That night, Dalziel stopped bothering Anthea at all, much to her satisfaction. But the storm will not choose the day to appear, that is the principle that Anthea can draw on the next day at work. As usual, Anthea got up later than usual and arrived at work when it was almost time for work. She lazily dropped her bag on the seat, her eyes barely falling on the strange food boxes on the table. Are two breakfast servings placed on Anthea's desk, on top of which are neatly written notes. Anthea looked around the room suspiciously, obviously unable to detect any suspicious faces, and vaguely picked up the small box.
"My beautiful head of the department, why are you so confused in the early morning?"
Donna poked her head out from the next table, tilted her head and spoke to Anthea.
“Sister Donna, do you know who brought these two meals?”
After carefully reading the other two notes, Anthea still couldn't guess who its owner was. The content on the paper wasn't a reminder not to remind her not to skip breakfast, but it was also a wish for her to obediently eat them all, without any identifying features.
“Who else could it be? It was the two of you who drank for me yesterday.”
Donna finished talking and playfully winked at Anthea, she always came to the company early, so she knew the owners of the other two items very well. She recalls the scene yesterday, secretly exclaiming how special it was, the love triangle in the legend was indeed more dramatic than usual.
Anthea collapsed clutching her head, not to mention it, now that she remembered Dalziel's indecent smile, she shivered involuntarily. This bargain should still be reserved for others.
“Have you had breakfast yet? This is all for you.”
Anthea pushed the box in her hand towards Donna, if she was interested, she would let her enjoy it. She just broke up with her ex, she doesn't want to get into trouble again.
“No way Anthea, eat quickly, both of them care about you. Look, there's the salmon sandwich, there's also the pure apple juice that I like, which proves that they are all very clear about my preferences." Donna analyzed and put it back in place, Anthea listened while sighing.
"Debt peach blossom" suddenly came to the door, Anthea was so surprised that she wanted to close the door and not receive guests.
Donna finished talking and quietly did her job, leaving Anthea with her thoughts in disarray. She put the food box on one side, she worked on the other, and by the way, during her morning break, she bought a cake herself at the bakery next to the company. Still, her own food tastes better, Anthea told herself as she ate. Back to work, Anthea's phone on the desk suddenly vibrated, she out of habit reached out and put it in front of her. The screen barely glowed, and Anthea also clearly saw the incoming message from Adonis.
“Anthea, did you like breakfast today?”
Anthea rubbed her eyes, pretending to be blind, and suddenly had a feeling of wanting to run away. She took a deep breath to return to her usual appearance, casually answering.
“Thank you, but there's no need to bother you like that in the future. You can prepare your own breakfast.” Anthea pressed send, and the other end of the line answered immediately as if waiting to talk to her.
"Don't mind, don't mind, it's fine if you like it. I will continue to buy it for you tomorrow, so don't eat breakfast first at home."
Adonis' tone of voice was very good, and his way of talking was also very gentle, Anthea could not be repulsed. Moreover, trampling on the hearts of others is extremely immoral, Anthea does not want to hurt Adonis. She could only pat herself on the head, this time she did it wrong.
Adonis was still a good boy after all, after the news did not affect Anthea anymore, she concentrated on processing the morning's documents.
Not knowing how much time had passed, when Anthea covered her mouth and yawned because her shoulder was a little sore, the riight time for lunch had arrived.
She stood up and turned around, Donna went to eat with her boyfriend today, so she happily carried her bag and waved goodbye to her, people in the office also started going down to the cafeteria. Anthea packed her things and got ready to go down to lunch as well.
At this moment, Adonis, who should have been in the accounting department, stepped in front of Anthea and spoke softly.
“Anthea, can you come to lunch with me?”
Anthea's ears echoed a lot of chaotic sounds, she tilted her head to find an excuse to refuse that was considered insignificant, before opening her mouth, she heard another magnetic voice.
"No, she already has an appointment with me."
People who see that the world is not chaotic are not happy, Dalziel stood in front of Anthea, coldly replied. When no one had time to react, his eyes flashed with a glint of satisfaction and then pulled Anthea's shirt and left.
“Hey, what are you doing?”
Anthea jerked away from him, twirling her hands. At she had no intention of accepting Adonis' invitation, Dalziel's extreme way of doing things also angered her.
“Do you really want to go out to eat with that white-faced guy?”
"White-faced" was Dalziel's nickname for Adonis, after learning he liked her. Because this kid doesn't really have any good points except for his white face and sweet voice. His ability to work is not good, and he also wants to compete with Anthea with him, Dalziel's aversion to this person has increased by eight times.
"That's right, that's why I'm bothering the director to get out of the way."
