Chapter 16 — An Awkward Interaction

Dana POV:

"Isn't Jason coming down for dinner as well?" I ask the cook, Margaret, as soon as I noticed he hadn't come down just yet.

Blake has been gone for the last two days and I surprisingly haven't seen Jason since then. I know I said I wanted to avoid him as much as I can but at this point, it seemed as though he was the one trying as much as he could to avoid me and the possibility that he could be doing that on purpose just because he didn't like me made me feel really bad.

I actually thought he and I were pretty cool with each other, but I guess he only appears to be cool with me to please Blake, but can I blame him though? I wouldn't be cool with me too if I were in his shoes. Imagine having to be friends with your boyfriend's wife? Sounds like a whole lot of work I must say.

"He's in his studio madam. He says he'll have dinner later," she replies, and I slowly start to lose my appetite.

I honestly hate feeling like I'm making someone uncomfortable especially if whoever it was that felt uncomfortable shouldn't be feeling that way. It makes me blame myself and I become quite messy emotionally till I'm certain that I'm not the problem.

"Did he leave the house at all today?" I ask.

"No, he didn't madam. He was only downstairs for a short while but then he went back into his studio and has been there since you arrived," she replies, and I let out a heavy sigh before dropping the fork I had with me in annoyance and heading upstairs to his studio for the very first time.

As much as I don't want anything too personal with him, I couldn't stand the fact that he was avoiding me to the point where he would even skip eating dinner at the right time. His attitude is making me feel even more uncomfortable and I definitely cannot live with it.

I head up to his studio door and as soon as my hands were about to knock on it, I froze. I couldn't do it.

What if he ended up lashing out at me for not minding my business? Or he just denies my accusations and shuts the door in my face? Maybe even worse, he leaves the house angrily just because he can't stand me? That would definitely ruin my entire week.

I let out a heavy and frustrated sigh as I stood outside his studio staring intensely at the door but having no courage to actually notify him of my presence out of fear of confirming my suspicion that he does, indeed hate me and wants absolutely nothing to do with me.

"Come on Dana, just knock on the stupid door and let's get this over with," I mutter to myself, nervously pacing around before eventually stopping in front of the door and raising my hand to actually knock on it.

As soon as my knuckles almost meet the door, it flies open to my surprise and out of complete shock, I take a few steps backwards and almost lose my footing but fortunately, Jason is quick to hold on to my hand, so I don't fall.

"Careful Dana," he says as soon as his hands grab mine and I could literally feel my heartbeat beating in a very abnormal pace.

"Uh...uhm, th-thanks," I mutter in a low tone, looking down at my feet because I suddenly could not look him in the eye out of embarrassment.

"Is everything okay? Do you need anything?" he asks.

"Uhm, n-not exactly. I-I just wanted to ask why you aren't having dinner?" I stutter the first words that came to mind after struggling to come up with a sensible reply in the first few seconds.

"I already told Margaret I would have dinner much later. Didn't she inform you? I told her to let you know I wouldn't be available till later on," he replies, and my stomach flips uncomfortably.

I don't usually jump to conclusion but even the way he speaks makes it obvious that something about me makes him uncomfortable and he is most definitely doing a great job at making it obvious that he doesn't want me around his space.

"Uhm, she did tell me, but I found it really weird that you've been supposedly too busy to eat every time I'm around and I know it's weird that I'm saying this but, if my presence makes you in any way uncomfortable, please do let me know. I know for a fact that I'm the intruder here and the last thing I want is to have you skipping meals and eating late just to avoid me," I say to him, finally having the courage to say out exactly what I thought.

"Wait, what exactly are you talking about Dana? I'm confused. What's this about me being uncomfortable and you being an intruder? Did I perhaps say something wrong to you?" he asks, and I scoff.

"You don't have to act like you don't understand me, Jason. I know very well you don't like me, and you don't even hide it, which is cool, trust me, it is. If I were you, I probably would not like me as well, but then, you don't have to make me feel so shitty about it. It's not my fault I married Blake and it's not my fault that everything turned out this way. You really don't have to stop eating and staying indoors all the time just to avoid me. It's making me very uncomfortable," I reply, and he simply stays quiet, staring back at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

His intense gaze made me very uncomfortable as his blue eyes stared dead into mine, making my legs involuntarily weak and my mind completely blank.

This man's beauty should really be added as one of many deadly sins cause the thoughts, I have from simply staring at him scared the living shit out of me.

"Have you had dinner yet Dana?" He asks out of nowhere and I frown lightly as I wasn't expecting such a reply to my rant.

