Chapter 21 a normal conversation

Chapter 21 a normal conversation
Oscar’s P.O.V. (continued)

“It’s okay. I can order takeout." I replied to her in resignation and slowly opened my eyes.
“You forgot that you have a sensitive stomach. You can’t handle the spicy foods, and takeout normally serves spicy foods.” She remarked in the same way, but it only stunned me.
“How did you know that he has nothing to eat?” Lisa asked, no, interrogated, her hands now resting on her hips.
“Because Easton lives on junk foods instead of real food.” Maddie still replied calmly, but now I was losing my patience.
Lisa was like a nosy neighbor.
Still, I was astonished to know that Maddie knew about my sensitive stomach issue and about Easton’s food preferences.
Is she this good at observation?
“And you said that you aren’t friends with him,” Lisa grumbled while looking at Maddie with a sharp gaze.
“Lisa,” Maddie called her warningly this time.
“Okay,” Lisa grumbled and then looked at me warily.
At the same time, Maddie hit the password.
“Are you sure that you are okay with him entering your unit?” Lisa still asked her worriedly.
What the fk was wrong with this woman?
Are all women this nosy and nagging?
“You don’t need to worry too much, Lisa. The cameras are working properly, and if I feel threatened, I know what I need to do.” Maddie gave her a knowing look in the end, which made me narrow my eyes slightly out of curiosity.
Lisa smiled but still looked at me as if she were looking at a criminal.
“Don’t mind her. She has been guarding me for almost three years. This is her elder sisterly instinct.” Maddie spoke to me in a hushed voice while entering the unit.
I didn’t speak because none of them were my concern.
The unit was smaller than my whole room area, but the vibe of the unit was….
I pursed my lips into a thin line while going towards the counter separating the living area from the kitchen, following Maddie there.
“I saw your bike standing in the parking lot. How did you get to go shopping?” I asked her curiously.
“I went with Lisa in her car.” She replied nonchalantly, putting her bag on the counter; then started taking things out of the bags.
“How did you know about our food preferences?” I asked her again, still curious.
“Because I am an observer.” She answered in the same manner, busy with whatever she was doing.
I was surprised but nodded in understanding.
She was like a lone wolf. Apart from Stella, Maddie had no friends. So, observing people is something that lonely people often do.
“So, you are into detective sort of stuff, huh?” I asked while sitting on the stool beside the counter.
She smiled but shook her head negatively.
"No, more like in research?” she answered, shrugging off her shoulders in the process. She put everything in its place while talking to me.
I stood up when I saw her struggling with the upper shelf.
“What do you need to put there?” I asked her while going in her direction.
She stiffened when I stopped near her. It was when I noticed that faint purple mark on her neck.
I felt a tightness in my chest. I gave that to her.
“Ummm…. Put these things there, please.” She pointed at a few things on the counter anxiously and moved towards the fridge.
The silence was now tense, and I didn’t like this.
This is our first normal conversation, and I liked the flow of this conversation. I wanted her to talk to me just like she talked with Lisa.
“So, you have cameras installed in your apartment?” I asked her casually, trying to shake off the tension between us.
“Yeah.” She answered while stuffing the refrigerator.
“You didn’t have dinner? It’s already past 11.” I asked her after finishing putting those things on the upper shelf and closing the shelf.
“I need to finish a few assignments tonight. So, I was thinking of preparing some late-night snacks. What do you want to eat? I will prepare that for you.” She replied to me in the same casual tone, asking me in the end.
I blinked harder, processing that she just asked my preference for eating.
I didn’t remember the last time someone asked me this.
“You had a few drinks earlier, right?” she asked me while taking some stuff from the bag to the counter near the gas.
“Yeah.” I managed to answer her this time.
“Go and freshen up. I will call you when I cook an herbal soup for you. With your sensitive stomach, you shouldn’t be drinking.” She instructed, still busy with whatever she was intending to do, but every word coming out of her mouth was like a sprinkle of cold water on my burning soul.
My father forced me to attend a business dinner tonight with the VP of our company, stating that I needed to learn the ropes now.
I was just 18. I didn’t need to do that, but I was forced to drink with those old hags.
The VP of our company, a distant cousin of my mother, didn’t even bother to stop them.
Everyone wanted to watch me fall from grace.
“What can you do if you need to make toast with your seniors?” I asked her sarcastically, moving to the other side of the counter, creating a distance between us.
After what I did that day, I knew that I couldn’t trust myself anywhere near her.
“You are asked to make toast, not to finish the glass, right?” she asked while glancing in my direction.
I furrowed my brows, not understanding her question.
“I don’t know much about those business meetings, Oscar. I have just seen them in dramas and movies.” She continued speaking in the same nonchalant way, sorting out some vegetables there.
“But toasting doesn’t mean that you need to finish the glass, right?” she asked me, looking in my direction, tilting her head lightly, her brows raised questioningly.
I blinked, processing what she just asked.
She was right.
A toast means raising a glass to honor the person on the other side and taking a sip.
She smiled and slowly moved her back to what she was doing earlier.
No rule says that the person who makes the toast has to finish the glass. One sip is enough to show your respect or gratitude towards that person.
“So, you are in research, huh?” I asked her after clearing my throat. I really felt stupid in front of her, and somehow, it didn’t anger me.
“Yeah.” She answered, taking a big bowl and putting the vegetables in it.
“That’s why you joined the math club? Are you planning to join that institute?” I asked her curiously.
“Nah. I have no interest in joining that kind of research. I am more interested in investments.” She answered in the same manner while washing the vegetables.
For the first time, I felt as if I were at home.
The small space was far better than that of my big room, and this normal conversation….
Wait….
“Investment?” I mumbled while narrowing my eyes.