Sonia’s movements had been bold and exaggerated when she first drank the wine, but Toby burst into laughter when he saw the way she scrunched up her face in response to the taste of the alcohol. “Slow down. You don’t want to choke.”
“I’m not going to choke!” Sonia placed the wine glass down with a loud clang before pushing it closer to him. “Give me another glass of that.”
“Doesn’t your heart ache over the price of the drink now?” Toby raised an eyebrow. She glared at him. “Of course my heart still aches, but I’d rather finish it than let it turn bad. Hurry and pour me another glass,” she urged.
“Okay. I'll pour you another glass,” he uttered after laughing for a while more. Then, he held the wine bottle up to refill her glass. Sonia let out a sigh as she held the wine glass up and glanced at the sparkling, red liquid inside. “It’s all your fault. Why did you decide to prepare a meal out of nowhere?”
“What?’ Toby was confused. “Did you say it’s my fault?” How can it be my fault? he wondered.
“It’s obviously your fault!” Sonia stomped her foot on the ground. “I wouldn’t have thought of celebrating anything if you hadn’t made me a meal. I wouldn’t have recalled the existence of this red wine if I hadn’t thought of celebrating anything. You wouldn’t have gotten the chance to open this bottle if I hadn’t thought of it. So, whose fault do you think it is?”
Toby was shocked and speechless upon hearing her explanation. This brat is so two-faced! I can't believe she's puttingall of the blame on me. She’s expecting me to deal with all the consequences on my own! Sure, I made the meal, and I suggested the idea itself, but I wasn't the one who suggested having a celebration, and I even tried to stop her when she brought it up. She’s the one who insisted on bringing a bottle of wine here. Yet, it sounds like everything’s my fault now. Great. Toby pressed his palm against his forehead while feeling sorry for himself.
Sonia seemed even more displeased when she saw Toby pressing his lips together with a contemplative look on his face. She smacked her palm against the table. “What is it? Are you unhappy now? Don’t you think it’s your fault?”
Toby pursed his lips. So, she's forcing me to admit my wrongs, huh? “Fine, fine. It’s my fault. It’s all my fault!” Toby had no choice but to shoulder the burden of being wrong. He patted the woman’s shoulder to calm her down. Forget it, he thought. Since she’s my woman, I’m okay with taking all of the blame. I’ll just have to coax her later. A man like me shouldn't get too petty about such matters, anyway.
Toby took a sip of his red wine at that thought. “You’re lucky you’re with me. I don’t think anyone else would pamper you like this.” He swirled the wine in his glass and looked at the red liquid before letting out a soft laugh. This was the first time he was being blamed for something he hadn’t done, and he willingly accepted the blame. He was certain that no one would believe their ears if they found out about this.
Of course, Sonia knew what Toby meant by his words, and she knew how unreasonable she was being. But why does that matter? He's the man, right? What's wrong with taking the blame for me sometimes? Sonia responded with a stubborn scoff in Toby’s face. “At least you know what’s the right thing to do.”
Toby couldn’t resist pinching her face. “Why didn’t I know that you had this side to you in the past?”
She flicked his hand away. “There are tons of things you haven’t realized. You don’t even know how many sides of me there are.” “Oh?” He smirked. “Guess I’ll have to continue digging deep into you, then.”
“You can go ahead and do that. I'd like to see how much you can find about me.” Sonia raised her glass and finished her wine once more. Again, she placed it in front of Toby to indicate that she wanted another glass. He frowned without making a move. “You should stop drinking,” he uttered.
“No. I can’t waste this.” Sonia shook her head as she insisted on having another glass. Toby placed his large palm over her glass as he spoke.
“You’ll get drunk. This red wine’s alcohol percentage is a little higher than the usual red wines. On top of that, your tolerance isn’t that great, and you’ll get drunk after a few glasses. Why don’t you just listen to me and stop drinking? We can drink another day.”
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Madam Escaped Again Sir