Chapter 56 Don't Cry
Natalie held the phone to her ear and put her other hand on the edge of the bed. She couldn't see his expression, but when she heard his voice, she unconsciously imagined what he looked like now.
If she were by his side, he would have pinched her face, pretend to be serious, and glared at her. He might look like he was going to teach her a lesson, but in fact, he was just pretending and could not do anything with her.
To be honest, it was indeed her fault that night. She let him stop at the last step, but he chose to suffer instead of hurting her... Few men would do this for her.
Maybe it was pampering.
Natalie pursed her lips and thought he was pitiful, so she let out low laughter.
"Are you laughing?" Luke on the phone heard it.
Natalie couldn't help laughing out loud. She felt guilty and distressed at the same time, so she said softly, "I'm sorry, can you forgive me?"
Luke snorted lightly, sounding arrogant.
Natalie laughed and knew she had to coax her boyfriend, so she said coyly with a flushed face, "Next time, you can do whatever you want."
"You're a liar," Luke sighed.
"I won't go back on my words again..."
Her meekness was heart-warming, so Luke thought about her words quietly and suddenly smiled helplessly, "Whatever. I am your man, so I will listen to you no matter what."
Hearing this, Natalie looked down at her black shoes with a smile.
Then, he said with unlimited indulgence in his voice, "I am willing to do anything for you."
-
Almost all the doctors looked forward to studying at the Wolsher Institute of Medical Life Sciences. It was established more than a thousand years, and its clinical and scientific research quality and laboratory facilities were top-notch. It had fostered many first-class doctors and produced countless medical achievements.
Natalie thought coming here to learn from Mateo was the luckiest thing in her life except for meeting Luke.
The student dormitory and the research institute were in the same block, so it would take only a few minutes to walk there. The next day, Natalie and Sarah went to the research institute together and met Mateo, who they had long admired.
Mateo was a tall and graceful man although he had a gray beard and hair. He was wearing wore a pair of round reading glasses and a business suit. Seeing him, Natalie couldn't help thinking of unshaven Captain Bostabaca. She thought that the elder could also look elegant and that Mateo must be as handsome as a movie star when he was young.
On the way here, Sarah said, "Natalie, I'm feeling nervous. I heard Mateo is very fierce and strict."
Natalie also had such concerns. After all, he was one of the best doctors in the world, so he must have high requirements for his students.
But it turned out that they had overthought.
Mateo was very kind. He bought them coffee in the cafe of the institute and chatted with them casually.
He told Sarah that he thought the cuisine of Churnell was delicious and then praised the culture of Estain, and said that he liked it very much. He also spoke highly of Estain Traditional Medicine and asked Natalie to tell him more about her ancient homeland.
They got along very well, and the happy atmosphere made them look like friends instead of a teacher and two students.
Natalie was afraid that she might be reprimanded every day and could only deal with cold medical equipment in this unfamiliar country. She even imagined she would live as if she was expelled and only dare to cry secretly here.
But now, all the worries disappeared.
Her life in a foreign country began.
Natalie was in Wolsher, while Luke was in Athana, so they had a time difference of twelve hours.
They talked on the phone twice a day at 8 a.m. and evening when both of them had time.
At the other time, they were busy with their own business. Natalie was doing high-intense theoretical and practical exercises every day in the research institute, while Luke was fully occupied dealing with the intensifying infighting in the Bennington Group.
They could only chat with each other for about half an hour every day to relax, and if there was an emergency, they could chat for merely a few minutes.
But Natalie did not mind it. The call with him became a thing she looked forward to before going to bed every day, and it gave her more motivation when she dealt with the boring knowledge and experimental data.
Neither of them expected she would go abroad before. There was a time difference of 12 hours, so a round trip would take at least a whole day. At present, neither of them could afford the time.
Maybe they would not be able to reunite this year, and even if they met, the time together would be short. Natalie was already mentally prepared.
In Wolsher, Natalie was doing medical research with Mateo every day. The research was very difficult, so she felt exhausted. But she had always put Luke in her mind, so she would take a picture as long as she saw something interesting and send it to him.
Sometimes it was Wolsher's tasty food, and sometimes it was the pretty sunset she saw on the street. Luke sometimes replied with a photo of Athana's sunrise. Both of their suns were on the horizon, but one was going up, and the other was going down.
When she had her student ID from the institute, she also immediately took a picture and sent it to him.
One day, when Mateo was teaching them about bone tumors in the laboratory, Natalie took a picture of a medical instrument and sent it to Luke. She exclaimed instrument was really powerful, but she thought it was too expensive because it would cost more than one billion dollars.
Luke asked whether she wanted one.
After she replied with a question mark, he said, "I'll buy one for you if you like it."
Natalie was so shocked that she asked whether he was insane. But she then thought he might buy one, so she emphasized that she didn't want one and that such instruments should only exist in medical institutions to contribute to medical science.
