Devoted Love, Mr. Hayes’ Darling Wife

This winter, before Christmas Eve, Severo Laris took Paula Rouco to do something extraordinarily memorable.

Severo Laris first took Paula Rouco on a tour of New York.

He took her to all the nooks and crannies she had visited over the past seven years.

A coffee shop on a Chinese street in New York with floor-to-ceiling windows overlooking the bustle of people of all races on the street.

Severo Laris says that for the past seven years, when he’s not traveling, he always comes to this cafe when he has a free moment and doesn’t know what to do, to sit and think about his past.

He also sits on a lounger in Times Square, looking at the shapes and sizes, the skyscrapers and the sun, but no matter how busy and bustling the surroundings, he is alone.

Severo Laris also said he had attended a total of two weddings in the seven years since he broke up with her.

Once was his older brother Fang He’s wedding at Harvard and another was that of his good friend Shen Yu Bai.

Shen Yu Bai, Paulita does not know.

Paula Rouco asks, “Who is Shen Yuanbai?”

Severo Laris reached up and zipped up his down jacket, wrapped the scarf around her neck and said, “Shen Yuanbai is a former student I met at Harvard. Over time, we became good friends.”

Paula Rouco elbowed him in the little mouth, “How have you made so many good friends since you broke up with me?”

Severo Laris looked at her jealous little face and laughed lightly, “I don’t know many people, only two or three. Next time I’m free, I’ll teach you Shen Yuanbai.”

Paula Rouco turned her head forward and growled softly, “I’m not interested in meeting your best friend, not that he was my best friend.”

Severo Laris rubbed his nose and took her hand between his, and slipped it into his coat pocket. “After I broke up with you, I had hardly any social life, even Shen met Bai, but I met him at work.”

Paula Rouco said, “I thought you were going to throw firecrackers after breaking up with me.”

“…”

Severo Laris couldn’t help but pull her into a hug and raise his hand to scratch her nose, “You don’t even like your husband?”

Paula Rouco ducked her head against his chest, “Who told you to go out with so many good friends behind my back?”Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDrâ/ma.O(r)g!

Severo Laris bent down to smooth her fur and kissed the top of her hair reassuringly, “My best friend from now on will only be Paula Rouco, okay?”

Paula Rouco gave him a blank stare, “I’m not going to be your best friend, I’m Mrs. Laris!”.

Severo Laris nodded and agreed with a fond smile, “Mrs. Laris said yes.”

The little girl’s small hand tickled his palm and she asked, “You said you had been to two weddings in those seven years, and you haven’t finished.”

Severo Laris said, “After two weddings, I didn’t want to go to any more.”

“Why?”

Severo Laris looked at her with a dark, affectionate look and said, “As I watched them marry their beloved, I wanted to marry my beloved, too, and it was easy to get sentimental, and so I simply stopped attending other people’s weddings.”

Paula Rouco looked at his mention of those seven years, the occasional lassitude in his eyes, and went over to hug him, burying her little face in his arms, arching them and saying in a squeaky voice, “Severo Laris, congratulations, now that you are finally married to the one you love.”

Severo Laris smiled, held out his hand and hugged her, giving her a gentle shake, “Paula Rouco amiguita, then I congratulate you too, for finally marrying the one you love.”

Paula Rouco was buried in his arms, smiling like a squirrel and laughing.