Chapter 164 She Has Rosemary in Her Bones
A warm yellow floor lamp glowed in the living room, filling the whole place with a cozy atmosphere. William's tall frame lay stretched out on the sofa, his muscular arm draped over his eyes, his white shirt and black dress pants hugging his figure.
The laptop on the coffee table had gone dark, with some reports scattered on the floor.
Thalia stood in the doorway, one hand on the door handle, the other hanging at her side, just watching William. William had a good habit of working out regularly, and even lying there fully clothed, Thalia's lustful gaze could easily penetrate his clothes and go straight to what was underneath.
William had been attending a lot of business dinners lately. From last night until now, he hadn't been sober. The drinking and toasting at the dinner table couldn't be avoided, and by the time he left, he was already too drunk to walk straight. He had to have Finn drive him to the film studio.
William only found out after arriving that Thalia was shooting a night scene today.
She had mentioned to him before that a full night shoot could go from evening until dawn.
William had dozed off on the sofa in his clothes, half-asleep.
He had a dream, fragmented and disconnected. Suddenly he felt a hand wandering over his body.
William grabbed the hand on his body, instantly wide awake.
The moment he opened his eyes, he met Thalia's smiling gaze. "Awake?"
William's eyes moved from Thalia's face to her hand, which he was holding just above his leg.
William's voice was hoarse: "Want to have sex?"
Thalia hadn't really thought about it - she just wanted to tease him. After all, she had worked hard shooting night scenes while he slept comfortably at home. She just felt it wasn't fair.
She raised an eyebrow, her playful eyes glancing down at William's lower body, and said: "Not interested."
Just as she was about to get up, William pulled her arm and pressed her down on the sofa.
She had rosemary in her bones. William prided himself on being controlled and calm - countless people in the business world had sent women his way and he remained unmoved. But once he got involved with Thalia, he felt like he was on drugs.
Like a cat stumbling into a patch of catnip, dazed and confused, unable to stay clearheaded.
........
Dawn was breaking. Thalia lay on top of William, his suit jacket covering her back. William's fingers lazily played with strands of her hair.
His head rested on the sofa armrest, his right hand stroking Thalia, his left hand holding a cigarette.
He'd take a drag now and then, or reach down to tap ash into the ashtray on the carpet.
The color of the sky and the warm yellow light in the room formed a stark contrast - lewd and decadent, still warm with lingering desire.
"Are you shooting today?"
"Tonight," Thalia lazily nuzzled William's neck.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw William tapping ash onto the carpet. She propped herself up halfway and looked at him: "Mr. Brown, that carpet is expensive."
William glanced at Thalia. It wasn't like he couldn't afford a carpet, but since Thalia mentioned it, he should be smart about it.
He casually stubbed out the cigarette in the ashtray.
Then he patted Thalia's lower back: "Time to get up."
Thalia raised an eyebrow: "Get up?"
William made a sound of agreement. Thalia glared at him: "I shot night scenes all night, came back without any rest, just had sex with you, and now you're telling me it's time to get up?"
William laughed, stroking her back, and said: "I said I need to get up."
"This early?" Five-thirty and he was getting up?
William turned over, letting Thalia lie on the sofa herself, picked up his dress pants from the floor and put them on, his back to her as he fastened his belt: "I have to go inspect the site below, can't be late."
Thalia stretched out her foot and poked his lower back: "Can't be late, but you can leave your wife cold and alone at home, is that it?"
William picked up his shirt from the floor, about to put it on, but saw all the buttons were missing. He sighed and called Finn to bring up some clothes.
William reached his hand around Thalia's neck and pulled her close, leaning in to kiss her: "If I don't go out and make money, will your luxury goods grow legs and walk to you by themselves?"
Hearing this, Thalia couldn't help but laugh quietly: "Put that way, you have a point."
"So what you're saying is, Mr. Brown, I can spend however I want on that card you gave me?"
The doorbell rang. William didn't rush to open it. He went to the bedroom, got a blanket, and came out to cover Thalia with it, to prevent her from being exposed.
Then he turned and walked to the door, opened it a crack, and took the shirt Finn handed him.
While putting on the shirt, he responded to Thalia: "As long as you don't use it to keep a man."
William finished putting on his clothes and was about to button up when Thalia, wrapped in the blanket, knelt on the sofa: "Let me help you."
William refused: "No need, I'm afraid you'll tease me."
If he indulged any more, he really would be late.
Hearing this, Thalia lost interest and lay back down, clicking her tongue: "Look how scared you are."
........
As soon as William left, Thalia went into the bathroom to shower. After cleaning herself up, she was ready to go back to bed to catch up on sleep. Before sleeping, she instinctively took out her phone to scroll through Facebook and saw her name and Gregory's on the trending topics.
The second trending topic was about Thalia's acting.
She clicked in to look, and sure enough, it was the scene she shot last night.
Along with it was a Facebook post from Gregory: "Very shocked"
He even included a meme of himself kneeling behind Thalia with a startled expression.
Thalia: .......
What did that mean?
This trending topic definitely wasn't bought by Layla. Was it the production team's promotion or Gregory's arrangement?
Thalia didn't want to overthink it. She sent Layla a Messenger saying she was going to sleep, turned off her phone, and got into bed.
When she woke up again, she heard sounds in the living room.
"Awake?" Layla was cleaning up her mess.
Thalia felt a bit embarrassed and touched her nose: "When did you get here?"
"Half an hour ago." Layla straightened up and looked at Thalia: "In these 30 minutes, I've spent 29 minutes wiping down your sofa."
Thalia: ....... Awkward.
Layla didn't say a single word of complaint, but Thalia felt uncomfortable all over.
"I'll do it myself, I'll do it."
Layla wasn't polite about it and handed her the towel, watching as she wore a red slip nightgown, her curly hair loose, working hard to wipe the sofa.
"You shot night scenes all night and you still have the energy to come back and work overtime?"
"Don't let William catch you."
Thalia's hand paused while wiping the sofa, and she looked at Layla. So she didn't know this mess was from her and William?
She was cleaning up after her?
Thinking about it, Thalia realized that made sense. Given how much Layla disliked William, if she knew it was William, she would have started cursing already.