It was the first time Matthew was allowed to set foot in the villa Clarissa had bought Catherine. She forbade him from making his way over without her consent.
On his way into the foyer, he held Damian in his arms and carried Clarissa’s bag on her behalf.
The moment they stepped into the living room, Damian announced once he saw Catherine, “Great-grandma, this is my daddy!”
Unable to contain his excitement anymore, he started introducing his father to his great-grandmother in the living room.
Catherine responded with a gentle smile and looked at Matthew in the eyes, deadpanning her greetings, “It’s been a while.”
On the contrary, Matthew made his way over and greeted Catherine in a courteous manner, “Thank you so much for having me, Grandma.”
Catherine waved and asserted, “It’s fine as long as Damian is enjoying himself.”
Matthew was about to bring up something else, but she stopped him and instructed, “Alright, go ahead and get everything ready for lunch and dinner! I’ll keep Damian company!”
Then, she lifted Damian and announced, “Damian, let’s leave your parents alone as they need to get our meal ready. I’ll keep you company for the time being.”
Matthew couldn’t even respond to Catherine’s announcement as Clarissa had shown him the way to the kitchen.
They noticed Catherine had gotten the ingredients ready beforehand. As soon as they put on their aprons, they started preparing the ingredients.
Standing in the middle of the kitchen, Matthew was unsure of the things to do. However, he was glad he was allowed to join the family for such an important occasion.
He ended up on the receiving end in spite of the series of surprises he had in store for Clarissa.
“Clare, what am I supposed to do?”
“Can you go ahead and wash this?”
Clarissa handed Matthew the lettuce and asked him to clean it for one of the dishes.
Shortly after they started preparing their lunch, an aromatic fragrance permeated throughout the kitchen. Matthew had no choice but to bend over to stop himself from knocking into the cabinets. In spite of his awkward posture, he continued preparing the ingredients as instructed.
Clarissa, who had to get most of the dishes ready, turned around and checked on him. She was taken aback when she caught a glimpse of Matthew bending over just to get his job done.
She then lost herself in a process of thoughts while staring at the hardworking man until he turned around and looked at her in the eyes when he had the ingredients ready.
Matthew beamed in satisfaction when he caught Clarissa looking away to avoid his gaze. After he wiped his hands dry, he walked over and wrapped his arms around her waist from behind.
“Clare, don’t you think I look great even when I’m in the middle of house chores?”
Clarissa rolled her eyes and asked, “Are you sure you’re not overthinking things?”
“No! Judging by your glistening pair of eyes, I’m pretty sure that’s the thing you have in mind!”
Her lips started twitching involuntarily when she heard him.
In an attempt to defend herself, Clarissa suggested, “Why don’t you show me the things you’re talking about?”
I’m pretty sure this narcissistic man has been exaggerating things again!
Matthew hesitated no more and leaned over, staring at her in the eyes with a bright grin. His pair of eyes were gleaming in elation.
“See? Actually, I have always had my eyes glued to you in a similar manner because I can’t stop myself from being head over heels in love with you!”
He inched over once he finished his sentence as he was afraid she couldn’t get a clear glimpse of his elated expression.
However, Clarissa had enough of the man’s confession. She stretched her hands and pushed him away from her. “Stop getting in my way when I’m cooking.”
After that, she got herself occupied with the dishes she had been preparing in an attempt to shrug him off.
Matthew had no intention to bother her as he beamed in satisfaction when he caught her blushing.
As he wouldn’t move his eyes away from her, she got increasingly unease. No longer could she focus on the things she had in mind. As a result, she accidentally dropped the lid she had with her.
Clang!
Clarissa stared at the lid open-mouthed while Matthew leaned over and picked it up on her behalf.
Things will never go wrong as long as I take the initiative to patch things up with her.
He caressed her flushing cheek and denoted with a smile, “I’m so sorry for the things I have put you through. Can you forgive me?”
Clarissa shot daggers at him and reprimanded him, “If you’re not going to be of much help, why don’t you get out of the kitchen and leave me alone?”
Immediately after she finished her sentence, she chased him out of the kitchen and locked the door.
Matthew could see the occupied woman through the window. He smiled and shook his head helplessly.
The moment Damian saw his father, he yelled, “Daddy, hurry up and join us! Great-grandma and I can’t solve this puzzle!”
Matthew turned around and marched his way over in their direction when he heard his son. He took a seat next to Damian and started sorting out the puzzle on the little boy’s behalf.
As Damian insisted on solving the puzzles by himself, he messed up everything again and mimicked his father to solve the puzzle.
