Before she picked up the phone, Clarissa actually went and locked the door as she felt a little guilty.
Once she picked up, her voice unknowingly changed into a lighter and more coquettish tone.
“Uncle Matthew!”
As soon as those words left her mouth, they felt weird and Clarrissa was dumbstruck.
“Hmm?”
With just a sound, Matthew’s raspy voice sounded especially sexy and it made Clarissa turn red.
“Is something up?”
Another stupid line!
Clarissa was embarrassed by herself.
Do I usually sound so dumb? Or have my feelings really changed? If I act like this in front of him, I doubt I’d have to go D City anymore. He’d probably leave me within days!
With that in mind, Clarissa covered her face in shame and hop onto her bed. She had decided to not say anything and just let Matthew talk.
“I’m missing you. Does that count?”
Woah…
Clarissa felt weak.
Who would have known that the calm and collected president, Matthew Tyson, was so good at wooing women!
“Y-you… “
Clarissa had absolutely succumbed to his charm and was stuttering. If it was in person, she might actually get weak in her knees.
“Don’t you feel the same?”
“O-of course not.”
Clarissa could not express her feelings like how he did as she still did not want to admit being Matthew’s girlfriend. At least, it was not a certainty just yet, so she stopped herself from being too unreserved.
Besides, she had always been a reserved woman, to begin with.
“No?”
Clarissa could hear the chills coming from his voice. However, Matthew was really far away, so she was not worried.
“It’s not that I didn’t think of you. I prepared some delicacies with Grandma just now. I’ll courier them over tomorrow along with your share to the Tyson residence, as promised.”
I don’t have to give it to him directly, but I still gave it to him! How smart am I?
Clarissa was proud of how she handled the situation.
“Okay,” Matthew quietly responded.
Hearing his curt reply, Clarissa felt a tad guilty.
So, she quickly added, “I’ll also hand-deliver a parcel specially for you when I get back to D City.”
“You decide.”
Matthew could not care less about what she was giving him.
What he wanted was not something that could be replaced with some souvenir.
With that in mind, Matthew narrowed his eyes and took a puff from the cigarette he had. His throat tightened as he pictured Clarissa’s body in his head.
The longer the wait and anticipation, the sweeter it would be when the time finally arrives.
“Uncle Matthew? Matthew?”
Clarissa called out to him a few times but there was no reply. She thought that it was because she had a bad signal.
But all of a sudden, Matthew tossed out a question. “What’s your relationship with Ryler Cooper?”
“Huh? We’re… Friends!”
Clarissa continued with a simple explanation, “We were neighbors back then.”
Matthew thought about that day where Ryler held Clarissa, looking so intimate with each other. He was really unhappy about it.
“Childhood sweethearts?”
He asked with a hint of jealousy in his voice.
However, Clarissa did not notice it and just laughed as she denied. “Not really, he’s more of a brother figure to me. He had been treating me really well throughout the years and I’m grateful towards him.”
“Grateful? You really have a lot of people to be grateful to.”
This time, Clarissa caught on and understood the meaning behind his words.
“What are you trying to say here?” She frowned.
Matthew stayed quiet and took a puff before saying anything. “Clare, is giving me an answer so hard?”
His question left Clarissa stunned. Why is he bringing this up now?
“Didn’t you say you’d wait until I get back to D City?”
“You coming back doesn’t mean you’re going to accept me. Yes or no, that’s it. Coming back to D City means nothing.
Is he angry at me for being hesitant?
Clarissa’s heart sank and started aching.
Does he think I’m leaving him hanging for a reason? Does he think I’m playing hard to get?
Clarissa suddenly felt betrayed and immediately retaliated with some aggression in her tone. “Alright, you want an answer? I’ll give you an answer. No, I refuse.”
Clarissa ended the call as soon as she said that. She even turned off the phone and tossed it aside before laying in her bed, wanting to cry her lungs out.
Originally, she was still reluctant about accepting Matthew. There were too many concerns and doubts. Is he thinking about me like this because he thinks I’m already in the bag? With just one kiss? Does he really think I’m some easy girl?
Clarissa thought a lot about it, unable to calm herself down.
She only came out of her room when it was time for dinner. Her grandma noticed that she was not looking so well and assumed she was tired.
“Don’t just sit in front of the computer the whole day, you’re being too lazy. Try to get some exercise when you’re not writing, walk around the area maybe. Your body won’t be able to handle it if you go on like this.”
