That night, Mashauva tossed and turned in her sleep as her dream was all kinds of messed up, with all sorts of people saying all sorts of things. One moment, it was Qiana ridiculing her. The next, it was Freddy comforting her.
Later, the scene changed, and she saw the words the forum-goers had said to her.
The last scene was of Bruno. He stood there, quietly looking at her with eyes full of adoration and nothing else. He spread out his arms.
"Mashauva."
Following that, Mashauva rushed to him without a care in the world. However, before she could jump into his arms, the scene before her changed again.
Bruno was gone. She saw the faces of strangers, both men and women, looking at her with disdainful eyes.
"Look at this fatty. How dare she make a move on Bruno when she's this ugly? Who does she think she is?"
"Gosh, she'll crush him to a pulp with a figure like that, won't she? And she still wants to go after him?"
"Seriously, are all fatties nowadays so confident? Does she never look in the mirror?"
Those words sliced into Mashauva's heart one after another.
To say that Mashauva was feeling uncomfortable was an understatement. She shook her head while crying. "No, I didn't. I don't..."
The girl haunted by her nightmare was unaware that Bruno was peering at her as he sat at the edge of the bed, frowning when he saw that she was crying as she dreamt.
Bruno had originally come to wake her up, but she wouldn't respond no matter how many times he knocked. Worried that something might have happened to her, he pushed the door open only to hear her cries.
As soon as he sat down, Mashauva began sobbing miserably.
Was she having a nightmare?
Bruno placed his hand on her forehead and realized her temperature seemed to be running a little high. He patted her face lightly, calling out, "Mashauva."
"No, I didn't..." Mashauva was still weeping.
Bruno could only continue to call her name while coaxing her. "Don't cry. You didn't. I'm here. Don't cry, okay?"
The sleeping girl suddenly hugged his arm and relaxed. After a while, she tugged his hand over and mumbled out softly, "Bruno."
Bruno's heart melted into a puddle that instant.
Would this girl ever grow up? She was still the same after all these years. Although she would be reaching adulthood in a year, she was still oblivious to the world around her. Her naivete made people ache for her.
Even Jelly Bean was more worldly than her.
With that thought in mind, Bruno tucked Mashauva in and slowly pulled his hand away, however leading Mashauva to jolt awake suddenly as if she had been scared out of her wits.
As soon as she opened her eyes, she saw Bruno's face.
"Bruno?" Mashauva thought she was still dreaming. Otherwise, how was it justifiable that he was right in front of her?
"Mm." Bruno flicked her forehead. "You're finally willing to wake up?"
After he did so, he noticed that there were still tear stains on her face, and she looked depressed. Bruno wiped the remaining tears from her eyes and asked softly, "Did you have a nightmare?"
Mashauva had not realized that she was in tears until then. She sat up nervously and touched her
face, only to find that it was wet.
"Huh, I was crying?"
"Silly girl, do you not know?"
Mashauva shook her head and said, "This isn't the first time, but I don't know why. Sorry, Bruno, I don't know what came over me. I'm not sad or upset."
"I'm not blaming you for anything. Why are you apologizing?"
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Perfect Mysterious Husband