Chapter 95 - Anne's Charm
After returning from Anne's apartment, Jack went straight home to his residence quickly. He wanted to get home to his house soon, so he could rest quickly as today his energy was drained. He wanted to recover his energy by sleeping quickly. Tomorrow he had to wake up early because he had things to take care of.
But it was different with Anne. She still couldn't calm herself after getting a kiss from Jack. Even though it was a small kiss, Anne already called it a kiss. She was really uneasy about what Jack did to her. The damage caused by the little kiss made Anne uneasy at all. She, who would usually take a shower when she came home from campus or from the shop, was still lying on the bed, cursing Jack for what he did to her. When it was one o'clock at night, Anne finally decided to clean her body before going to bed. She could not stand the drowsiness anymore. When she was cleaning her face, Anne suddenly stopped when she touched her lips. The memory of Jack kissing her lips once again made her uneasy.
"Aghhh what's wrong with you, Anne? You're not crazy right?!!" She squealed loudly in front of the bathroom mirror.
She rinsed her face quickly and didn't continue her other rituals for skincare. She wanted to go to bed immediately to forget what had happened in front of her flower shop. After changing into her nightgown, Anne then slammed her body on the bed. Not long afterwards, she had sailed to her dream world with a smile on her face. After the long days of living in London, this was the first time she had been this calm.
Meanwhile, in the hotel room, Steffi, who was already wearing her pajamas, was still standing on the balcony with a cell phone in her hand. She was really not very calm thinking about Leon, who had not been heard since the dinner with the UAL students ended.
"Where are you, Leon? It's almost three in the morning and you haven't returned yet." Steffi spoke to herself as she stared at the luxury BVLGARI watch on her left hand.
As she could no longer hold back, Steffi finally decided to go out looking for her husband. She intended to ask the hotel clerk for help. But when she was wearing a thick jacket, suddenly the door to the room was knocked quite hard from the outside. Without thinking, Steffi ran towards the door. She smiled when she saw her husband from the peeping hole on the door. Steffi immediately opened the door to their room.
"Why did it take so long to open the door?!!" Leon snarled at Steffi, as he let go of the hotel driver's hand, who had accompanied him to the bar tonight.
Steffi just smiled faintly seeing Leon stagger into the room straight away. The smell of alcohol was very strong from his body. She tried not to get angry in front of the hotel driver who had driven Leon back to the hotel.
"Thank you for helping my husband return safely," said Steffi kindly.
"You're welcome, madam, this has become the hotel staff's responsibility. Then if you'll excuse me, Madame, have a good rest," replied the hotel driver, who accompanied Leon, in a friendly manner.
Steffi nodded her head slowly responding to the words of the hotel driver. After the hotel driver disappeared from her sight, Steffi then entered the room.
"Agh, stupid me. Why didn't I ask the hotel clerk where they were?" said Steffi softly cursing her own stupidity while staring at Leon, who was already lying on the bed without changing his clothes.
Steffi painstakingly carried out her duties as a wife. She took off Leon's clothes, which were dirty and smelled of alcohol. She then wiped Leon's body with a small towel that had been soaked in warm water. After she finished cleaning her husband, she then put on his pajamas. Because she was too tired, Steffi finally fell asleep beside Leon while still wearing her jacket. A drop of tear appeared from the corner of her eye. This was the first time she felt afraid to be away from Leon, even though all this time she was sure that Leon would not be able to get away from her because of the charm she had. However, after meeting Marianne again, fear rose inside her. Her confidence was lost, after she had built it for years after she managed to kick Marianne out of Leonardo Ganke's house as his legal wife. But this time, after she met Marianne, she felt afraid, there was a feeling of dread that she couldn't describe.
In his room, Edward couldn't close his eyes even though all of his roommates had slept since one o'clock that night. He was the only person in the room who still couldn't sleep. After giving a lesson to several students who dared to talk about Anne when they were leaving this morning, Edward was not calm. He was still reverberating about the cases of the students he taught this afternoon in the room near the swimming pool.
"Why do I care so much about Anne? Why am I so angry when someone talks about her? Why can't I remove Anne's image from my mind right now …? Aarghhhh, you're really crazy, Edward, you are the prince of UAL campus. You are adored by almost all students on the campus except ... Marianne, yes, only Marianne ignored me," said Edward, talking to himself in the balcony of his room, looking at the clear Irish sky, so that he could still see a few twinkling stars in the sky.
