Walking out from the commander's office, Kevin sighed in relief. He finally got around fixing what he intended to. As a man, he must be responsible for what he promised. If he couldn't do it, then he shouldn't make such a promise. He told Louisa that he'd get her a present later. He felt obligated since he was at her birthday party. So he bought it and handed it over to the Commander to avoid getting too close to the girl. She did have a crush on him, and that wouldn't end well.

  He went back to his office and checked his phone. He wanted to see if Leena had called, or at least texted. But there was nothing on the screen. Leena had been in Paris for a few days now and all she did was call him to let him know she landed safely. In the last few days, she hadn't even sent a text. What was she so busy doing? She should at least have tried to contact him.

  Fingertips sliding across the screen, Kevin idly scrolled through his apps. He thought maybe he could call her. But it was 2 o'clock in the morning there. She'd be asleep for sure, tucked into bed. Well, he decided to call her in the afternoon, when it was daytime in Paris.

  Kevin could not help frowning slightly when he recalled Leena's reluctance to leave him when he sent her off at the airport. He thought Leena was unwilling to stay away from him. But he also wondered; was she pretending to show her reluctance? Was it all an act? Or did she really want to be with him? If she was really reluctant, why hadn't she called? How cold, he thought. Now that he hadn't heard from her, he thought maybe he'd call, hopefully catching her at a good time. But every time when he thought about this, it would be in the middle of the night or later, thanks to the time difference. What's more, he would always forget it when he got busy at work. Oh, God! He was so tangled up and couldn't see any way out of it.

  At the same time, Leena, who was in Paris now, was still wide awake and not sleepy at all. Big eyes staring at the screen of her cel

  He was not sure whether he was happy to hear from her or he should blame her for not living a healthy life. His hand, which originally was about to pull the door open, stopped in the air. He stopped walking and stood still.

  "Hee hee! I'm about to go to bed! Am I interrupting you at work?" Leena always cared about his work. After all, he was career military and had a different job from ordinary white-collar workers. She did not want to distract him if he was super busy. There was always time to talk when he got home.

  "No. I'm free now. How are you doing there? Are you used to it yet?" Kevin walked to the sofa and sat down, worry showing on his handsome face.

  "I'm doing great here! Don't forget it, I lived here for years. There's no way I couldn't be used to it." Her apartment in Paris was bought by Duke. He wanted to prepare a comfortable place for Leena to stay and also hired a house-maid. But Leena let the maid go before she went back home because a maid would not be necessary. So she was the only one in the apartment now.

  "How's your dissertation? Is it going well?"

  Kevin did not know how long she'd be staying in Paris. Without her home, he always felt that something was not right in that house. It was cold because she wasn't there. Once he got used to it, there was no denying something was missing.