He looked at her in surprise. She was clearly sleeping soundly with her eyes closed, yet her soft words sounded that clearly. Did she know it was him even in her dreams? And was it him the one that she meant to hug and refuse to let go? Did she actually have him in her heart?
Those thoughts made Ernest’s heart raced once more, who had entirely given up earlier. He was so emotional that he could not wait to wake her up and ask her one more time whether it was true or not. Yet before he took any action, he heard Florence’s voice once again who seemed to be complaining. “Ernest… you’re a bad boy.”
Ernest was startled, and his brimming joy instantly became a mix of sadness and amusement. She was not answering him, and was just sleep talking. She even scolded him in her sleep. Ernest felt aggrieved, and he could not help but tease himself. What was he hoping?
If Florence had not gone drunk tonight, they would not hug each other now, and they would only be strangers who only greeted each other on street when they see each other. She was going to leave City N the day after tomorrow, leaving him, tonight was solely the last night for them to say goodbye.
A somber look crept onto his handsome face. He extended his long arm and pulled the blanket over to cover them. Everything went back to normal.
…
Pain. Her head hurt. Her head hurt so much as if it had been run over by wheels, and the brain had been crushed into pieces. Florence wanted to massage her temples the moment she woke up, yet her arm seemed to be suppressed by something when she tried to retrieve it and she could not move it. What was going on? Not only her head inexplicably hurt so much, she could not even move her body?
Her mind was a total blank. She looked up and saw a face which was so handsome that she could not move her eyes away. It was the face that she was amazed no matter how many times she saw it. She became relieved. Luckily it was Ernest, not some stranger she slept with after being drunk. Wait, slept?
Florence immediately looked under the blanket, and realized she was hugging him like an octopus. A shrill broke the morning silence the next second. Ernest opened his eyes and said apathetically, “Shut up.” After what had happened, he still looked carefree and just complained that she was annoying?
Florence felt mortified. She hurriedly jerked the blanket over and covered herself tightly. She looked at Ernest with alert. “Last night, you, you, I…” Ernest slightly frowned and he slowly sat up, staring straight at her. He was completely naked without the blanket. He looked towards her and teased, “Do you enjoy looking at me that much?”
Florence only then noticed Ernest’s perfect lean body was exposed right before her eyes. Wait, why was she seeing that? That was completely off topic! Florence’s face flushed like an apple and she quickly covered her eyes. “Put, put on your clothes!”
Ernest stared straight at her. She looked too adorable with her embarrassed and annoyed look, which was completely different to her reckless actions last night. It looked like she had gone completely clear-headed. He pursed his lips and stood up. He got down the bed barefoot, took over a bathrobe and put it straight on.
Florence secretly peeked through the gap between her fingers and she saw the scene which Ernest put on his clothes. His movement was smooth and perfect like a painting. She could not help but be bedazzled. That man was too handsome and he was too hot. He looked attractive no matter what he did. It would be nice if she could see him all the time…
Ernest turned around and the corner of his lips twitched when he saw her covering her face, peeking at him through her fingers. She was still interested at his body when she was awake? He placed his fingers on his belt and pretended that he was about to take it off. “Do you still want to see it? Just in case you pounce on me again.”
“What, what are you talking about, how would I, pounce on, you…” As she said, episodes of events last night inevitably popped out into her mind. Although it was discontinuous, she could still remember most of them. She had actually behaved like a pervert last night, laying hands on Ernest and jerking his towel away…
Florence’s face was burning. She was so mortified that she wanted to dig a hole a bury herself. What deranged things on earth had she done last night! “I, I, I have no idea what are you talking about, get out, I want to put on my clothes now!” Florence covered herself tightly with the blanket. She felt extremely awkward and refused to admit.
Damn, how could she admit such things happened last night? That was too embarrassing. She could not help but suspect how foolish she looked after being drunk. Her obsession towards Ernest had deeply rooted inside her that she actually did those to him when she was drunk.
Ernest replied absent-mindedly, “We’ve slept while hugging each other the whole night, what else have I not seen? It’s too late to cover yourself now.” Florence felt even more embarrassed now that she wanted to kill herself. Her face flushed and she said stubbornly, “That, that’s because I’ve gone drunk! And I have no idea about it! It’s just a misunderstanding!”
Ernest frowned and he rumbled with threat, “Just a misunderstanding?”
“Of course, what else could it be?” Florence was too ashamed that she only wanted to end the conversation as quick as possible. “We’re all grown-ups, don’t be too serious about what happened after being drunk.” What an excuse! Ernest’s face instantly became bleak. The last hope left inside him from last night vanished at once.
“Since you’re already awake, don’t you bother me any longer.” After saying that coldly, he left the room with an icy look. Florence was petrified and she watched him left in a daze. She remembered what happened last night, though not very clearly. She had indeed bothered him and refused to let him go when she was drunk.
The reason he stayed last night was due to his care out of courtesy. And the intimacy between them was because of her taking the initiative to flirt with him. Now that she had gone clear-headed, he left without a single hesitance. Florence’s eyes glazed over as she stared at the room door. She felt waves of emptiness and the outburst of sadness.
Timothy had been waiting outside. He came to deliver two clothes, one for Ernest and the other for Florence. After changing clothes at the living room, Ernest glanced at the room door with a brooding look. After a moment, he turned and headed towards the outside. Timothy put Florence’s clothes on the table of the living room neatly and followed after him.
After getting out, he hesitated as he watched Ernest walking in front of him and spoke, “Sir, although I’m just an outsider, I can still tell how Miss Fraser relies on you. It could be a chance this time. If you leave just like this, won’t it be a pity?”