Chapter 80 Clingy
"How did I wrong you?"
Caroline believed that good relationships were built on trust. If even Leopold fell into the same old patterns, she felt like she never wanted to find a boyfriend again for the rest of her life.
"Wait, something's not right here," Leopold caught himself in time. "The tone of our conversation is off. Let's adjust."
It was the first time Caroline had seen someone call a timeout before a fight.
Leopold held Caroline's hand and apologized first, "I'm sorry. My way of expressing myself just now made you misunderstand. Let me own up to that first."
Caroline fell silent.
Apologizing before they even fought—he wasn't following the script at all.
"Let me say what I'm thinking first. Don't interrupt. After I'm done, if you think something's wrong, you can correct me."
Caroline had spent the whole day planting trees. To put it in one sentence: every part of her body hurt.
"Go ahead."
"I feel like you don't really care about me that much."
"What makes you think that?" The very first sentence made her unable to hold back from arguing.
He squeezed her hand. "Let me finish."
"Fine, talk. But if you don't make sense, we'll see how I deal with you."
Caroline had always been emotionally stable around him. She didn't know if it was tonight's alcohol, but she was being unusually difficult, which Leopold actually found quite endearing.
"I'm always the one reaching out to you. I'm almost always the one calling you. I finally made it back here, and you didn't even suggest meeting up. You even told me to go back. Tell me, isn't that not caring about me?"
The car was silent for a few seconds. Leopold noticed Caroline squinting with a mischievous smile, a lovely flush on her cheeks. He said, "Don't smile like that. You look exactly like you're about to do something bad."
Caroline put both hands behind his neck, then pulled hard, resting on Leopold's shoulder and saying, "I didn't realize you were so clingy."
Now Leopold fell silent.
Me, clingy? How could I possibly be clingy?
Leopold shouted internally, but outwardly said in a calm tone, "Don't change the subject. You just don't care about me anymore. What, you got me and now you don't treasure me?"
Caroline laughed out loud and let go, sitting up straight. "First of all, I need to make one thing clear—I'm not drunk. I remember every message I sent you tonight. Right now, it's not me misunderstanding you, it's you misunderstanding me.
I do care about you, very much. Otherwise I wouldn't have been thinking about whether you'd get back safely, right?"
Leopold liked hearing her say this. "Really?"
"Don't ask back. That's just how it is. You need to believe in yourself."
"Believe what about myself?"
"Believe that you're handsome enough, and I'm still very much captivated by your good looks."
Leopold tapped her forehead lightly with his knuckle. "I think you really did drink too much."
"No, definitely didn't drink too much." Caroline's eyes were sultry as she propped her chin in her hand, looking Leopold over. "I've been independent my whole life, and I tend to think about things more rationally. You should have felt that from the first day you approached me. When you said you came back, I told you to go home.
At that moment, Mr. White was pulling me around to toast everyone. He was paving the way for me, getting the old employees at the office to support me more. I figured you didn't have anything urgent going on. If you just came to see me for a moment and then had to drive back at night, what if something happened? How would I deal with that? I'd feel guilty about it for the rest of my life.
Between your safety and seeing each other, of course I'm going to choose what's better for you."
Everything she said had nothing to do with feelings, yet it made Leopold's heart soar.
Seeing Leopold say nothing, Caroline grabbed his pinky finger. "Still feeling wronged? My Leopold."
Leopold wanted to speak, but then felt there was no need. He'd already gotten the answer he wanted.
"Don't we even have this much trust between us?" Caroline shook his hand coquettishly.
Leopold smiled helplessly. "At the company, I'm the one who explains things to other people. I didn't expect to get a lecture from you tonight."
Her tipsy smile captivated Leopold's eyes. His gaze fell on her lips, his Adam's apple bobbed, and the next second he looked away.
Caroline patted Leopold's chest lightly. "Never mind about logic or not—what matters most is having a clear conscience."
Leopold covered the hand on his chest. "With this attitude from you, I'm not worried anymore."
"I'm exhausted today. If there's nothing else, I'm heading upstairs." Caroline said, "I definitely can't have insomnia tonight. I need to sleep until I wake up naturally."
Only then did Leopold turn over her palm—just one day and she'd already gotten blisters. He asked with concern, "Does it hurt?"
"A little, but it's not a big deal."
Leopold wanted to spend more time with her, but considering she really had worked hard all day, he let go of her hand and said, "Go on up, get to bed early."
The next day.
Caroline suddenly received a call from Elijah.
"Caroline, are you busy?"
It was just after lunch break. Caroline replied, "Not busy, Dad. What's up?"
Elijah said, "I'm just passing by your office. Want to grab a meal together, father and daughter?"
Caroline paused. "Sure, I'll treat you."
As she gathered her things, she asked, "What do you feel like eating? I'll find a restaurant nearby that suits your taste."
Elijah said, "Whatever, something simple is fine."
"How about home-style cooking? There's a restaurant across from the office with a nice atmosphere and good food. My colleagues and I eat there often."
"Sounds good. I'll wait for you at the entrance."
Caroline grabbed her keys and hurried downstairs. At the entrance, she saw a black sedan, opened the passenger door and got in. "Why are you driving yourself today?" Then she pointed at the intersection. "Turn right at the intersection up ahead."
Elijah said, "The driver had something to take care of, so I let him go handle it."
She had a feeling that Elijah asking her to lunch wasn't just about eating.
The car stopped, and father and daughter walked into the restaurant one after the other.
She found a relatively quiet spot. "Dad, is this okay?"
Elijah took off his coat and draped it over the back of a nearby chair. "Yes, this place is nice."
Caroline ordered two dishes and a soup. "Dad, their portions are big here. If we order too much, we won't be able to finish it."
Elijah, "Good, let's not waste food."
Caroline took a napkin to wipe the glass, poured water and placed it in front of Elijah. She kept observing Elijah's expression. Elijah picked up the glass, took a sip and asked her, "Is work keeping you busy?"
Caroline gave her usual answer, "It's okay."
Elijah took note, then asked a few more questions about work. Caroline's answers could only be described as very formal.
In front of him, Caroline never complained, grumbled, or criticized. But behind his back, she would chat with Elysia about some things.
Caroline excused herself to the restroom to call Elysia. "Mom, Dad came to have lunch with me."
"Your dad? He went to a meeting. How did he end up there with you?"
From her tone, it was clear Elysia didn't know about this.
"It's nothing, just letting you know. Hanging up now."
"Wait, keep an eye on your dad. Don't let him drink. His physical exam results came back—his blood pressure is a bit high." After a few more instructions, Elysia hung up.
Caroline returned to her seat. "All the dishes are here?"
"Yeah, this place serves pretty fast." Elijah put a piece of salmon on Caroline's plate. "Eat more, you've gotten thinner."
The more unusually he acted, the more uneasy Caroline felt.
"Dad," Caroline put down her knife and fork, "do you have something you want to tell me?"