Love Began with the First Meeting

Looking around the bar, Maggie managed to find Tompson in the darkness. When she set her eyes on a dark, private corner, she headed there spontaneously. She couldn't even see into the depths of the darkened booth, and though she wasn't sure of it, she felt that he was there. When she got closer to the corner booth, she saw Tompson was there drinking beer alone. There were dozens of empty bottles lying on the table.

Maggie sat down by his side. She glanced at the bottles on the table, and then at Tompson, frowning. "Didn't you say you haven't drunk beer for many years?"

He looked at Maggie with watery eyes. Then he shrugged his shoulders and answered carelessly, "I said that I haven't drunk for a while, but I didn't say that I quit drinking."

Maggie didn't know how to refute that, and she didn't really want to argue with him tonight. Maybe because of the secret past which she finally knew about, or maybe because of this moment, when she could feel his loneliness and sorrow.

"I have heard what happened to your family..." Maggie wanted to find a topic to break the awkward silence, but she just blurted this out without thinking.

He didn't reply immediately. After a few sips, he responded slowly, "It's almost 12 o'clock now. I was thinking that if you didn't show up at 12, I would just leave." He put down the bottle, and looked at her with a self-depreciating smile. Then he said to her, "I didn't know that you and Edgar got married today when I left you the note. I only found out after that, when someone told me over the phone."

Maggie nodded her head, saying, "Yes, we just got married today." She didn't know why she felt a little bit guilty when she admitted that.

"That's good," moving his eyes away, he said to her. "You two have made a lot of effort to be together. Now that you are finally married... Congratulations."

Maggie didn't know how to respond to his words, and she just looked at him with a heavy heart. He still looked like the same person she had known before, who seemed not to care about anything. However, she felt something was different about him. "Tompson," Maggie bit her lips, looked at him and asked, "What are you planning to do next?"

He leaned back against the chair and smiled, "I haven't got any plans yet. Maybe go travelling for a while first. I'll wait to see after the New Year." Tompson turned his head, studying Maggie. Noticing that she was worried about him, he couldn't help laughing, "Look at your face! It almost looks like you think I am going to die."

"Aren't you?" she countered seriously.

Tompson shrugged, saying, "I don't really care about what happened to my family. My father should take the responsibility for what he has done. I do think he deserves that. People are supposed to be responsible for their own actions. As for me, I feel relieved. After all, finally, I don't have to live for them. I can do what I want to do now. I'm free."

Maggie's heart was getting heavier. She ordered a dozen beers, and began to drink with him.

"I am fine with so much beer, but are you sure you can cope?" Tompson asked, looking at her with his deep and sad eyes.

Maggie didn't answer his question, instead, she finished a bottle of beer without any pause. Staring at him tightly, she asked, "Tompson, why did you ask me to come here?"

Though he was shocked by that question, he soon smiled, "Although I haven't drunk beer for many years, I still come here from time to time when I am on holidays. It's been a habit of mine."

His answer surprised Maggie a bit. She thought there would be some sentimental reason for his inviting her. She could always guess out the beginning, but never the end. Maggie wondered aloud, "I thought you would mention the past."

Tompson smiled, "Maggie, we are too old to struggle with the past now." There was a sense of helplessness in his smile; it looked like he was teasing her for not getting over their past.

She stared at him, trying to find out whether he meant it or not. However, it was too hard for her to figure out Tompson's real thoughts. Maybe it was because the past had already been past, or maybe because she hadn't been involved in the story.

"It's twelve o'clock now," Tompson said unexpectedly, his tone ambiguous. "You are here with me on your wedding night," he continued saying in a teasing tone.

Maggie subconsciously reached into her pocket, and found that she didn't have her phone with her. Then she remembered that she had left her phone in her mother's kitchen after a phone call with Monica. She couldn't help rubbing at her forehead. She could already imagine Edgar's red face when she returned to him.

"Where are they now?" Maggie asked a different question, yet she was still thinking about how to face Edgar.

"Who are you talking about?" Tompson asked in reply, pretending that he didn't know.

She frowned at his coy denial. "Susie and Raymond!"

"They..." Tompson shrugged and smiled. "I have no idea. I haven't contacted them since they left."

Maggie believed that he was lying to her. However, his eyes seemed to say to her that he was telling the truth. At that point, she realized that she didn't really know the true him. Therefore she didn't know why he later decided to become a savior who was always waiting to save others after what he had been through.

However, whether she was one of the others, she would never be able to find out.

"You should go home now." He took out some money and placed it under the bottles, then continued, "Or someone may come after me..." Not finishing his words, he saw Edgar standing at the door and laughed, "Someone is here already." Maggie turned to look, and she hoped that her face was not as guilty as she felt. 000000000000000