There was always a chubby cat squatting under the sequoia in the research institute, and Natalie did not know who raised it. She took a picture of it and sent it to Luke at noon. She said it looked so cute that she wanted to raise one when she got back home
As soon as she sent the message out, she regretted it and said she would not raise cats at home because they were too wild and might bully Fourteen.
After subconsciously mentioning Fourteen, Natalie began to feel sad.
At 8 a.m. in Athana, Luke did not mention her sadness but wrote that she could raise whatever she wanted and that she had the final say at home.
Natalie was walking on a bustling street and heading back to her dormitory now. When she saw his message, she smiled because it seemed as if they already had a home.
Sarah took her arm and leaned over to look at her phone. Unfortunately, she couldn't read the language, so she said, "Nata, is this message from your boyfriend?"
"Yes." Natalie looked at her with sweetness in her eyes.
After Sarah expressed her envy, Natalie smiled, "Your boyfriend is also very good. He came to see you a few days ago."
When Sarah's boyfriend came, they made loud noises when making out. The two bedrooms were next to each other, and the wall was not soundproof. Natalie heard their voices clearly and blushed with embarrassment. She pretended to fetch water in the living room because she wanted to make some sounds to remind them, but they did not hear them at all.
"He's not bad, but we broke up." Sarah shrugged.
Natalie was surprised and asked, "Why?"
They looked inseparable two days ago.
"Long distance relationship is too tiring, and he met a more suitable woman," Sarah said. When Natalie was about to comfort her, she winked and said, "That's great! I'm more interested in the burly men in Wolsher. I don't have to be faithful to him anymore!"
Natalie was speechless.
So, they had sex after deciding to break up? Natalie could not understand their outlook on relationships.
Sarah paused her steps and whispered in her ear, "Nata, did you see that handsome guy at the door of the convenience store?"
Natalie followed her gaze and saw a man in a sweater and overalls leaning against a streetlamp while smoking a cigar. He had thick eyebrows and big eyes and looked muscular.
Seeing him, Natalie thought of Luke squinting his long eyes while sluggishly smoking a cigarette. When the smoke rose, his face looked blurry in the night.
Suddenly, her heart skipped a beat.
When Natalie was in a daze, Sarah dragged her across the street and said, "Let's go to ask for his number."
Sarah was good at flirting with men, so they soon chatted with each other happily. However, the handsome guy was staring at Natalie all the time. He dated too many hot girls, so he could not help feeling interested in this pure pretty girl.
Therefore, Natalie hit his fancy.
While Sarah went into the convenience store to buy water, the handsome blonde smiled and asked whether Natalie had time to have a cup of coffee in his apartment nearby.
Natalie pretended not to understand his invitation and said with a smile, "My boyfriend doesn't like me going to another man's apartment."
"I know it's lonely to live in Bostabaca alone." The handsome blond lowered his voice and said ambiguously with a cigar in his mouth, "Don't take it too seriously. It will just be a one-night stand, right?"
When Natalie got back to the dormitory, she took a shower, sat on the bed, and wrote a message to Luke to tell him about what had happened just now and complain that the blond had been too blatant to ask a girl to cheat on her boyfriend.
Luke called her after two minutes.
It was sunrise in Athana, so Luke just woke up. He asked in a hoarse voice, "Where?"
"What?" Natalie held a pillow in confusion.
"Where's that bastard?"
Natalie heard the displeasure in his tone, so she replied obediently, "I don't know. I left right away after I refused him."
Luke cursed in a low voice on the phone.
Natalie asked softly, "Are you angry?"
"My woman was sexually harassed! Can't I be angry?" he said, wishing he would fly over and kill the bastard right now.
Natalie just wanted to complain about this matter, but his reaction made her feel warm, so she missed him more in an instant.
She showed a warm smile and said softly, "I told him that you and I are devoted to each other and that you are much more handsome than him."
It was easy to read her mind. When she was very docile or clingy, she must be missing him.
Luke cooled down and asked lightly, "Do you miss me?"
"Yes," Natalie lowered her head and slowly touched the fluffy pillow with her fingertips, replying, "I miss you."
She was a shy girl, but now, she did not hide her emotions, and it meant she missed him very much.
Luke kept silent for a while.
"It's been more than four months..." Natalie counted silently in her heart, thinking there were still twelve months left.
When she was busy, she felt like time was flying, but when she was free, she felt the days were too long.
Luke's schedule was so tight that he couldn't see her frequently when she was in Alcomara, but now, she was farther away in Wolsher.
After a moment of silence, he said, "I'll meet you in a few days."
"No!" Natalie quickly refused. She knew he was too busy to leave Athana, otherwise, he would have come long ago. She thought for a while and said, "I am very busy, so I won't have time to see you if you come now."
He laughed and replied, "What should I do? I miss you too much."
