Free Web NovelChapter 133: Pause Button
Okay, I had no idea she was coming today. Not to my house, anyway. I stood there with my mouth half open, my heart still trying to find its normal rhythm. She was standing by the couch, and she looked incredible. She was dressed in a sharp black suit that hugged her in all the right places, red lipstick that looked like it could draw blood, and her black hair was in perfect curls. She was holding a massive bouquet of flowers. freeweɓnovēl.coɱ
I swear I saw that death stare. It was there for a split second, cold and sharp enough to cut through the room. But then, as quickly as it appeared, her lips formed into a perfect smile. That’s when I noticed Kaye sitting down on the couch, looking way too comfortable. I just wondered how much information she got from him before I walked through the door.
"Hey, Omega," Princess said. She walked toward me with a steady, confident stride, still wearing that smile.
"Princess, you’re back?" I asked. My voice sounded a bit higher than I wanted it to.
"Of course I am. Did you pray for me not to?" she said, laughing softly. It was a light, melodic sound, but I could feel the weight behind it. She leaned in and hugged me, pressing the bouquet against my arm while she held it in her other hand. "Oh, I missed you, my Omega. I missed hugging you..."
I was still looking confused. The air in the room felt tight because Yuki was standing right next to me. Princess didn’t react to her. She didn’t even pretend to notice she was there. It was like Yuki was invisible to her, just part of the furniture. fɾeewebnoveℓ.co๓
"I missed you too," I said back. I felt the warmth of her hug, but I couldn’t relax. I pulled away slowly. "Do you want to talk outside?" I suggested, hoping to get her away from the tension.
"Oh, am I the one who is meant to be outside?" Princess replied. The smile didn’t reach her eyes that time. I didn’t wait for her to say more. I just held her hand and dragged her toward the door. I could feel the tension radiating off her, and I could feel Yuki’s eyes on my back. I glanced back for a second and saw Yuki’s eyes were actually glowing.
While I dragged Princess out, I heard Kaye’s voice mocking Yuki from the couch. He wasn’t even trying to be quiet.
"Ha! My in-law has returned. No more spending time with Faye..."
The moment we were outside and the cool air hit my face, I finally noticed her Porsche. It was parked right in front. I swear I didn’t see that car when I came in earlier. I must have been too busy laughing at Yuki’s stories.
I turned to Princess. She was still smiling, looking at me like nothing was wrong. I took a deep breath, trying to steady my lungs so I could speak and try to clear any misunderstanding that was obviously bubbling in her head.
"Princess..."
"Do you like flowers? I brought a mix. I realized I don’t know your favorite type yet," she said. She was looking down at the bouquet, touching a petal. Then she looked back at me and smiled. "You can select the type you like and dispose of the others. Here."
She offered them to me. I reached out and collected the heavy bunch of flowers, still staring at her face. I was trying to figure out my next words, trying to find a way to explain.
"Thank you for the flowers..." I muttered. I looked at the roses and lilies, then back at her. "Princess, about Yuki..."
"Pause."
"What?" I blinked, lost.
"When my brothers were little, they used to fight all the time. Constant arguing and disagreeing. They never seemed to be on the same page. But one day, someone gave them the idea of a pause button. That pause makes them stop any form of argument, and they act like the best siblings in the world for a while. It works all the time. If you saw them these days, you would wonder if they had ever hated each other," she said.
"So, what does that have to do with this? With us?"
"Tomorrow is Friday. Since you are carrying my family, I have to introduce you to someone. Someone important. But tonight, I wanted to take you out to make up for the days I missed. I told myself I’m going to be on my best behavior tonight. And for me to do that, I have to pause the question of why there is a certain person living in your house when you never tried telling me about it. So... pause. Let’s have a wonderful night," she said. She said it with a straight face, her eyes locked on mine.
I just kept staring at her, then down at the flowers. What in the name of... what was even happening right now?
"But I want to talk about it. I really do. I’d rather resolve it now than let it sit and get worse later," I said. I didn’t like the idea of a ticking time bomb.
"Can you just hit pause, and we’ll unpause on Saturday?" Princess said.
When I looked into her eyes, I realized she was really trying. She was holding back a lot of anger or jealousy or whatever it was. She was fighting herself not to talk about it. Maybe I should just let it go. It’s not like I did something wrong. I just forgot to tell her about the new neighbor, and it’s not like we’re in any kind of official relationship anyway.
How bad could it be, trying to hit the pause button for two nights?
I swallowed my words. I forced myself to lighten up.
"Princess, welcome back. I really do miss you. I’ve said that before, but I really meant it. You look beautiful in that suit. Seriously. So... where do you want to take me tonight?"
"We’re having dinner together. Somewhere quiet. But first, I need you to go take a shower and change. Maybe use some of your perfume," she said.
"Okay... do I stink, or why do you want me to...."
"If you can cleanse your body, I will really appreciate that too." She smiled, but there was a hint of something else in it. "Okay, you should hurry. The night won’t wait for us."
I looked at her smiling face and turned back toward the house. My head was spinning. I still don’t understand this whole pause thing. It felt like walking on thin ice that was already cracking.
Because I have a feeling she hasn’t paused anything at all.
