The Second Love
The moment Dominic tapped me on my head, I lost my train of thought. Knitting my eyebrows, I snapped, “It doesn't concern you. In fact, you're the silly one, not me.” Dominic raised his eyebrows. “Come on. We have just rekindled our relationship. And yet, you're already throwing your weight around?” As long as I didn't cross his threshold, I wasn't afraid of him at all. When Dominic was spoiling me back then, he would always do whatever I asked regardless of how unreasonable it was. Thrusting my chin in the air, I replied smugly, “That's right. I'm having my way. What are you going to do about it?” Dominic looked at me thoughtfully. Before I could react, he lowered his head and swiftly gave my lips a peck. “Go ahead. You have my permission to have everything your way.”I burst into laughter at his nonsensical answer. “Are you sure?” “It's just that you're not allowed to go near any man except me.” I couldn't hold my laughter back again. Is he jealous? “Couples nowadays like to publicly display their affection.” When a passerby complained, I couldn't help but blush. Reaching my hand out to pinch his waist, I declared, “Next time, don't kiss me in public.” Dominic grabbed my hand immediately. “Next time, I'll kiss you passionately in public.” Dumbfounded, I wondered if I had heard him wrong. “Why do you have to behave that way? You should be more mindful of your actions.” Stopping in his tracks, he leaned closer to me with a devilish smile. “Why should I be mindful of my surroundings when I kiss my own girlfriend? They should count themselves lucky that I didn't feel that they were in the way.” Blinking my eyes, I relished the feeling of being spoiled, especially how good it felt to hear Dominic say the word “girlfriend.” Suddenly, I felt that I was smitten by every word Dominic said. Just when I was lost in thought, he held my hand and led me through the streets. “Do you want a lollipop? I remember that you used to love them.” Before I fully regained my senses, my eyes lit up at the sight of lollipops. Nodding, I answered, “I do.” Back then, I did love lollipops just like a kid. In fact, I liked all the things that kids loved to eat. Dominic had also laughed at me many times over the fact. Nevertheless, he would still buy one for me every time. Thinking about that reminded me of Julius. At that time, Julius and I had just gotten together. On one of our dates, I saw some lollipops and couldn't resist buying them. However, Julius had commented that it was embarrassing for me to have them. Not only had he not bought them for me, but he had also forbidden me from doing so and pulled me away instead. Back then, I had kept my temper in check. However, I was still angry at why he thought having lollipops was an embarrassment. Looking at Dominic who was now paying for my lollipop, I recognized the great contrast between the two men. Despite being a lot richer than Julius, Dominic didn't feel eating lollipops was disgraceful at all. “Stop spacing out. Hold this.” Dominic's voice brought me back to reality as I happily received my lollipop. Holding Dominic's hand, I sucked on my lollipop as we chatted while walking. “Here, you can have the last bit.”I handed the lollipop to him. This was one of our old habits. Dominic never had a sweet tooth. Nevertheless, I still liked to share whatever I was eating with him. Hence, I would always save a little bit for him which he would eat in acquiescence. Now that five years had passed, I wanted to see if he remembered it. Dominic lowered his gaze and looked at me before glancing at the lollipop. After that, he opened his mouth and finished it. I chuckled at once. This is wonderful! Looks like he remembers it too. For the entire afternoon, Dominic and I leisurely strolled through the historical town and enjoyed the relaxing atmosphere. When I realized it was time to meet Xenia for dinner, I sent them our location and asked them to look for us. While sightseeing with Dominic earlier, I saw a barbeque restaurant that seemed to be popular. Suddenly, I missed having Dominic's barbequed meat, which I hadn't had in a long time. Every time we had barbequed meat, I would be the one eating while Dominic would be responsible for cooking. More importantly, he was a mean cook. Contrary to my expectations, Xenia and Jennie arrived in a very short time. When I saw both of them holding bags, I knew they went shopping by themselves. The barbeque restaurant that we went to was really packed. Even though we had gotten a queue number in advance, we still had to wait for half an hour for our seats. The dinner's atmosphere was a lot merrier than I expected. Since we were all schoolmates, there were many common topics to chat about despite us not being that close. It was just that Xenia and Jennie weren't used to the fact that Dominic had taken the initiative to cook. In fact, I even noticed them observing him occasionally. If not for the fact that I was used to it, I would also find it difficult to believe that someone like Dominic was cooking. “Stop staring at him. It's not like you haven't seen him before. Come and have some meat. It's delicious. Other than myself, both of you are the first to enjoy such a privilege.” That was the truth. Although Camille and I were close and she would join us for meals, she didn't like barbeque, as she would smell of smoke after that. Chewing a piece of meat, Jennie uttered with her mouth full, “I'm really surprised at the attention he is showing us. Having meat cooked by the campus hunk is a privilege indeed. In fact, it even tastes like haute cuisine.” Xenia patted her on the back. “Stop deluding yourself. If not for Liliana, there's no way we would get to enjoy this special occasion.” I couldn't help but laugh. Why didn't I realize that both of them have such a sense of humor before? “Do you think it tastes like haute cuisine?” Jennie replied with a serious expression, “I'll let you know the answer the day I can afford some.” Unable to resist the laughter, I spat out the water I was drinking back into the glass. Dominic, who was sitting beside me, quickly wiped my face with a tissue for me. “Liliana, are you still a kid?” I chortled. “She's hilarious.” Xenia also handed me a tissue and lamented, “Given how close both of you are, I didn't believe that you broke up. When I saw you attend the reunion with Camille, Jen and I couldn't believe our eyes. Back then, we even wondered if Camille had done something. But now that both of you have reconciled, it looks like she didn't succeed.” Dominic turned toward her at once. With a darkened expression, he asked, “Why would you say that?” I looked at Xenia too, curious to learn whether Camille had done something that I wasn't aware of.
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