"What are you doing in London, Anne?" Edward muttered under his breath.
Because the day was getting cold, Edward finally decided to sleep. His body needed rest just like the others. As he wrapped himself in the blanket, hoping it would be morning, he couldn't wait to get back to London. Unbeknownst to anyone, Edward had ordered a ticket to return to London tomorrow afternoon. Being in Ireland without Anne had made Edward dispirited.
When the morning sun shined on the earth, Anne was already busy in the pantry. She was making two servings of breakfast. They were for herself and Linda, even though Anne slept very late last night, she was still awoken even when the sun had not risen. What happened last night in front of the flower shop had made her sleepless, which was why Anne chose to cook. Cooking would make her forget what had been bothering her since last night and this method had indeed proven to work for Anne.
"Okay, it's finally done," said Anne happily, when she saw that two lunch boxes for two people were neatly arranged on the table.
As usual, Anne made the English breakfast that Linda used to enjoy while living with her family. Anne made sunny-side-up eggs, fried beef sausages, roasted the best sliced hams, baked potatoes, and of course, bread and some fresh tomato slices. A traditional menu that was usually enjoyed at breakfast with family, it was not without reason that Anne made a breakfast menu like that. She wanted to provide family warmth to Linda, who lived far away from her parents.
For lunch, Anne only made three large beef burritos which were neatly arranged in the lunch box. When she was about to tidy up the food into a special bag, suddenly Anne's door was knocked quite hard from the outside. Without suspicion, Anne stepped towards the door. Usually this morning the one who came was her regular milkman. Therefore, Anne walked casually to the door while still wearing a towel on her head that was used to dry her wet hair. Anne was that relaxed because her milkman was a friendly middle-aged woman.
"Good morning Ma ..."
"Morning too, Anne," Jack replied, quickly interrupting Anne's words as he walked into Anne's apartment.
Anne, who was still shocked by Jack's presence, could only remain silent, not a word came out of her lips.
"Wow, it looks delicious! What a coincidence, I haven't had breakfast mmmmm ... The taste is not bad and still edible," said Jack without guilt while eating Anne's breakfast which was neatly arranged in the lunch box.
Anne's consciousness finally came when Jack started eating her homemade food. She quickly closed the door of her apartment and walked to her small dining table where Jack was enjoying the food she had made.
Anne, who was never angry when someone ate her home cooked food, could only remain silent. She preferred her homemade food to run out rather than having to see her food wasted.
"Why are you in my place, Jack? Wasn't it the last time you threw my cookies in front of the coffee shop?" said Anne quietly without expression, seeing Jack eat her food reminded her of the incident at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne.
"I want to take you to the shop, because you didn't bring your car home last night," replied Jack briefly with a mouth full of food.
"Then why do you still want to eat the food I made, even though you used to ... ammm,"
Anne could not finish her words because a piece of sausage was already in her mouth. Jack had fed her with it. So she had to chew it first before continuing her words. Seeing Anne eating made Jack smile. His plan to silence Anne worked. Jack quickly closed Anne's second lunch box which contained three medium-sized burrito, then hugged her tightly.
"That's my lunch, Jack," Anne protested softly, when she saw Jack want to take her lunch box.
"This is for me, I'll prepare your lunch later." replied Jack briefly.
"But I want that," said Anne softly.
"This food is already mine, don't you take it again," Jack said curtly.
Hearing Jack's words made Anne could only sigh. She knew that she would never win when she was arguing with him. Especially when it came to food like this, that's why she chose to remain silent and gave in to Jack, even though she really wanted to eat burritos for lunch at the shop.
Jack deliberately took Anne's lunch box. He did that to cut off Anne's words about the cookies he threw away in front of the coffee shop a few months ago while still at Newcastle-Upon-Tyne. Jack knew Anne was a person who really appreciated food. Therefore, Anne must still remember about that incident, where back then Jack was carried away with jealousy when he saw Anne with Aaron while he was staying briefly in Switzerland.
"How long do you want to stay like that? Do you want to go to work with a towel on your head, Anne?" Jack asked softly, breaking the silence.
"Oh God, I forgot to take off my towel." Anne shrieked in surprise as she pulled the towel which was still covering her wet hair quickly.
Seeing Anne removing the towel before her eyes made Jack feel uncomfortable. His heart skipped a beat when he saw Anne let her wet hair loose.
To be continued.
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