Human tree
The following morning.
As Mia was extremely tired the previous day, she slept all through the night and didn’t wake up until very late into the morning.
The faint ray of sunlight peering into the room made her squint her eyes in disapproval as she stirred awake.
Stretching, she yawned.
The first thing that crossed her mind as soon as she became wide awake was food. She was hungry. Extremely hungry. She hadn’t eaten much throughout the previous day. She even skipped dinner.
Heaving a deep sigh, she removed the duvet from her body and dropped her legs to the ground. As soon as her feet came in contact with the cold floor, lightning struck her and her eyes widened at once.
Memories from the middle of the night came flooding through her head as she stared into space, wide-eyed. What was that? Was she dreaming?
The scenario of her kissing Shawn kept replaying in her mind. The more that happened, the wider her eyes got. She was in deep shit!
Hastily, she turned and gazed at the other side of the bed. It was empty.
‘Mia! You, dumb girl!!!’ Her face twisted as she put her legs back on the bed. She laid on her back, throwing the duvet over her head.
“Mia, why?! Why, why, why?!!!” Tears streamed down her face. She recollected snuggling closer to Shawn last night… She had initiated that kiss! “I’m a fool!” She screamed at the top of her lungs.
How would she be able to face CEO Shawn now? What would he think of her now? He already had a bad image of her in his mind. With what transpired between them last night, it would become even worse.
“Aishhhhh!!!!” Mia flung her legs in the air, stomping them on the bed out of helplessness.
She was completely done for that time around. She might as well start packing up her belongings and help herself out of the mansion before the aloof man did.
As Mia was crying due to her predicament, a knock was heard on the door. She froze. Had he come to throw her out already? That early? Peering from underneath the duvet at the door, her heart thumped loudly.
A few seconds later, the door opened slowly.
“Madam, it’s time to have your breakfast. Please get dressed and come downstairs.” A maid stepped into the room and bobbed.
Oh, it was one of the maids. Mia’s tensed body relaxed a little bit.
Just before she could open her mouth to speak, the maid bobbed politely, again, and walked out of the room.
Aish! She was going to ask if Shawn was also downstairs.
But then, it was already past mid-morning… He would have gone to work already.
‘Right?’ Mia inquired within herself.
What if he was still at home and had not yet left for work? She wondered.
“I’m going maddd.” She groaned, biting hard on her lower lip.
Should she just stab breakfast then, and stay in her room throughout the day?
She was already too late for school, so there was no way she was going today anyway.
But then… Her stomach growled hungrily.
Mia’s face twisted bitterly the more as she broke down in fresh tears.
Unless she wanted to die of hunger, she had better head downstairs to eat.
There was no use staying in, anyway. Would she hide her shameful face in her room forever?-No. That wasn’t possible.
No matter how long it took, she’d end up going face-to-face with the cold-hearted man.
Succumbing to her fate, Mia yanked the duvet away and pushed her weight off the bed. Heaving a weary sigh, she headed straight to the bathroom to brush her teeth.
As she did this before the bathroom mirror, something flashed through her eyes and she froze momentarily. It was the memory of her kissing Shawn that appeared in her head.
For a few seconds, Mia remained frozen on a spot, with her toothpaste hanging down from her mouth.
“Aish!” She groaned wearily all of a sudden, slapping herself across the face.
When she did this, she felt a stinging pain. “Ouch.”
She looked in the mirror and saw that her face was still slightly red. Then she recollected all of the events that occured yesterday.
Her heart fell upon remembering those memories.
Heaving a sigh for the umpteenth time, she resumed brushing her teeth. In due time, she took her bath, dressed up in casual home wear, and headed downstairs.
Immediately she stepped outside her room, she froze, her eyes gazing at Shawn’s door.
Was he in his room right now?
Her lips twitched. Just as she was still wondering, deep in thoughts, Shawn’s door suddenly flung open. It caught the girl totally off guard as she didn’t expect the man would still be upstairs in his room. She panicked and immediately fell to the ground unconsciously.
