Oblivious to Aaron"s thoughts, Katrina asks, "Aaron, are you feeling better now? Does it still hurt?"Aaron is so upset that he doesn"t want to talk to Katrina at all. Her visit means less now that he knows she"s only here on behalf of the police. She"s only here to complete a task, not because she cares about me.
When Aaron doesn"t reply, Katrina says cheerfully, "With a doctor as skilled as Dr. William, you must be fine now."
This only makes Aaron get even angrier. Is she going to leave now that she knows I"m fine? This ungrateful woman!
Why is he so quiet? He"d be fussing over me or bullying me by now. Katrina"s eyebrows furrow as she watches Aaron walk to the sofa and sit down. He picks up a magazine from the coffee table and flips through the pages, ignoring her the whole time.
He"s acting really weird. He seemed to be in a good mood when he came down, but now he looks angry. What did I do this time?
Dr. William is the one who p.r.i.c.ked him with needles, why is he taking out his anger on me? She huffs in frustration. Well, if he"s not in the mood for visitors, I should just leave and visit him another time. No point in making him angrier…
After a moment of hesitation, Katrina turns to Aaron and says, "You must be tired. You should get some rest, I"ll visit another day."
Aaron quickly stands up and shouts, "Wait!"
She shoots him a doubtful look. "Yes?"
Aaron throws the magazine aside and announces, "I"m hungry!"
Katrina blinks. "Okay?"
"Cook something for me!" Despite his anger, he doesn"t want her to leave. Might as well take advantage of my injury and get something out of it, he thinks.
"Okay." Katrina nods. "What do you want for lunch?"
At her easy acquiescence, Aaron"s bad mood improves. He sits back down and picks up the magazine again. "Anything."
Anything you cook will be perfect.
Randy leads Katrina to the kitchen, where she checks the available ingredients in the refrigerator. After thinking for a few seconds, she nods to herself, puts on an ap.r.o.n, and starts to cook.
Half an hour later, the aroma of Katrina"s cooking wafts from the kitchen into the living room. Aaron gives up pretending to read the magazine and takes a deep inhale.
He imagines Katrina cooking in an ap.r.o.n with her hair tied up, preparing lunch for him like a good wife. The thought fills him with warmth, brightening up his stoic face with a soft smile.
With Randy"s help, Katrina serves all the dishes on the dining table.
Aaron stays in his seat, the picture of unaffected calm, waiting for her to call, "Aaron! Time for lunch!" before he closes the magazine and walks over.
For someone without any formal training, Katrina is a skilled cook. Although she is good at ordinary home-cooked dishes, she is far from excellent compared to a professional chef.
But Aaron loves everything Katrina cooks. As long as she made it, he could eat a simple tomato and egg noodles with relish. Seeing the various delicacies on the table is overwhelmed by happiness.
Despite how much Katrina cooked, Aaron rarely leaves anything on the table. Katrina watches Aaron scoop the third bowl of rice in bewilderment. How does he maintain his figure with such a huge appet.i.te?
Feeling Katrina"s stare, Aaron looks up.
Not wanting to be caught staring, she quickly s.h.i.+fts her gaze down to her own plate as if nothing happened.
Aaron quirks an eyebrow at her lack of subtlety. Silly girl, he thinks in amus.e.m.e.nt. "In return for my help, cook lunch for me every day until I recover," he declares.
Katrina hesitates for only a second before she immediately nods. "Okay. If you have anything, in particular, you want to eat, let me know in advance so I can buy some ingredients. As long as it"s something I can do, I"ll cook it for you."
Aaron never imagined Katrina to agree so quickly to his demand. She"s been accommodating since Thailand, he realizes. I"ve never seen her so caring towards me.
He decides to focus on the bright side. Who cares if she"s here on behalf of the police? It doesn"t mean she doesn"t care about me. For the next few days, I"ll get to see her and eat her cooking.
In the past, this was something Aaron never even dared to think about.
During her vacation, Katrina commutes daily between her apartment and Aaron"s villa. Every noon, she prepares lunch for Aaron and accompanies him for lunch.
Their relations.h.i.+p improves a great deal. Katrina no longer feels defensive, nor does she automatically run away at first sight of him anymore.
Randy is also gratified to see their harmonious relations.h.i.+p. Since Katrina started coming to the villa to cook Aaron lunch, he"s been smiling a lot more. Even his injury does nothing to affect his happiness.
It brings Randy back to memories of Aaron and Katrina in Hadley. Mr. Wilson was always in a good mood whenever he spent time with Miss Miller…
No, it"s not the same. He used to force her to stay with him. His excessiveness only pushed her away. She only compromised to avoid causing trouble, but she never wanted to be with him. She used to hate him so much that she ran away whenever she had the chance.
But it"s different now.
Mr. Wilson no longer forces Miss Miller to do anything. She"s here on her own free will. They have a more equal and closer relations.h.i.+p now.
Seeing their relations.h.i.+p develop makes Randy really happy.
In his pursuit, Mr. Wilson finally matures a lot. He"s always been ent.i.tled and demanding, but he"s finally learned to respect Miss Miller. He"s finally learned to pursue her in a healthy way.
Even if they"re not yet together, they will be soon.
After lunch, Aaron returns to his study for an international video conference, while Katrina plays with Beta in the living room.
Randy comes over with a cup of coffee and hands it to her with a smile. "Miss Miller."