Chapter 267 - The Talk (1)

[This chapter is dedicated to Tiffany_Desselles_5370. Thank you for the golden ticket. Appreciate your support.] 

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Noah kept on fidgeting on his chair. He already rearranged the dishes on the table twice while he waited for Jess. 

He heaved a deep sigh, rolled his neck from side to side. His shoulder muscles were so taut from being on the computer almost the whole night. He knew he couldn't sleep and decided to work. He worked because he didn't want to storm to Jess's bedroom in the middle of the night, and asked for forgiveness all over again. 

He glanced over his shoulder, craning his neck to see if the bathroom door was opened. And when he saw it was still tightly shut, he sat down.. He forced himself to open the newspaper and pretend to read. He couldn't see the words printed on the paper. They simply float in front of his eyes as his heart keeps on thumping in nervous anxiety within his ribcage. 

He hopes to god Jess won't ask for a breakup. He won't permit it but then, Jess is stubborn. And if she decided on something, it's difficult to change her mind. He put down the newspaper and pinched the bridge of his nose between his eyes. 

He straightened his back and quickly picked up the newspaper, bringing it up to his face when he heard footsteps. 

Not long, Jess stepped out on the balcony. She was wearing a black short sleeve dress with small white flowers printed on it. The dress has buttons run along the middle of the dress. Her hair was pulled up on a high ponytail, exposing the delectable length of her swan-like neck. 

Noah swallowed an invisible lump at the back of his throat. She looks as beautiful as a summer morning. His breath hitched when his nose was assaulted with the flowery smell of her shower gel. 

Jess quietly sat down on her chair and picked up her coffee mug. He quickly picked up the percolator and poured her coffee mug some coffee. 

Jess mumbled a quiet thank you to him as she observed him from the corner of her eyes. He looked like he didn't get any sleep last night. She had a good sleep because one of the medicines she had to take had drowsiness as a side effect. It's the only reason why she had a deep sleep last night. 

Noah on the other hand has deep dark eye bags under his usually bright eyes. She couldn't help but feel pity for him. But she didn't say anything and just sipped her coffee. 

Noah picked up his own cup of coffee and watched Jess eat her breakfast. He wanted to pick up the conversation they had last night. He couldn't wait to make Jess understand and apologize all over again. 

But she needed to eat. 

The silence was awkward but Noah couldn't think of a way to break the ice. Until he heard Jess talk first. 

"Lucille sent me a message last night but I only read it this morning." 

He silently exhaled a relieved breath. "What did she say?" 

"She asked me why you're getting uglier and uglier." She casually buttered her toast, not meeting Noah's gaze. What she said wasn't the exact message of Lucille. She actually asked her if what she has been doing with her father that makes him look ugly. 

She rephrased Lucille's message because she doesn't want to tell Noah that his daughter was accusing her to be the reason why he was getting ugly. 

He chuckled. "Sorry about that. Lucille called last night when I haven't shaved yet," he unconsciously rubbed his chin and jaws as if checking if he has no facial hair. 

"I thought you already tale-tell to your daughter." She took a bit of her bread and creased her eyebrow when Noah choked on his coffee with what she said. She put down her bread and wiped her hands on the cloth napkin. "Don't tell me you complained to your daughter about me?" 

"I just told her that I did something stupid," his voice trail off as he gave her beaten puppy eyes look. 

Jess has a weakness in Noah's blue eyes. She smirked at him and rolled her eyes. 

"Jess…can we --" 

"Let's finish our food." She returned her eyes to her plate. 

Noah wasn't able to finish what he was about to say but didn't insist anymore that Jess wanted to finish their breakfast before they talk. 

The breakfast felt so long that Noah couldn't help but squirm on his seat. 

When Jess finally put down her knife and fork and wiped the corner of her mouth. Noah released the breath he didn't know he was holding in.

"Do you have to go to work today?" She wanted to know because she doesn't want their conversation to be cut short if he has to go to work. She needed a long time not just to discuss Noah's reason why he installed spy software on her computer but also because she wanted to ask Noah what happened in the Midland Hotel—the first time they had met. 

"No. I don't have anything to do today. And if there is an emergency, Markus and Antonio will handle it." 

She nodded. "Do you know a place where we can talk?" 

Noah's nervousness came back. Why would Jess need a place for them to talk? They can talk in the privacy of her bedroom or his bedroom - whichever she prefers. What does she want to talk about that they needed a different place? 

"The library?" he asked. "Or I can send a message to Markus now to ask if he knew a place--" 

"The library is fine." She pushed her chair and stood up. "You can go ahead and I'll follow you there." 

"Why can't we go together?" He's starting to feel bad about what they are going to talk about. He has a feeling that Jess doesn't just want to talk about him installing a program on her computer without her knowledge. 

"Other employees of ANAT are also staying in this villa." 

"And why should I care about them? I own the villa and the company." 

"Everybody knows that Noah. But I'm not asking you to do it for you. I'm asking you to do it for me." 

He exhaled a deep breath and shoved his hands inside his pocket. "Take your time. I'll wait for you at the library."