Chương 24: Falling Promises

Scarlett chops off the onion and bell peppers for making soup. She feels amazed at how much her skills have improved. Her mother tried so hard to teach her but she just didn't have the heart and mind to learn cooking in her past.

She misses her.

If only she had learned from her then she wouldn't be living in this guilt till now. If only she had more time with her. If only she wasn't working for Ricardo.

Ricardo.

What is he doing now? Is he still searching for her? Will he move on now that she's missing?

I hope he moves on.

Putting all the veggies into the slow cooker she closes it with the lid and leaves it to sizzle for a few minutes.

She's cooking tomato soup and grilled cheese sandwiches for breakfast. According to Ezra's dietician's chart she has to make all the meals and all at the correct time. It feels a little absurd as in Ricardo's house the chef used to decide what would be on the menu and how much protein and carbs should be given in the meal.

But here Ezra gets to eat all in a systematic way. Continuing the same routine every day must get boring. Even she feels bored cooking the same dishes all the time. Should she talk about this to him?

She might not have the required knowledge of why his dietician set this diet for him but at least trying something new wouldn't make drastic difference in his daily routine, right?

After a few moments when she's done plating the food she makes a mental note to herself for consulting this issue with him. Putting the plate on the tray she picks it up and goes to his study room. She frowns seeing the study room still empty.

Maybe he's still in his bedroom. She thinks to herself.

Following her instinct she knocks on the bedroom door too while handling the tray with her left hand. "Mr. Knight?" But there's no response from the other side.

Where is he?

She checked the closet room and living room too but still no trace of him. Giving up on finding him, she takes a deep breath before yelling, "Mr. Knight? Your breakfast is ready! Where should I serve you?"

Her voice echoes and that really did the trick as his response came immediately.

"Up on the terrace!"

She shakes her head, why didn't she think about the terrace before?

Going up the stairs she's determined to give him an earful about not telling her before about having his breakfast on the terrace. But as soon as she steps on the terrace, her thoughts blow away.

The view is marvelous, the wind blowing is comforting even though the sun is rising brightly.

"Ms. Robinson! Over here!" She heard him call her from a different room. She frowns in surprise seeing another glass like room at the end of the terrace.

"Wow." She mutters under her breath looking at the interior of the room containing a big swimming pool.

Ezra was just getting out of the pool as the water slid down his body. This is the second time she's watching his naked skin and still she didn't have the heart to look away. As if it was made for staring, gawking and licking… what the hell! She instantly snapped her neck to the other side of the room as soon as the thought of licking him came into her mind.

She always believed she had a dirty mind and that's why her mother used to ask her to visit church every Sunday. She even paid compensation money to the church in exchange for the dirty thoughts she used to fantasize about men. It was a ritual where she had to confess to the father of the church in a confession box and in return she had to pay for her sins in cash.

Her head tilts towards his side again only to see him drying himself off by a towel. She wonders how much she would have to pay for ogling her half naked employer.

Would she even confess something like this to father?

Never.

"The food smells amazing Ms. Robinson." He says with a smile. "What's in it?" He points to the dish she's carrying.

She tries hard to put a glare on her face but fails miserably seeing the tight muscles on his arms. His face holds a simple grin but she knows he's enjoying the attention.

Way too much.

God, this is getting tough for her to keep these growing emotions at Bay. "As if you don't know already." She says, rolling her eyes… no, she didn't. She reminded herself immediately about the consequences.

"Oh come on Ms. Robinson, a little slip won't hurt." He teases.

"I should think about including punishments too, whenever you mess with my rules." She squints her eyes at him but he ignores and takes the tray from her hands. He opens the lid of the food and starts to devour the steamy soup. "You are lucky that it's still hot while you are eating."

He raises an eyebrow in question. "I had to roam every corner of your penthouse in search of you and guess what? You were here on the terrace."

"I don't understand, are you complaining?" He asks, chomping on his food.

Scarlett's instinct to roll her eyes at his obliviousness grows. Is he doing this intentionally? "What I'm saying is, I didn't know you had a swimming pool on the terrace too. Jones didn't give me a proper tour of the house then."

"You could have asked me."

"You were too busy ignoring me to give a tour, remember? The first day I arrived you ignored me, then the next day your mother arrived and you ignored me later and then the next day and again the next day and it just went on."

He sighs, maybe in defeat she thought. "Okay fine, I accept Jones did a bad job in settling you down."

She frowns, "yeah right, Jones's fault." Then suddenly she remembers Ezra said about him having a chat with Jones yesterday during dinner. "By the way, what did you say to Jones yesterday?"

"To stay away from you." He simply states sipping on his soup.

"Wait- I didn't catch it right. You asked him to do what?" She asks again.

He fixes her with a hard look, "haven't I told you that I don't like to repeat myself?"

She bites her tongue in order to control rolling her eyes again. "Of course, you are right. You have told me once. Only once."

This time he frowns, "why do I feel like you are complaining again?"

"Because I think I am." She shrugs and he chuckles.

"Ms. Robinson, you don't think you are complaining, I know you know you are complaining." He gives his goofy grin again. And the hell breaks loose. She huffs out her anger and rolls her eyes muttering incoherent words under her breath. "What was that Ms. Robinson? Did you break my rule again?"

She glares at him, "you are impossible; you are seriously; really; very much impossible!"

Ezra stood from his chair with a knowing smile on his face. "Let's talk about the punishments now, shall we?"

"This was intentional from your side, you were being stupid and you got me doing the mistake." She defends herself but it's futile. Her heart races while her throat dries. His body glistened by the sunlight falling on him.

"You are enjoying it, admit it."

"No... no I'm not. It's you, you are enjoying this game." She retorts to which he chuckles again but walks closer.

"I'm winning ain't I?"

She takes a step back when he reaches too close. "Not if I join in your game too." But couldn't step further as his hands reached out to catch her waist and pulled her into him again.

He had a fear she would repulse at the beginning of their journey but now, he knows she's attracted to him too just as much as he is to her. "Just imagine how fun it will be if we both play to lose."

She couldn't help but stare at the determined eyes of him. "Either one of us will fall whoever loses the most."

He knew what she meant. "Are you afraid of falling?"

"Aren't you?" She asks back.

He gulps seeing the beauty under his shadow shielding her from the aggressive sun rays. "There's only one way to know."

She frowns in confusion but then gasps audibly when his lips meet her forehead. Then the lid of her left eye and as he began to trail down to her lips her conscience made her pull back before it got too late.

"What are you- ah!" She was too deep in the haze of his kiss that she forgot behind her was the swimming pool.

"Careful Ms. Robinson," he caught her by her waist again and she instinctively grabbed his neck to get support but he didn't put her back straight. "You might fall."

"Yeah, I'm about to…" she looks at his eyes again, "you won't let me fall right?"

"You have two options, either unhook your arms off me and I leave you to fall alone; or, don't let go of me and we both fall together." He says with a challenge in his eyes.

You are not being kind Mr. Knight, either way whatever I choose it's ending up with me falling. Either I fall for you alone or make you fall with me.

Scarlett was too afraid to fall alone but does she trust him to save her from drowning when she falls with him? Can she trust him?

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