After a long lunch that Daniel of course paid for, Suzy stood up and immediately felt the back of her heels digging in slowly. She bit back a cry as Daniel took her hand again and pulled her along with him. Every step bit into already-bad blisters, making it even more difficult to keep walking. She opened to say something, but he spoke just as he glanced over at his watch again. "Suzy, I honestly thought we have more time. Looks like we both need to get back to work…that was a terribly long lunch." With an apologetic sigh, he sent her a sympathetic smile. "We just don't have the time to shop now…but I'm sure you'll be fine. You can walk to the parking lot, right?"

Was he kidding? When she continued staring at him, waiting for him to say it was all a joke, he merely stared back at her, patiently waiting for her response. She couldn't believe it. He showed no gentleness and worry for her whatsoever. "Ah…I guess I have no choice now. I'll just go after work," she replied in a murmur.

"There you go. That's a wonderful idea."

Despite how much she'd obsessed over him for years, at that single moment, she badly wanted to punch him in the jaw. When he let her go, Suzy felt bitter discontent. Why didn't he care? So it was her fault for buying such bad shoes, but… When she glanced down at her bleeding ankles, she felt a wave of disappointment cover her.