Chapter 19
She checked her phone and found that apart from a Twitter direct message, only Trisha had sent her a WhatsApp message, asking her where she had gone and why she hadn’t returned.
Celeste replied to her: [I’m with my mom.]
Trisha quickly replied: [How’s she?]
[About the same as before.]
[Well, that’s good news. Maybe one day a miracle will happen, and your mom will wake up.]
Hearing her comforting words, Celeste felt a little better: [Thank you for that. You can go to sleep first. I might be back a bit later.]
[Alright, call me if you need anything.]
Celeste sent her a “love you” emoji.
Suddenly, there was a “click” sound, and the surroundings lit up for a moment. Celeste turned sharply and saw a well–dressed man a few steps away from her holding a phone, with the camera facing her. The man was staring at her as well.
When she turned her head, the man seemed to be stunned, then smiled shyly.
Celeste clenched her lips, walked up to the man, and snatched his phone. “Didn’t anyone tell you? Taking pictures of strangers without permission is an invasion of privacy. Tell me your phone password.”
The man looked a bit amused but still gave her a series of numbers, “0712.”
After unlocking the screen, Celeste found only one recently taken photo, a night view of the building below, without her in it. There were only a few seconds between the flash and her snatching the phone, so the man had no chance to delete the photo. The only explanation was that he hadn’t taken her photo in the first place.
Celeste felt a bit embarrassed and annoyed. How could she justify her overreaction?
Just as she was struggling with how to make up for her previous impolite behavior, the man took the initiative to speak up, “I’m really sorry, I just thought the night view downstairs was beautiful, and you misunderstood.”
Celeste quickly followed his words, “I should apologize, I was too sensitive. I’m really sorry.”
She returned the phone to him, “Your photos are really nice. Are you a professional photographer?”
The man smiled and said, “No, it’s just a personal hobby. I noticed you’re very sensitive to the flash, did something happen before?”
Celeste wasn’t usually good at talking to strangers, but the man’s voice was gentle and pleasant, making her feel at ease. So, she couldn’t help but say a few more words, “Actually, it wasn’t a big deal. I was once photographed by a street. photography team. They put the pictures online without editing, which caused me a lot of trouble. So I became more sensitive to these things.”
“No wonder,” Mason Fletcher smiled. “You have an outstanding appearance, so I can understand why the photographer didn’t edit the picture. Of course, that’s illegal.”
Getting praised by others felt great, especially when it was such high praise. Celeste’s mood improved a lot because of it.
Just as she was about to speak, Elaine called her. Celeste’s eyes lit up after hearing whatever was said on the other end. She quickly hung up and said to the guy, “Thanks!” She grabbed her clothes and bolted out like the wind.
Mason stood there dumbfounded for a moment before laughing.
When Mason returned to the hospital room, Nicolas was asking the nurse to be careful. Seeing Mason, he said, “I thought you’d left me here and ran off. When you left, my foot was broken, and now that you’re back, my hand got stabbed by glass. Don’t you think you’re bad luck for me?”
Mason patted him on the shoulder and said, “Well, at least you injured your hand at a good time.”
Nicolas was speechless.
