EXCEPTION

Chapter 7. Let me stay

Morning finally came, and I woke up feeling woozy with the hangover. It took me a few moments to realize what I did last night.

Holy shit!

My hands moved to my mouth to cover it up when the scenario began playing in my head like a movie. I was so drunk that I lost control and kissed Courtney without his consent. How am I ever going to explain to Courtney about this? I even recalled how he kissed me back, and that thought alone made my cheeks turn red. But no! I have to act like it was nothing, that my action was unintentional.

I tried to regain my composure as I sat down on my bed. There are three paper bags on the floor beside the bed. I checked out each one, and they were full of clothes for me. A smile tugged at the corner of my lips as I imagined Courtney buying these clothes, which only proved how caring and considerate he was. That thought lasted for a few seconds when I glimpsed the clock and realized it was already ten o'clock in the morning.

I stood up and took a bath to get rid of all the sweat and grime from last night. As I toweled off afterward, I wondered where Courtney would be today. He just left me last night without words after that kiss, and I'm aware it's my fault. These thoughts urged me to fix myself quickly, getting dressed and brushing my hair. While I was busy observing my reflection in the mounted mirror, a sudden knock rang through the door. I hurried to the door and saw Oliver.

"Good morning, Ms. Adeleine. I went here to check on you." He bowed his head and smiled. "Sir Courtney is waiting for you downstairs. The breakfast is ready."

I nodded. "Thank you, Oliver. Please tell him I'll be right there."

Oliver nodded and retreated downstairs. I quickly shut the door and respired. The anxiety started to settle in my chest. I couldn't shake off what had ensued between us last night, even if I wished I could. It was too awkward to bring up the matter, but I had no choice.

With all my strength and courage, I took a deep breath and walked out to see him downstairs.

I was treading downstairs and observing; the entire surroundings are expansive and much more spacious than the right side of this building. The view was breathtaking. The fact I thought it was an abandoned building proved me wrong because of the costly embellishment around the edges of everything. Even the staircase looked like a gaudy white marble column. This was certainly different from the rest of the establishments I've been in. My husband never brought me to anything really extravagant, not even his company.

I only realized how long I was examining the interior when I veered around and caught the view inside the room at the right corner. There's a huge glass window connected to the door made of clear acrylics. There he was, sitting while reading some papers and drinking coffee, oblivious to my presence.

I walked inside the room, and made a beelined toward his direction.

"Take a seat." He didn't glance at me. He was still focused on the papers before him.

"Thank you." I took a sit near him, trying to evade the emotion dribbling inside of me.

A lot of food and beverages were already placed in front of us. But upon observing, he didn't eat anything aside from the coffee, which he then took a sip of.

"So, how are you?' He finally queried, putting down the papers.

"I'm fine. And you?" I glanced at him, smiling innocently. "By the way, thank you for this dress."

"My pleasure." He let out a short smile, then quickly averted his gaze to the papers again. His attention was focused somewhere on them as though he was engrossed with something, which gave me the idea that maybe he was still pondering about our last night together. Then he spoke again, "Eat up, Adeleine. You need energy before we leave."