“Seriously?” Damian grunts in annoyance.
“What? Tell me if I interrupted something. I can leave,” Riccardo grins, wriggling his eyebrows. “Maybe you guys need privacy-”
“We’re not. What do you want here?” He glares at him.
Riccardo smiles brightly, “I heard Melody open a bakery! So I came to check it out!”
“Really!? Come! I bake some egg tarts, and it’s enough for everyone!” she pulls his wrist and drags him out.
In a moment of resignation, Damian stood motionless, his breath escaping in a deep sigh. No matter how much he loathed Riccardo, the man’s persistence in visiting was relentless.
Melody’s words echoed in his mind, and though he attempted to portray his disdain, Damian found it difficult to meet Riccardo’s gaze with a look of pure hatred.
With a light-hearted tone, Melody held out an egg tart and said, “Would you like some?”
Damian arches his eyebrows in response, “Now you’re offering it to me after giving it to everyone else?”
She rolls her eyes and turns around to leave, “If you don’t want it then say it,”
Before she could walk away, Damian grabbed her forearm, “Did I say I don’t want it?”
“I remember you saying before that you disliked sweet things. Wasn’t that one of the first things you told me when we met?” Melody chuckles mischievously, her tone light-hearted as she continues the playful banter.
“Did I? I’m sorry but I’m not stuck in the past. Unlike you,” he grins and grabs the egg tart from her before taking a bite.
“I didn’t! I just remind you what you told me,” she huffs. “Anyway, how is the egg tart?”
“Surprisingly, it tastes great. You can see the guards having a good time with your tart,” Damian nods toward the guards.
As Melody observed, the guards could be seen complimenting her sweetly diligently. Some took pictures to help promote her while others fought over the last piece. Celestia stood leaning against the wall, shaking her head and chuckling at the scene unfolding before her.
Despite their tough appearances, these men were, after all, only human and were not immune to small indulgences. As Melody basked in the scene, she felt an uncomfortable sensation in her stomach.
She placed a hand on it, a gesture that caught Damian’s attention.
Damian’s gaze fixated on Melody, who had just touched her stomach. With a concerned look in his eyes, he approached her.
“Is everything alright? You look a bit uncomfortable,” he inquired, his voice laced with worry.
“Yeah, I’m fine. I’m probably hungry,” she sighs, rubbing her stomach.
“You are. You have been trapping yourself in the pantry for hours. Only God know how can you survive in it,” Damian rolls his eyes. He wrapped his arms around her shoulder, “Let’s go eat, yeah?”
Melody gasped, “Can we go eat something sour?”
“Sour?” He frowns.
“Yes. I’m not sure why but I crave for something sour,” she grins, “Oh! Maybe we can grab some pickles!!”
Damian looks at her for a moment, thinking about what has gotten to her. “Pickles?”
“Yes.”
“I mean actual food, little one,” he sighs. He ushers her to walk out of the bakery to his car.
“I know. We can add pickles as our side dishes,” she clapped her hands in excitement.
Damian’s frown deepened at Melody’s mention of pickles. He tried to recall if he had ever seen her eating them or even heard her mention of fondness for them, but his memory drew a blank.
With a resigned sigh, he shook his head and silently followed behind her, his mind filled with confusion and a hint of curiosity.
___
The sun shines through the curtain. Bird chirping peacefully. It’s such a great morning to start but not for Melody.
She woke up with dizziness and nausea. She whines and sits up, pushing away the hair that has fallen on her face. She glances at Damian’s sleeping figure beside her. He looks like in his deep sleep.
Something about to come out of her makes Melody jump out of bed. She rushes to the bathroom and kneels in front of the toilet. She throws up even more.
“Ugh… that’s not a good start…” she held her head.
During breakfast, Damian looked at his tab, checking every report. Melody sitting at the opposite seat of him.
“Does my bakery need an air-conditioner?” she asks.
“Every store needs it, Mel,” he mumbles.
“Okay…” Soon, she was done with her work; she clapped her hands, “Great! I’m done!”
“Hand it to me,” Damian reaches his hand out. As he got the list, he nodded in confirmation, “Great. I’m proud of you. I will ask my assistant to handle it right away.”
As Damian diligently input something into his phone, Melody herself stared at him momentarily. She finally decided to eat, grabbing her fork but suddenly recoiled as an unpleasant odour struck her nostrils.
She pinched her nose, “Ugh, what is this awful smell?”
“What smell?” He asks.
“I don’t know, it just… didn’t sit right on me,” she whines. Melody looks at the food in front of her, “I think it was this food.”
“That’s only bacon and eggs. It’s your usual breakfast. What is wrong with you?” Damian frowns.
Damian silently observed as Melody typically enjoying her favourite breakfast, now seemed nauseous. A tinge of concern flashed across his face as he noticed she appeared paler than usual.
Just as he was about to voice his worry, Matthew loudly bursts into the dining room.
“Guess what!?” He has a bright smile on his face.
“You got yourself an accident again?” Damian arches his eyebrows.
“No!” Matthew huffs, “Melody’s bakery will become famous in no time!!”
“What do you mean?” she frowns.
He takes a big strides to her, “Look! We make a promotion about your bakery grand opening, and it receives good comments!! Everyone can’t wait for it to be open!”
Melody looks at his phone. He was right. There’s a lot of comment saying they can’t wait for it to be open. Of course, some of it is negative comments. But, that’s not important right now.
Her bakery has not opened yet, and a lot of people are waiting for it.
“That’s great. Isn’t it, Mel?” Damian asks.
“Are you joking me!? It is great!!” She squeals brightly. “We should go open it now!!”
“Not right now, Mel. Maybe next week,” he sighs deeply.
Melody pouts. She got up and went to his side. “But they’re waiting for me!! The bakery!! Come on!!”
“Mel, we haven’t set up the air-conditioner here yet, and there’s some other stuff we haven’t arranged,” he crossed his arms above his chest.
“Oh, fish cake…” she huffs.
“Now, go get ready. We’re going to your bakery to handle everything,” he narrows his eyes on her firmly.
Melody rolls her eyes and stomps off. Matthew just chuckles seeing their interactions. He turns to Damian, who is looking at the doorway that Melody just walked out of.
“Are you okay dude?” He asks.
“Yeah, I’m fine,” Damian clears his throat. “Is there anything new about Matthias?”
“For this meantime… I haven’t got anything yet,” Matthew answers.
He nods slowly, “Be alert. I know that old man will do anything to get what he wants.”
“On it, sir,”
Damian watches him leave. Then, his gazes move to Melody’s untouched food. Something is wrong with that woman, but he doesn’t know what it is.
Melody comes downstairs wearing a baby pink dress. She brushed her hair with her fingers and saw Damian staring at her untouched food. She arches her eyebrows.
“Hey, didn’t we have to go now?”
Her voice snaps him out of his deep thought, “Oh yeah. Sorry. You don’t want to finish your breakfast? You can’t work with an empty stomach?”
“I… don’t like it. It smells weird,” she shows a disgusted look.
“I never understand your weird behaviour,” he rolls his eyes and walks passing her.
She scoffs, “Everyone has their weird behaviour.”