Bought For A Baby, Kept For A Lifetime-Chapter 253: Cry Less
How absolutely troublesome!
Someone who just escaped death couldn’t start by thinking about himself and his own life, but instead was focusing on hers. Anne had these thoughts, complaining to herself as she exited Kristen’s room.
Outside, a tall woman with hair sleeked backwards in a tight bun wearing a full black attire, a body hugging black shirt and pants was standing outside the door. She looked strict and somewhat intimidating, when she spoke, and she had a thick accent.
"Mrs Sterling, do you need something?"
Anne felt a bit taken aback when she was addressed as Mrs Sterling, she glanced back at the door where she had just come out wondering if Kristen who was inside might have heard that and started conjuring ideas about her sudden marriage in his head again.
"Can you take me to Andrew please?"
The woman nodded firmly, "Please come with me."
She said and began to lead the way forward, at first she was taken to an open hallway where she found a few people wearing medical attires and the strict woman walked up to one of them asking them something in that language to which they replied before the woman walked back towards Anne leading her in another direction.
"Master Sterling is over there." She informed Anne after taking her towards doors that led to a terrace.
The terrace was an open outdoor lounge area, there was a circular wooden table at the center surrounded by a curved sofa with soft cushions in soft hues of beige, grey and muted green. It was all beautifully illuminated by antique looking lanterns placed on the table and matching wooden side tables. There were tall plants and trees that gave the air in the terrace a natural fragrance.
The whole space overlooked a massive view of churning waters whose waves crashed against the mountains far below the gigantic mansion.
Anne found Andrew standing at the edge of the terrace away from the seating arrangement in the center. He stood tall, his back looked broad and masculine clad in a tailored suit that accentuates his physique, his straight posture exuded a kind of confidence she knew he had in excess. The wind rustled his hair as he stood there, talking to someone over the phone, she couldn’t hear what he was saying, she could only see how his lips were moving and his hand holding the phone over his ear, but she wondered if he wasn’t feeling the extreme cold of this weather for him to stand to the edge where the wind was stronger.
Thinking about why she had come to find him, Anne felt nervous.
How was she going to tell him that her brother who had only woken up...well, he had woken up two days ago but it made no difference. The boy wouldn’t let her off if he didn’t meet this husband she had just told him about, not to mention she had gone on to make it sound like a love marriage, though it was the same narrative she fed to everyone around her, she still felt nervous to ask Andrew to play along with her in front of her brother.
At this moment while she was hesitating, Anne suddenly felt Andrew’s gaze turn in her direction, she noticed how he stopped talking for a second upon seeing her there before quickly muttering something into the phone and taking it away from his ear to hang up the call.
Since she was already here, she would just ask for his help, but what Anne worried about was Andrew’s personality. Kristen would never like seeing her married to someone if he believed even slightly that the person might hurt her. Andrew was a man who acted with a lot of indifference most times, she feared Kristen would be able to sense her lie if Andrew came in front of him.
"You’ve seen your brother?" Andrew asked, his voice surprisingly soft even over the howling wind.
Anne nodded, thinking about what to say to him if she was going to ask for his help.
"I got a call that he’s awake, his doctor left this morning but your brother is out of danger now so you don’t need to worry."
Anne could hear a tone of reassurance in his voice.
She was suddenly struck with a weird realization... Andrew had done this for her, he had done it willingly even without her asking.
Yes she remembered one time she had asked for his help about her brother, but that time was long gone now and he had no obligation to go through all this effort just to help her cure her brother.
A sudden warmth began to fill Anne’s chest as she lost herself in his eyes.
"You have your brother back now, are you happy?"
This question took her by surprise as well as made her gaze change into astonishment.
He stared at her waiting for her reply.
He had done it, to make her happy?
Something sweet and bitter rose up her throat, the sweet part was overwhelming, it made her heartbeat turn strange and flutter in a way she had never felt before, bitter because tears were welling up in her eyes. The tears didn’t come from pain but from a longing that was suddenly growing inside her.
Andrew’s expression suddenly changed in one instant.
"What happened, your brother is fine isn’t he?" He asked, a sudden hardness in his voice as if he’d suddenly seen something that twisted his serene mood.
"He’s fine, he’s more than fine actually." Anne replied recalling how he was already interrogating her, surely he was all better already.
"Then why the hell are you crying?" He gritted out suddenly.
Anne heard the traces of his temper rising in his tone, but she didn’t take his anger to be anything bad, that was because she knew he was just worried about her. It was strange to think of Andrew feeling worry for someone else, but somehow, she could see worry in his dark eyes.
"And why do you always yell at me?" She retorted, wiping off some of the tears slipping down her cheeks.
"I’m not yelling at..." He began then stopped himself halfway realizing he had indeed raised his voice, then he let out a long exhaling breath turning his gaze to the side towards the far distance.
"I’m not really crying, the tears just keep falling because I’m happy. I’m happy to have Kristen back."
"Don’t be ridiculous, I’ve never seen anyone crying when they’re happy before."
"Have you even seen anyone crying before?" She asked doubtfully. With how closed off he was to other people he probably wouldn’t even notice if the person around him cried or not.
"I can’t count how many times I’ve seen you cry, it seems to be your second favorite thing to do." He replied dryly.
She couldn’t help but recall Kristen calling her a crybaby just a while ago. Was she really that prone to crying?
As she was thinking, he suddenly grabbed her chin between his thumb and index finger, looking into her face with a deep frown on his face. He took out a white handkerchief and began to dab at the tear stains on her face. Anne froze at the coldness of his fingers keeping her face in place and the gentleness with which he dried her tears, the fabric lightly dabbing her face until every tear drop was gone then he released her.
"Cry less, tears look hideous on you." He muttered as he stared at the handkerchief he had just used to wipe her face with hints of hatred in his eyes. One couldn’t tell if his displeasure was directed at the fabric or the tears it just absorbed.
Anne almost chocked on her saliva as his words fell.
"You..." Words suddenly seemed to desert her. "You just had to call me ugly didn’t you?"
He shifted his gaze from the handkerchief he was clutching tightly between his fingers to look at her.
"I wasn’t calling you ugly Annelise, get your facts straight. Your tears are an eyesore, but you..." His words drawled as his head began to lean lower and lower in her direction, gazing into every feature on her face as if taking her in, "...are the prettiest little peach I’ve ever seen."
As he completed his words, his lips slowly raised up in a sinful smirk as if staring at a delectable fruit he’d like to devour. Anne suddenly felt her pulse quicken, a sensation like feathers stroking her chest made her freeze not knowing what to say.
