The Devil's Love

||. Chapter 13: Tiny Steps .||

Jiang squinted his eyes at Ansel's sudden decision. He studied the girl carefully for a good ten minutes before lifting his arms from the cold dining table. Breathing in the scent of pumpkin soup, he tapped his fingers on the table before reaching out to obtain the fresh grapes on the other side of the table. 

"Why do you agree on letting him stay here all of a sudden?" question Jiang for the second time, his eyes scanned through Ansel's expression for a possible answer, but as always it was impossible. "If that is your decision, I'll text him about it. To be fair, that boy has been crashing here for the past week. He seemed to have a change in his working schedule."

Ansel hummed, biting into the sweet grapes. She sighed, brushing her short hair backwards and looked out of the window. It had been almost a month since Angelo came into her life. Somehow, she found his company quite comfortable especially during the late nights where she had to stay up alone. He never questioned anything about her, instead sat silently to watch her work. She was surprised to see how unattached Angelo is with his phone, unlike them. She is highly dependent on her gadgets.

"Right," said Ansel, shaking her memories of Angelo's pale features and dark red lips. "I don't have a perfect reason and he doesn't pry into our problems, so I guess that's a plus point for him. Just let him know he can stay here permanently, will you?"

Jiang chuckled as he nodded, flipping through the pile of papers he had sprawled across the table. It had been almost midnight. He was glad he had opted for a day off tomorrow. He needed the break from the continuous one month of training the younger workers. Just as he was about to turn around to make a cup of tea, the front door creak opened, revealing Angelo's lean figure shoving his pair of shoes on the rack.

"Hey, Angelo," greeted Jiang cheerfully. "Want to join us for a cup of tea? Aside from that, we need to talk to you about something too."

Angelo merely nodded. Jiang cast Ansel a smirk, causing the girl to settle herself in confusion before she buried her head in her pile of work again. Choosing the peppermint tea bags out of the jar, Jiang placed them in three different cups and poured the steaming hot water into them. He knew deep down that Ansel is a lot to handle. Even though she had been living with him for quite some time, he still could not wrap the fact around his head that the girl sitting in front of him had been through what none in her age should have. Settling her cup of tea in front, he handed the other to Angelo with a wide smile.

"We agreed to let you stay here permanently. You can move in anytime when you are free," said Jiang, sipping skillfully on his cup of tea. "We made the decision together, so this way you don't have to worry about anything. The girls live upstairs. The room next to mine is yours."

"Thank you," answered Angelo, sniffing in the scent of the fresh tea. "I appreciate it a lot. I will get some of my things from my previous home tomorrow morning. It seems a little late now for me to return there."

Jiang waved his hands in the air, patting his palms onto Angelo's shoulder before he ruffled Ansel's hair and the girl whined.

"Good night, people. I am going to get my beauty sleep," stated Jiang, covering his mouth as he yawned. "The last living being to sleep, please kindly switch off the lights and switch on the one for the aquarium so none of us four-eyed lizards will trip on the ground."

== xxx ==

Angelo did not know how to start a conversation with the girl in front of him. He sat fidgeted in his spot, the mug of tea getting colder with each passing minute and his hair wired with words he wanted to say. He wondered internally if it was the perfect time to say it. Taking out the book he had from his bag, Angelo began drafting out the tag he was assigned to do. Lily would be leaving town for a couple of weeks in his counting and he needed to hire someone else to work with. Deep down, he wished he could have someone he knew to work with. Jon would be a perfect choice, but he did not want to drag the boy down in his mess.