Chapter 66 Spilled Milk
“No, that’s not happening,” I shook the thought off.
I turned and walked towards the door.
By the time I unlocked the door and entered, I was so exhausted in a way that I couldn’t even explain.
Maybe it was the thought weighing down on me.
“Finally!” Lena’s voice sounded from the couch.
I blinked.
“You are still awake?”
She sat up immediately, winking and smiling sheepishly.
“Of course, I’m awake. I’ve been waiting for you to come back with the deets.”
I couldn’t help but smile.
“Lena, I’m tired,” I muttered, my voice barely audible.
“I don’t want to hear that,” she retorted with raised eyebrows.
I kicked off my heels and sighed.
“That’s the only thing I have the strength to say right now. I need to sleep.”
She narrowed her eyes playfully, clearly unsatisfied, but she let it go.
“Fine. But tomorrow you are spilling everything,” she muttered.
I waved at her and quickly escaped to my room before she said anything else.
The next morning, I didn’t even get the chance to sit up in bed properly before my door opened.
Lena stood there, folding her arms as she looked at me dramatically.
“I couldn’t sleep,” she said.
“And why is that?” I replied, squinting my eyes.
“There’s a pending gist and I couldn’t take my mind off it,” she muttered, walking into my room like it’s hers.
“You are such a clown,” I laughed and shook my head while shifting to make space for her on the bed.
“You went on a date at a five-star restaurant and thought you’d sleep peacefully? Well… not on my watch,” she said, a playful smile tugging at the corner of her lips.
I leaned back against the headboard and looked at her, smiling.
“So… start spilling,” she started.
“What happened? Did he say it?”
“Say what?” I replied quickly, my eyebrows pulling together.
“That he likes you,” she rolled her eyes.
“Why would he say that?” I asked, feigning ignorance.
“Joan, please. The way that man looks at you screams feelings. Don’t act like you don’t know what I’m talking about,” she added.
My cheeks almost turned red, so I quickly looked away, pretending to adjust my pillow.
“Won’t you talk?” she rolled her eyes again, tapping me slightly.
“The dinner was normal,” I said, making sure my expression was as neutral as possible.
“Normal?” she gasped as if I had insulted her whole existence.
“Yes. Normal,” I shrugged.
“The restaurant was breathtaking though and their food was great. We actually need to keep working hard so that we can go there together someday,” I added.
“Is this a food review or restaurant appraisal? I asked about romance!” she demanded.
“It was just dinner, girl.”
She looked dejected at first, then she leaned closer and lowered her voice.
“Did he hold your hand?”
I hesitated for a second, and that… made her eyes widen.
“He did.”
“It wasn’t like that,” I defended myself immediately.
“It was just a normal thing,” I muttered, looking away from her.
“Hmm… normal thing,” she repeated suspiciously.
“He’s calm and attentive, okay? He’s very different from how I had painted him in my mind. That’s all,” I stated.
“That’s not all,” she scoffed.
“Joan, that man looks at you like you are the only one in the room.”
My heart pounded at that, but I ignored it.
“He didn’t say anything, Lena. We just ate, talked, and came home,” I simply said.
Lena fell flat onto the bed dramatically and sighed.
“I’m disappointed,” she muttered.
“Why?” I laughed.
“Because I don’t know why a man like him wouldn’t have the balls to ask you out,” she said bluntly.
“Or maybe he’s just waiting for the right time,” she said, sitting back.
I swallowed.
Then I started wondering what would actually happen if he did ask me out.
I wasn’t sure I wanted to be in a committed relationship just yet.
As if Lena was reading my mind, she turned her head toward me and studied me for a moment, her playful expression softening.
“I just hope that you’ve forgotten about Alex. He’s spilled milk already, Joan,” she said, searching my face as if it held something she needed to know.
I didn’t answer immediately.
I traced the edge of my duvet with my finger, my eyes wandering around the room.
“It’s not that simple. You know I still don’t get why he acted to be all over me, despite having someone else,” I muttered, my voice low.
“I don’t get it either. But all I can tell you now is never to let your history block your future.”
Her words soothed me more than she probably thought they would.
At that moment, Dave’s face crossed my mind briefly. The way he looked at me, and the way his touch felt on my lips.
Lena nudged me with her elbow, snapping me out of my thoughts.
“And if Dave finally throws the ‘I love you’, please don’t start overthinking it. Don’t ruin something good because you’re scared it might actually be real.”
“You know I have good eyes for character… That man looks intentional,” she added.
“Right,” I scoffed.
There was truly a difference between him and Alex.
Alex had once been intense. He felt like heat while the other felt like direction.
What scared me wasn’t Dave. It was the possibility that I might fall for him, and if I did and he broke me, I wasn’t sure I would recover easily.
Lena stood up, dusting invisible dust off her pajamas.
“Just think about it. Spilled milk is meant to be cleaned not stared at,” she said lightly, though her eyes were serious.
With that, she left my room, leaving me alone with my thoughts.
ALEX HART’S POV
I had just finished adjusting my tie when I heard a loud scream from the guest room.
Where Cassandra was staying.
I froze, my heart pounding aggressively for a while before my instincts kicked in.
I rushed out of my room and headed towards the guest room, my shoes sounding after me.
“Cassandra?” I called, already reaching for the door.
I didn’t get any response.
And that made me scared more than anything.
I hurriedly pushed the door open, and what I saw made my feet stop.
Cassandra was standing in the middle of the room, completely naked.
And there was no panic on her face.