Filed to story: Sweetheart Do You Still Love Me
Frank hung his head low. “You can’t just hit me.”
Raquella couldn’t argue with that, so she looked up. “You can hit me back.”
“I can’t do that.” Even though he was hurt about what happened, he stated, “Even if you did hit me, I can’t do the same to you.”
Raquella was a little amused and angry at him. At that moment, she felt her heart skip a beat. No way. He’s like the human version of Annoying Orange. I can’t fall in love with him. “If you won’t hit me, then what will it take to make it up to you?”
The look on Frank’s face immediately changed, replaced by a big smile. “Hm, give me a minute.” He mused over it and finally said, “Let me stay at your place.”
Raquella’s eyes went wide. “What’d you just say?”
“I mean, if you want to make it up to me, let me stay at your place.”
Raquella refused without hesitating, “I can’t let a stranger stay at my place.”
Frank covered his face and put on the victim act. “But you slapped me. It hurts, so you have to take care of me.”
I know he’s shameless, but this is just low. “You’re being unreasonable, you know that?”
“Yeah, I know,” said Frank honestly. “I never said I was a gentleman.” If I can make her mine, to hell with the gentleman code. He was sure if she would let him stay, one day he could make her…
Raquella took a deep breath and pointed at the door. “Okay, you can leave now. You have until the count of three. Leave, or I’ll kick you out.”
Frank looked at her. “As if.”
Raquella looked back at him. “I used to practice karate, and I only used about ten percent of my power in that slap.”
Frank’s smile froze when he heard her words. Ten percent? He could still feel the pain of that slap. Now, he finally knew how terrifying this woman was. If that was ten percent, then her kick would probably break his bones. Frank felt sweat pouring from his back. “I think we can talk it out.”
“We can’t.”
Frank pleaded, “But this is my only request.”
“And it’s refused, so you have no requests left.” She raised three fingers up. “Three…”
“Hold on, I think we can still talk things out.”
“No. Two…”
“But it hurts…”
“One.”
Frank decided to embarrass himself and lay on the ground. “No. That’s my only request. If you’re not letting me stay, then I won’t leave. You can kick me if you want.”
Raquella gritted her teeth. “I can make you suffer even more.”
Oh sh*t, she’s getting mad. Frank quickly got up. “Fine. I’ll leave.”
Raquella thereafter saw him off. He felt lonely, and she pitied him a bit. However, she wanted to slap herself for that. What are you thinking? Don’t pity him. He’s trouble.
Right when Frank went to the entrance, a group of people came. Frank then engaged in a conversation with them.
Curious, Raquella went ahead to check things out.
Frank finished talking to them after a bit. After that, he turned around to smirk at Raquella.
The group of people left. Raquella couldn’t make it in time to hear what it was, and when she noticed that smirk, she asked, “What did you tell them?”
Frank stretched his arms and sat back on the couch. “Bad news.”
“What is it this time?” Raquella frowned.
“I might have to stay over for a bit.”
“And why is that?”
Frank shrugged. “The endemic’s getting serious, so we’re forced to stay at home.”
“Like from now on?”
“Yep.”
Raquella held her forehead. “How am I supposed to go to work like this?”
“In this climate? You can forget about work.” Frank waved. “Tell Elspeth about it. I bet the company can’t run well anyway.”
Raquella wasn’t happy she couldn’t go to work.
“What? Now you have time to relax. Why do you look so down?” Frank couldn’t understand why Raquella wasn’t happy.
“Because this is something a rich kid like you won’t understand, Frank.”
He couldn’t understand why Raquella agonized over that, but judging from the look on her face and what she said, he understood why she looked sad. He cocked his eyebrow and said, “I’ll pay for all your expenses, don’t worry.”
It was a little cliche, but it did cheer Raquella up a little. “Thanks, but no thanks.” Raquella rolled her eyes after finishing her sentence.
Frank felt that she had lost a bit of her aloof side, and she was a bit more human. She would never roll her eyes in the past. For some reason, he thought it was cute. “And now I’m forced to stay with you.” Frank sat up straight. “I can pay rent.”
Raquella did not like that at all. “You’re implying a long-term stay. I hope this will blow over in a few days.”
“Sorry, I don’t think that’s possible.” Frank shook his head. “This is going to go on for a long time.”
Raquella was speechless, but she could do nothing as this forced cohabitation life started its course. In the first few days, she couldn’t get used to his lifestyle. He spends the day sleeping only to play games at night.
Furthermore, he would click away on his keyboard every time he played his game. The soundproof system of her room sucked. As the sound of the keyboard clicking resonated through the walls, she couldn’t fall asleep. In the end, she got herself some dark circles.
Eventually, she couldn’t take it anymore, so she barged into his room late at night. “What are you doing?” At this rate, my head’s going to explode.
Frank was in front of his computer, wearing his pajamas. There was a hint of fury on his face, and it seemed like he just vented his anger.
Frank turned around and wiped his anger away, replacing it with a look of innocence. “Why are you up? Oh, sorry, did I keep you up?” He gave her a look that said, ‘Sorry, I won’t do it again.’
Raquella couldn’t possibly scold him when he was putting on this look, so she sighed. “It’s late. Keep it down, and don’t stay up all night playing games. It’s not good for your body.”
Frank looked at her, his eyes clear and innocent. “Are you worried about me?”
“No. I just don’t want you to drop dead. It’d be a hassle to settle the aftermath.”
And the anticipation was wiped off Frank’s face. “Fine. I’ll go to sleep.” He turned his computer off and went back to bed.
Good. Raquella stopped nagging and tried to leave, but he suddenly blurted, “I can’t sleep.”
“Count the stars.”
“I’m not OneRepublic.”
Raquella looked at him. “What do you want then?”
Frank pulled a book from the nightstand and waved it at her. “I found this storybook in your room. How about you tell me a bedtime story?”
Raquella’s heart skipped a beat. “Where did you find that?” Dammit, how did he even find that? This is embarrassing.
“It’s just a storybook. Everyone reads it. Don’t be embarrassed,” Frank teased, he noticed her going red after all. “I think girls who read storybooks are super kind and adorable. You’re adorable, so why do you put on that aloof girl act all the time?” I love the contrast.
“I am not cute.” The mention of that word alone evoked some bad memories, and she tensed up. At the same time, she went ahead, took the storybook, and tossed it into the bin. “Also, I don’t like storybooks. This is just a relic of the past I forgot to throw away.”
She turned to look at him again, but the look in her eyes was conflicted. “Goodnight.” She left the room and turned off the lights before that.
Darkness swooped down, but Frank’s eyes were wide open. He noticed something was off about Raquella’s reaction. Did she run into something bad?
