Chapter 12: Chapter 12

She shut her eyes. The people staying in the living room and her rooms were all asleep. They were all tired. If only at least one person was awake for her to talk to distract herself from Richard. Because even though he was asleep upstairs, she could still hear his voice.

“You seemed to have fallen asleep here,” he uttered once again.

Her eyes flew open, and she saw a tall figure at the kitchen door. "R-Richard?” she uttered when she finally found her voice. “W-what are you doing here?”

She stood up to guide him. He was still weak. She knew he could not walk straight yet. When she tried to help him walk and sit, he refused.

“There’s no need. I can take care of myself. You saw that I managed to walk the stairs without falling,” he said jokingly.

Esmeralda went back to her seat and watched him walked slowly to the table and sat on the empty chair across her. She felt relieved. It was better to avoid being in contact with him. She felt weak whenever they were close.

A while ago, she was silently wishing that she had someone to join her for tea. But she did not mean it to be someone who was bothering her thoughts. How could she take him off her mind when they were face to face? She realized they were alone in the dark kitchen. The only light was the rechargeable lamp.

But that tiny light did not stop her from watching him. His demigod-like handsomeness was emphasized as the light reflected on his coffee eyes.

“You’re supposed to stay in your room and resting. Do you feel better now? Do you still feel pain?” she asked. “You might catch a fever from soaking in the water and the bruises on your body.”

She wanted to touch his forehead to know if he was hot, but she stopped. She must get a hold of herself.

“I can’t sleep,” he said. “I heard you went out of your room, so I decided to follow you. I hope I'm not bothering you."

She forced a smile. “Not at all. Do you want some tea?” she askes.

“Coffee. I prefer coffee. Tea is for sissies.”

“Wild tea is better than coffee for the body.”

“I am fine with coffee. If you have one.”

She stood up. “Sure. I’ll make you a cup.”

She retrieved the coffee from the cabinet. She was thankful that she finally had a reason not to look at him. She picked up the thermos and poured hot water into a cup. Just like her, he could not sleep. That must be the reason for the movements she heard from his room. Was he thinking about her? Or he must be thinking about something else. He should have stayed in his room and rest. Why did he have to follow her?

“Esmeralda?” he called once again.

She jumped and slightly turned to him. “What is it?” she asked.

“I think you have put so much coffee in my cup,” he said. “I might get palpitation already.”

“H-huh?” she uttered in shock and glanced at the coffee. She then realized that it was too strong. She had no idea how many tablespoons of coffee she had poured on the cup. She was too occupied. “I-I’m sorry,” she said, panicking. She was lost in thoughts of him.

She could hear his soft laughter behind her. She felt the heat coming from his body a few inches away from her. She could not move. One moment she was confused, now her mind stopped working.

“I’ll take care of my coffee.” He held her shoulders and gently pushed her back to her seat. “Leave it up to me.”

She did not mind how he made his coffee. She held her own hot cup in her hand as she waited for her heart to calm down.

He sat on her right. Instead of drinking his coffee right away, he brought it to his nose and smelled it. “I did not know making your own coffee feels great,” he said. “At my job, I always have someone to make it for me.”

So, he was a boss for real. He must be like Aiden, a boss in his company, and had an assistant like Alexis. He bossed around to make his coffee, buy a hamburger, and prepare his suit at parties.

She noticed it by the way he spoke and the clothes he wore when she found him. But she had no plans of asking what he does for a living. She preferred that he remained a stranger than know him better.

"Maybe you're feeling homesick. That's why you can't sleep,” she said instead of asking more about his personal life.

He shrugged. “I travel a lot. Homesick is nothing to me.” He roamed his eyes around. "Your house looks nice, though it's still unfinished. You must be one of the wealthiest around here."

"I'm also poor like them. I was just struck by luck."

He looked around. “Your house is newly built?”

“Yes. It wasn’t plastered and painted yet. It was rushed. I’m glad it was done before the typhoon.”

"You must have worked hard for it."