I walked to the car. Chak was already sitting inside, his face serious. I sat down in the passenger seat. He turned around to the back and handed me a large paper bag.
"What's this?" I asked him.
"Something to comfort you," Chak said.
I opened the bag and saw all my favorite sweets inside.
"Thank you," I said, reaching for the candy bag to open it.
"Don't open it in the car."
"Just one," I said, looking at him pleadingly. "Chaky, please," I added and blinked at him three times.
"Niran," Chak said with a cold voice.
"I won't open it," I replied with a sad tone and closed the bag.
As we were driving home, Chak said, "I heard what you said to Amari and Non. That you don't want to do overtime with me anymore. Why not?"
"Because I know what your punishments are like. And they're really boring," I answered without hesitation.
He was quiet for a moment, then asked, "How long were you standing behind us, listening?"
"From the moment you started talking about what I told Orasa. And what she said about Pim. And about you."
When we got home and parked, we stepped out of the car. Without saying a word, Chak opened the trunk inside were three large bags filled with colorful packaging.
"What is all this?" I asked, staring at the mountain of sweets.
"One bag is mine," he said calmly, "and the other two are for us."
"You bought out the entire candy store?"
He smiled. "No. I just told Tarn to get me one item of everything chocolates, candies, lollipops, whatever he could find."
I couldn't help but smile. It was such a quiet, thoughtful gesture that made my heart flutter.
Together, we carried the bags inside and dropped them by the kitchen island.
But before I could say anything, Chak turned to me with that deep, serious look of his. "The bags can wait. I can't."
And just like that, he lifted me into his arms as if I weighed nothing, carrying me straight to the kitchen. He gently set me down on the counter.
I sat there, breath caught in my throat, hands resting lightly on his shoulders. The soft afternoon light streamed through the window, casting a golden glow over us.
Chak leaned in, his hand brushing softly against my cheek. His gaze locked on mine with that quiet intensity that always made my knees go weak. I reached up and tucked a strand of hair behind his ear, letting my fingers trail over his forehead, down his nose, until they touched his lips.
He parted his lips slightly and kissed my fingertip. Then, he took my hand and kissed each finger one by one, slowly, reverently.
I stared at him, heart pounding, a subtle shiver running through my whole body. I wasn't used to this kind of tenderness from him but it was real. He was real.
"Chaky, let's start cooking," I said to him.
"We're not cooking lunch today ," he said. "Everything's already prepared." Then he added, "We can just stay like this for a while… my artist. I promised I'd be only yours when I'm home and I intend to keep that promise."
He leaned in and gave me a gentle kiss on one cheek, then the other, then left a trail of soft kisses all the way to my lips. I tilted my head a little closer to him. Our lips were just about to touch when the phone rang.
Chak sighed, resting his forehead against mine before pulling back slightly, clearly annoyed. I rolled my eyes.
He took his phone out of his pocket and answered with an irritated voice, "Kit, I don't have time. Call me back in 20 minutes."
I heard Kit's whisper on the other end, "Sorry if I'm interrupting… if you're spending time with Little One."
Chak stepped closer to me again, gave me a soft smile, and ran his fingers through my hair. I leaned into his touch.
Then Kit's voice became serious. "We've got a problem in the LF Lab."
"What kind of problem?" Chak asked.
Kit continued quietly, "Orasa is coming to your house."
I felt a tight knot form in my chest. Chak's face darkened.
"Why is she coming here?" he asked, his voice slightly shaking.
"She said the two of you need to talk… about what happened in the office," Kit explained.
Chak took a deep breath. "Thanks for letting me know."
But before he could hang up the phone, the doorbell rang.
I jumped down from the counter and looked at Chak nervously.
He turned to me and said, "Pretend it's your first time here. Go get the bags. And whatever you hear, or whatever she says to you don't forget, I love you."
We headed toward the hallway. Just before opening the door, Chak turned to me one more time and placed a kiss on my cheek.
Then he turned back to the door and opened it.
The door opened and Orasa stepped in with confident strides, as if this was still her domain. But when she saw me, she stopped in her tracks.
"What are you doing here?" she asked sharply, her eyes fixed on me.
Chak calmly stepped forward and replied, "My housekeeper is sick, so Niran will be cooking for me today and tomorrow."
Orasa raised an eyebrow, clearly not satisfied with the answer. I quietly reached for the bags, pretending that was truly my only task here.
I took the bags and headed to the kitchen. From the living room, I heard Chak say, "Would you like something to drink?"
"If you have some juice," she replied.
Then Chak called out, "Niran, bring two glasses of juice from the fridge."
"Right away, sir," I responded.
I took the juice from the fridge and began opening random drawers, pretending I didn't know where he kept the glasses. After a few moments, I finally took them out of one of the drawers and carried them to the living room.
I placed the juice and glasses on the coffee table when Mrs. Orasa asked me: