Fifteen minutes had passed, and Evelyne was still sitting on the sofa in Tristan's office. She didn't understand why he had asked her to sit down without saying anything else.
She glanced at him, but he just sat silently, staring at his phone.
'What does he actually want? Why did he ask me to sit quietly in his office without doing anything?' she thought, confused.
She wanted to go home and see Luke, plus she was very hungry and would get a stomachache if she went too long without eating.
Not long after, there was a knock on the office door and it turned out to be the office boy bringing something.
"Your order is here, Mr. Everhart!" he said.
Tristan stood up from his chair and took a bag of food that he had ordered earlier to eat with him.
He then sat on the sofa right in front of her, taking out several boxes of food containing sushi and a spicy fish soup. Evelyn, who was watching, became even hungrier, especially since sushi and spicy fish soup were her favorite foods.
"Eat it up, I'm sure you're hungry now," he said.
She hesitated to touch the food, but because her stomach was really hungry, Evelyn picked up her chopsticks and began to enjoy her sushi.
She ate the sushi while sipping the warm spicy fish soup broth. Her stomach, which had been hurting, now felt much better as the soup warmed her stomach.
Meanwhile, Tristan ate a bowl of pasta. He enjoyed his pasta while occasionally watching Evelyne eat her meal.
It had been a long time since he last saw her enjoying her food like this. Even though they had been separated for a long time, Tristan always remembered that his ex wife loved sushi and spicy fish soup.
'Seeing her smile just because of something simple reminds me of why I loved her in the first place,' thought the man.
Evelyne, who was eating sushi and fish soup, had a little trouble because her long hair kept falling on her face. Every now and then she tucked her hair behind her ears so it wouldn't get in the way of her eating.
Seeing this, Tristan immediately stood up from his seat and walked to his desk. He pulled open a drawer and took something out of it.
At first, Evelyne didn't really pay attention because she was busy filling her stomach. However, suddenly Tristan touched her hair and tied it up with a hair tie.
"Sir, what are you—" She was startled, trying to stop him. But he had already finished tying her hair.
"Your hair kept getting in your face while you were eating. So I just tied it back so it wouldn't bother you," he replied, tying her hair into a ponytail.
Touching the ponytail on her head, Evelyne could only smile and thank him. She watched Tristan return to his seat and continue eating.
What he did reminded her of the past, when every morning Tristan would comb Evelyne's hair and tie it into a ponytail.
He did this on purpose because sometimes her hair would get in her face, but she didn't want to cut it even though it was quite long.
"Thank you, sir. But you don't have to do that. I can do it myself," she said.
"No need to thank me. I used to do it for you before. So just think of it as a little treat from me," he replied.
She nodded her head and continued eating. After a few minutes, she had finished her meal. Now her stomach felt full and she felt relieved.
'It tastes so good. My depleted energy is now fully replenished,' she thought with a smile.
Ring ring... Ring ring...
Her cell phone suddenly rang. When she checked it, she saw that it was a call from Liliana. Her smile immediately faded, because she knew that if Liliana was calling her, it must have something to do with her son's condition.
She glanced at Tristan, who was looking at his own phone. She couldn't answer the call right next to him, because he would surely become suspicious if he overheard their conversation.
"I have to answer the phone, excuse me for a moment."
Without waiting for his response, she walked out of his office and answered Liliana's call.
"Hello? What's wrong, Lili? Did something happen to Luke?" She asked worriedly.
"Nothing, nothing happened to him, but he's been throwing a tantrum because he wants to sleep with you. He said it's been a long time since you last slept with him. So Luke is crying a little because he wants you to accompany him," she said.
She glanced at the wall clock and saw that it was already 9:40 p.m., but she could still hear Luke crying.
Evelyne still didn't know if her work was done or not because Tristan hadn't told her if she was allowed to go home yet.
"Can you give him your phone so I can talk to him?" she asked.
After only a few seconds, she could hear Luke calling her with a sob.
"Mommy... Mommy, come home quickly! I want to sleep with mommy. Sniff sniff... Mommy..."
Her heart broke when she heard her son crying out her name. He was asking her to come home immediately, wanting to sleep with her.
The woman tried to calm her son down, even though she felt very guilty and heartbroken because she couldn't be there for him right now.
"Mommy will be home soon, honey. Don't keep crying, you'll give yourself a headache. Sit quietly and ask Liliana to give you some milk, okay? Mommy will be home soon," she said softly, trying to calm him down.
This was the first time she had heard Luke throw a tantrum. Her son had never been like this before. She was sure that Luke was now feeling tired and lonely, far away from his mother, when he heard his friends at daycare spending time with their parents.
She didn't want to be in this situation either. But circumstances forced her to, and she had to work for the sake of their survival.
While Evelyne was trying to calm Luke down, Tristan suddenly opened the door and walked toward her.
She didn't really notice someone approaching. She kept talking on the phone.
"Okay, honey? I'll be home soon. I'll pack my bag and we'll meet at home, okay? Luke is a good boy, right?" she said in a soft tone.
'Who is she talking to?' he thought suspiciously as he overheard a bit of their conversation.
Tristan knew that tone of voice was usually used by someone talking to a small child.
'And also... Who is Luke?'