Chapter 20: Chapter 20

“Uhm… Actually, I came to… I came to give you some of this. Audrey told me it's your favorite snack, so I thought it was considerate of me if I'd share some with you”.

Valerie turned into a stammerer in the twinkle of an eye. Staring at the President kept giving her the chills. He's so hot that she feels like she was going to get burnt looking at him.

Ethan stared at her, and sneered a little. “What good can it be? I don't think anything made by you would even be nice”.

Valerie blinked her eyes rapidly. Gulping hard, she nodded her head with a faint smile. “I'm sorry, sir. I apologize for interrupting your activity” She turned to leave the room.

“Hey”

Her heart skipped a beat. Did she do anything else wrong? Why does the President want her to stop?

“Holy crap! Should I keep getting into trouble? This is such a huge mess”.

Valerie halted, and reluctantly turned around, wearing a nervous smile. “Sir?”

“Are you so confident that the snack you have in that tray is good?”

Valerie nodded her head with a wide smile and said, “Of course. You can ask Audrey, I make really delicious snacks”.

“I hope so. Get the snack over here, but I'm warning you, once I get a taste of this and find out that it is not as delicious as you're talking about. Trust me, you're not going to find it funny” The President coldly replied.

Valerie walked calculable towards the President, and dropped the tray on the stool close to Ethan.

“I'll leave now” Valerie rushed to the door. She couldn't wait to leave the room, as she wasn't comfortable staying anywhere close to the President.

“Miss Watson?” Ethan called, and she turned sharply to him. “Sir?”

“Are you leaving? Didn't you say your snacks are very delicious? And you want to leave when I've not confirmed that yet, huh? You're really a very untrustworthy person, aren't you?” Ethan sounded emotionless. His face was expressionless. Such that she couldn't tell whether he was angry or not.

“Err… of course not, Sir. Actually, I just wanted to go see how Audrey is doing” Valerie smiled dryly.

President Ethan snorted, and took some salted potato chip, and ate it slowly. Valerie's heart kept beating faster as he chewed the chip. “How do you see it, sir? Is it delicious?”

Rolling his eyes, Ethan glared at her. “He doesn't like it? Oh, no!” Valerie bit her lips, and bowed her head.

Ethan suddenly started clapping, and that made Valerie confused. Why was he clapping? Was he mocking her? Or is this a compliment? Hell no! With the look on his face, it's obvious that he doesn't like the salted potato chips.

“You always get me into trouble, Audrey. Why can't you cut me some slack?”

“Good! This is good” President Ethan suddenly said, and Valerie widened her eyes in shock. “Really?”

“At least there is one thing you are good at. That's making salted potato chips! Impressive” Ethan complimented her for the very first time.

Valerie wanted to get a hold of herself. But heck! She didn't even realize that she was grinning from ear to ear.

“Thank you… thank you so much, Sir. I'm… I'm happy you liked it” Valerie licked her lips in excitement.

“Do you… do you have more of these? Tell one of the servants to bring it over” President Ethan turned his gaze away, and Valerie ran out of the room.

“She's such a baby. Why the hell is she so happy just because I complimented her?” He thought with a faint smile.

Walking down the estate, Valerie kept smiling and talking to herself. Probably, she couldn't get over the shock of the President of the Davison's villa not yelling at her. His voice was so calm, and he even complimented her.

“Taxi?” Valerie flagged down a cab, and got in. The cab speeded off.

A few minutes later, Valerie was already inside the apartment she shares with her friends. Turning on the light at the sitting room, she headed to the room.

“Where the hell are you coming from? You got us all worried sick about you, Val?” Without sparing a glance, she could tell it was Susan's voice.

Valerie exhaled deeply, and turned swiftly. She saw Susan, who was putting on an apron. She was coming from the kitchen. Obviously, she had a spoon in her hand. “I'm sorry, guys. Actually, it was late. I couldn't leave the Davison's villa. There was no way I'd get a cab, anyway”.

“You really should have given us a call, you doll. It took me a lot of time to convince Susan that you're a grown-up, and that you're safe. I almost lost my beautiful voice, you know” Andrew snapped.

“You jerk…” Susan gritted her teeth, and he shrugged.

“Sorry, guys. You know what? I have some cash to spare. Why don't we go eat out?” Valerie winked at them, and they shook their heads in disagreement.

“No freaking way! I'm preparing dinner. Pasta and fried crabs… that's one of your favorites, Val” Susan replied, and Valerie giggled.

“Yeah, right” She chuckled, and walked into the room to take a shower, and have a change of dress.

The next day, Valerie didn't leave for work in the morning. She had an afternoon shift at the Davison's villa. Susan and Andrew left for their work early, and she was left all alone at home.

“What a boring morning. I miss the little chatterbox, Audrey” Valerie smiled, and opened the refrigerator. Taking out of it a can of orange juice, she poured it out in a glass, and sipped it slowly.

She was already settled in the sitting room with a remote control when she suddenly heard the doorbell ring.

“Ding-dong.”

She blinked her eyes rapidly, and got down from the sofa. She wasn't expecting anyone. Of course, her friends wouldn't invite anyone when they are away.

Likewise, she walked to the door and throw it open. Her jaw dropped in shock on seeing who was standing in front of her.

“Justin? What are you doing here?”