Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 203: She was it for him

Chapter 203: She was it for him

Music Recommendation: Car’s Outside by James Arthur (Sped Up Version)

...

Diana opened her mouth to say what he did but suddenly, her vocabulary crashed. How was she supposed to explain what he did? She had no words.

A glint flashed across Maxim’s eyes as he lowered his head to hide his smile.

But Diana caught it anyway. No wonder Daisy called him a fox all the time. His face right now was indeed very foxy.

She scoffed. Just as she was about to speak, her eyes caught sight of a particular book in the center of the bookcase a few tables away.

It was the only book on the shelf so it was hard for her to not notice it.

Diana walked towards the bookcase and picked up the book titled ’The Wonderful Wizard of Oz’.

Amidst the sea of adult books, this kids’ book somehow stood out, ’’You know... it’s the first book I read and from then on, I never stopped reading fiction...’’ She started flipping through the pages, not noticing the hint of nervousness that crept on Maxim’s face.

As she was looking through the book, something slipped from the pages.

Diana picked up the small piece of paper from the floor and looked at the words written on it.

’Teenage favorite. B9. S3.’

The handwriting was not foreign to her.

She turned to look at Maxim who seemed to be sitting in the chair calmly, ’’What’s this?"

Of course, Diana did not notice how his fingers kept tapping on the table softly, ’’Guess?"

Diana was amused, ’’You don’t really want me to solve puzzles, do you?"

He shrugged a shoulder, ’’I was checking if your IQ has dropped. Since you are unable to solve it, drop it.’’

She gaped at him in disbelief. Did he just diss her so politely?

Even though she admitted that she had become a little... just a little bit lazy... And after Daisy came back, the sense of responsibility on her shoulder fluttered its wings and flew away, leaving Diana craving to eat and sleep like a pig or play with Angel and chill with Ivy instead of doing anything substantial but hey, that did not mean she had turned dumb.

She glared at Maxim but without saying anything she looked at the piece of paper in her hand.

’Teenage favorite. B9. S3.’

Something that was her favorite in teenage years?

Diana blinked. There was no subcategory mentioned there. She was stumped when she thought about whether it was her favorite color, favorite food, or exactly which favorite that was mentioned.

Diana looked at the other clues.

B9. S3.

She checked around the place and realized that none of the books were numbered or marked.

If ’S’ stood for the shelf, and the books were not numbered, then the said ’B’ probably stood for the bookcases.

Diana walked in between two bookcases and reached the other side of the room. As expected, the wooden bookcases were indeed stamped on the edge.

She stopped in front of the ninth bookcase in the room and checked the third shelf. The whole shelf was filled with high school romance books.

And the realization dawned on her as she started checking every book on the third shelf.

In her teenage years, she was particularly fond of the teenage romance trope and there was one book that she was particularly fond of. It was the story of two childhood sweethearts who had promised to marry each other but they had to separate for a few years due to circumstances and they met each other again when they joined the same high school.

’’Found it,’’ Diana grabbed the book titled ’The Chase’ and turned to look at Maxim smugly.

Maxim was leaning back on the table with his arms crossed in front of his chest, trying to calm his rapidly beating heart.

Diana was about to brag about her intact IQ when she realized something, ’’How did you know about my favorite books?"

’’You told me about your favorites when you forced me into reading some.’’

’’Ah...’’ Was she that talkative? She coughed twice, feeling slightly embarrassed. Now that she thought about it, it did seem like she had forced him to read her favorite books with the excuse of ’You are serious all the time. Let me help you loosen up’.

Diana looked at the book in her hand and smiled a little, ’’Didn’t expect you to remember it.’’

’’I remember everything related to you,’’ his words were casual as if what he said was a part of daily routine.

She tilted her head and met his gaze, her grip on the book tightened a bit but before she could say anything, something caught her attention from the corner of her eyes.

Diana tilted her head down and noticed another slip of paper on the floor.

She picked it up. There was another clue with it that led her to a book that was her favorite when she was in her Sherlock Holmes era.

Since she deciphered one clue, it did not take her long to understand the others. One clue led to the other until she found herself finally holding the book that she was reading 6 years ago, just they parted.

Diana opened the book, expecting another clue but there was none.

All she could see were two simple words in a familiar elegant cursive.

’Date me.’

Her lips parted and her heart skipped a beat.

When she tilted her head, she found Maxim walking towards her. He stopped at arm’s length.

Diana clumsily placed the book on the round table nearby as she smiled, ’’Aren’t we already on a date?" her attempt to joke bombed when his expression did not budge in the slightest.

He looked determined. And stubborn. Like he was not backing out. Not this time.

She gulped softly.

’’Not friendly dates,’’ he said.

She laughed but her laugh sounded so fake to her own ears, ’’What kind of dates do you want then?"

His eyes twinkled slightly, "The kind of dates that end up with you in my arms. The kind that reassures me that no matter where you go, what you do, you will be right next to me... Or on top of me, or below me at the end of the day."

Diana choked on whatever words she had prepared to say.

When she did not say anything, he looked at her quietly.

She stated her condition yesterday and he thought that he would be okay with it. He believed that eventually, he would make their relationship grow into something more.

But one day of not seeing her at work, a few hours of not being able to talk to her, hear her voice, not knowing what she was up to yet not being able to have any excuse to call or text her made him realize that it was not good in any case.

It was torture for him to act clueless about what his heart wanted when he was not clueless at all. He had known it a long time ago. Diana Chen was it for him. If it was not her, there would not be anyone else.

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