Why Can't I Just be Ordinary

Stepping out of the shower onto the fuzzy carpet, Jinghe wrapped herself in a large pink towel. She squeezed some water out of her hair so that it wouldn't drip everywhere. After brushing her hair, she decided the brush her teeth too, so she would be ready to go to bed.

Her clothes were on the sink counter, folded neatly in a pile. Jinghe slid on her pajamas, wrapped up her hair in a small towel, then exited the bathroom, heading towards the kitchen. After a quick drink of water, Jinghe flipped open her laptop and pulled up her sales summary for the day.

She was thankful that she'd hired a new manager earlier that week; Xiayu was such an experienced worker, the café was always super organized. Plus, thanks to the bright new posters that Xiayu had suggested, their earnings had nearly increased by 50%. Feeling satisfied, she wrote out a quick text to Xiayu:

"Thx for all the great work. Couldn't do this without you <3 See you tmrw ;)"

Hooking her phone back up to the charger on the kitchen counter, she rinsed her cup and placed it in the dishwasher. Taking one last glance to make sure everything was alright, she turned off the lights. The only light remaining was coming from the bedroom down the hall. Giving her hair one last tousle with the towel, she threw it in the laundry basket.

"Lan?" She whispered, afraid he'd fallen asleep. Instead, she found him sitting in bed, eyes intently staring at his laptop screen, face illuminated in the dim lighting. There was an almost feral intensity in his eyes she'd never seen before, and his fingers flew across the keyboard like a pro. She had thought that he said he wasn't good at typing fast, because he used to take paper & pencil notes back in school.

He seemed to be so caught up in whatever he was doing that he didn't even notice her. Even after she called out a few more times, he didn't look up. Mumbling something underneath his breath, he briefly closed his eyes, looking frustrated. He massaged his temples then looked up.

"Oh! Jingjing, you scared me there. Are you ready for bed yet? I'm just about done," Yulan said, sending her a warm smile, completely contrasting his earlier expression.

While he was speaking, Jinghe could see him subtly shutting the laptop screen, although his face didn't betray even a hint of nervousness. There was only innocent surprise and warmth in his eyes. Was she just imagining things?

"Mhm, yeah, I just finished showering," Jinghe said distractedly. "Do you mind if I turn off the light now? Or do you still have some work left to finish up?"

"I'm ready," Yulan replied as he placed his laptop on the bedside table. Removing his glasses and shutting off the lamp, he said, "You can turn off the lights now."

Flipping the switch off, Jinghe slowly made her way towards the bed. The darkness made her feel uneasy. She nearly bumped into things a couple times, but in the end, she finally safely made it to the other side of the bed.

Crawling onto the bed, she pulled up the covers and slid beneath them. Lan's arms usually would automatically snake around her and pull her into his chest, but it seemed that he was already fast asleep. His breathing was even. Deep. In. Out.

Sighing, Jinghe realized that the conversation she had wanted to have with him was going to have to happen another day. She wanted to ask him about his behavior recently. Was he just busy at work? Or was he maybe preparing to propose? Those, of course, were the positive possibilities. The others ones she didn't want to think about.

He had been amazing with her ever since they'd first met and started going out. Yuan was forever the perfect gentleman, and they'd had a lot of things to talk about. Conversation between them flowed easily and naturally.

Yulan worked as a lawyer, and he'd recently gotten promoted. He was considered quite successful for his age, with a good degree and stable job. He was ambitious too. Looking at it from a general point of view, he was attractive looking as well.

Young, ambitious, successful, well-off, thoughtful, handsome; what more could a girl want? She knew she was lucky to be in a relationship with him. All of her friends teased her about it and kept talking about how amazing Yulan was, and how nice he was to her.

Rolling over to snuggle a bit closer to him, she closed her eyes and quickly fell asleep. Although she had a lot of things on her mind, the day had been long and she was tired. Yuan's soft breaths beside her lulled her into a peaceful rest.