Chapter 14: Chapter 14

Raymond returned to his apartment, greeted with Hazel who glared at him, standing in front of the door. After he cried and felt a little better, he left the coffee shop ignoring Martha who insisted on driving him back to the apartment because of the heavy rain. He walked through the rain, ignoring his wet clothes.

‘Come in,’ Hazel ran into her room, and came back with a towel in her hand, thrust it at him then turned back, facing him. ‘The porridge will be ready soon.'

‘O-okay…’ Raymond replied reluctantly. He wanted to say that he did not get an appetite, but he gave up because he felt bad for Hazel, who must have worked so hard to make porridge for him. Hazel did not even ask why he left this morning, and he felt relieved because, honestly, he was not ready to tell Hazel everything. Not for now.

‘Oh, I forgot,’ Hazel turned back to face him. ‘After you finish eating the porridge, can you eat the cake I just made? I'm experimenting with a new recipe for next month’s menu at our cafe.’

‘New recipe?’

‘Yes.’ Hazel stroked the back of her neck, turning her gaze away. ‘I-I've made it low calorie, and well, if you ... don't mind?’

Seeing Hazel who was panicking after offering to eat her new experiment for the menu made him laugh. Gosh, why did he have such a cute girlfriend? Without realizing it, his hand moved to caress the top of Hazel's head. ‘Yes yes. I understand. I just need to eat it, right?’

‘Yes... yes. You take a shower first. Before you get a cold.’

Seeing Hazel's blushing face made him want to tease this woman a little. ‘Do you mind if we take a shower together today?’

‘No! You're already an adult, why should we take a shower together?!’

Hazel's innocent answer burst out of laughter even more until he winced because his gunshot wound had not yet healed.

‘Why are you laughing?’

‘Nothing. Okay, okay, I got it, Princess,’ Raymond stroked Hazel's head again, told Hazel to get back on to continue with her work. He walked down the corridor of his apartment to the bathroom near the living room. This was the reason why he was so reluctant to introduce Hazel to Martha. He was afraid that Martha would give her girlfriend a bad influence. Just imagining it got him goosebumps.

Hm, just a moment. He did not think it would be so bad if Hazel was influenced by Martha later. He cleared his throat, eliminating the dirty thoughts that were starting to fill his mind as he closed the bathroom door.

***

‘It’s delicious! I really mean it!’

Raymond could not stop eating the cake Hazel had just served him as soon as he finished his shower and changed into something warmer and more comfortable clothes. He left the porridge that he should have eaten first to the other side, tempted by Hazel's cake and continued to eat the small cake that Hazel immediately took it away from him.

‘Eat your porridge first.’

‘One more time. Please?’

‘No. I mean it. Eat the porridge first, then take medicine. Or you can say goodbye to my cake. Besides, I just asked you to eat a little, but you have eaten half of my cake.’

‘Why? It can’t be helped. Your cake is so delicious.’ Raymond squinted his eyes at Hazel. ‘It's really low-calorie, right?’

‘I said it already: yes, it's low-calorie. How many times do I have to say?’ Hazel put the plate of the cake on the table, then approached Raymond until they were a few centimetres apart.

From this close, he could smell Hazel's perfumeーlike the fragrance of a flower he did not know what flavour it was. A soft scent, suited with her. Maybe he should do some research to find out the perfume his girlfriend used. His eyes returned to trace the face of the woman who was locking his movements. Her face was like snow, with a little pink on her cheeks as she flushed, along with her thin lips. Her eyes were dark brown in colour, like a magnet that was able to absorb him into her eyes. Her eyelashes were curled, and he felt that this woman had a little make-up on her face, but it did not detract from her natural beauty.

‘Do I have to kiss you so you understand?’ Hazel touched Raymond's cheek with her small, warm hand, forcing Raymond to look into his brown eyes. ‘Don’t worry. I already learned about it, so it shouldn't be any problem.’

His heart was pounding. Was this aggressive woman in front of him right now really Hazel Skylar, the woman who officially became his girlfriend since yesterday? Or the wrong person? As far as he could remember, Hazel was the kind of clumsy, shy woman. Getting embarrassed quickly just after kissing Raymond yesterday. The clumsy one during their first meeting. Did he just do something that changed Hazel's character? Like pressing a certain button, maybe?

Raymond still gasped. His tongue was clenched because he did not know what to say to reply to a question that could be said to be a statement. Only this time, he, a twenty-six years old man, felt lost to an eighteen years old woman. This was simply beyond his limits to hold back. His hand moved through Hazel's hair, gently kissing her. ‘Oh? What were you studying? Can you tell me?’

Hazel blushed as soon as he teased her back. ‘Th-that… ng… you know…’

He could not help but laugh at Hazel's cute behaviour. Even though this woman herself took the initiative to tease him, she was ashamed of herself when he followed this woman's game. Really...

‘Then show me everything you've learned, Hazel.’ He whispered close to Hazel's ear in the lowest possible voice, signalling her to do it.

This woman immediately landed a kiss on his lips. As Hazel said earlier, this woman's kissing technique was much improved than before, and of course, he did not take the initiative to refuse it. They continued kissing, until at last Hazel pulled away from him, out of breath. Just as Raymond was about to kiss her again, Hazel pushed Raymond away from him and glanced at the chilled porridge bowl.

‘We-we’ll continue it later!’

***