Chapter 57 – Trouble In Paradise
When Ivy got back to the hotel, Chris was in the kitchen, cooking.
She had greeted him with a smile and he had pulled her into a tight embrace, asking how her day went and apologizing that he couldn’t go out shopping with her today.
“I’m so sorry, Love. Let’s fix it to tomorrow, yah?” He added at the end, helping her put away her numerous bags, his red apron still tied around his neck.
In a flash, he had hurried to the room with the bags, and just as quickly, he was back with none. He hurried over to the pot on fire, turning over what he was frying to prevent it from burning.
Ivy took in a deep breath, leaning against one of the kitchen cabinet while drumming her fingers on her forehead.
The air was filled with a delicious aroma, in fact, there was no doubt that Chris was a good chef. She wondered how many years he had practiced for, which also made her have a fleeting thought about something else.
Did vampires even need to eat food?
She stood up straight, no longer leaning against the cabinet, as she stood on her tippy toes to catch a quick glance of what was on fire.
“That looks super tasty.”
Chris turned from where he was standing and flashed her a smile.
He was in front of her in a flash, pressing a light kiss on her lips.
“I can’t believe in the next three days we will have to go back to our normal lives and not all of these.” He said, cupping her face in-between his palms.
His voice dropped to a low whisper as it thickened with longing.
“We can be like this all the time.” When he said the next words, he sounded pained. “Only if I didn’t have so many things to fix before bringing you totally into my world, and the other fact that…”
“I’m not ready for marriage,” she ended it for him.
This wasn’t the first time he would be staying that, neither would it be the last.
She didn’t find it annoying, although his statement about ‘his world’ had made her remember what she had seen this afternoon, and the difference thoughts that had filled her mind earlier came creeping back to the surfaces, disorganizing her mental state.
“Were you in all day?”
“Yes,” he said without hesitation, his gaze holding hers, his face filled with that tender smile.
His answer had been so firm that she started doubting if he had been the one she had seen.
“Just a sec,” he excused himself, hurrying over to the cooker, taking out what was on fire and putting back raw sliced potato.
The action was immediately followed by the sound of sizzling hot oil.
Without warning, he started ushering her into the sitting room.
“Lunch will be done in a minute, all you have to do is wait.” He said, placing a chaste kiss on her lips as she sat down on the sofa, then he hurried back into the kitchen.
Ivy pulled out her phone from her handbag, scrolling through the screenshots quickly.
A frown filled her face, deepening fast.
This had been no dream.
That was definitely Chris.
Her Christopher!
Why was he lying to her?
Wait. Could it be that he was planning a surprise for her? There was the possibility of that.
Besides, something about what was happening seemed to be leading towards the ‘Big Surprise’ lane.
But somehow, she could feel that a surprise for her wasn’t what was happening.
“And Lunch–” she heard Chris’s voice and she subtly tucked away the phone right back in her bag, “is served.”
A plate of chicken and fries was placed on the side table for her, but that was a lot, so the food was probably for both of them.
“Thank you,” she smiled at him and he hummed in response, sitting on the sofa on the other side of the side table, taking a handful of fries, while he slide open his laptop, his gaze focused on it immediately.
There was silence as they got down to eat. Ivy was focused on the pictures she had taken, intently observing every lighting, angle and expression as hard as it was to see.
Maybe she was thinking too much into it. Maybe he was indeed trying to surprise her. He had after all said he would make it all up to her. Maybe that was what he was doing.
If she was the one using her paranoid thoughts to destroy what they had, that would really hurt.
It’s nothing, Ivy. You are think way too much about nothing, Ivy.
Maybe…
Her thoughts trailed slowly to an halt when she realized there was something in the picture that she hadn’t seen before.
There was a reflection against the window. It wasn’t all that clear but she was able to pick out what it was.
There was someone in the car.
Her heart thundered, her throat became hot and dry. Her hold around the phone tightened.
Who could that be? Who was Chris meeting?
She had to deal with some relationships in the past and being cheated on had ended a couple of them, including one that she had thought would last forever. They had these signs too, could it be–
No way.
She should ask him. She should ask him right now to clear this up.
But would he tell her the truth. Would presenting him with proof not make him lie to her and make him hide it all the more from her? Should she–
“Are you alright?” Chris’s gentle voice suddenly snapped her out of her thoughts.
“Uhn?” She asked, a little daze, pulling herself out of her train of thoughts. “Why did you ask?”
With his gaze still focused on his laptop, he answered. “Your heart is racing.”
Instinctively, her hand dashed up, resting against the upper part of her chest where her heart was racing beneath.
Of course, he could heard that.
Dating a supernatural being does come with it’s “perks”.
“Uhn uhn, of course,” she said, her voice sounding a little excited, a small smile forming on her lips as a idea crossed her mind. “I’m alright. I’m just having trouble navigating through something with my phone.”
“Is it something I can help you with?” He looked up at her from his laptop, his full brown eyebrows creased lightly in worry.
“With all the work you have going on? Nah,” she chuckled dismissively. “I’ll try to see how I can fix it on my own. I might need your phone though, my phone is giving me attitude.”
He stretched it over to her and she took it from him.
“your pass–”
She started to ask but the phone clicked open at her touch.
“You have no password?” She asked, genuinely surprised.
“It recognizes your prints,” Chris said, his voice laced with something that seemed like mischief.
“That’s imp– When did you do that?!”
“When I saved my number. My Christopher, remember?”
He winked at her and she smiled, her attention more on what she was doing on his phone.
As she was handling it back to him, his phone started ringing. Before she could catch a glimpse of the name displayed on the screen, he had already snatched his phone out of her grip and in no time he was off to the room, answering the call behind closed doors.
Although his voice sounded muffled, she could still hear how serious he sounded.
Ivy frowned.
That wasn’t suspicious ‘at all’.
Her frown deepened.
Chris was hiding something from her, and she could feel it in her bones that whatever it was, it wasn’t pleasant.Exclusive © content by N(ô)ve/l/Drama.Org.