Chương 20: (Crawled away)
Calum's ears were jolted awake by the insistent ringing of his phone. He was lying in bed, his eyes closed, the sound of his ringtone the first thing to irritate him on this hazy morning. He wasn't even sure if it was still morning or if it was already late afternoon. Sleeping so late the previous night had made him reluctant to get out of bed; this was his reward for staying up until he could no longer keep his eyes open.
He was worried about Mariana's condition, wanting to make sure it wouldn't linger, or else it would freak him out. Without any excitement about why his phone was ringing, he reached out with his other hand and found the phone under his pillow. Lying in bed on his stomach had made his neck and back ache. He buried his face in the pillow and pulled it away when he found his phone and answered it.
"Hey," he mumbled, his deep, husky voice, slightly controlled, breaking the noise created by his phone. His eyes were still closed; he answered the call without fully engaging his brain. He thought he was still asleep and this was just some useless nightmare disrupting his well-deserved rest.
"Calum, where are you? Crow called us for a meeting and wanted to see you ASAP," Trae's voice said on the other line.
"Yeah, fine. What time should we meet up?" Calum asked, his voice still thick with sleep.
Trae laughed, hearing Calum's question, which made Calum open his eyes. He didn't anticipate hearing his maniacal laughter so early in the day.
"No need, it's all done, and you definitely missed it."
What he heard made Calum jump up in bed and sit. "What do you mean it's done?"
Trae chuckled again, which made Calum frown. He suspected Trae was having a good time making fun of him.
"Are you insane? Wait, don't tell me you're still in bed thinking it's just 5:00 AM?"
"Yeah, I mean, it's 5:00 AM," Calum mumbled, checking his phone. His eyes widened in shock. It was 10:00 AM. He dropped the phone on the floor.
Hurriedly, he left the room without putting on a shirt and went to Mariana's room. He paused for a moment, wondering where she was after realizing she wasn't there. He desperately wanted to know if she was feeling better. He hadn't seen her there, which should have been a relief for him, but not at that moment. It should have been a relief because his ninja-like moves wouldn't have been wasted sneaking into the room. He did this stealthy challenge every morning to take a shower and change clothes without her noticing.
In a rush, he pushed aside his worries about her and needed to take care of himself. He took a shower, which only took three minutes of his life. He came out in Mariana's room after getting ready, wearing a black fitted pullover, black jeans, and a pair of his white shoes. He looked fresh in his outfit. He wouldn't be mistaken for a hooligan but rather a cool heartthrob from college days. The urge inside him to see her worked its magic once again. His heart was bothered by not seeing her and not knowing how she was doing. He walked into the living room and didn't see her there. It never occurred to him to think she had run away.
He continued looking for her, and his wish was fulfilled when he finally found her in the kitchen. Mariana was facing away from him, so she didn't notice him. She was standing on her tiptoes, looking for something in the cabinet above the counter next to the sink. She was struggling because she couldn't reach the cabinet easily, and she couldn't see what she was getting. Seeing her struggle like that, wearing one of his white t-shirts, Calum couldn't hold back his smile. His eyes drifted down, catching a glimpse of her thighs, and he rubbed his hands over his eyes to force them to look away. He needed to do that to prevent what was going to happen next. He already knew what would happen based on his experience the previous morning. It pleased him, and he was so grateful to see her well and not sick anymore.
"Argghhh, where on earth did he put that whisk!!" she exclaimed angrily, continuing her search for the whisk.
And suddenly, a loud scream filled the entire house. A bottle of soy sauce fell on her head.
"What the heck?! Thank god it's not a mug," she yelled, massaging her head to get rid of the mild pain she had. Calum laughed silently, seeing her angry reactions after that small bottle of soy sauce hit her head. He was evil, for just laughing and not realizing that it actually hurt and might cause a lump on her head.
But his laugh was justifiable; the way she thanked God knowing that it wasn't a mug that hit her made her an underrated comedian for the day. Calum cut his laugh short to help her find what she was miserably looking for. He walked near her and picked the whisk that was hanging beside the sink with the spatulas and ladles. Mariana glared at him as he handed her the whisk.
"Isn't this a whisk?" he asked, his voice laced with sarcasm.
"Yeah, I. Haha. I haven't noticed it right there. Stupid, right?" she said, awkwardly grabbing the whisk from his hand and walking towards the kitchen counter.
Calum followed her with his eyes. He had already forgotten the reason why he quickly got out of bed. Right now, all inside his mind was her. He watched her crack the egg and reacted.
"Yuck! What is this?!" They both smelled the very stinky odor that occupied the kitchen. Mariana ran straight to the sink and washed her hands. The egg smelled like hell, and it was poisoning her; she felt nauseous and it might make her sick again. Calum was stupid for not warning her about the eggs. Surely he knew it was already rotten.
"Oh God, how many years did you keep that egg inside the fridge? It was gross," Mariana said, her voice filled with disgust.
Calum smirked. "I don't know. Maybe before the Jurassic era."
Mariana faced him, and their eyes constantly met. "I believe it's a joke. I might have cracked the spoiled egg of a pterodactyl. But, it's not funny."
His words were believable because of the bad smell that remained noticeable to their noses. Calum chuckled, and this time, she could hear him laughing. Mariana, once again, was mesmerized by the power and influence of his smile. It was God's masterpiece.
"You didn't warn me," she said, her voice laced with a hint of accusation.
Calum ceased his laughter after discovering the fact that it should not have happened. "Well, I forgot about it too. And actually, it's not that bad."
"It wasn't that bad at all. Actually, it smelled like Victoria's Secret's perfumes," Mariana said, her voice dripping with sarcasm. Surely, Victoria's Secret wouldn't be happy about that. She smiled.
Her smiles never failed to attract him. It was repeatedly captivating with its beauty and supremacy.
"Thank you. About last night,"Mariana said, crossing his arms above his chest and leaning against the counter.
"It's not a necessary thing to be thankful for. Please don't think that I cared for you. You've got it wrong. I don't want to drop another body down on the cliff; that's the deep reason for it. Nothing else," Calum said, his voice cold and emotionless.
It hurt her to hear his explanations. In just a second, her happiness was broken. He was so rude saying that, not thinking how badly it could damage her heart and spirit.
"For whatever reasons, I'm still thankful for you. I don't need you to say you cared about me for me to believe that you are my savior," Mariana said, a little gloominess in her voice evident.
Calum noticed how her mood changed, and the culprit was him. He needed to say that because of some stupid, freaking reasons for his ego. Truthfully, his care for her was apparent. His reasons weren't reasonable enough to convince himself that he didn't have any concerns for her. They stared at each other, planning to melt themselves by the intensity of their gazes. They had forgotten about the smelly, pterodactyl, spoiled egg issue.
As the seconds of silence between them passed by, a thought inserted itself into Calum's head. Crow wanted to see him as soon as possible, and he was standing right here, not making what his boss wanted become certainly possible. Even if it was deeply against his will, he walked away. The hardship of being away from her while simultaneously being free from her was not good for his feelings. He left her standing, leaning against the sink and watching him walk away every time. This walking away scene made him exhausted and foolish. For the number of times he had done it, he felt tired. Next time, he would try his best to crawl away, to not make the words "walked away" overused.
***
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