"Wait, why are you asking about whether or not I've had dinner? What does having dinner have anything to do with anything I just said? Are you really going to avoid me even when I'm right in front of you? Do you hate me that much?" I blurt out in frustration, hating the fact that I was letting a stupid pretty boy like him get to me.

"Okay Dana, you need to chill out. The only reason I asked that is because I was just about to go get dinner and I was wondering if we could have this conversation over dinner," he quickly replies defensively, and I hiss at the obvious lie.

"Oh, so you thought I'd be done having dinner right and that's why you brilliantly decided to come out and have yours, right? How ridiculous of you Mr. Case," I scoff at him bitterly.

His eyes grow two times wider almost as if he couldn't believe my outburst but what the hell did he expect when he didn't even try to be subtle about his dislike for me.

"Uhm, you know what, let's push dinner to the side because I think you're getting everything very wrong. Firstly Dana, I have absolutely nothing against you, like absolutely nothing at all. I don't know if you know this, but I have an exhibition coming up very soon and I have been working on my art pieces for the last two days nonstop since there's less distraction now. My absence around the house has absolutely nothing to do with me avoiding you because I have no reason to avoid you," he explains but I wasn't buying it.

"Oh, really Jason? Then how come Margaret always tells me that you only lock yourself in your studio when I'm around and how come you always wait till I go up to my room before you come down to eat? Do you really expect me to believe you're busy and that's why you avoid being around when I am?" I ask and he sighs.

"Wait, Margaret said that, or did you simply assume from her words? Also, Dana, why are you so concerned about me avoiding you? You could simply ignore me if that really was the case which it really isn't by the way. You're getting it all wrong and unfortunately, coincidental instances keep agreeing with your conclusion so everything I say at this point will only sound like I'm only trying to convince you otherwise," he replies, and I fold my arms together, not impressed with his choice of words.

"It may be easy for you to ignore the people you live with for no reason but it's absolutely not the same for me. You're Blake's boyfriend and for his sake, I need to be cordial with you not simply pretend to be like you've been doing all this while and yes, your explanations sound like excuses to me," I hiss harshly at him.

"You know what, come in," he says suddenly, and I'm taken aback.

"Why should I? Blake already said you don't allow just anyone into your studio," I reply, he chuckles.

"You're not just anyone Dana, you're Blake's wife and the only reason I'm inviting you in even if it's not something I would usual do is because I need you to see for yourself that I've actually been pretty busy. I have about four ongoing pieces that I still haven't perfected and for a perfectionist like myself, my sluggishness is really bothering me which is why I work indoors. I have no energy to play hide and seek in my own house and if you feel I always eat after you just to avoid you then I apologize for that misunderstanding,"

"I only eat after you because I eat late at night, and you don't, so it only makes sense that I happen to come downstairs when you're upstairs because you literally go up immediately after dinner. We don't always run into each other because when we have business downstairs, it's at different times. So, I'd appreciate it if next time, you simply ask calmly rather than jump to your own conclusions and try to guilt trip me with mere assumptions," he blows off in a strangely calm tone that made me feel somewhat foolish.

The fact that I had raised my voice slightly at him making it obvious that I was really frustrated made me feel embarrassed cause his tone was literally the same calm tone he had even when it felt like he was scolding me.

"It's still not okay to miss meals just because you're working. You can easily ask to have your food in there," I hiss.

"I do not allow food in my studio Dana and besides, have you seen the place, literally smell like paints and old wood and eating in such a place can be very irritating," he replies, still staring at me with a way to calm and collected expression.

"Well, since I got that off my chest, I'll be going back down now. I'm not going to apologize for having my conclusions because you aren't exactly guiltless either. If you didn't act like you were trying to avoid me, I wouldn't have thought that was the case and came right at you so fix your attitude to avoid such misunderstandings and have a good evening," I say to him very quickly and turn to leave but he's quick to stop me by grabbing on to my hands for the second time today and I immediately slap his hands off out of reflex.

He let out a short laugh as if amused by my childish act and saying I felt embarrassed would most definitely be an understatement.

"That was just my reflex," I quickly defend, and he chuckles.

"There's no need to explain, I really don't mind. I just want to apologize for making you feel like an intruder or like I didn't like you because that definitely isn't the case. I'm really sorry for making you uncomfortable and I hope you have a good night rest miss Dana." he says in the lowest and sexiest voice I have ever heard and I'm immediately frozen on the spot as I watch him walk right past me and down the stairs.

This man would most definitely end up getting me into trouble and whatever mess it is, I hope it doesn't end up ruining things for me.