He Timed Our Dates, But Gave Her All His Time—So I Stopped Time For Us Chapter 06

He Timed Our Dates, But Gave Her All His Time—So I Stopped Time For Us Chapter 06

After that night, Julian disappeared for several days.

The parking spot across from the gallery remained empty.

I thought he had finally given up.

Then the weekend came, and Evan and I made plans to see a movie.

When I walked out of my apartment building, Julian was leaning against his car with two tickets in his hand

They were for the new film by my favorite independent director.

When he saw Evan beside me, his eyes turned cold.

“Vera Thompson, I bought tickets for the movie you wanted to see.”

He held them up like a declaration of ownership.

I ignored him and walked toward Evan’s car.

Julian rushed forward and blocked my path.

“Are you really going to keep doing this?”

His eyes were bloodshot.

He looked exhausted and disheveled.

“What do I have to do to make you come back?”

Evan got out of the car and stepped in front of me.

His voice was polite but firm.

“Sir, please stop harassing Vera.”

“Who the hell are you? This is between me and her!”

Julian lost control and shoved Evan aside.

I stared at him.

He looked like a stranger.

The eternally composed and disciplined Julian Mitchell was apparently capable of acting recklessly too

Julian, are you done making a scene?”

My voice was cold.

“If you keep this up, I’m calling the police.”

“The police?”

He laughed bitterly as though I’d said something absurd.

“Vera Thompson, you’re going to have me arrested over a man you’ve known for a few days?”

I took out my phone and tapped the call button.

The smile froze on Julian’s face.

After that incident, he stayed away for a long time.

My life finally became peaceful.

My work at the gallery settled into a comfortable rhythm, and my paintings began attracting attention in the local art community.

Evan became a regular visitor at the gallery.

We became close friends.

He took me to hidden restaurants around the city.

He sat beside me in Maplewood Park for entire afternoons while we did nothing but watch people pass.

Around him, I felt a freedom and ease I hadn’t experienced in years.

Life didn’t have to be a calendar packed from morning to night.

Time could be wasted.

And wasting it could feel wonderful.

Julian eventually returned to the gallery.

He stood outside so long that people passing by began staring.

Lynn couldn’t stand it anymore.

“Maybe you should talk to him.”

shook my head.

There was nothing left to discuss.

Julian’s world contained logic and rules.

It had no room for emotion or empathy.

The sky was growing dark, and the gallery was about to close.

Julian was still standing outside, perfectly straight and motionless.

I locked the door and walked past him without a glance.

After I’d gone several steps, his restrained voice came from behind me.

Vera Thompson, are you really going to treat me like this?”

I stopped but didn’t turn around.

I just don’t want to waste any more of my life.”

When I returned to my apartment, I ordered loaded nachos and fried chicken, both things Julian had always forbidden me from eating.

I sat on the terrace in the evening breeze and enjoyed every bite.

My phone buzzed.

A message from an unknown number appeared on the screen.

[I’m downstairs.]

it was Julian.

Lignored it, finished eating, cleaned up, and prepared to take a shower.

My phone rang again.

I silenced it.

He kept calling.

Eventually, I blocked the number.

Peace returned.

The next morning, his car was parked across from the gallery.

Julian leaned against the car door.

He clearly hadn’t slept all night.

Dark circles shadowed his eyes, and his suit was badly wrinkled.

The moment he saw me, he walked over.

“I waited for you all night.”

His voice was hoarse, carrying an almost wounded note.

“And?”

I gave him a faint smile.

“Julian, I wasted five years.”

He pressed his lips together and held out a bouquet.

“I went to the flower market and chose these myself. You once liked a photo of this arrangement online.”

“Vera, I’m learning to change.”

I stepped aside, revealing more than a dozen bouquets arranged in the gallery foyer behind me.

“Julian, you still don’t understand.”

“I don’t want these things.”

“I don’t need any of your so-called compensation.”

He gripped the edge of his jacket helplessly, as though he wanted to say something.

I didn’t give him the chance.

I turned and walked away.

After the exhibition ended, I decided to leave Oakhaven and settle in Cypress Cove, a small coastal town in

the South.

The weather was warm year-round.

It was full of sunshine and ocean views.

I sold my place in Downtown Fairhaven and packed everything I owned.

Before I left, Lily took me to dinner at a newly opened bistro.

She was already there when I arrived, giving me a knowing look.

“Guess who I just saw.”

I didn’t need to guess.

I turned and saw Julian sitting alone in a booth not far away.

The steak on his table had gone cold and remained untouched.

He was quietly flipping through an art catalog from my exhibition.

He had grown painfully thin.

His eyes were sunken, and his face was drawn with exhaustion and loneliness.

Sensing my gaze, he looked up.

For one brief second, light appeared in his eyes.

Then it faded.

He stood as though he wanted to come over.

After a moment of hesitation, he stopped.

In the end, he only forced a faint smile in my direction.

Then he picked up the catalog, paid his check, and left.

“Well, how the tables have turned,” Lily said. “You used to wait for him. Now he’s chasing your shadow.”

I looked away and took a sip of lemon water.

“It’s all in the past.”

After dinner, Lily drove me to the airport.

We passed the digital billboard in the city center.

A promotional video for my exhibition filled the screen. Julian had bought the ad space.

On the screen, the sunflowers I had painted bloomed in brilliant gold.

Lily glanced at me.

“Vera, you really don’t regret it at all?”

I looked through the window at the streets rushing past.

They were familiar and strange at the same time.

Did I regret it?

I remembered those five years.

Dates timed to the minute.

Cold rules that never bent.

The woman I had been, abandoned alone in the rain.

Then I remembered the past few months.

Painting whenever I wanted.

Surrounded by sunlight and kindness.

I smiled and shook my head.

“No.”

“I only wish one thing had been different.”

“I wish it hadn’t taken me five years to learn how to love myself.”

My phone rang.

It was the rental agent in Cypress Cove.

“Miss Thompson, the owner approved your application for the house with a yard. When would you like to

come sign the lease?”

Outside the window, the sunset burned across the horizon.

“I’m already on my way.”

“I’ll be there soon.”