Chapter 11: How Are You Feeling?
Clint looked confused.Belongs to (N)ôvel/Drama.Org.
Selene smiled. “Long story. As you know, I only had my father to depend on when growing up. I was still very young when my mother abandoned us. She left me a big box of chocolate and told me that she would return it when I finished eating it. I was so hungry that I finished the big box that afternoon.”
She paused for a few moments, then continued with an ironic smile. “But my mom did not come back as she had promised. Since then, I feel disgusted when I eat chocolate.”
In fact, she did not have a good memory, and all things about her childhood were almost a blur. The memory about the chocolate, however, still persisted in her mind.
On the day that her mom took her to meet a new man who was her new boyfriend, her mom gave her a box of chocolate.
She asked her mom. “Mom, when will you be back?”
“When you finish eating the chocolate.”
Then she saw her mom driving away with the man she did not know. She kept eating the chocolate all that afternoon and finished it.
But her mom did not come back.
Her father later told her. “Mom will never come back.”
When she recovered from her memory, she saw Clint looking at her with concern. He frowned. “Your mother left you with trauma, and it can be called a mental block. You should see a psychologist.”
He was very sincere when giving this advice, and he seemed worried about her.
But Selene smiled. “I can barely remember what my mother looked like. How could she possibly still have this effect on me? It was because of that chocolate cream.”
Seeing her uncaring expression, Clint moved his lips as if he wanted to say something, but he decided against it and stayed quiet.
Selene had vomited up all she had just eaten, and her stomach was empty, so all she could do when she got home was to sit wearily on the couch.
Clint was acting completely out of the ordinary. Instead of continuing his work in the study, he went to the kitchen to cook some porridge for Selene.
In Selene’s mind, Clint was a man who surely knew nothing about housework. The kitchen in their apartment, for instance, was rarely ever used. Only Selene would occasionally do some cooking when sudden inspiration would hit her.
She leaned her back on the couch and tilted her head to look at Clint in the distance. He was wearing a housecoat, which made him look more approachable than his usual intimidating self.
His movements were not clumsy at all. It seemed that he had some skill in cooking. The fresh smell of porridge began spreading in the kitchen. Clint was standing in front of the stove and patiently stirred the food occasionally.
His actions made him look very gentle. It warmed Selene’s heart.
To her surprise, the porridge Clint had just made tasted amazing, though it was just made with oats and blueberries.
Selene smiled. “I thought you knew nothing about housework.”
“I learned how to cook when I was in college,” Clint replied. “Next time, when I’m free, I could do some cooking for you. And you could tell me whether you like it or not.” He said, looking at Selene.
Selene nodded in agreement, continuing to eat her porridge.
Clint frowned and did not say anything.
When Clint got up, he cleared away the dishes and then went to the kitchen. Selene started to look up at him.
She squinted at his back. He looked very tall and a little thin, but Selene knew that, in fact, he was very muscular.
Maybe it was because of the dim light, but while watching Clint’s back, Selene’s mind started wandering to lustful places.
Shocked at her sudden, unruly thoughts, she stopped herself. Smiling ironically, she covered her eyes with one hand, leaning back again against the couch.
After a moment, she heard Clint’s steps coming towards her. “How are you feeling?” He asked.
Without moving her hand away, she answered coldly. “Much better.”
Her behavior was a way for her to block herself from him. Clint stood still and looked at her without any expression. Finally, he relented and then spoke softly. “You should rest well tonight. I will have an important Skype conference call later.”
That night, Clint went to sleep very late indeed. Selene could not fall asleep, and she heard his voice coming from the other room until the early morning.
The reason why she could not sleep was that the day that had just passed had been a big day for her;
She finally took revenge on Joseph. In addition to that, the events that had transpired with her and Clint, such as the kiss he gave her in her store, his cooking porridge for her, and the lewd thoughts she got from staring at him from behind, kept her from calming down enough for her to fall asleep.
Suddenly, her mind became chaotic. The strange emotion she had mentally suppressed that day came back flooding in. This made her panic a little.
But the kiss in the store, the porridge, and the image of his back were just accidental. The next day, they treated each other politely but distantly. Things were back to normal, and neither of them did any romantic deeds after that.
Though Selene’s store was not very famous in the clothing industry, some customers of the shop were celebrities, and Mrs. Caroline was one of them.
Mrs. Caroline was around 50 years old, and her husband was one of the richest men in the country. Thanks to Emily’s recommendation, she knew Selene’s store and liked her clothing design very much, so she often bought clothes from Selene’s store.
But Mrs. Caroline barely came to the store herself. It was Selene and her assistant who often went to Mrs. Caroline to introduce new clothing styles.
Mrs. Caroline was very nice. Selene made a lot of money from her, and the rich woman never looked down on her.