Despite his bantering suggestion, Matthias didn’t think Heather would be willing to let him visit the Langston Residence. He wasn’t hopeful about this, but he had a little bit of anticipation deep down inside after the string of surprises today.
As she stirred the coffee with a spoon in her hand, Heather looked at Matthias while exuding an alluring charm. They looked at each other, but Matthias couldn’t fathom the message in her eyes for a moment.
“Do you like to hide from the snow at the Langston Residence?” Heather’s eyes flickered as an unspeakably seductive charm emanated from her.
“In that case, why don’t we go to my place instead?” Matthias asked suggestively in return. In any case, he just wanted to be with Heather, but he didn’t know whether she understood what he meant.
Heather stopped what she was doing. “I’m not interested.”
Her resolute reply extinguished all Matthias’s fantasies. It seemed that Heather was still who she was, so Matthias shouldn’t cherish any fanciful ideas. However, just when he felt disheartened, she suddenly said, “I like the night view from your villa’s rooftop.” She recalled the previous candlelight dinner as if it had just happened yesterday. Time really flew in a rush, and many things had become history.
They tacitly spoke implicitly and conveyed—by implication—what they really thought. “Well then, may I have the pleasure of inviting you to enjoy the night view from my villa’s rooftop tonight?” Matthias asked.
“I’d like to watch Evan dance.” Heather made a request.
Matthias looked in her direction while feeling rather depressed. It really made people feel helpless that Heather would actually make such a request.
“If he can’t, why don’t you do it instead?” Heather suggested while trying to imagine the scene in her mind, though she truly couldn’t imagine it.
Matthias waved his hand at once. He was bad at dancing, so it would be better to sacrifice Evan instead. Having made a deliberate choice, he hurriedly sent Evan a text message via Messenger while Heather wasn’t paying attention. ‘Is it okay if you dance?’ At this moment, there was nothing that he couldn’t betray.
Evan looked at the text message in bafflement. What is Matthias up to again? How should I reply to this message? It wasn’t difficult for him to dance, but he couldn’t give Matthias a perfunctory reply since the latter had thrown him the question in all seriousness.
Meanwhile, Matthias gave Heather a nod after getting an affirmative answer from Evan. “Evan is a superb dancer.”
When Heather heard this, she knew right away that Matthias was exaggerating. She didn’t believe his words, but she didn’t care about the details since she was only looking for an excuse to go to Matthias’ place. She couldn’t refuse such a kind invitation from him, but the trip would be worthwhile since she could watch Evan dance later.
A trace of a smile played on Heather’s lips. Matthias really used every trick in the book in order to please her, and he would even probably say yes without hesitation if Heather wanted to watch him dance instead. “How long have you bought the entire place out?” she asked him.
“For the entire afternoon.” The corners of Matthias’s lips turned up slightly. He didn’t want to be disturbed by anyone when he was with Heather. In fact, he even wished that they were the only ones left in the entire world.
“Would you mind ending this boring buyout ahead of time?” Heather asked.
Her question was tactful, but Matthias recognized the deeper meaning behind it. This was exactly what he wished for; he couldn’t wait to take Heather back to his villa as soon as possible. He gave her a meaningful stare; how could he not feel more than flattered when she repeatedly held out olive branches today?
After leaving the cafe, Heather didn’t walk toward her car. Instead, she got straight into Matthias’ car.
Heather had been cozying up to Matthias the whole time, and such a test was nearly more than his heart could withstand. He almost wondered if this was a dream, for Heather appeared so unreal beside him. He reached out and touched her cheek, and she didn’t dodge his sudden intimate gesture this time. She could even feel the warmth of his fingers.
Heather’s skin is still so fine and smooth. I wonder how she takes such good care of it, Matthias thought to himself as he retracted his hand. He unconsciously touched his face, and it was so different from Heather’s. After all, a man’s skin could never be as fine and smooth as a woman’s. Besides, how could Matthias’s skin be as supple as Heather’s when his entire face was tight?
The pair was in perfect harmony along the way. Heather looked out the car window from time to time, whereas Matthias kept quiet with tacit understanding. It seemed that both of them hadn’t recollected themselves after the light touch just now. When Heather glanced at Matthias occasionally, there was a look of tenderness in his eyes.
Just then, a barely perceptible scent assailed Heather’s nostrils, and she leaned over and picked up the cigarette beside Matthias. She didn’t know when he started smoking, nor had she noticed it before. She looked at him while holding the cigarette. “You smoke too.” She was a little surprised. After all, she had never smelled cigarettes on him.
