Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 51: Craving

Chapter 51: Craving

Oliver had to confirm the next steps with Lucian twice. Not because Oliver was slow on the uptake but because Lucian told him that we were done for the day.

"Rest for now. We’ll deal with this tomorrow. Mr. Barton surely has a handle on this already." He said as we walked out of the building.

Even I was surprised as I thought he’d want to stay there, but Oliver just looked mind-blown. He was probably thinking about whether some alien had replaced his boss.

"You’ll end up sending the poor guy to the hospital." I gestured towards the dazed Oliver.

"You keep on saying unfamiliar words, and now he’s broken."

Lucian had a questioning look. It’s that, or he thinks I’m spouting nonsense again.

"’Done’ and ’rest’? Any of your employees would have the same reaction. Those are foreign words to them, you know?" I turned quickly, facing him while chuckling as we entered the elevator shaft.

It was easy for us to get out, but had we passed by the common elevators, we’d probably have witnessed the inquisition on the office floors occupied by the purchasing and inventory departments.

By the time we reached the lobby, my stomach had started to protest. "Do you think we have food at home?"

"Something edible, sure. But something you’re craving for? No." Lucian didn’t even look at me as he dissed my selective hunger.

"This time, it’s not a craving, okay? It’s reasonable hunger!" I protested.

"We’re getting takeout. Pick a place."

With a mischievous grin, I said, "Wingstop! I remember there’s one close to our place!"

The drive wasn’t long, and the aroma of fried food and potential hypertension soon greeted us.

"If your stomach hurts from eating spicy things on an empty stomach, don’t come crying to me." He warned even before we got to the counter.

I snorted at him just as the cashier asked for our orders. I was hungry but knew my limits. Normally, I ate this with Rina so we could keep on tasting different flavors, but since there was no Rina, I had to make a decision.

Scanning through the different items, I decided on getting garlic parmesan wings, this new peach soda float, and sour cream fries. There were many things that I wanted to try, but Lucian urged me not to take forever to decide.

I waited for Lucian to finish while watching for my order number.

"You’re done ordering? I asked as he followed me to the side.

The place wasn’t big, but it was packed, so we had no choice but to stand while waiting. Thankfully, they let us have our drinks first. It would be a pity if the ice cream melted while we were waiting for the rest of our food.

I was excited to try the new drink; it had a nice color and looked refreshing. But then I learned a tough lesson: just because it looked good doesn’t mean it tasted good. I grimaced at the taste, which resembled some cough syrup. But I decided to power through; this was money, after all.

Then Lucian suddenly pulled my hand, switching my drink with his cola float. "I knew it. Stop drinking when it’s making you look sick."

I blinked at him in surprise. "That tastes kind of like cough syrup," I whispered, hoping the curious people wouldn’t hear.

"As expected, it looks like one. So I figured this would happen." He said as he slurped the pretty cough syrup without changing his expression.

"Did you buy this in case I didn’t like the one I got?"

Seriously?

He just looked at me like I wasn’t exercising my common sense.

"I don’t care about the flavors, but you do. And you like eating different things. If you don’t get to do that, you’ll end up depressed."

I drank Lucian’s drink, which tasted way better than that medicine, while my face heated up for two reasons.

He just called me a gluttonous pig in a nicer way and then because I was touched, and it wasn’t only me.

The girls waiting next to us, who had been eyeballing my poor husband from the moment we entered, swooned at Lucian’s casual remark.

One girl even elbowed her boyfriend, saying, "See, the handsome guy had that much sweetness. At least keep up appearances!" Only for the guy to wince at being hit.

Miss, if you only knew. This guy just didn’t want to go to more places!

Then, the screen beeped, indicating that the take-out lockers should be checked for orders.

"Hand me your receipt. They placed yours on the top box. You haven’t grown enough for that, " he said, patting my head while taking the receipt.

Inner peace. Wooooo!

"Oi! I’m not even short!" I said after his retreating back, cheeks puffed up in indignation.

"You’re short enough, alright."

A high school girl probably felt pity for me but was probably more amused, so she said, "Don’t worry, miss! You’re not short! Maybe your boyfriend just wants to tease you~!"

These girls looked too giddy for an afternoon snack, so I warned them, "Remember, girls, when you grow up, get yourself a good husband! If you don’t die of high blood, you might just live long enough to be the villain!"

"Miss, you’re married to him?" The young girls squirmed as if suddenly injected with chicken blood.

Seriously! That’s what they took from my very important life advice?!

"Stop indoctrinating young kids into your angry wives club while you’re hangry." Lucian returned with his suit jacket now off him, with two paper bags of food in hand. This casual look made him more delectable than the food he was carrying.

"Miss, are you, by any chance, celebrities?" The girls had their phones out, probably waiting for social media handles or something.

"No, no, just ordinary people!" I smiled at them.

"Wow! This is what ordinary people look like now?! Maybe we’re just ants." One girl, who had stopped blinking since Lucian came back, smacked her friend repeatedly as she stared.

"Again, don’t be swayed by the outer shell, okay?! You should make better decisions! Go for the personality! The personality!" I didn’t give up on making them see the light, even as Lucian dragged me by the collar like a small animal.

"Sure. Say that when you stop salivating at me." Lucian retorts, smirking while he’s at it, causing the girls to giggle more.

What the fuck is wrong with this world?! Can’t they see how horrible this guy is?

The guy just shoved me into the car, but before I could say something, the smell of fries hit me, making me forget about my convictions on personality versus looks.

Lucian handed me my fries and his fries.

Okay, maybe this kind of husband isn’t always so bad.

__

Or not.

I had so many things to do today, and that was before I decided to go with them for today’s meeting. There were documents to approve, final cramming for school, and criminals to incarcerate. But my husband was having none of that. He was insisting on this new word he’d learned: "rest."

"Stop telling me to rest when you barely even do that yourself."

No response. He’s decided not to listen to my argument.

"You realize I haven’t even signed off on the next steps for Jasper’s trial, right? I need to check those updates, too."

"No rush. Jasper’s already dug his own grave. We got wind of his exile and new warrant, this time from the Orwells themself."

I actually rose from lying down, only to ask Lucian for confirmation. "Seriously? He’s been abandoned?"

Lucian just nodded with barely any enthusiasm.

"Did Alexa abandon him too?"

"Feigned sickness and got herself checked in some facility for recuperation partly to "reflect" on her actions."

"Wow. I hope she went to the church. That ghoul needs multiple sessions of exorcisms."

But as usual, a timely explanation for her radio silence. Anyone would know that she’s basically abandoned him, but since it won’t look good how Jasper used his money on her, getting himself into debt, only for her to leave him like this. It’d be better for her to be unreachable, thus uninformed.

"Monsters are really built differently," I told Lucian as I slumped back on him. Laying my head on his stomach while I complained.

"So, is Jasper going to be stuck there?" I asked, turning my head to face him.

"Probably not. He’s desperate, and once he realizes they’ve all abandoned him, he will start talking. And he’s never been a good talker. Said Lucian, whose body hummed as he spoke, a rather comfortable feeling as I’ve discovered.

"Oh, so are they going to get him out or have him killed?"

"Probably. He’s exhausted his useful life without thinking."

Karma’s a bitch.

"Are you planning on sleeping like that?"

"I don’t even plan on sleeping, and it’s too cold for that," I blanched, remembering my piled-up workload.

Then I got pulled up, practically becoming the little spoon.

"For someone so small, you’ve got so many problems. Pick one and leave some for the rest of the world."

"You’re such an ass."

"And you’re an ass kisser."

Woooooh!

Kumbaya!