Chapter 24
Scott Lawson.
Naomi suddenly felt her world go silent, as though even the crickets and the raindrops were holding their breath.
Naomi’s mind was blank as she stared at the familiar name on the screen. She could not recall a time when Scott called her instead of the other way around.
If he had something he wanted to say, he would usually ask Jay to relay the message.
Why was he calling now?
This felt like a dream to Naomi.
Her phone continued to buzz in the palm of her hand, as though reminding her that this was real and not a dream.
Naomi picked up. “Hello?”
The faint sound of raindrops interspersed with Naomi’s soft voice. It reminded Scott of the same fateful night that Naomi served him the divorce papers.
At this moment, he was standing in the dining room, drinking a glass of water. His hand stiffened in mid–air when he heard her voice. “The water isn’t running.”
He took a sip of his water and felt the cool liquid flow through his throat and into his stomach. Naomi should have known there was a reason for Scott’s calling; he would never call for nothing.
She furrowed her brows and asked, “How long have you gone without paying the water bill?”
“I don’t know.”
Of course he did not know; He was always so preoccupied with work that he paid no attention to household chores like this. She should not have asked such an obvious question that she already knew
the answer to.
“Did the water stop in the middle of your shower?”
“Yes.”
“Give me a minute. I’ll pay the bill for now.”
With that, she opened the application for the national sewerage company and promptly paid five hundred dollars to the account registered under Scott’s house.
The truth was, she already settled both the water and electricity bills for the month she left Scott, but as for the upcoming payments, she knew she would not be able to do them, so she assigned them to Jay in a comprehensive email.
She left it to Jay ever since then, and she assumed that everything was fine, but now that Scott was calling her, it was clear that Jay forgot to pay the bills. Exclusive content © by Nô(v)el/Dr/ama.Org.
Naomi was not surprised. After all, Jay was technically Scott’s assistant at work, and taking care of Scott’s personal life was not part of his job scope.
Scott did not hang up yet, so as soon as she paid the bills, Naomi said to him, “I’ve already settled the payment. Why don’t you go check if the water’s back?”
The silence was so loud that he could hear Naomi’s fingers tapping on the screen when she made the
payment.
“Okay.”
He put down his glass and twisted the dining room faucet.
The tap sputtered before finally letting loose a smooth flow of running water.
Naomi heard this, but she did not hang up immediately even though her problem was solved. Instead, something else occurred to her. “How about the electricity? Did it go out?”
“Jay already paid for it.”
Both the electricity and water were out, and clearly, Scott did not know that the bills were supposed to be paid separately. Jay should have been the one to take care of this, but perhaps Scott thought it would be faster to ask Naomi directly.
“Good.”
Although they were divorced, Naomi still kept his number in her phone along with the rest of Scott’s family members, not because she hoped they would reconcile, but because she did not want to cut off all contact with them fully for fear that she would require their help in the future. She never thought she would talk to Scott so soon after their divorce.
Since she finished doing what Scott wanted her to, Naomi knew there was no point in keeping him on the phone any longer. She was just about to find an excuse to hang up when Scott’s voice rang out, Well, that’s it then.”
His tone was as curt as she remembered.
Naomi chuckled at this. “That’s it?”
She put down her phone and was about to hang up when all of a sudden, Charles’s voice rang out, Sir, excuse me. I was wondering if I could take up a few moments of your time to learn more about Azalea Hills.”
Naomi glanced in the direction of the voice. Charles was a few feet ahead of her, having run into an employee of the bed and breakfast and was making conversation.
Naomi tucked her phone into her pocket and approached them. She did not hang up because she assumed Scott would have done so already.
At the same time, Scott turned off the tap, and within moments of the water stopping, he heard the familiar voice coming through the speaker.