Chapter 21 I Passed By
Caroline turned to enter her apartment complex and unexpectedly bumped into Leopold standing by the curb. She was taken aback and said, "Leopold?"
Leopold stared intently at the departing car and asked, "Who was that?"
Caroline replied, "Just a high school friend. He works in the education department now."
Leopold smirked, "You got business with the education department too?"
Caroline, not catching his tone, answered honestly, "Yeah, the education department is running a campaign to promote fire safety in schools, and I'm representing the power company to teach electrical safety. Haven't you seen the news? Seaside City News covered it."
"So, you're doing the campaign together?" Leopold looked away, "I haven't been keeping up with the news. I don't watch much TV."
Caroline thought about how busy he had been with the new hotel opening and said, "Were you waiting for me?"
Leopold paused, "I was just passing by."
"Passing by?" Caroline found it hard to believe, "In this cold weather, you're walking home instead of driving?"
It was a hard story to sell, so Leopold explained, "Exercise. I'm very disciplined."
Caroline smiled helplessly and pointed to the apartment gate, "I'm heading in. Don't let me keep you from your workout."
Leopold called after her, "Wait a minute."
Caroline turned back, "Anything else?"
Leopold smiled meaningfully, "Your high school friend is pretty considerate, driving you all the way here and even getting out to walk you to the door?"
This time she caught his implication. Caroline wasn't going to let Leopold have the last word.
"What do you mean by that?"
She turned, marching over to Leopold with a determined stride. They were a step apart, and because of his height advantage, she had to tilt her head up. From Leopold's angle, she looked small and rather cute.
"I don't mean anything, but it seems like he has feelings for you," Leopold said.
Caroline asked, "How do you know he has feelings for me?"
Leopold replied casually, "I can tell."
Caroline gave him a look, "You're quite the observer."
"He was pretty obvious about it. But judging by your reaction, are you ready for a new relationship?" Leopold probed, "Moved on from the past?"
The more she listened, the more she felt his tone was intentionally snide. Caroline decided to give Leopold a taste of his own medicine.
Caroline smirked and teased, "Leopold, you're so concerned about my love life. Do you have feelings for me?"
His smile froze for a moment, as if Caroline had caught him off guard, but he quickly regained his composure and scoffed, "I think it's you who has feelings for me."
Caroline laughed, "Did you have an umbrella up when God was handing out brains?"
Just as Leopold was about to retort, Caroline sprinted to the apartment gate, swiping her card to get in quickly.
"You!"
"Go home and sleep, you'll have everything in your dreams," Caroline taunted, waving at him through the gate, "Bye-bye!"
After their exchange, Leopold disappeared from Caroline's life for a while. During this time, Griffin became more involved in her life. He was pleasant to be around and respected her boundaries. Though he never explicitly said he wanted to pursue her, it was clear to everyone that Griffin was interested. However, Caroline kept things strictly platonic.
Griffin was indeed a great candidate for marriage, but she just didn't feel that romantic spark.
After dinner, Caroline received a call from Griffin. He invited her to play badminton at a nearby gym. Feeling the need to work off some extra pounds, she agreed.
Thinking about exercise reminded Caroline of Leopold's night runs.
He seemed to have vanished, no sightings, no calls, not even social media posts.
At 7 PM, the gym was bustling. Caroline, dressed in black activewear, looked energetic and fresh with her short hair.
Griffin waved from a badminton court, "Caroline, over here."
Caroline smiled, raised her racket, and walked over.
"Here, for energy," Griffin handed her a sports drink. Caroline took out her thermos and said, "Thanks, but I brought hot cocoa."
"Let's get started." Caroline was eager.
"Not so fast. Warm up first, don't want you getting hurt," Griffin advised.
Caroline stretched and loosened up while Griffin took a call. It sounded like his boss was giving him more tasks.
After he hung up, they took positions on opposite sides of the net. Caroline served first. Despite her slender arms, she had a strong serve. After a few rounds, Griffin was visibly winded, while Caroline was just getting into her groove, attracting a small crowd.
Griffin noticed some familiar faces in the crowd, feeling a bit self-conscious.
As Caroline retrieved a shuttlecock that landed out of bounds, she spotted a familiar figure—Leopold.
Her heart skipped a beat, but she masked her feelings and calmly returned to the court.
Maybe it was Leopold's presence, but Caroline's next serve felt off. She made a mistake and blushed as she served again. The shuttlecock arched high over the net, and Griffin stepped forward to return it, scoring a point.
People praised Griffin's shot, not noticing Caroline had hurt her knee in the process.
Griffin acknowledged his acquaintances in the crowd.
In the next game, Caroline barely scored, running all over the court while Griffin dominated. Her stamina was clearly waning.
Suddenly, someone from the crowd said, "I'll play a match."
Caroline wiped the sweat from her brow and turned to see Leopold stepping forward. Before she could react, he took her racket and asked softly, "Did you hurt your knee?"
Caroline replied, "I injured it before."
Leopold nodded, "Go rest."
Griffin, standing farther away, couldn't hear their conversation but sensed they were familiar.
Leopold raised the racket, signaling Griffin to serve. Feeling challenged, Griffin hit the shuttlecock hard.
Leopold leapt up, raising the racket high above his head, and smashed the shuttlecock to the ground behind Griffin.