15: Two AM dinner

…

For the nth time, a loud gurgling noise coming from her stomach resonated the deafening silence inside her bedroom.

Enough! Ignoring the ongoing revolution inside her body was useless.

She reluctantly opened her eyes and rose from the bed.

It was only two in the morning but she was awakened by the series of noise created by her growling tummy.

"This cannot be happening." She touched her stomach and another series of growling sounds came from it.

She frowned.

"This was all his fault."

The dinner served to them was a feast but because of the man sitting beside her and constantly shooting her with irritable glances, the entire dinner was all spoilt. She wasn't able to enjoy any single piece of it. She only had three spoons of fish pie and a salad then she stopped eating. All she did after that was get herself indulged with the glasses of wine that was being served generously. When she asked for her third glass of wine, the great and mighty Lord Marcus intercepted and told the servants not to give her wine anymore.

She tried to complain but she was left unheard.

Curse him!

She was left without any choice so she drank the whole pitcher of water in front of her instead.

If that was what he wanted, then she'll starve herself tonight.

At first, she thought she'll have indigestion since technically, she only had wine for dinner. The tea she had after it was no use too and eventually made her even hungrier.

And she was right. Just a couple of hours after they had eaten dinner and she was already hungry.

Her stomach grumbled again.

"Fine." She grabbed her phone from the bedside table, turned on the flashlight, stood up and on one foot, hopped towards the door.

Her right ankle was still a bit swollen so she told herself to be extra cautious not to acquire anymore additional injuries.

Arriving in the manor and getting two bruises and a swollen ankle were enough for a day.

Marcus brought her back to her bedroom and had some servants helped her changed to her sleepwear.

At least, he still got some consideration for her.

Once settled, she climbed to bed and pretended to be sleeping. The servants left the room right after Marcus took her arm and deposited her to bed.

He didn't leave her room until she was asleep, though.

Initially, she was definitely convinced that he'll sleep with her tonight since he stayed sitting by her window while she was being assisted by the servants. Also, he had been consistent in teasing her about sleeping together even before they had dinner.

Much to her dismay, he left her room after he thought that she was fast asleep.

Yes! She was a bit disappointed.

Not because she was expecting something else to happen but because she psyched her mind to fight him head on, with or without injuries.

After all, she knows a little flying kick and neck chops too.

But to her surprise, instead of all sorts of things she imagined he'll force to do to her tonight, he simply planted a warm five-second-long kiss on her forehead before he turned off the lights, locked her door and headed outside her room.

His acts of random gentleness and affection were a shocker for her.

One moment, he looked like someone who wants to wring her neck and cut her into pieces. The next moment, he was glancing at her full of yearning and thoughtfulness.

That man was making her more confused.

Her train of thoughts were interrupted when her stomach made that grumbling sound again.

She turned the knob and heard the lock clicked.

It was dark outside her room. There were no lights along the corridors either.

She took a deep breath and made her way down to the kitchen.

Slowly but surely, taking every calculated step not to make any sound or creak on the floor, she successfully climbed down the grand staircase and flashed her phone towards the right wing of the ground floor.

"The dining hall was this way so the kitchen must be adjacent to it." She whispered to herself while beads of sweat started to roll down her cheek.

No one ever said that it was easy to walk with an injured ankle and a revolting hungry stomach. The urgency of filling her tummy made by the increasing intensity of its rumbling and the cautious, calculated steps she needed to consider due to her injured ankle were a total headache to deal with.

After she ate, she'll sleep the whole day!

Her face lightened up as she saw the kitchen counter across the first door that she went in past the dining area.

She leveled her flashlight across her face so she can easily search for the fridge.

It must be somewhere near for sure. She decided not to switch on the lighting so she won't cause inconvenience and wake the servants.

A couple of steps more and she found a stainless cabinet.

It was the two-door fridge!

Yey!

"Holy cow!" She quietly exclaimed at the sight of heaven as she opened the magnetic door. The fridge lamp was enough to illuminate that corner of the room so she turned off her phone, clipped it in her armpit and impatiently took out some containers of pasta, bread, and chips.

"This is dinner!" She munched on the leftovers from last night and ate with all gusto.

The containers were placed on the floor, just at the foot of the fridge while its doors were kept open to serve as her sole source of light.

She guzzled the cans of cold drink she found inside the fridge.

She was totally hungry. If her memory was right, the last decent meal she had was her breakfast in the train with Matthew. It was a piece of cinnamon roll and a cup of coffee.

Upon arriving in the manor past lunchtime, she decided to rest first even though she was already feeling a little hungry. The turn of events within a day were too much to take so sleeping was her best way not to think about it even for a little while.

When it was dinner time, she couldn't gobble her food properly because Marcus was ogling at her and watching her every move.

God! Finally! Food!

She frustratedly sighed and took a sip from one of her cold drink cans before she took another bite of salad.

After she finished eating, she collected all empty containers on the floor, turned her flashlight on, stood up, and searched for the sink.

"Feeling peckish in the middle of the night?"

She gasped in horror, her hands were quick to cover her mouth from screaming but were clumsy enough to let those containers slip through them and fell right on to her bare toes.

She cringed in pain as the clattering noises made by the falling containers hitting the marble floor echoed within the large kitchen room while her widened eyes were completely stuck at the shadow of someone she didn't expect to see there.

"Crikey! Ouch!"