Sonia’s voice was soft and raspy with sleep, and given that her eyes were still closed, she clearly wasn’t fully awake yet.
That being said, for her to ask for the time despite having not fully awakened meant that she knew she was lying next to him all along. Otherwise, she would have bolted upright and demanded an explanation for his presence, and he didn’t think she would do it kindly either.
Toby glanced at his watch on the nightstand and said evenly, “It’s
10:00AM.”
At that moment, Sonia’s eyes flew open as she exclaimed, “What? It’s already 10:00AM?” Judging by her high pitch, she was more than astonished by his answer.
He nodded slightly. “Yes, that’s right.”
She scrambled to get up. “Oh, no. Oh, crap. I’m late! I have a meeting that I’m supposed to get to this morning.”
She raked her fingers through her hair and made to throw off the covers, but just as she was about to tumble out of bed, Toby reached out to pull her back into the confines of his arms. Startled, she tried to pry his arms off as she asked urgently, “What are you doing, Toby? Let go of me right now. I have to wash up and get to work!”
“Hold your horses,” he said with a low chuckle. “Your secretary called earlier, probably to ask why you haven’t gone into work at this hour. After she found out that you were with me, she hung up, though. She didn’t urge me to wake you up so you could rush over to Paradigm Co., which means the meeting this morning isn’t really that important, is it? So, why don’t you just relax and have some breakfast before you head over?” “But...” Sonia trailed off hesitantly. She knew the meeting today wasn’t that important, but she had never been one to bail on company matters, or on anything in general.
Toby took one look at her frown and immediately knew what she was thinking of. He reached up to massage and smooth out the divot between her brows, then muttered softly, “I know what you’re thinking, but sometimes, being late and bailing on a company meeting aren’t necessarily bad things. On the contrary, it will only add to your authority because you're the chairman of the company and you have the privilege of showing up late.” It was only after she heard this that she calmed down and the panic that had seized her moments ago slowly ebbed. With a nod, she relented and responded, “Well, if you say so, then I guess I’ll be slacking off today for the sake of it.”
He was the president and chairman of Fuller Group, so he couldn’t possibly lie to her about these things. Besides, she knew for certain that her tardiness today wasn’t going to hurt Paradigm Co. in the slightest.
Now that she was consoled, she figured that if she was already running late as it was, she might as well just enjoy her half-day off. “I know I’m not in a rush to get to work, but I still have to get up at some point. I mean, aren’t you starving?” she turned to ask the man who was hugging her from behind.
Toby had his head dipped as he toyed with her hand, which was right on top of his own. Her hand was soft and delicate, and for some reason, he found it one of the most enchanting things about her, so much so that he couldn’t bring himself to let go.
“I’m fine, but we should probably get up,” he decided, releasing her hand.
Sonia could sense his reluctance as he detached his hand from hers and she was highly amused by it. What’s so fun about holding my hand? She brought her hand up before her and inspected it from every angle; she hadn’t sprouted an extra finger overnight, and she couldn’t find anything remotely interesting about her hand that could enthrall him so.
Without dwelling too much on this, she lifted the covers and crawled out of bed before heading into the adjoining bathroom.
Toby fell in step behind her, resuming his role as her shadow as he made to wash up with her.
They had done this together the night before, so in a show of acceptance of his behavior, she did not stop him from following her into the bathroom. After all, she was in his territory as a guest, and certainly there had never been a guest so bold as to forbid their hosts from going anywhere in his own home.
After washing up, Toby sauntered into his own walk-in wardrobe to put on a fresh change of clothes for the day while Sonia went out to the balcony to retrieve her laundry.
She had already thrown her laundry into the tumble-dryer last night, and she wasn’t too concerned that they hadn’t dried in time.
Presently, he emerged from his bedroom after wearing his clothes, and Sonia was done putting on hers as well. She was sitting on the couch in the living room and holding up a hand mirror as she applied her makeup.
“What do you feel like having for breakfast?” she asked, casting him a sideway glance as she tried to draw in her eyebrows.
He walked up to her, his gaze falling on her clothes as he suggested, “Why don’t we dine out?”
Sonia put down her hand mirror. “Okay.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Madam Escaped Again Sir