Regardless of how loudly he screamed for her, it wasn’t any more use than if he had just sat down and kept quiet. Sophia wouldn’t even look his way once anyway.
Sophia indeed wouldn’t give Stanley an extra look. It’s just way too embarrassing! Just what was that cheer?
Stanley waved his flag like a madman while yelling, “Sophia, Sophia, cut right through! Sophia, Sophia, you’re the best!”
Sophia gave Stanley a baleful glare as she went after the ball. Just that glare alone made Richard’s mind fill in many of the blanks.
Richard and Xyla then left.
The match continued. Sophia performed extremely well on the court. She had been on the main team of her high school’s women’s basketball team. Right now, her skills were just as polished as ever as she dribbled and dunked with practiced ease. Her jumps were extraordinary, and even her three-pointers were executed easily.
The School of Economics’ points skyrocketed under these circumstances.
This match was more or less in the bag, so Sophia relaxed greatly. She sneaked a glance at the stands from time to time. The cold and distant Nathan was also waving his flag madly to root for her. Her friends Sarah and Sean had also come.
While the support squad that Stanley had formed was a little cringey, they were still here to cheer for her. She would have to treat everyone to a round of barbeque once the match was over.
A heated gaze inside the stadium landed on her. She swept her eyes over the stands and noticed a chubby, middle-aged man sitting in a corner. He had a dirty cap on his head and a grey scarf around his neck, beard white and face fleshy. He looked so average. Mixed in with the rest of the crowd, no one would notice him.
Sophia thought the man’s appearance familiar, but she couldn’t figure out where she had seen him before. She retracted her gaze and returned to play seriously.
The match ended with a blow of the whistle and the points were tallied up. The School of Economics won by 30:11.
Sophia’s support squad surged up to her, encircling her and handing her towels and water. Sophia wiped her sweat with a towel and chugged some water before patting Nathan on the head. She then looked up to look at where the middle-aged man had been sitting before, but his seat was empty now.
The man had left. All she could see was a departing figure.
That man’s figure and gaze were oh so familiar.
All of a sudden, a thought struck Sophia hard and she whipped her phone out to look for the selfie that Michael had posted earlier—wasn’t his get-up exactly the same as that middle-aged man’s outfit?
That was Michael Fletcher!
Sophia stood there stiffly with her phone in hand as though she had been struck by lightning. She thought back on that middle-aged man’s rotund face. There was a whole world of difference between that fleshy face and Michael’s gorgeous one.
That man truly had no qualms about throwing off his lordly image.
“Sophia, come on. Let’s all go out for some food,” Stanley suggested due to their victory.
Sophia thought about it for a bit before declining. “Sorry, no thanks. It’s getting dark. I should be going home for dinner.”
Stanley stopped her. “Hey, Sophia, I’ll be on the field the day after tomorrow at 3 p.m. The match between the School of Computer Science and the School of Financial Management. Remember to swing by!”
“We’ll see.”
“Son, were you a good boy today?”
Nathan snorted and ignored him, continuing to play his game with his head lowered.
All of a sudden, Sophia’s phone rang. It was a phone call from someone marked as ‘Ex’. Michael seated himself after picking it up. As he waited for Sophia to come to the dining room, he pricked up his ears to listen to what this piece of work had to say.
“Sophia, I heard that your school’s women’s basketball team won their match. Congratulations, you did very well today. What was Stanley’s deal? I know that he’s always clinging to you. If you find it inconvenient to get rid of him, then allow me to do so. I certainly will not let him get in the way of our feelings for each other. That’s right, Sophia. My school will be up against the School of Computer Science at 3 p.m. the day after tomorrow in Basketball Court 3. I’m one of the players on our school’s main basketball team. I’ll be on the court then. You have to come see me. How I miss those days from years past. Those days when we’d play basketball, go jogging, and circle the lake on campus while memorizing terms and phrases for classes. I’d even send you to the library on the back of my bicycle to…”
Richard went on for a while before he eventually said, “Sophia, I miss you.”
Michael did not say a word throughout the one-sided conversation while the phone was on speaker mode. Before he could finish listening to the other man’s rambling, the phone automatically switched itself off from its lack of battery.
Sophia soon came down. Both father and son had already changed into their pajamas, which were a matching set of frog onesies—a large one and a small one. Sophia, however, wore a rabbit onesie that was pink, with a pair of ears stitched onto the hoodie.
After plugging in Sophia’s phone to recharge, Nathan bolted upstairs with pattering steps. He soon came downstairs again, having changed into a pink rabbit onesie that matched Sophia’s. He sat next to her and tilted his head to look at her, as though he was seeking her approval.
“Good boy!” Sophia patted his head. Nathan basked in the touch, but he didn’t forget to shoot a condescending look at Michael in his bright green clothes.
“Heh.” Michael gave a cold chuckle.
You sneaky kid, my methods for stealing Sophia’s affections will definitely scare the wits out of you!
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