TWENTY TWO. Adorable
"What do you think?"
Logan turned to her. His gaze was very cold. There was no warmth on his face anymore. Maybe the warmth and affection he showed while in the hospital was a lie. Or maybe it was part of his bipolar.
"What should I do when I get to your house?"
"You will take a rest. You must be tired. Betty has dinner ready for you."
"How about you? Won't you have dinner with me?"
"I have some things I have to do."
Riley silently sighed in relief that Logan would not be having dinner at the dining table with her. She was afraid to imagine would happen to her after he groped her in the hospital. She would rather be left alone without him.
"Are you going to try fertilization in the lab again next month? I think I'll be fine next month."
"No need to rush. I don't want to hurt you."
The gentle smile on Logan's face couldn't melt her heart. Her head was filled with all sorts of bad thoughts. She was afraid that it was just a cue for another nightmare for her.
"Well, we are here. Do you miss home?”
His face was not cheerful at all. As soon as the car stopped in front of the main door of his house, he immediately got out of the car. He ignored Riley's very nervous face.
“Could you help me unload my things?” Riley asked the driver, who glanced at her through the rearview mirror.
"Don't worry, Ms. I'll unload your things and put them all in your room."
"Thank you."
Riley got out of the car. She felt familiar with the Logan house even though she had not lived there for long. When she opened the main door, she was greeted by Betty and a young woman with shoulder-length brown hair, Kaella.
"Miss Riley, welcome home. We are glad to see you recovered and healthy." Kaella's voice was soft and soothing.
Riley felt comfortable around her. She thought they could be friends.
"Hi, it's nice to see you both again."
Betty grabbed her by the shoulders and hugged her tightly. Her fat body clung very tightly to her tiny body. Betty looked so overjoyed and so happy to see her home.
"I'm glad you're finally home. I was so worried about you. You were bleeding profusely in your bed when I found you that night."
"I'm sorry. You have to clean up the mess I made."
"No, no, no." Betty wagged her index finger.
"I'm okay with the mess you made. It's my job to clean up the messes in this house."
Her five-pound overweight belly jiggled as she laughed. Her laugh was sweet and crisp. It reminded Riley of her late grandmother. Her grandmother was as plump as Betty and loved to cook her delicious meals.
"Thanks very much."
“Oh, this is Kaella, the girl I was telling you about. I thought you were the same age and you would get along well together.”
“Hi, I'm Kaella. Nice to meet you Ms. Riley.”
“Call me Riley, please. I'm not comfortable being called Ms. That sounds too formal. And nice to meet you too.”
“Ok. Riley.”
Riley looked at Betty and Kaella in turn.
“What are you going to do?”
“We're going to cook dinner,” Betty called.
“Can I help you in the kitchen? I've been lying down too much while in the hospital.”
"But Mr. Hatcher told me to take you to your room."
"No, I'm fine. I already told Logan that I didn't want to lie on my bed. I promise I'll be fine."
Riley saw the reluctance in Betty's eyes. She had to reassure her that she was fine.
“Please. I’ll just sit and watch you guys cook.”
“I guess it’s okay. I can imagine how bored you were in the hospital.”
“Thank you, Kaella. I almost died of boredom in the hospital.”
“Okay. But you’ll just watch us cook. Mr. Hatcher will be mad if something bad happens to you,” Betty warned.
“Okay. I promise.”
Riley’s eyes sparkled when she saw the giant refrigerator. She was curious about what was stored inside. She darted straight to the refrigerator and opened the door wide. She was amazed to see the contents of the giant refrigerator.
“You guys have food to feed a hundred people in a week. It's a lot."
"Mr. Hatcher loves home cooking. I have to shop for fresh groceries every day to prepare healthy meals for Mr. Hatcher."
“Wow, awesome. You must be good at cooking. Teach me to cook Logan's favorite food."
Betty and Kaella stared at each other. Kaella giggled at Riley's enthusiasm at all the cooking ingredients stored in the giant refrigerator.
“You guys have truffles and caviar. This is cool! I've never eaten such expensive food. And Belgian chocolate!” Riley shouted happily.
She pulled out a box of chocolates and looked through the packaging before returning it to the refrigerator.
"Sorry. I'm so cheesy, right?”
Riley closed the refrigerator door with a frown, then walked over to Betty and Kaella who were holding back laughter by the stove.
"You're cute," Kaella commented.
"You're so adorable," Betty commented and poked her nose.
"I'm so tacky. Yeah, I know that. I've never seen a fridge that big with that much stuff. So what is Logan's favorite food?" asked Riley suddenly when she remembered that Betty had not answered her question.
"Mr. Hatcher loves to eat sushi. You know, raw salmon and rice rolled with nori topped with caviar.”
Riley suddenly covered her lips with her palm. A wave of nausea crept into her stomach as she imagined the bright pink flesh of raw fish that smelled fishy.
"You must be joking. Why did Logan eat raw fish?”
“That's sushi, Riley. You can't eat sushi if it's not from very fresh raw fish."
"And coincidentally, Mr. Hatcher wants sushi for dinner. Would you like to make sushi with us? Well, sure, you'll do the easy stuff, like cutting the zucchini or preparing the rice."
"Okay I'll cut the zucchini. As long as you guys don't ask me to handle the fish, I'll be fine.”
Betty's eyes accidentally saw Riley's gaze fixed on a tantalizing box of Belgian chocolates. She then took the box and gave it to Riley.
"Take it if you like."
“Wh-what? No, I'm fine," Riley stepped back, avoiding Betty's hand.
"Mr. Hatcher won't mind if you eat it. Mr. Hatcher doesn't like chocolate. Kaella and I are the ones who usually eat those chocolates."
"If he doesn't like chocolate, why does he keep that chocolate in the fridge?"
"Mr. Hatcher got it from his date."
Riley frowned. She was curious about Logan's love life and she just got an idea to dig it out from Betty.
"Do you know about Logan's girlfriend?"v