The day that had started on a very sweet note for Darren, it ended on a weird and complicated note. The same went for Xiu as well. While Darren got the shock of his life when he connected the dots and realized that Nora is the one in Xin Xiaosi"s heart, Xiu"s shocker was that mystery box that came out of nowhere.
But thinking about that riddle made her extremely angry at Destiny for being this secretive over a tiny box. She had thought about destroying it but right behind the riddle, it was written that the box would self-destruct if force was used. And this very point made Xiu even more certain that the answer to her every question was inside that box. That"s why she was even more desperate to solve the riddle.
As for Darren, did he bother to ask Xin Xiaosi or Dylan face to face about Nora? No! Of course, not! Why? Because his mind could only take so much for one day and even if he wanted to know about it, he wanted to learn it from Nora"s point-of-view since he knew all about Xin Xiaosi"s version of the story.
On a beautiful Sunday morning, Xiu woke up looking like a mess with bird nest-like hair and dark circles. But she still had managed to maintain her beautiful smile because of the excitement of seeing Darren. Just the thought of seeing him was enough to brighten up not only Xiu"s day but it seemed like he could brighten up her life as well. Getting off of her bed, her eyes fell on that glaring wooden box lying on the side table and her smile stiffened for a moment.
But before that thing could dampen her mood, she reminded herself, "Xiu, stop it! Today is yours and McSpicy"s. No one and nothing should come between you and him. Don"t you dare let a dead person"s memory ruin this day!" She nodded her head after her self pep talk and hopped off towards the bathroom. While she truly believed that today"s work should not be left for tomorrow, she was also the kind of person to leave the worries for the next day.
After a steamy hot shower which by the way almost scalded her skin, she wore the bathroom robe and wrapped her hair in a towel before entering the closet to look for a dress to wear. While she was desperately looking for a suitable attire, the doorbell rang. "Nora, look who"s at the door!" Xiu shouted from her room but after a minute she remembered that Nora had gone home with her mother last night.
The doorbell rang again and Xiu stomped her way to the door before pulling it open furiously. "Who is it?!" Her words were sharp and harsh but when she looked at the person standing outside the door, she wanted to hit her head against the wall.
"Hey, Sweets, why are you so angry?" As she heard Darren"s rich velvety voice, Xiu looked up at him again and chewed on her lips without saying anything. Darren waited for her to say anything but when she didn"t, he noticed the way her skin was red. Because of the bathroom robe, he could see her enticing collarbones clearly which made his gulp.
To distract himself from indecent thoughts, he entered the house, closed the door behind him and asked, "Did you forget that we were supposed to go somewhere today?" Xiu frantically shook her head in negation. Darren laughed at how her towel came undone and her wet hair fell over her back and shoulders. "Then why aren"t you ready yet?"
"I"m a confused person. I can"t decide what to wear," answered Xiu with a straight face.
"Do you take this long every day?" asked Darren curiously.
"Why would I do that? I don"t have to look good for that boss of mine. But you"re my boyfriend. I need to, no, I have to look good beside you."
"Why?" asked Darren as he brushed her damp hair away from her face.
Xiu who was solely focused on answering him didn"t notice at all how close he was to her. And even if she did, she hid it quite well as she said, "Don"t you know?" Darren shook his head. "Aiyo, if I walk beside you looking like a cat lady, wouldn"t people talk. To match my boyfriend"s beauty, I have to raise my standard."
Darren left an open-mouthed kiss on the side of her neck and said, "I don"t care about what people think of my girlfriend. She is my choice, not theirs. And if she"s mine why are they allowed to drop their opinions?"
Xiu"s breath hitched as he dropped another open-mouthed kiss. It felt hotter than the hot shower she just took a while ago. Before her legs could give way, she held onto his jacket and tried to speak, "I don"t... care about what people think about me." She licked her lips to catch her breath and added, "But I wouldn"t like it if they said anything to you or questioned your choices." Darren wanted to look at her eyes and tried to raise his head but Xiu held him down with her hand as she went on, "Besides, I don"t want to look good for people, I have to look good for my boyfriend."
Darren smiled and lightly bit on her skin making her yelp. He brushed his nose with hers and said, "Your boyfriend is very lucky then. His girlfriend is making an effort for his sake."
"Oh, he certainly is lucky," said Xiu making Darren raise his brow at her acting so proud. She held his face in her hands and added, "But I am even more lucky to have him in my life."
"Sweets, if you kept talking like this, I would definitely not want to leave this house," Darren"s voice had gotten low and husky making Xiu"s skin tingle in antic.i.p.ation.
"What if that"s the plan?" provoked Xiu even more as she bit his lips and wiggled her brows at him playfully.