelt,” he said softly.
He reached out with his arm, carefully pulled the seatbelt across her, and buckled it, his attention focused and gentle.
Only after Yannis turned his face away did Zinnia relax. She glanced over at Yannis and spotted a pink diamond hair clip clipped to his seatbelt.
She scanned the car’s interior again, and an indescribable feeling welled up inside her. She tugged at the seatbelt and said, “Mr. Perkins, if you have someone special, would it be inappropriate for me to ride in the passenger seat?”
She thought, ‘If he had someone special, it wouldn’t feel right for me to sit here. Even if we had once been close, four years had changed everything, and some distance is only natural now.’
Yannis‘ eyes softened with a gentle smile as he listened to her talk about someone special. He said, “Zinnia, all of these things were left by you.”
His words abruptly stalled the emotions that had been simmering in Zinnia’s heart. She genuinely hadn’t seen that coming.
Yannis’s voice was warm with amusement as he said, “Zinnia, you’re the only one who’s ever sat in my passenger seat.” He had this car specially delivered, all because of Zinnia.
Back when Zinnia got bored during car rides, Yannis would buy her sticker sheets, and she’d stick them here and there inside the car.
Sometimes, on the way home, if she spotted a cute plush toy, she’d ask Yannis to stop so she could buy it.
Zinnia said she wanted to see those toys often, so she hung them up in his car. Yannis often picked her up after work or school, and every time, she’d see all the little things she’d left behind.
Yannis never refused Zinnia, so the car carried so many traces of her. He had never had it cleaned. All these are proof of her presence.
For the past four years, it was these fragments Zinnia left behind that have kept Yannis going. Whenever he missed her, he just took this car out for a drive, letting every sticker and plush toy remind him of her.
Zinnia blinked her eyes and asked, “Wait, I left these?” She thought, ‘Just how close were we for him to let me mess around in his car like this?’
This was a sports car worth millions, and those stickers, with all that glue, were stuck to the real leather interior. It couldn’t be easy to get them off, especially after all this time.
Zinnia noticed some of the stickers had already started to yellow. Clearly, they’d been there a long, long time.
Yannis replied, “Yeah, I used to pick you up and drive you home a lot. When you got bored in the car, you loved to stick stickers everywhere.
“Sometimes, when I had to attend to work in the car, you were always so considerate, not wanting to disturb me, so you’d quietly play by yourself.
“You’d take a sheet of stickers and put them here and there, decorating every little spot you could find.
“When you ran out of space, I’d have the car cleaned to make room for you, and buy you new sticker sheets.
“But after you left four years ago, I never had anyone clean those things up again. I couldn’t find you, so I treasured every single thing you left behind.”
Yannis looked at Zinnia and said earnestly, “Zinnia, I don’t have a girlfriend.”
“Okay,” Zinnia murmured. Although she didn’t know why Yannis felt the need to emphasize that to her, the slight tightness in her chest suddenly dissipated.
As the car slowly pulled away, Zinnia gazed out the window at the scenery slipping by and asked, “So, where are we going?”
“Afraid I might sell you?” Yannis teased.
Zinnia was also amused by his words. She replied, “I’m worth a fortune. Ordinary people wouldn’t dare buy me.” She thought, ‘Given my father’s status, no ordinary person would dare lay a finger on me.’
“Zinnia, how has life been for you abroad?” Yannis asked gently.
It had been years since Yannis had heard Zinnia sound so vibrant and full of life. Seeing her this cheerful now, he felt reassured. He knew she must have had a good life these past four years.
“Yeah, it’s been great. Dad and my brother have been good to me,” Zinnia replied.
These past four years, aside from memory loss, she’d truly lived well, wanting for nothing, showered with her family’s love. But deep down, she still felt an emptiness in her heart, as if something was missing.