Marshall frowned at Peter for a good while before speaking. “No, I do NOT see that.”
Peter begun eating as he went on. “It’s true, though. Whenever Kathy’s with you, your whole face completely changes.”
“Find yourself an eye doctor is what you should do,” sneered Marshall.
Turning to Katherine, Peter said in a hushed voice, “He won’t admit it, but he knows I’m right.”
Taking a peek at Marshall, Katherine was a little bit touched. Marshall was supremely patient with her today, and she was getting worked up for it. It was probably because Marshall had seldom been so gentle with her, but the moment he showed some kindness, she couldn’t restrain her helplessly hopeful heart.
Exhaling, Katherine busied herself with eating her lunch.
Neither Marshall nor Katherine was in a good mood, so both remained quiet during the meal. Peter, having tried starting a conversation to no avail, shook his head in resignation. It was just like these two to get passive aggressive with each other again and again. They were incredibly childish in this regard.
Lunch was finished in complete silence.
Katherine declined to be carried by Marshall, asking Peter to help her walk upstairs instead.
When she had settled in her room, Katherine asked Peter to leave.
Peter was almost out of the door before he turned around to speak quietly, “I can tell, Kathy, that you like him.”
Katherine froze for a second, not knowing what Peter was up to.
Peter paused to think before adding, “I know that you’re divorced, but that doesn’t mean it’s over between you two. I mean, you’re living with him, so there’s an advantage! It’s not impossible to make him fall for you.”
“How much did you have to drink before you came here?” asked Katherine, looking at Peter as if he were a lunatic.
Peter tusked. “Oh please. Do I really have to be so blunt about it?”
Looking into the hallway, he made sure Marshall wasn’t coming before he spoke. “Clara Henderson is clearly interested in your ex-husband. Do you want to see them together?”
Shaking her head, Katherine was decidedly candid. “No, of course not. You know perfectly well that I don’t get along with Clara.”
“There you go, then,” responded Peter immediately, “you have to lock down your ex if you don’t want them together. It won’t suffice to simply keep an eye out for Clara. I’m telling ya, you still got a chance since Marshall isn’t interested in young Ms. Henderson – yet.”
As Katherine kept silent, Marshall got keener. “Come on, Kathy! Don’t you get it? You’re usually smarter than this.”
Katherine glared, not wanting to lose the fight; but before she could retort, Peter went on.
“They aren’t together now simply because Marshall doesn’t like Clara, but if he starts developing feelings for her, there will be nothing you can do. So, what you need to do now is to prevent him from falling for Clara, which could be achieved simply by making him fall in love with somebody else instead – yourself, for example. Get it now?”
Katherine did. Katherine couldn’t stop Marshall from falling for Clara by watching out for the latter. What she needed to do was to deal with not only Clara, but also Marshall.
The thing was that her despair increased at the idea. “It’s easier said than done. I was married to him for almost a whole year without making him fall for me. And it’s even more hopeless now that we’re divorced.”
“You’re still living under the same roof, aren’t you?” Peter asked indignantly, “there’s your opportunity. Publicly you’re still married, and that makes things even easier. You gotta be flexible with this kind of stuff.”
Scowling, Katherine pondered for a while and sort of got it.
She nodded slowly. “I think I know what you mean.”
“Terrific,” said Peter, satisfied, “well, I’ll leave you to it then. Think about your next steps. You’ve got this.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: CEO Proposed to His Ex-wife 99 Times
liked very much....