“Yes, sir! Will do!" Joshua dug into his ear with his finger, impatient.

“I'm tired, I'm going to bed now," he added. His dad was relentless. Everyone else's kids were great, but he was always a disappointment.

“Humph!" Turning his eyes to Gifford, Darius relaxed and his expression became friendly.

“Good night, Gifford. You need anything, just grab

Joshua," he said.

"Got it. Thank you, Uncle Darius," Gifford nodded.

After his father left, Joshua kicked Gifford in the shins and said, "Do you have to be so ingratiating? I swear, Dad treats you and Sheffield like kings and all I get is crap!" Gifford massaged his bruised shins

Then he raised his eyebrows proudly and said, “Let's go, dude. I'm beat!"

“Fuck off!" Joshua took him to the guest room.

As soon as the door of the guest room was closed, Gifford asked in a low voice, "How long have Evelyn and Sheffield been dating, anyway?"

Joshua cast a sidelong glance at him and said sarcastically, “Why? I thought the proud Colonel Gifford had no interest in gossip."

"I'm shook, okay?" It never occurred to Gifford that Sheffield had won over the lovely Evelyn, and Evelyn had conquered Sheffield's frivolous heart.

He remembered that they vowed not to get married before thirty. The one who broke the rule had to have sex with another gal the night before the wedding. But this was Evelyn, and that changed everything. Maybe he could relax that vow, for her.

"I told you. When Sheffield was in Flando, gathering materials for his research project,” Joshua replied.

“Oh yeah, I remember now. How'd that go, anyway?"

“Pretty well, as I recall. And that's where he met Evelyn." Joshua casually lay down on the bed.

Gifford asked him a few more questions to clear his doubts before allowing him to go back to his own room.

Looking around Sheffield's apartment, Evelyn wanted to clean up the messy living room, at first. But then she realized that she wasn't good at housework, so she gave up on the idea. She squatted down in front of

Sheffield and gently called his name, “Sheffield.”

In his drunken state, Sheffield could barely stay awake. But he heard

Evelyn's voice. He pulled her into his arms and nuzzled her neck.

“Evelyn, I'm sorry..

Evelyn choked with sobs. ‘I'm the one who should be saying that. I came here to apologize to him. Why did he apologize to me, then?' she thought to herself.

She pressed her cheek against his lips.

“It's me who's sorry. For everything. You don't have to apologize