273 A Dinner Invitation
Alicia narrowed her eyes at her daughter and
said, “I do not faint easily!”
1
“You fainted when the dog barked at youst
year.”
“That dog was huge!”
“It was a corgi,” Ste deadpanned.
“That corgi had a killer aura!”
Ste blinked. “…Mom. It was waddling.”
Alicia pped her arm lightly, “Stop arguing with me. You are not my cute baby, Oliver, alright!”
Instead of saying anything, Steughed, hearing her mother’s words.
“The point is, you should have told me!” Alicia continues. “Do you know how dangerous that was? What if that young man did not save you?”
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273 / Dinner Invitation
Ste’s cheeks reddened, “Mom… don’t call him a ‘young man.’ He’s in his thirties. And he has a name…Dn!”
Alicia waved a hand. “Nonsense. I saw him at
Evelyn’s housewarming. He looks younger than you and for a guy in his thirties!”
“He does not!”
“He does!”
“Mom!”
Alicia leaned forward, eyes narrowing. “Do you
like him?”
Ste choked on air. “W–what? Mom! No!”
Alicia gasped loudly. “You do! Oh my goodness!
My daughter likes a mature, handsome man who saved her life.”
“Mom. Please stop!”
Alicia wasn’t listening. Her imagination had
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entered hyperspeed.
“Does he like you? Did he confess? Did something happen when he saved you?”
“NOTHING happened—”
“Well, he hugged you back, didn’t he?”
Ste’s eyes bulged. “Who said that?”
“Your sister Eve, of course.”
Ste clutched her hair. ‘Sister Eve… why do you
hate me…‘
Alicia’s expression softened…just slightly. “Ste. This man saved your life. You should thank him properly. Invite him to dinner.”
“Mom, please-”
“Do it!”
“Mom-”
“I’ll cook!”
273 A Dinner Invitation
Ste sandwiched her face with her hands. Her
entire life had turned upside down in under ten
minutes.
Worse, the man her mother wanted to invite…
Lived in the same building.
On the top floor.
Probably overheard her screaming in the elevator just now.
Alicia ced aforting hand over her
daughter’s. “Ste, sweetheart. A man like that is rare. Brave. Mature. Employed. And he probably doesn’t live with his parents.”
“Mom…”
“Alright, I was just joking about your feelings for Dn. However, I am genuinely serious about inviting him for dinner. Since tomorrow is Friday, go ahead and invite him. I’ll take care of
everything.”
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273 A Dinner Invitation
Ste stared at her dinner te as if it might
swallow her whole.
Her mother was unstoppable.
Her sister was a traitor.
And Dn… lived fifteen floors above her.
This was going to be a long week.
Ste had never eaten dinner so fast. The moment she finished thest spoonful, she stood up with an excuse so quick it could have been written on a prescription pad.
“Mom, I need a bath. And sleep. Urgently.”
Alicia gave her suspicious eyes but let her
escape.
Ste practically slid down the hallway, shut her bedroom door, and leaned against it with a groan. Now that she was alone, exhaustion finally hit
273 A Dinner Invitation
her.
After washing up, the moment shey on her bed, her mother’s ridiculous idea popped back into her head. Again.
Suddenly, she was wide awake again, staring at the ceiling as her brain spun like a washing machine set on violent mode.
A dinner invitation. For Dn.
In her house. With her mother.
Ste dragged the pillow over her face and screamed silently.
This was bad. Very bad. If Dn came, her mother would notice the way her heart tried tounch itself out of her ribcage whenever he was nearby.
Worse, her mother would absolutely tease her about it. Forever. Until the end of her days.
273 A Dinner Invitation
:
And she did not even understand what those
feelings were. Every time Dn stood near her, her heart acted like it had forgotten basic biology. It would race, flutter, skip, and asionally feel like it was choking her from the inside out.
She med his face. And his voice. And the way he had held her that night after pulling her away from danger. A man should not be allowed to smell that good after fighting off thugs.
Right!?
“Nope. Nope. Stop thinking. Sleep, Ste!” she scolded herself, flipping to her side.
She shut her eyes tightly.
Five secondster, she opened them again.
Still awake.
She turned to the other side. Closed her eyes. She opened them again.
<
273 A Dinner Invitation
:
Still awake.
“Oh,e on,” she groaned, mming her face. into the pillow.
The clock glowed mockingly from the nightstand. Twelve eighteen. Her morning shift started in eight hours. Eight hours was already not enough sleep, and she had not even drifted off yet.
Her brain refused to shut up. She tried bargaining
with it.
“Please. Just sleep. You can panic tomorrow.”
Her brain ignored her entirely.
Finally, after five minutes of tossing around and mentally insulting her own mind, Ste grumbled and grabbed her phone. She had already rehearsed this message at least ten times in her head. Maybe twenty. Possibly fifty.
Ste typed, slowly and carefully.
273 A Dinner Invitation
<i>“</i><i>Hi </i>Dn, <i>my </i><i>mother </i>knows about you helping <i>me </i><i>that </i><i>night</i>. <i>And </i>she asks <i>you </i>toe to <i>dinner </i><i>with </i>us this <i>Friday </i>night.”
She stared at the sentence.
Then reread it again.
And again.
Was it too formal?
Too casual?
Too obvious?
Too stupid?
Should she add an emoji?
No, emojis were dangerous!
They could convey all the wrong things. Imagi sending a heart by ident. She would immediately move to another city.
She hit send before she could change her min
273 & Dinner invitation
A
Her heart instantly tightened like it was trying to
shrink into the size of a raisin.
She waited.
One minute passed.
No reply.
She waited again.
Another minute passed.
Still nothing.
Great. Now the silence was killing her.
Maybe he was asleep. Or busy. Orughing at her message. Or reading it out loud to his friends. Or taking a screenshot and sending it to Evelyn. Who would absolutely tell Axel? Who would absolutely tease her to death.
Panicking, she typed another message.
“<i>There </i><i>is </i><i>no </i><i>need </i><i>to </i><i>reply </i><i>now</i><i>. </i>Please respond
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<i>tomorrow</i><i>. </i>Sorry for bothering you <i>in </i><i>the </i><i>middle </i>
<i>of </i><i>the </i>night.”
She hit send.
Then tossed her phone onto the nightstand like it
was a bomb.
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