Chapter 105: Fake-Lovers' Quarrel

"I—"

"Do you know how ridiculous that sounds? Do you even hear yourself? You're a very busy man. How would you always respond on time?" Eve thought out loud. "It's not only unnecessary but also inefficient. In fact, its inefficiency is exactly why it's unnecessary. I'm well-protected in and out of this room."

The call went silent. Only the keys of a laptop filled it in. At the sound of rapid typing, Eve bit her tongue. He was working late tonight. She knew that but she still impulsively called him like this? Her head shook at her rash behavior. 

Even if she had been mad, she should have cooled off for a while.

Then again, she also wanted him to know how angry she felt—something mere words couldn't always deliver across by eliminating the emotion from them. The room began to spin. She didn't know what to do anymore.

Eve massaged her temple, trying to think rationally.

Ambryan's voice broke through her reverie. "Is that everything you have to say? Can I speak now?"

"Wait, hold up!" She protested. A groan rumbled at the back of her throat. Guilt streamed in her veins. "I just blabbered that out. I'm sure you have an explanation. Please enlighten me a little so I can give you a better comment."

Another cloud of silence hovered above them. 

Eve bit her bottom lip. Had she really been rash? Ambryan wasn't one to make a decision irrationally. There had to be a reasonable explanation and she'd be stupid ignore it completely. There had to be a way around this arrangement that could satisfy them both.

"It's a necessary precaution. You said it yourself. You felt a storm brewing," Ambryan told her. The words hit home. They did come out of her mouth first. "I'd rather have you indoors and safe when the storm rains down. We still don't know which direction it would come."

'The storm…' Eve repeated in her head. She had said that but, to her, it was a small one. She still had the files on Ambryan's exes. None of them posed a serious threat to her life. None of them were psychos either—thankfully, Ambryan had kept out of that group.

Besides, the storm wouldn't go away wherever she went. It would always be there looming until it found a chance. It didn't have to mean physically too.

It could appear in a virtual world. That one was harder to control. Behind screens, firewalls and dummy IPs, it was a web of networks. It couldn't be stopped unless someone blocked out the use of the internet. 

Otherwise, they would appear again and again in any place at any time.

"But that is only a hunch. What evidence is there for it to be a real threat? I had laid low for two weeks and nothing had happened. Doesn't that mean anything?" Eve reasoned for a second time, using a gentler tone. There was no way she could live like this for 9 months.

There had to be another way or they would be stuck in a place where an enemy could find them���it would be easy to locate an unmoving target. 

"Predators don't pounce while their prey is hidden," Ambryan fired back.

Eve choked on her own spit. 'Well, that was true…'

They would look for an opening first like she thought of earlier. So laying low had blocked them from creating an attack. But really… How big was this threat Ambryan refers to? He made it sound like someone could shoot her the moment she stepped out of a door. 

But if it's only people like Charlee Edwards..., this arrangement was excessive.

That part of her opinion won't change.

"Fine. I get your point. But! I do not agree with these conditions," Eve voiced out. Now that she had a clearer head, she could analyze things a bit better. "They are too much and too confining. There should be a wider range for where I can go without the need for permission. How about letting the security team notify you about our movements?" 

Couldn't he be notified instead? Like there wouldn��t be a need to ask if she could go… but only to tell him about it so he'd know. She didn't see it as any different as telling her mother about the places she'd go whenever she left the house. 

At least, they'd know where she was in case she forgot to keep in contact.

"Alright. You can cross the street and do your groceries. Anything else?" 

Ambryan's agreement startled Eve. It happened a bit too fast. Once she got over her shock, she realized how specific his words were. Was this how he was going to play? Let her list places? How precise did he want her to be?

This was as inefficient as asking for his permission!

"That's not—" She began to say but Ambryan cut her off.

"You don't want to do your groceries anymore?" 

"No—!" Eve yelled a little too loud. She smacked her lips, her eyes snapping towards the bedroom door. Her ears heightened up and listened for other sounds. She feared that her reaction caused a misunderstanding with Nanzie.

"Then, I should take it back?"

Her current worries vanished when she heard his words. Crease lines materialized on her forehead as she glared at the wall, imagining it was his poker face. "Ambryan Hathaway! You know bloody well what I meant!"

"I did?"

"Yes, you—hey! Don't think I am the only one who should be doing this! You should also tell me if you'd be anywhere besides your house and your office. Communication is a two-way street!" 

"I should?"

"Yes, even if you say you have the better security team and can handle yourself better, shouldn't couples know about their partner's whereabouts? What if you suddenly had a meeting in another city and I didn't know about it?" Eve swallowed back a chuckle at the last part. She highly doubted that would happen but… it could raise suspicion. "Others might see it as a weakness in our relationship—like we don't care much for each other."

"Hm," Ambryan contemplated. "About your earlier suggestion… it's actually been arranged for your security team to notify me of your whereabouts even if you wouldn't tell me. "

"..." So she had suggested it for nothing? Eve tossed the question out of her head and focused on the current matter. "Then, I should get the same treatment! This can't be one-sided. That wouldn't be fair. I'd look really bad compared to you. There are some comments already about how you spoke about us in a direct manner unlike I did."

She should find a chance soon. Maybe greet him on social media about their first monthsary? People did that, right? The more Eve played with the idea, the more it grew on her. She thought of today's date. 

It was the 15th and they had their first date on the 25th last month…

… then, they still had 10 days before then? What day would it fall under?

"And what about you?" Ambryan asked.

Eve blinked out of her daze. "What about me?"

"What is your comment about it?"

"Is that… really necessary?" She questioned back. Her tongue suddenly felt weird in her mouth. It was almost like she couldn't control it. She wondered if the phrase 'cat got your tongue?' actually came from this feeling.

Ambryan smirked. "You always seem so opinionated. There should be some reserved for that incident, no? It would be out of character for you not to have something to say."

'… what was he implying exactly?' Eve's face contoured into a deadpan expression. She repeated the same answer she gave to Andie. "It was a well thought out response. You drew a line between your work life and your personal one."

"I see," was all he had to say.

She frowned at that. For all the talking they had done, why was Ambryan harder to read than before? His mind used to be something she understood. Or maybe… she never really did? His approach to this relationship had been with a business mindset—something she knew well. 

What had changed?

Her stomach growled. 

Eve coughed, breaking the silence. "Let's continue this on Sunday when we meet. I'm hungry right now and need to buy some food."

What should they have for tonight? Maybe she should ask Nanzie for recommendations. 

"Less your intake on carbs and sweets when it's night time. You don't need that energy and sugar rush when you'll be sleeping soon," Ambryan replied as if her question reached him instead of her bodyguard.

She snorted. "Okay, Mr. Healthy Living."

"I mean it, Evangeline."

"I know," Eve chuckled. "You're just cute when you react like that."

The tapping in the background ceased. Without it, Ambryan's voice became louder in her ears. Nothing came in between it and her hearing. "Cute?"

Was it possible to flutter your eyes and to gape your mouth like a fish at the same time? Eve's brain short-circuited at the revelation. Somehow her mind thought that if she did this motion, she'd wake up from a dream and come back to a reality—where she never said the last thing that came out of her lips.

Unfortunately, this didn't work. 

There was only one thing left to do:

Escape.

"I gotta go. The store might close soon. Bye!"