His father and great-grandmother kept him company and heard the host of the annual countdown show announcing the arrival of celebrities on the red carpet from the live broadcast of the broadcast station.
Matthew and Catherine remained silent until Clarissa made her way to the living room from the kitchen.
“Alright, everything’s ready! Join me in the dining hall!”
Damian got ahead of his father and great-grandmother. He rushed over while yelling, “Hooray! It’s time to eat! What have you cooked, Mommy?”
He had always been a huge fan of his mother’s cooking. Thus, he continued complementing the spread Clarissa had prepared.
The adults ended up chuckling as they found the little boy adorable.
After they joined the little boy at the dining table, Clarissa served each of them a glass of wine and handed the little boy a glass of orange juice.
She then suggested a toast, “Grandma, wishing you all the best in the upcoming year! Your health is the only thing that matters!”
Damian then picked after his mother and said, “Great-grandma, I’ll look forward to having fun with you in the upcoming year!”
Matthew played along with his son and wife. He greeted, “Grandma, may all good things be yours.”
Catherine joined them for the toast and enjoyed the presence of the family of three. It was then she made up her mind to forget the things that had occurred in the past and bask herself in the blissful moment.
Along with the background music coming from the ongoing countdown show, Clarissa urged Damian to finish his meal and keep his mouth shut throughout the meal.
“Mommy, I’m so happy to have all of you around!”
“Mommy, you’re such a great cook! I can’t have enough of this!”
“Great-grandma, here’s your favorite dish!”
The little boy was a professional ice breaker. He did a great job keeping things lively throughout the meal.
As Matthew was around, they couldn’t bring up the things they had always talked about when he wasn’t around. Nonetheless, things weren’t awkward the slightest bit due to Damian’s presence.
Clarissa ended up talking about the celebrities that had shown up for the show on television.
Catherine shared the way they celebrated the joyous occasion back in the day. She couldn’t help but exclaim things were no longer the same as most of her neighbors had moved out of the neighborhood.
Although Matthew couldn’t join the conversation, he couldn’t be bothered as he had a great time listening to their tales of the olden days.
There was nothing special, but those ordinary moments were the blissful moments he had been longing for throughout the years.
On the contrary, things were the complete opposite whenever he was back with the Tysons during such a joyous occasion. More often than not, they would talk about something serious.
He never had the chance to talk about the trivial things in life with the Tysons as they couldn’t care less.
It took them a few hours to finish the meal. By the time they finished their lunch, it was already late in the afternoon.
Catherine made her way back to her room for a short nap once she finished her meal. Damian had long fallen asleep ahead of others. Similarly, Clarissa took a seat next to the ground-to-ceiling window and basked herself in the gentle beam of sunlight.
She closed her eyes to take a short break in an attempt to stop herself from falling into a deep slumber. Matthew tiptoed his way over and took a seat next to her. He leaned over and took her by surprise, kissing her on the lips out of the blue.
As Clarissa showed no signs of stopping him, he continued kissing her for a few minutes.
Albeit reluctantly, he brought the session to a halt a few minutes later. Holding her firmly in between his arms, he felt a sense of serenity while basking in the shaft of light next to her.
Things would be great should Clarissa keep the things she had in mind to herself. Unfortunately, she broke the silence and announced, “It doesn’t mean I have forgiven you!”
Matthew chuckled and asked, “Am I supposed to reflect upon my actions next?”
She urged with a stern look, “You need to figure out the reason I’m mad! Take this seriously and stop fooling around!”
“Alright, Clare! Why don’t you tell me the reason you’re mad in the first place? You need to give me a chance to gain a better understanding of you to please you in the future!”
Huh? What does he mean by pleasing me? Oh, God! What the heck is wrong with that filthy thought of yours, Clarissa? Snap the heck out of it when you’re in the middle of a serious conversation!
She secretly reprimanded herself for being a lustful woman and did a great job concealing the things she had in mind from the man next to him.
“We’re not going to talk about that during such a joyous occasion! As soon as we’re done celebrating, I’ll tell you everything that’s bothering me!”
“That sounds great! Speaking of which, can you tell me if there’s anything else bothering you apart from this? If there’s nothing else, can we have some fun together?”
It was evident Matthew could no longer suppress his urge after being away from Clarissa for such a long time.
Out of the blue, Clarissa turned around and glared at him in the eyes. She brought herself up and announced, “No way!”
Immediately after she made herself clear, she headed into the kitchen to get the ingredients for dinner ready.
Matthew responded with a sheepish grin as he had no choice but to suppress his urge until he could figure out the things bothering Clarissa.
All of a sudden, Catherine strode out of her room. He thought that was the sign he had to keep his urge suppressed for the time being.
