35. No rules left to break

As they played the games, he had paused to go tell Barry to order the cook to make something for her.

She hadn't eaten anything reasonable since he picked her from school. She just had snack and more snacks in the arcade, apart from that, nothing else.

But by the time he returned to the laser maze room, he found her calmly sleeping, with her head rested on the wall, and the game pad slowly slipping out of her hand.

"I guess you were more sleepy than hungry," He chuckles as he stood, resting his back on the wall opposite to her, his hands folded in front of him as he studied her sleeping face from afar.

"Well, it's been a long day. I bet you're tired."

*EEk!* He jerked forward with his arms stretched out as her head slid down, about to hit the edge of the wall.

But then...

*FWISH* Everything paused, the game that played on the screen, the florescent light that blinked blue, red and white, was now stuck on blue. Her head that was slipping down had stopped at an impossible angle, even the air felt stiff and inflexible.

*Fwoosh* With the speed of light, he moved, and next thing he knew, he held her head over his chest, stopping her from hitting the edge of the wall. Everything fell back to normal, the game continued to play, the light changed colors, and the air seemed to move normally again...

"Wah_ wha_ what just happened??" Reuel's eyes dilated, as he looked at Erina whose head soundly rested on his chest. "How did I... What did I..." He looked around, trying to figure out what in the world just happened.

He wasn't seeing things, he felt it.

He felt something deep inside him want to protect her, and then the next thing he knew, he was kneeling in front of her with her head on his chest.

"I_ I must be tired too," He nods to himself. That was the only explanation. He was seeing things and feeling things because he was tired. Or so he was going to make himself believe.

"Yes, that's it. I'm a person who doesn't even go out of the house after a drive, but I came back from the airport, and I didn't rest, I went straight to her, my system must be stressed." He nods to himself.

"Ha!" He lets out a dry laugh. "Time paused, my foot. My brain needs rest." He tells himself, and then looks down at the woman in his arms, his fingers irresistibly walk their way to her face, gently ruffling her bangs. "You too."

He gently slips one arm around her waist, and the other under her thighs, carefully lifting her off the ground. Wondering if she'd wake up and run home. It was almost one in the middle of the night, so he wondered if she would insist on going home if she wakes up now.

Unconsciously, he prayed that she slept, he did not want her waking up and running off. Unintentionally, he wished for her to stay longer. His life was less quiet with her in it.

And he did love his quiet life, he really did. But he adored her noisiness even more.

Even her quietness was noisy, because even as she slept in his arms and didn't say a word, he could hear the replays of her voice in his head, and it made him laugh.

There were only two workers in the house because Reuel didn't like being in the company of too many people. So only Barry Batler, the man who was nearing his sixties and oversees the affairs of the house.

And Evelyn Kochin the woman in her mid-forties who prepares his meals were workers in the house.

And the two of them saw Reuel carry the sleeping beauty into his room like a little princess. "You say he says that is his girlfriend?" Evelyn asks Barry, and the old man nods a yes.

"And she's sleeping??" The woman asks again with a look of confusion and disbelief.

"Clearly, she is." Barry states.

"Are you sure she's not his sister?" The lady asks, and Barry throws her a scornful look.

"I'm just saying... I've worked in this house for four years and not once have I seen the boss's girlfriends sleeping before... You know... Doing the business,"

"Mrs Kochin, you've worked here for four years now, and if you wish to work for more years to come, I suggest you mind YOUR business." Barry shuns and walks past her, leaving the woman scowling in annoyance.

Careful with every step he took and every move he made, Reuel places her on his huge bed, OH, if only she was awake to feel the fluffiness of the mattress and the sheets and the duvet, it was body-massaging.

He sits next to her on the bed, "Does she sleep with her hair tied?" he wondered. Thinking of it now, he's never seen her hair down before. She always packed it up in a bun. The only part of her hair that was always let loose was her bangs.

"She's pretty, isn't she, Helfer?" He turns to look at the lizard who quietly sat in its glass, that was on the little shelf next to the bed.

"She's a cute petit little thing," He takes his fingers to her face, and plays with her curly bangs. "She's even prettier when she's sleeping, right, Helfer?"

*That is for you to say. I personally believe that the loud and lousy brown-skinned one that slapped me a couple times has more charm.* Helfer nods to himself.

*But alas, I am just a puny lizard,*

Looking at her on his bed now, he breathes in deeply, as his fingers gently caressed her cheeks.

"You came into my house," he suddenly starts listing. "made me give you a tour around the place, you entered my game house, you touched all my stuff with your little hands, you fell asleep in my house, made me carry you, and now you're carelessly sound asleep on my personal bed,"

He draws in another long breath, looking up at the ceiling he says... "You've made me break every rule. There's no rule left to break... You really are something."

He leans in closer to her face... "Something too much for me to handle," he places a kiss on her forehead before rising up from the bed.

He takes off her shoes, and with one long look at her, he walks out of the room.

"Sorry to disturb you sir, but the mistress's phone has been ringing for hours now..." Barry says, handing over the phone to his boss.

And the instant his eyes fall on the name of the caller, his eyes darkened, his entire demeanor was instantly drowned by a shadow of doom. His hand that held the phone, clenched it so tight that a part of the screen cracked...

*My heart desire* plus three heart emoji, and a blowing kiss emoji... That was what she used to save the name of the caller.

He knew it, he had almost forgotten, but all women were the same... Bunch of cheaters.