Shawn on the other hand simply gazed down at her with his deep grey eyes. He was handsomely clad in a meticulously tailored navy blue tuxedo, every detail seeming calibrated to perfection-from the crisp lines of the jacket to the impeccable knot of his silk tie.
Everything looked smooth, except his face, of course, which had lines on his forehead.
Mia’s heart pounded rapidly in her chest, as she remained frozen under his piercing cold gaze. ‘What to do now?’
She wished the ground would open and swallow her whole.
“I see you’ve taken a liking to an alternative seating arrangement.” Shawn’s frosty voice broke through the uneasy silence.
Only after hearing those words did Mia realize that she was still sprawled on the floor. She quickly scampered up to her feet, embarrassment washing through her.
His face tight as always, Shawn looked away from the clumsy girl and headed downstairs.
Mia remained frozen on a spot as she watched his retreating figure in silence. How come he hadn’t left for work yet? He was always so punctual…
And to think he stepped out of his room at the same time as her… Was it on purpose? Could it be that he hadn’t left for work yet in order to lash out at her? Or was he going to do something way more than that?
When Shawn noticed that the girl hadn’t moved an inch, his steps faltered right in the middle of the stairway. “Are you planning to be a human tree?” He frowned.
Mia quickly rushed down the stairs. As she thought that Shawn’s movement would resume immediately after he had spoken, she had closed up the space between them so fast that she ended up ramming hard into his stoic back.
It was as if she had ran into a clutter of bricks. ‘Aish,’ She rubbed her forehead.
Shawn’s mouth twitched in disapproval. Couldn’t the girl be a little less clumsy?
Biting on her lip from embarrassment, “I’m sorry.” Mia apologized.
The CEO simply ignored her again and resumed his large strides. Mia bit her lip again and quickly trailed after him, keeping a distance between them.
Soon, they were both seated in the dining room. Upon sighting the feast before her, Mia dug in, immediately forgetting all of her predicament. She would face them later. If she didn’t eat, how would she survive and be able to serve all the punishment that the aloof man was going to give her?
With Mia’s wild appetite, coupled with the fact that she had not had anything to eat since yesterday afternoon, she soon finished devouring all of the food in front of her.
As she licked her plate ferociously, her eyes subconsciously locked with Shawn’s eyes and her heart skipped a beat instantly.
Turned out that the whole time, he had been staring at her and had not yet touched his food at all.
“Food monger.” Shawn grumbled beneath his voice.
“Want more?”
Mia bit on her lip hesitantly as she continued to gaze at him with her large round glistening eyes. To be sincere, she was still a bit hungry. But she didn’t know what fate awaited her if she affirmed that she still wanted some more food.
Hmph. She should just eat more-right? Who knew what fate awaited her even if she didn’t have some more?
Pushing her shame aside, she nodded her head in response. “Yes.” Her voice was low and crispy.
Twitching the corners of his mouth, Shawn snapped his finger at the nearest maid and she immediately proceeded to dish out more food for the madam.
After she was done eating to her heart’s content, Mia smacked her lips with content.All content © N/.ôvel/Dr/ama.Org.
Seeing this, ‘thought as much.’ Shawn looked away from her.
After some time, “You should stay at home for the rest of the week and recover.” He suddenly said this.
Mia who had been trying to prepare herself mentally, all along, for some harsh and hurtful words, couldn’t help but blink blankly at the man sitting directly opposite her. ‘Huh?’
‘Wait, what?’ She blinked some more.
Seeing as she had not yet responded, “Understood, Little One?” Shawn arched up his brow.
“Ahem, yea-yes,” The girl’s voice trailed off.
‘Good.’ With that, Shawn straightened up on his feet and then took large strides out of the dining area.
Mai remained still in her seat, lost in thoughts.
Wait, that was it? Like, that was all he was going to say?… To think that he did not touch the subject that she had been thinking he would-He didn’t even make mention of the kiss-or was it that he didn’t remember?
For some reason, Mia’s heart fell at the thought of that.
Pushing the dining chair backwards with her weight, she stood up on her feet and then dragged her legs out of the dining area, begrudgingly. She then headed upstairs to her room.