Anthea was of course not stupid enough to have this intention, but compared to Adonis, Dalziel was much more dangerous, she wanted to use this excuse to escape from him. Yesterday's incident of becoming neighbors had raised Anthea's level of caution towards him considerably.
"No, you have to come with me."
Dalziel simply assumed the angry words were true, decisively pulling Anthea by the hand to the fancy restaurant at the end of the street, stubbornly setting her down. Anthea tried several times to protest but to no avail, his strength was too great, she could not be his opponent.
"What do you want to eat?"
Dalziel finally revealed a satisfied smile, pushing the menu toward Anthea. She still had not calmed down, grimaced and looked the other way, seeing him as air.
“I want you to disappear from my sight.”
Normally, any girl who said this harsh word to Dalziel was regretted by him, but the object was Anthea, he still patiently ordered her favorite dishes. Looking at Anthea's unwilling expression and angry gesture, Dalziel only found it extremely cute, the corner of her lips could not help but curl up.
"What are you laughing at?" Anthea was in a particularly bad mood, so she made up an excuse to get angry with Dalziel.
“Smiling a fluffy little cat, very cute, would you like to see it?”
The "cat" in Dalziel's words was obviously Anthea, she was so embarrassed that she glared at him threateningly. By this time, the waiter had also brought the food, a table full of food made Anthea's eyes flutter.
“Go ahead and eat. You're angry with me, but don't skip meals, it's not good for your health."
Dalziel pre-cut a steak and handed it to Anthea, his expression calm and patient. Anthea reminisced about the scene yesterday, he gave her the box of food, also spoke softly like this and smiled reassuringly at her. Anthea put a steak in her mouth and suddenly couldn't understand, how many faces does this person have?
In the past, when she first joined the company, she happened to meet Dalziel a few times, only feeling that this person was very cold, aloof, showing a lot on his face but "can't get close."
However, after recent events, she not only saw Dalziel's gentleness but also felt that this person's personality was very gentle, very nice.
After all, what is your true personality? Anthea thought puzzled.
Chapter 8: Broken faucet
Today Dalziel is perfect as a man of integrity, after having a meal with Anthea, he immediately returned to the company with her. Anthea's feelings are still considered fine, if not for all kinds of surprised glances from her colleagues in the room. The afternoon's work was not much, Anthea was able to complete it smoothly in a few short hours, and also left work on time. She happily returned with her bag, not being disturbed by anyone, feeling extremely happy.
After a day of dedicated work, Anthea decided to treat herself to a hearty dinner. On the way back, she stopped by the supermarket downstairs, and after half an hour pushing the trolley around the small counters, she also got the ingredients she needed.
Anthea, with an excited face, carried two bags of things up to her room, conveniently glanced at Dalziel's house, saw that he still hadn't returned, and breathed a sigh of relief, without thinking much, pushing the door and entering the house. Their time was different, she was able to avoid meeting Dalziel in the small building which satisfied Anthea.
Anthea spent the whole day busy in the kitchen, and soon the delicious smell of food was wafting through the small kitchen. The sound of the doorbell stopped Anthea's movements, she wiped her hands on the towel hanging by the sink before stepping out.
"Hi, Anthea."
Dalziel waved his hand, his lips still evocative smile every day. Anthea watched him carry clothes and towels with her, alarm bells rang in her heart, seven times he came here with no good intentions. She rolled her eyes at him, eyes clashing in the air, it was finally Dalziel who had to speak first, conciliatory coughing.
"My faucet is broken, can you come to my place to take a shower?"
Dalziel asked in a low voice, but as soon as he finished speaking he slipped through the door into Anthea's house without her consent. His movements were fluent and natural, Anthea had not had time to adapt to see him standing in front of her intact.
"You go straight ahead, the bathroom is on the right."
Anthea showed Dalziel the location of the bathroom and continued on with what he was doing, not noticing the deep smile on the corner of his lips. Dalziel carried his clothes into the bathroom, the first step of the plan, completed.
Anthea quickly got used to the addition of strangers in the house, put the potatoes in the oven and hurriedly sautéed the beef. It wasn't until the bathroom door "clicked" that she slowly turned her head.
Dalziel had finished taking a bath at this point, only wrapped in a thin towel and stepped out. His hair was still steamy, drop by drop it ran down his angular face and onto his delicate collarbone. He holds a blue towel to wipe his hair, causing it to float in the wind, adding an extra layer of charm. This appearance was still extremely handsome, until Dalziel bit his lip slightly, staring at Anthea giving her goosebumps.
“Thank you very much for today.”
