Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 28 - SURPRISE

ELLIE

"Jackson! Are you home?" I hollered when I got back home. I slipped my feet into the slippers and walked toward the living room to find no one. I frowned. I was positive that he texted me earlier to tell me that he was home already, so where the hell was he? I made my way to the kitchen to fix some dinner since I haven't eaten dinner yet when I heard his footsteps, running down from the stairs.

"Hi," seconds later, he appeared in the kitchen. "Fixing some dinner?"

I nodded, "Uh-huh. Where were you?" I noticed his sweaty clothes. He put on a headband and his hair was wet due to sweat. "Were you exercising?" I frowned since we didn't have a home gym. Yet.

"No, I'm not," he shook his head while stealing the cheese that I diced from the cutting board. I smacked his hand and he grinned. "Come on, just finish your cooking quickly and eat your dinner. I have something to show you."

He looked rather excited that he couldn't stop shaking his leg while waiting for me to finish cooking dinner. Since I didn't know that he would be eating dinner with me, he ended up stealing some of my spaghetti. "Stop it! I thought you're not eating carbs," I groaned when he stole another forkful of spaghetti again.

"What can I say? You add cheese.. so I can't resist not stealing it," he grabbed another forkful and quickly shoved it into his mouth. "And apparently you could cook! You should cook more often. It's not healthy to keep ordering out."

After finishing dinner, he practically dragged me upstairs. Even before I finished loading the dirty dishes into the dishwasher, he had already whined that I took too long to do the dishes and immediately dragged me upstairs once I started the dishwasher.

"What is it that you can't wait to show me?" I asked as he ordered me to close my eyes when we arrived and stopped in front of the bathroom.

"Just be patient," he chastised me and I rolled my eyes as if he wasn't the one that was impatient just now. I did as he told me to and waited. I heard the door being opened but kept my eyes closed. I felt Jackson pull my hand and slowly guided me into the bathroom. "Okay, you can open your eyes now."

I slowly opened my eyes, "Is this what makes you all excited and secretive?" I pointed at the newly-installed bathtub.

"Yes," he nodded excitedly then realized that I wasn't that excited about his surprise. "Please don't tell me you don't like a warm bath."

My face went red because to be honest, I never got the luxury to soak in a warm bath. I always showered. And fast. Because I couldn't afford to spend time in shower longer than it should be. Even with COVID, when we had to wash ourselves from head to toe, I still took a shower in a hurry. I remembered back in my medical school days, one of our lecturers said that to be a surgeon we always had to be quick. Might it be for just daily activities such as eating and taking a shower or in a more serious manner, like making decisions regarding the patient's treatment. That was why, up until today, I never took luxury in such things like a warm bath. For me, cleansing my body was enough with a quick and thorough shower. I didn't need to soak in a warm bath to achieve the same result. Back to the situation, Jackson studied me carefully. When he noticed the expression on my face, his face showed a hint of amusement.

"You never had a warm bath before," he said, more like muttering a fact rather than asking a question.

I nodded slowly. "Well, I don't have the time to do it. Plus, cleaning my body doesn't need to be in a bath. I can do it with a shower," I tried to argue.

"But, a shower won't give you the relaxation that a warm bath can give," he argued and I couldn't say anything to retort since I never tried one.

Jackson put his hands on my shoulder and pushed me back into our bedroom, "Alright, this means, you have to try it tonight. Take off your clothes and I will set up the bath for you."