Chapter 682 The Exclusive Nickname
The feeling was so nostalgic and loving that her body couldn’t help but tremble lightly as her eyes reddened.
“Isn’t this what you told me yourself?” Toby replied with one hand on the edge of the car window.
Sonia blinked in confusion at that. “I’m the one who told you?”
“Yeah.”
“When?” She was even more puzzled because she had never told him that she had this nickname before. After her father died 6 years ago, she had sealed it in the depths of her memories. If Toby hadn’t called her by this name today, she might have even forgotten that she still had this name.
“11 years ago,” he answered as he looked out the window at the tearful woman.
At that, Sonia’s eyes widened even more. “11 years ago?”
“That’s right.” Toby nodded.
When she heard that, Sonia swallowed. “You mean to say that I told you in the letters before?”
She hadn’t met him yet 11 years ago, so it was impossible for her to personally reveal this nickname of hers to him. The only possibility was that it was mentioned in one of their correspondences since they had been pen pals at that time.
Seeing that she guessed it, Toby nodded and admitted, “Yes, you told me in the letters when you were bullied by Jessica. Jessica was dissatisfied with your father calling you by your nickname, and she made a fuss so that your father would stop calling you that. You were very aggrieved, so you told me about it in the letters. You mentioned that your nickname is Little Leaf. Although you had only mentioned it once, I have never forgotten about it.”
“Oh… I see.” Sonia bit her lower lip; her voice became choked with tears. “It’s been so long ago, yet you still remember. I had totally forgotten about it.”
If it weren’t for him, she would have forgotten about this matter and finally remembered about it when he told her. She had mentioned her nickname in one of her correspondences when she was about 15 years old. Her father had returned from a business trip abroad and bought a gift each for her and Jessica.
At that time, both girls were elated, but when Jessica heard their father addressing Sonia as Little Leaf, Jessica was immediately discontented. Their father had always called Sonia Little Leaf but Jessica as Jess. Thus, it made Jessica extremely unhappy because her nickname was not as special as Little Leaf. In fact, she felt it was too perfunctory to simply shorten her name. And so, she had been very dissatisfied with their father calling Sonia Little Leaf.
Despite this, Jessica had never made a fuss before and at most, she would just sulk. However, on that day when their father gave them gifts, she suddenly made a big fuss and insisted their father not call Sonia Little Leaf in the future. Although their father did not agree to the request, Sonia was still aggrieved and upset, so she wrote a letter about it and sent it off to her pen pal at the time, John. As John was an extremely gentle person and would comfort her whenever she was sad, she trusted him. Sure enough, the reply to that letter of hers contained his comfort and insight.
“I’ve always remembered everything about you,” Toby said with a gentle expression.
Sonia took a breath and calmed the agitation that was evoked by this nickname. “By the way, why did you suddenly call me by this nickname?”
He looked at her and explained, “We are together now, so I can’t keep calling you by your name. It’s too aloof, but I don’t want to call you the same as Charles and the others either. I want to have an exclusive name for you, so I came up with this.”
“I see.” Sonia ruffled her hair.
“Then, have you also called Tina this nickname before?”
After all, Tina had impersonated her, so it was highly likely that he had addressed Tina in this manner before. If that was really the case, she would feel terrible.
However, he shook his head. “No.”
“Really?” She narrowed her eyes, obviously not quite believing him.
Toby nodded seriously. “Really. You said in the letter that your mother gave you this nickname, so only your parents can call you that. Hence even if I mistook Tina as you, I wouldn’t have called her with this nickname, and it has always belonged to you. It’s clean.”
Sonia looked into his eyes and could see that he was not lying to her, so the worry in her heart was finally relieved.
“Thank you.” She smiled at Toby. “Thank you for still preserving the purity of this name for me and not letting Tina dirty it.”
This nickname had been given by her mother, so even if Tina had taken possession of it, Sonia would still take this name back. However, she would not use it again in the future. Luckily, Toby had respected what she said in the letter about this name only being used by her parents, so he did not call Tina that name.
As such, this name still belonged to her from the beginning to end and had not been soiled.
“I myself am glad that I didn’t contaminate it.” Toby looked at Sonia.
Sonia smiled lightly at him. “That’s because you know how to respect others.”
Toby hooked his lips. “I like your compliment. Sonia, can I call you that in the future? I know that this is an exclusive nickname from your parents, but now that they are no longer around, you won’t hear them call you this, so I hope that I may inherit this right to call you this name next.”
In the days to come, he would spoil her as well, just like how her parents did.
She looked at his expectant look and her red lips moved a little, seemingly torn over the idea, but she soon nodded. “Okay.”
He was right; after her parents died, she had never heard anyone calling her Little Leaf again. Now that she heard him addressing her this way, she realized that she was eager to hear someone call her by this name again. Thus, since he wanted to call her that way, she was fine with it. Since he wanted an exclusive nickname for her, she was willing to fulfill his request.
Hearing that Sonia agreed, Toby’s smile widened as he immediately opened his mouth to call, “Little Leaf.”
At that, Sonia’s face flushed in slight embarrassment. In the past, it was her parents who called her this way and she naturally agreed without feeling anything. However, it was now her former husband and current boyfriend calling her this. Therefore, this nickname had changed from a parent-child association to one of a romantic connotation, so she was somewhat uncomfortable. I have to slowly adapt to the change.
Thinking of this, she rubbed her cheeks and grunted in a soft voice.
A trace of slyness flashed across Toby’s eyes when he heard that before he repeated, “Little Leaf!”
She glared at him. “Toby Fuller, are you done playing around? Are you obsessed with this name?”
He chuckled at her words in response.
Sonia then waved her hand and said, “Okay, you better hurry up and head off. Weren’t you going to the hospital to see Grandma? You should get there earlier. By the way, say hello to her for me. I will visit her in the afternoon.”
“I’ll pick you up this afternoon.” Toby took a look at his watch.
She wanted to refuse, but she remembered that they were now together and it was his duty to pick her up. So, she swallowed her words and instead replied, “Okay. Let me know in advance so that I can see whether I’m busy or not.”
“Alright.” Toby nodded slightly.
Sonia waved her hand at him and turned around to walk toward the company building while he merely watched her from behind.
Tom, who was in the driver’s seat, suddenly turned his head to ask, “President Fuller, have you and Miss Reed reconciled?”
He had eavesdropped on the conversation between Toby and Sonia earlier and vaguely heard them saying that they were together or something. Thus, he wanted a confirmation.
Toby withdrew his gaze and turned to look at Tom, his face revealing an undisguised look of triumph as he said, “You guessed right. We are back together.”