After Dalziel finished speaking, he took two steps forward, startling Anthea and stepping back, glaring at him warningly. Dalziel had a hard time not being discouraged but only smiled slightly, standing opposite Anthea seriously wiping her hair, showing all her best.
"How do you feel, am I your gout?"
Anthea saw Dalziel's tantrum, black-faced slapping him on the shoulder, making him purse his lips in frustration.
“Shameless, stay away from me for a bit."
Dalziel seemed to be invigorated, he kept coming closer to Anthea to talk, making the towel on his body become even looser.
"I'm the same with you alone, are you touched?"
Anthea's praise of righteous Dalziel at noon was now withdrawn by its owner, who coldly pushed Dalziel away.
"Inexorable. If you're done taking a shower, then hurry back to your house."
Anthea from beginning to end was still not red in the face, not heart-pounding, but refused Dalziel, causing his initial cheerfulness to gradually fade. He pursed his lips, but still did not give up hope, but returned to the bathroom to get dressed, and when he came out, he clung to Anthea.
"Anthea, I came home late from work today so I don't have time to cook, can you pick me up tonight?"
The faint scent of shower gel wafting around Dalziel's body was very pleasant, his voice was so soothing that Anthea was temporarily captivated, and finally, the devil made him respond. This afternoon Dalziel invited her to have lunch in a famous restaurant, the price is definitely not cheap, she cooked him dinner as a response.
That was the excuse that Anthea came up with, to cover up her own lack of will. The atmosphere is also considered to be okay, at least Dalziel has become more dignified, not saying such nonsense as usual. He skillfully pulled the chair for Anthea, politely helped her cut beef, poured orange juice, fluent movements as if he was the owner of this house, Anthea was the guest.
The fact that the faucet was broken was fake, and if it was, Dalziel's assistant would be able to take care of it in no time. But as a person who knows how to take back and make progress, Dalziel very skillfully applied what he had learned in the book, pretending to be pitiful, clutching his clothes to knock on Anthea's door.
Although Dalziel could be certain that Anthea knew the truth and would throw him out of this building, but for the sake of pursuing the person in his heart, it was okay for him to suffer a little.
So now, heartthrob Dalziel is very happy eating a piece of beef cooked by Anthea herself, exclaiming that it is the best food he has ever eaten.
"Will you have lunch with me tomorrow?"
Dalziel sincerely looked at Anthea as he spoke.
"No, I have an appointment with someone else tomorrow."
Anthea would normally accompany Donna, so even though the two had not made an appointment, they still used this as an excuse to refuse Dalziel. One meal in anxiety is enough, this feeling she doesn't want to experience again. Because she knew very well, if any co-worker happened to pass by that restaurant and caught the two of them together, then it would be difficult to explain.
"Is that the white-faced one?"
The more Dalziel thought, the angrier he became, Anthea seemed to have agreed to his invitation this afternoon, if he didn't show up in time, it would have been impossible to save the situation. And yet she was going to go with him tomorrow, and Dalziel poked a piece of beef on the table.
"No, that 'other' isn't Adonis." Anthea explained one more time, not wanting misunderstandings to pile up. Both Adonis and Dalziel, she just wanted to stay away.
“So what about the day after tomorrow? Are you free the day after tomorrow?"
Dalziel stubbornly asked more, Anthea supported her forehead.
"I have an appointment." Anthea took a bite of a potato chip, ignoring the disappointment in Dalziel's eyes.
"Isn't there a day for me this week?" Dalziel had no intention of letting go of Anthea, continued.
“There is no time this week. I don't want to have lunch next week, neither will the next week."
Anthea said such a long speech that Dalziel was scared to death, opened his mouth to refute, but seeing Anthea's not-so-good face, decided to withdraw his words. If you're not free, you're not free, the work of the media room is lighter, then Anthea will immediately have a lot of time.
This is still within Dalziel's control. A visionary would not casually reveal important things, Dalziel promptly shut his mouth, thinking how he could directly move Anthea's desk to his side. The best-case scenario is that she sits on his lap. The two lived in their thoughts until the end of the meal, Dalziel volunteered to wash the dishes, determined to push Anthea to the living room to watch TV and rest.
As a person with more capacity to work than others, Dalziel handles these matters very well, each bowl is washed to a shine. Anthea looked at her and clicked her tongue, as if he was the most sought-after man in the company, just washing dishes could be done to perfection.
Dalziel wanted to stay at Anthea's house for a while, but Anthea wouldn't let him. Using the excuse that a man and a woman could not be in the same house at night, she decisively pushed him out of the room door, and firmly slammed the door in front of him.
Dalziel smiled wryly, the familiar feeling of abandonment reappeared. From the first time he approached Anthea, she always kicked her out like this.