Chapter Nine: One Night Over

Eveline's POV

The night was almost quiet. And I mean 'almost'.

Only the clattering sound of utensils hitting the plate filled the air. The strawberry cake sat on its exquisite plate, looking as fabulous as it tastes delicious. A small piece of cake was placed in front of me. Axel had cut the medium-sized cake into four smaller and equal slices.

I watched as he leaned forward, a knife smaller compared to the kitchen knife held firmly within his veiny right hand. His left hand was equally busy with the chore of supporting plates so that Axel can successfully transport the baked goods from the large plate to the tinier silverware waiting patiently for him.

"Quickly finish eating then we can go back to sleep," Axel said, slashing a small piece of cake off and shoving it into his mouth leaving behind no trace of icing. His eating habits were so elegant.

Likewise, I also picked up the fork and began making my way through the cake. However, in opposition to Axel's gorgeous eating habits, I was like a toddler who was messing around with food until the cake looked like a lump of god-knows-what-it-was. Not only that, I had somehow gotten a sliver of icing fixed at the bottom-left side of my lips.

"You're exactly like a toddler," Axel commented, chuckling slightly as if he read my mind. Was he making fun of me?

It would be weird for a grown woman to be pouting thus I decided to stick with frowning. Yes, that is a fine expression.

I picked up a napkin and was about to wipe the stain on my mouth before Axel beat me to it, leaning forward again and pressing the napkin gently against my skin. The kinetic energy of his hand caused friction which aided in cleaning my face.

"Done. Focus on eating." Axel ordered, retreating his upper body as if he did not just carry out a romantic action that I've seen countless times in a variety of romance novels.

The both of us finished our meals and worked together to clear up the table. Axel handed me the utensils, dirty plates and icing-stained napkins neatly piled up such that they will not fall.

I handed Axel a clean, wet paper towel which signaled that he was assigned to wipe the table clean. He did as such.

I soaked a yellow sponge with water and splattered dish detergent across one of the large rectangular surfaces, scrubbing fiercely. The cake stains visibly disappeared with each scrub and finally, the plate was stain-free and filled with bubbles. I placed it in the sink and then picked up another dirty plate, repeating the action.

We both finished our chores and plopped down on the cushy couch, slumping against the velvet cushions. Although what we did was not considered hard work, we still decided to take a breather for a short while before moving again.

Two minutes later, Axel beckoned towards the staircase and I nodded. He stood up and walked up the stairs with me following behind him.

Into the bed we shared and under the covers, the both of us returned to our original positions before my stomach loudly announced its hunger to the whole world. And by 'whole world', I meant within the bedroom.

"Goodnight," And that was all Axel said before offing the lights and biding tonight farewell.

The night went by well. The sun rose faster than before and I had no trouble at all waking up without having to delay another five minutes or more rolling around in bed. I did not roll over and fell off my bed like before nor did I hear the screams of my mother urging me to get up. I did not hear my mother's iconic line, "Eveline get up you're going to be late for work!" For some reason, I felt glad that I was finally free from my mother's daily morning wrath but then again, it felt kind of empty not hearing the very words that I had mentally memorized out of the blue.

I sat up and my eyes traced the furniture within this humongous room. Both my eyes and mind were still blurry from sleeping late the previous night which resulted in my brain being unable to process where I was at the moment.

My right hand flew up to my right eye and rubbed it vigorously and I could see my surroundings better. The area is so familiar yet so foreign to me.

"You're finally up?"

My head instantly turned towards the source of the sound. Axel had already changed into his business attire and held a mug in his right hand. His broad back leaned against the doorway while eyeing me.

I remember now. Yesterday Axel Draven and I had already made a deal, that we will become contracted love to save Axel from a forced marriage arranged by his enthusiastic mother and also to save me from another dreadful heartbreak. The cold and loveless relationship blooms between us and the both of us had accepted it as fate.

"Get up. We have work today." Axel said, sipping the content from the mug in his hand nonchalantly. Although he ushered for me to hurry up, he did not seem all that anxious to be late at all.

I got out of bed and arranged the bed such that it was neat before giving the bed a firm nod and making my way toward the wardrobe.

"There's no need for you to choose your attire for today. I had already laid out the clothes you will be wearing today on the couch over there." Axel signaled toward the oddly-shaped sofa in the center of the room.

White blouse, leather suit jacket, a grey tie, a dark blue tube skirt, and a belt to secure the dark blue tube skirt to my waist all pilled up neatly upon each other on the couch. I inspected the pile to find out that Axel had arranged the distinct clothes according to the order of how they should be wearing.

"Thank you... Excuse me but, can you please step out of the room for a while? I need to shower and change." I muttered the second part slightly louder while turning to face Axel.

"Alright then. Breakfast is already waiting for you downstairs. Quickly now, we don't want to be late now do we?" It was at that moment that I realized how much Axel Draven had loved to use rhetorical questions.

I twist the smaller quadrilateral knob under the doorknob, locking the door.

I walked to the pile of clothing again and stripped. Tearing the pajamas I had on off before stepping into the bathroom established beside the master bedroom, connected with a single door.

I switched the tap on and immediately the hot water rushed to fill the bathtub but not to the brim. I offed the tap when I noticed that the water had already reached slightly above half of the bathtub. My legs entered the bathtub first before I submerged my body underwater and I found myself curled up into a ball. My body caused the water level to rise to my knee.

The cold air in the surroundings hit me rapidly but the warmth from the bathwater created a contrast between hot and cold. The ideal way to start my morning.