The weekend ended sooner than it came. How did the two days flew by, Shui Xian couldn't even tell! It was again, Monday! No matter how rigorous or workaholic he had become in recent years, he still couldn't bring himself to like Monday mornings! It was like Monday mornings were a curse that he couldn't be freed from.
But his wife was different. Whether it was her life or her biological clock, everything was already planned for her. She'd never complain about Monday mornings. She still woke up early in the morning, put on her tracksuit, and tied up her sneakers.
While she did all of this energetically, Shui Xian followed suit with half-opened eyes. Yes, he was still struggling to get out of the dreamland. But he willed himself to have enough consciousness to follow her out for a morning jog.
As the early morning cold breeze hit Shui Xian's face, he was finally pulled out of the dreamland. His eyes opened up and as he inhaled the fresh air, it made him feel refreshing. It not only helped him in waking up but also made him feel invigorated!
Just like it had been happening for days, their path was met with a fluffy dog who loved to jump around whenever she saw Shui Xian. And as always, he couldn't help squatting down to rub Coco's head lovingly.
"Were you waiting for me?" he asked with a huge grin hanging on his lips. Coco leaned into his hand and let him rub her all over without feeling shy or hostile. Shui Xian had to say that Coco was very intelligent. She not only recognized him, but she had also begun to wait for him. "Where is your ball? Why didn't you bring it, eh?" Coco gave a low bark as if giving him a reply, to which, he laughed and looked around trying to find her ball but couldn't see it. "Did you lose it?"
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtRaelle really wondered how could he continue to communicate with a dog. The dog didn't even reply. Wasn't it just like talking to yourself? Then how could he enjoy it so much? And how come he always turned into a different person whenever he came across this dog? He looked like a carefree person, unrestrained, with gentleness and care sparkling through his eyes. He also felt lighthearted.
This thought made Raelle's eyes set on Coco for a while. No one could tell what she was thinking but she continued to look at that dog for a long while in silence.
"Give me your paw," he said and Coco followed his words. As she put the paw in Shui Xian's hands, he magically conjured up a treat and put it into her mouth. After fooling around happily with Coco, he said, "You should go look for your owner now! I'll see you tomorrow!" And then he reluctantly let Coco run away. "She is a very happy dog. So cute!"
Raelle looked at him, "The dog likes you."
Shui Xian smiled at his wife as he nodded, "Coco likes me because I like her." He looked in the direction Coco vanished and added, "Dogs are very sensitive to human emotions. They can actually tell whether you have good intentions towards them or bad. They become sad when they feel their owner is sad. They can feel the pain of their owner. And they'd often try to play with the owner to lift up their mood. Dogs are just special."
"Oh, even dogs are better than me when it comes to emotions," she muttered out loud and left Shui Xian staring at her face dumbfoundedly. "What?" Noticing his gaze, she inquired. "Why are you looking at me like that?"
Shui Xian placed his hand on Raelle's head as he bent his waist to come to her eye level. "Wifey, what really runs through this brain of yours?"
"Currently, my brain is trying to calculate the wind velocity," she said with a straight face.
"Huh?" Shui Xian didn't know whether to laugh or cry. Because he didn't know whether she was being serious or was joking with him!
"Why didn't you laugh?" she questioned making him raise his brow. "I just tried to make a joke here."
Shui Xian's lips twitched for a while before he chuckled at her helplessly, "Either something is wrong with your sense of humor or something is wrong with me who really wants to laugh right now."
"There is a third option," she said. "Maybe something is wrong with both of us."
Shui Xian pursed his lips and nodded in agreement, "It makes sense."
"Let's go back now," said Raelle.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏm"Wait!" he held her wrist to stop her. And as she turned around, he kneeled down before her. "Your shoelace came off. Let me fix it for you." Raelle's eyes were fixed on the back of his head from above while his pretty hands tied her shoelace. Then he stood up and dusted off his hands saying, "It's done. Let's go now."
As they walked back towards the house, Shui Xian asked, "Do you like ice-cream?" When he saw the expressionless face of Raelle, he answered himself, "Right. You can eat anything." He sighed internally before adding, "So, you really don't have a favorite flavor?"
"No," she replied.
"And you don't have one that you dislike either?"
"No," the answer was exactly the same once again.
"So, you can eat even mint chocolate chip?" he questioned and she shrugged her shoulders indifferently. "We really have to do something about your likes and dislikes," he mumbled mostly to himself. More like he was reminding himself to work on a plan.
"Do you have a favorite flavor?" she asked all of a sudden even surprising Shui Xian. She was curious about his likes and dislikes.
Why was this simple question enough to make him want to smile widely like a lunatic? Was there a short-circuit happening in his brain now?
Clearing his mind and his throat, he answered, "I love vanilla and chocolate. Both are versatile. These two can never go wrong!"
Raelle had come to notice that when Shui Xian talked about something that loved, the corners of his eyes would crinkle softly. It felt like his eyes were smiling. And she found it quite interesting.