Chapter 209 Please Respect Yourself
On the way back, Maddox brought up Erica. "I heard from Erica that your talk with the TV station went pretty well."
"Yeah, and I have her to thank for that," Leopold knew full well. "From when I first decided to reach out to the TV station to going to Skyview City to negotiate the contract, Erica put in a lot of effort the whole way through. Let's find some time in the next couple of days; Caroline and I will treat you two to dinner."
"That's nothing, it's what we should do," Maddox said. "Come on, look at our relationship."
"Whatever our relationship is, I still need to thank her. There aren't that many things that are 'supposed to be done'. It's a kindness if she helps, and it's reasonable if she doesn't. Just ask her for me, see when she's free, and tell her she can pick the place."
"Alright, I'll ask her when I get back."
The car drove down from the elevated highway. Just a few blocks ahead was Maddox's company.
Leopold asked, "How's the company doing lately?"
Maddox replied, "It's stabilized, and we've got more work than before. You were right. Since we're out here on our own, we can't be picky. Who's got a problem with money? If there's work, take it."
He sighed. "We're not in the system anymore, so no point putting on airs and waiting for people to come begging."
People who'd worked in the system all understand that once you left, people moved on.
Leopold said, "For your first year in business, just staying afloat means you've succeeded."
Maddox said somewhat self-mockingly, "Back when I was at the design institute, I won't even mention that the phone never stopped ringing—there were hordes of people looking for me every day, and those asking me out for meals would have to queue until next week. I was really in my prime then. But now, it's all over. Not to mention a meal, I can't even get someone to treat me to a single cigarette. Isn't that pathetic?"
Leopold understood his sense of loss. With Maddox's design skills and abilities, if he'd stuck it out long enough, he definitely could have made it to the director level. But he was too used to freedom. As a young guy who loved extreme sports, making him clock in and out on time every day and live by the rules would suffocate him.
Leopold said, "If you really cared about all that, you wouldn't have quit in the first place."
Maddox's lips curved up, and he said proudly, "Exactly. My world isn't just about getting by - I'm here to protect world peace."
Leopold said, "Give you two compliments, and you get all cocky. If you need money, I've got it."
Maddox said, "I'm good. What I make each month now covers the company's cash flow. I still haven't paid you back from last time. I'll pay you back when I've got more breathing room."
Leopold said, "I'm asking in case you don't have enough. I've got more, and I can transfer it to you anytime. I'm not asking you for money."
Maddox said, "I know."
Leopold said, "Don't worry about me. What's important is that you run the company well and increase the turnover."
Maddox said, "Got it."
The car stopped in front of the apartment complex. Leopold invited him up to sit for a bit and have some water before leaving, but Maddox said he was going to pick up Erica from work and left.
When Leopold got home, he noticed a strange smell as soon as he walked in.
Looking at his watch, it was almost 7 PM, and Caroline wasn't home from work yet. Leopold dragged his suitcase into the walk-in closet, put everything away, grabbed his pajamas, and headed to the bathroom.
As soon as he closed the door, he caught a faint smell of disinfectant. But looking around, he couldn't find anything related to disinfectant.
After his shower, Leopold noticed his electric toothbrush was dead. He pulled open the drawer under the bathroom cabinet to get the charger and saw a bottle of disinfectant along with gauze and tape.
He took them out to look at it, and them had been used.
Leopold anxiously walked out of the bathroom, grabbed his phone from the sofa, and called Caroline.
The phone rang for a while before she picked up. Leopold heard car horns through the receiver - she was in a car.
He asked, "Are you off work?"
Instead of answering, Caroline asked, "You're home?"
"Yeah." Leopold was worried. "Still not done with the checkup?"
"All done, the car's almost in the city." Caroline said, "What do you want for dinner? I can pick up groceries on the way."
Leopold said, "No need, I checked the fridge, we have enough."
"Wait for me then." Just as Caroline was about to hang up, Leopold said, "I'll come pick you up."
Caroline laughed. "I drove here. You want to come to my office? Just wait at home."
Her voice sounded fine, maybe he was making too big a deal of it.
Leopold said, "Okay, bye."
After hanging up, Leopold kept gripping the bottle of disinfectant, telling himself maybe she just cut her finger - probably nothing serious.
Leopold went to the kitchen to prepare dinner. He'd made his principles about housework clear early on, when he was home, he didn't let Caroline lift a finger. Whoever had time did the chores. For him, there was no such thing as housework being women's work.
When Caroline came through the door, she smelled the aroma of food cooking. She changed into slippers and headed straight for the kitchen.
Leopold was stir-frying. Hearing footsteps behind him, he turned off the heat and said while plating the food, "You're home, Ms. Tudor?"
"Yes, Mr. Wipere, let me give you a hug." Caroline hugged him from behind, placing one hand over her injured wrist, cleverly covering the gauze.
He picked up the plate and looked back at her. "Be good, go wash your hands. Let's eat."
Caroline nuzzled against his back. "Don't move, let me hug you a bit more."
Leopold was helpless and could only wait until she'd had enough.
"By the way, I saw gauze and disinfectant in the bathroom. Where did you get hurt?"
Caroline froze.
After two seconds of silence, she said, "My wrist, it's nothing."
Her hands immediately dropped from his waist. Caroline walked out. "I'm going to change and wash my hands for dinner."
Leopold noticed she was wearing long sleeves. "In this weather, you're still wearing long sleeves? Aren't you hot?"
Caroline said, "You don't understand, this is sun protection clothing. With that bright sun, if I wore short sleeves, I'd get roasted."
Leopold then saw her pull out sunglasses and a sun mask from her bag and put them on. At first glance, she looked like a robber.
He teased, "If you walked around the street covered up like that, I wouldn't recognize you even if you walked right past me."
Caroline said, "The best sun protection is physical protection. If the sun can't reach you, you can't get tan."
She went into the bedroom, and Leopold went back to the kitchen to get the dishes.
When Caroline came back out wearing pure cotton long-sleeved pajamas, Leopold blinked and took off his apron to hang it up, his gaze sweeping over her from top to bottom. "I come home, and this is what you wear for me?"
The gray pajamas with pink flowers were the perfect combination of old-fashioned, tacky, and conservative.
Leopold frowned in distaste. "My grandma's almost eighty, and even she doesn't wear pajamas like that."
Caroline smiled and said, "You don't understand. Wearing pure cotton pajamas is good for your skin. When you use the air conditioner in summer, you won't catch a cold easily this way."
Leopold walked around her, at a loss for words. "These baggy, tacky, old-lady pajamas, can you tell me where you bought them?"
Caroline laughed.
"Tell me quick, so next time I can walk you around it," Leopold said.
Caroline grabbed his hand and shook it, acting cute. "Let's just eat."
Leopold pulled his hand away. "Please have some self-respect."
He paused, then hooked his hand around her waist, looking down. The buttons on her collar were fastened all the way up to below her neck, covering everything completely.
Leopold said, "With these pajamas on, you've instantly aged up a generation. I feel a deep sense of respect for you."