The topic at hand was also something Clarissa was familiar with, so she stayed quiet and said nothing since she would not follow it anyway.
Having said that, Catherine still dragged Clarissa out after dinner and visited the park. There were people exercising and they met some little kids playing around. It made Clarissa’s mood slightly better.
Then, she started thinking about it a little more and realized that she shouldn’t care too much about what happened. It’s just a breakup, right? In fact, we’ve never even started, to begin with! I’m Clarissa Quigley after all! The strong and independent woman from the Quigley family!
After that realization, Clarissa decided to join her grandmother in exercising. Later, she focused on writing up something new as inspiration came flowing in like water. It was a direct contrast to when her mind was in a mess because of Matthew. Clarissa herself thought it was funny that she actually had to cut off her emotions to achieve greater heights in terms of writing.
…
Clarissa stopped contacting Matthew, thinking that he was probably extremely agitated about it, and may have realized that he never needed a girl like her in the first place. Everything went back to how it was before Clarissa first went to D City.
The World’s filming continued while there were some teasers being released occasionally to keep the fans interested. Clarissa would sometimes share those teasers to help promote it as well. Other than that, she left Twilight Company in charge of negotiating the movie adaptation of all her other works.
Within those few days, she earned quite a lot and her mood naturally got better. She even gave Ellie a video call to express her good mood.
However, Ellie’s mood was not as good.
“Clare! I’m so mad right now! Shermaine and Uncle Matt stayed in the same hotel! And everyone in the house’s so happy about it. My grandma is already treating her like she’s her daughter-in-law, calling her every day to tell her to take care of herself. If I said something bad about Shermaine, everyone would just ignore me and think that I’m being deliberate. Ahhh!”
Ellie’s scream, as well as the amount of frustration and madness she exhibited clearly indicated how displeased she was.
Meanwhile, Clarissa just kept quiet.
After Ellie’s rage died down a little, she let out a sigh and apologized to Clarissa. “Sorry about that. I just can’t find anyone to talk to about this. Shermaine’s just too good! Everyone around me and in the industry has nothing but praise for her. It’s driving me insane! If she really became my aunt, it might just be hell for me.”
Clarissa finally reacted, grinning as she replied, “It’s not that big of a deal right? She’s the one chosen by your uncle. Even if she becomes your aunt, you won’t be living together under the same roof. There won’t be much of a problem if you don’t see her often. Besides, maybe she really does have something special about her. You shouldn’t interfere with your uncle’s decision. Maybe… It was all just a big misunderstanding.”
“I definitely did not misunderstand anything. But you’re right. I can’t interfere, only accept. Sigh… “
Clarissa accompanied Ellie in the silence, but the aching in her heart made it extremely difficult to keep calm.
“Clare, when are you coming back to D City? It’d be great if you were here with me.” Ellie asked out of the blue.
“Sorry, but I’m not going back. All my work there is done.”
I’m never going back there.
There were two days left of her promise to Matthew. Even though she said she would let it go, she was still secretly hoping for something.
And now, there really is nothing left to anticipate. The two days mean nothing at this point.
Clarissa forced a smile out for Ellie to see and said, “Ellie, I think I like this warm and serene little city more. D City is glamorous and all, but I don’t think I like how unwelcoming it is.
“Huh? You can even make this into something so sensual? I’m impressed.” Ellie was humored by Clarissa’s description.
“Alright then. I’m not going to force you. That poor Damon won’t know what hit him though. He’s still really persistent. I’ll talk to him about it next time. By the way, we got your package, my grandma said… “
A knock on the door interrupted Ellie.
“Give me sec. I’ll go see who it is. Don’t disconnect,” Ellie said before heading to the door while Clarissa waited.
“Uncle Matt? Why are you here?”
Clarissa instantly froze at the other end of the call.
“Did you know that running out like this would make everyone worried?”
“Humph! Do you guys even care?”
“Why are you so angry?”
“You all know it, why are you asking me? I don’t want to talk to you guys anymore. Nobody listens anyway.”
After that, Ellie came back in and picked up her phone. “Clare, where were we just now?”
However, Clarissa did not remember either as she saw Matthew standing behind Ellie.
Her mind suddenly went blank and the first thing that came to mind was to end the call.
“Ellie, looks like you’re busy. I’m hanging up then.”
Clarissa’s face quickly disappeared from Ellie’s screen. Ellie did not think much about it and placed her phone down to look at Matthew.
“Uncle Matt, you should be paying more attention to Shermaine instead of me.”
