Meanwhile, Angela and Nina went to do some quick shopping. Angela got herself an evening gown to wear for tomorrow's party, but she forgot to bring some accessories with her to Gael's place, so she bought a new purse that would go perfectly with her shoes. It wasn't just Vincent who needed that favor. She needed this party too.

While waiting for Nina to pay for her stuff, she walked the boutique's aisle and saw a black bowtie. It had a gold vine-like detail on each side. She picked it up and brushed her fingers over it. Her mind instantly brought her an image of a man who would look really good wearing it. His grey eyes burned as he looked at her while she fixed it on his neck.

Angela abruptly placed the tie back in its place. She cleared her throat, turning her head to the right just in time that Nina came towards her.

"Are you gonna buy that?" Nina wondered. "For Vincent?"

Angela darted her gaze back to the tie and then to her friend, shaking her head and smiling as she pulled the other's arm towards the exit. "No. It doesn't suit him."

The two walked the shopping district, stopping by a few stores that caught their eye. Angela didn't buy anything else. She wasn't really in the shopping mood, so she only accompanied her friend whenever they browsed a boutique. At five in the afternoon, they decided to call it a day. Nina had a family dinner she needed to go to in the evening.

While they headed towards the end of the establishment, they passed by a small grocery store. Angela studied the place and saw colorful fruits and vegetables displayed outside. She stopped in her tracks, biting her bottom lip.

"What are you doing?" Nina questioned when she noticed her friend had stopped. Angela didn't respond, her eyes focused on something before she whipped out her phone and started tapping. Moving closer, she saw her looking up a recipe. Nina's brow arched. "You wanna cook something?"

"Yeah…" Angela responded in almost a whisper.

"How? You don't know how to cook." Nina folded her arms, confusion written all over her face as she examined her best friend's scrunched up face. Angela was super focused on her phone, and it was baffling. The next thing the other said made her raise both brows.

"How hard can it be?" Without looking at Nina, Angela turned to the grocery store and started shopping for ingredients. It took her twenty minutes to buy all of the stuff she needed. When she came out, she carried two bags with her—one in each arm while her shopping bag dangled on her elbow.

Nina, who was still bewildered by Angela's grocery shopping, continued to look at her smiling face. "Why the sudden urge to cook? And how much are you cooking? Do you need all that much? Is he not feeding you there?"

Angela refused to look at her friend, afraid that she would see what's in her eyes. "Just...wanted to try new things. That's all."

"If you say so. Just don't burn down his house."

Her lips thinned at the warning, her heartbeat racing. Maybe this was a mistake. Then she looked at the bags in her hands. It was too late to go back.

As they reached the exit, she remembered that she had to call Gael. She put the bags down on the empty bench and sat next to them, whipping her phone out and scrolling to his number.

"Ah, my Uber is here, Anj. Will you be okay if I go first?" Nina asked.

Angela looked up and saw a sedan parked at the curb with its blinker on. "Yeah, sure. Don't worry about me. Go."

The two kissed each other goodbye on the cheek, and Nina strode towards her car. When it drove off, Angela looked down at her phone again. She contemplated calling Gael for a few seconds before she decided to text him instead.

[ Angela: Hi... Just finished with Nina. I'm ready to go home. ]

"Shît." Her fingers froze. She already hit send.

Home?

HOME?!

She could no longer take it back, seeing the indicator going from "Delivered" to "Read". She swallowed, watching the three dots moving below her text. Damn it. He's going to think weird about it. The dots disappeared. And then it moved again.

[ Gael: Ok ]

Angela's brows drew together. "That's it? Just 'Ok'? Is he still mad?"

Fifteen minutes later, there was still no sign of Gael. However, she didn't fret, thinking that he must have been coming from afar. She didn't think he'd wait on her that long. It had been hours.

A burly man approached her from the side, and when she looked up, she was surprised to see Riccardo.

"Miss, the car's over there. I couldn't park nearby," he spoke with an accent. "Are these yours?"

"Oh…Okay. Yeah..." She got up and grabbed the shopping bag with her dress and purse. Riccardo picked up the grocery bags. She muttered, trying to tell she could do it herself, but the big man ignored her protest and headed towards the side.

She wondered if Gael was tired that he had asked Rick to drive for him. But she was surprised to see that it wasn't Gael's car that Rick put her stuff in. After closing the trunk, Rick opened the door to the backseat for her. She hesitated at first but eventually got inside.

He got settled in the driver's seat and started to drive.

A little nervous, she wet her lips and cleared her throat. "Where's...uh… Where is he?" she probed.

Rick glanced at her through the rearview mirror then focused back on the road. "Boss is busy. He called me to pick you up. He'll come home after his meeting."

Disappointment washed over her. 'Of course, he was busy. Did you think he had nothing better to do than to babysit you?' a snarky voice in her head said.

…

Angela wrung her hands as she sat at the dining table alone. She couldn't help but feel the prick in her heart. It was eight in the evening, and she hadn't touched her food for an hour since Rick placed it in front of her. Gael hadn't come home yet. She thought she'd wait for him so they could eat together, but it looked like he wouldn't come home anytime soon.

She checked her phone. There were no missed calls or texts from him—which she should have already known as she had been checking it every five minutes with its sound on. She wouldn't have missed it.

Thinking that it was stupid to wait, she tried to eat. After three scoops, she decided she had enough. She didn't really feel hungry.

Angela cleaned the table and headed up to the bedroom. Everything smelled like Gael the moment she opened the door and stepped inside the room. She shook her head and went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and change into her comfy PJs, and then she crawled on the bed. Before turning off the light on the nightstand, she grabbed her phone and thought about shooting him a text.

She sighed, not knowing what to even tell him. 'He must be busy. Don't be clingy,' she thought.

That night, she went to sleep without seeing or hearing from Gael since earlier that day. Putting her phone away, she pulled the covers on her and closed her eyes.