Matthias took the cigarette back from her. “I smoke only once in a while.” He smoked only because he had been somewhat distraught earlier. In reality, he seldom smoked on a normal basis since smoking wasn’t a pleasure to him.
“The faint smell of tobacco smells good, actually,” Heather suddenly remarked. She recalled the faint smell of tobacco on someone; it occurred so long ago that she had almost forgotten the smell of tobacco mixed with the man’s perfume. She didn’t know why she would think of that person. What seemed to happen a long time ago came into her mind as if it had just happened.
“Is that so?” Matthias smiled an unnatural smile as he couldn’t help feeling that there was something else behind the meaningful look in Heather’s eyes. Perhaps she wasn’t someone who had never experienced love between man and woman as she appeared to be. After all, she was a mature woman, and women of her age would more or less have scars left on them after having loved someone. At the thought of this, he felt a dull ache in his chest; it really made him feel uncomfortable to think that Heather had been attracted to someone else before. “Do you like the smell of tobacco?” He tossed the cigarette aside as he suddenly hated cigarettes even more.
“Only the faint smell of it,” Heather answered emphatically.
Matthias forced a smile, and his reply sounded forced. “Okay.” It seems that Heather once loved a man who had a faint smell of tobacco on him just as I’ve guessed, he thought to himself.
The topic seemed to be brought up specially to make conversation, and Heather finally understood how awkward Matthias felt back then. Making conversation when there was nothing to talk about was the most tormenting thing ever, and Heather didn’t expect that she would also find herself in such a predicament one day. Before she realized it, she had tried to please Matthias. This was why love was both irresistible and annoying; she was such a proud person, yet she would think of how to please someone else.
Heather’s heart always wavered at such a moment. She would probably think of ending the relationship for good—love was particularly tormenting, and to continue being in a relationship was a journey that brought both pain and joy.
“You’re averting your eyes. What are you worrying about?” Matthias began to learn how to pay attention to Heather’s little gestures since they could reflect her inner thoughts just as they did at this moment. He didn’t know why, but he was surprised that Heather actually wanted to run away. They were about to reach the villa soon; he was going to take her to his home, yet he had a bad feeling about this.
Just then, Heather asked in a self-deprecating manner, “Do you think someone like me is unworthy of love, Matthias?”
Matthias looked at her with determination. “Why are you denying yourself?” He hoped he could give her courage so that she wouldn’t escape from their feelings for each other again. “Everyone has the right to love; it’s just that some people give up this right,” he said in all seriousness as if teaching her how to love.
“Sometimes, I really think that love is very boring, Matthias.” Heather talked about what had been troubling her. She wanted to be close to Matthias, but she also wanted to stay away from him at times. Such ambivalence almost tortured her terribly.
“Since when did you start thinking of such nonsense, and since when did you become so unsure of yourself?” Matthias raised an eyebrow at Heather. He would’ve probably wavered or felt disappointed in the past, but he no longer did so. He had researched this for a long time; even though he lacked practical experience, he had figured out the mental state of a woman in love at the very least. He couldn’t think about this from his perspective as a man, so he tried to view this from Heather’s perspective. Had there not been so many complicated factors between them, there probably wouldn’t have been so many messy situations, nor would Heather have become unsure of herself. After all, she was such a self-assured person.
The car came to a complete stop outside the villa. After getting out of his car, Matthias opened the car door for Heather, who hesitated for a moment before stepping out of the car as well. As they walked toward his villa, they ran into Evan, who happened to walk out of the place and was surprised to see them. “What a surprise it is to see you here, Miss Langston,” he said.
“Well, Matthias invited me here,” Heather replied before smiling at Evan. “Besides, my being here shouldn’t come as a surprise to you. Aren’t you going to dance for me?”
Evan was stunned. “Dance?” he asked. “Why would I dance for you?”
Heather frowned. “That’s what Matthias has promised me; I wouldn’t have been here otherwise,” she replied before turning to look at Matthias with a raised eyebrow. “Would you like to explain this, Matthias?”
Upon hearing her question, Evan turned his gaze to Matthias as well.
“Didn’t you tell me that it’s okay for you to dance?” Matthias asked Evan.
“Yes, you did,” Evan responded. “But you didn’t tell me that I’d be dancing for someone.”
Matthias fell silent for a moment. “Well,” he explained, “Heather said she’d like to watch you dance, and I agreed.”
“That’s right.” Heather nodded. “That’s why I’m here. I’ll be leaving if you’re not going to dance, Evan.”