"How much do you miss me?" Natalie smiled.
Luke kept silent for a while and sighed, "I missed you so much that my hand was tired every day."
Natalie was confused to hear it at first, but after thinking about it for a while, she suddenly understood what he meant and snapped with flushed cheeks, "Luke!"
"Yes?" He smiled and responded obediently.
She said in a low voice, "Don't tell me dirty jokes..."
"Baby, all men have physiological needs." To trap her, he said in a natural tone, "It's normal for me to imagine when masturbating."
"What did you imagine?" Natalie couldn't help feeling curious.
"I imagined..."
He deliberately paused, slowed down, and said in a lazy voice, "I imagined how soft your tongue was that night."
As soon as he finished speaking, some exciting pictures popped into Natalie's mind, so she said ashamedly, "Shut up."
Luke continued to tease her, "Why? I helped you too. Don't you like it?"
"It is you that like it!" Natalie said stubbornly.
"I do like it," he laughed, "Didn't you hear it?"
Natalie knew he had some bad intentions when asking the question, but she still hesitantly asked, "What?"
Luke said softly and slowly, "You made me gasp so heavily! Why do you ask me this question as if you don't know the answer?"
Natalie blushed and remained silent.
But he deliberately emphasized with a smile, "If you want to listen more, there will be many opportunities in the future."
-
There were many couples on the streets of Wolsher. On Natalie's way to and back from the research institute, she could see a few couples kissing in public every day.
Every time she saw a sweet couple, she thought of Luke and envied them sticking together like this. But the feeling of missing a person was also wonderful.
The distance between Natalie and Luke was about 10,500 kilometers, and this brought her to a very earthy saying: Although their bodies were so far apart, as long as their souls were sticking together, it would not be difficult to endure the long distance.
True love would not be defeated by distance, and Natalie believed she was different from Sarah.
Luke often sent gifts to her at various festivals, and she also sent him gifts when she saw a nice tie in the mall or ate some delicious chocolates because she liked to share good things with him.
After those gifts traveled far across the sea, they brought deep affections over to the receiver.
May was the prime of cherry blossoms in Wolsher.
The retro-style street from the research institute to the dormitory had luxuriant linden trees on one side and cherry trees on the other. The pink and white flowers were in full bloom now.
Natalie was in Alcomara last spring, and the cherry blossoms at Alcomara No.2 Hospital were also beautiful. It was a pity that she didn't admire the beautiful flowers together with Luke back then.
She was in Wolsher now, so she still could not do it this year.
Today was Mateo's birthday, and the institute held a party for him. The atmosphere of the party was good. Because Natalie and Sarah were Mateo's new students, so many people had come to drink with them.
Sarah was a good drinker, so she readily drank with everyone, and Natalie also had to drink some.
When the party was over, Natalie was drunk. A teacher drove them back to the dormitory, and Sarah helped her back to her bedroom.
She was very drunk, so she fell asleep as soon as she was put on the bed. After sleeping for about an hour, she suddenly woke up, sat up on the bed, and took out her phone from her bag.
As soon as the screen was turned on, she saw there were several missed calls.
She sobered up and hurriedly called back to Luke. It was about ten in the morning in Athana, so she thought he might be busy working, and the phone was picked up after two seconds.
He asked anxiously "Where are you now?"
"I'm in my dormitory..." Natalie was very guilty. She told him that she had gotten drunk at Mateo's birthday party, fallen asleep, and forgotten to check her phone.
Luke kept silent for a long time.
After she glanced at the screen in confusion, she found the cellphone reception was normal, so she said softly, "Luke, are you still there?"
After a while, he responded in a low voice, saying, "Yes.".
"I was drunk." Natalie knew he was angry, so she wrinkled her nose and murmured, "... I didn't mean to miss your call."
Luke took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "Didn't I tell you that you're not allowed to drink alcohol while I'm away?"
She did not expect him to be angry about his, so she kept silent for a moment and then said hesitantly, "You did tell me so before... But all the others at the party were drinking, so it was hard for me to refuse."
Luke snapped on the phone, "You went to Wolsher to study instead of partying!"
Hearing this, Natalie felt wronged and wanted to cry.
Luke realized that his tone was too harsh, so after two seconds, he sighed, "You're too far away, so I can't help you in time if you get in trouble."
It was the first time that he was so fierce toward her, so she felt aggrieved. Sitting on the bed, she said with red eyes, "I'm sorry... I won't drink alcohol anymore. Don't be angry..."
There was a hint of sobs in her voice, so Luke was startled. Realizing that he had scolded her so harshly that she cried, he changed his attitude right away and gently whispered, "Don't cry."
Natalie did not completely sober up. Because she was still drunk, she couldn't hold her tears back but began to cry out loud on the phone.
"Honey, don't cry," Luke began to coax her in a soft voice, "I was wrong. I am sorry."