The medicines were proving to be absolute magic for her body. Talking to Dr. Bethany was also working a huge deal, although the nightmares still remained. And, she hated to admit it but, in the absence of Max's comforting arms, she often found herself being stuck in the world of her horrors, only silenced by her loud cries. When she would wake up, sobbing, sweating, crying profusely, she would feel the presence of someone outside her door, but she was not sure if it was just the conclusion to her each nightmare.

Sofia's injured foot still hurt but not like before when it was too bad every time her ankle faced any movement. The bruises on her midriff had also almost vanished. There was no bruise around her throat anymore as well. She was sure she was going to be able to hop around perfectly fine within the next week. On the weekend her next appointment with the doctor would announce just that hopefully, it was after all the end of her resting period.

Waking up early, Sofia had a small bath and re-strapped her bad foot after coming out of the tub and drying herself.

Getting dressed and then climbing down the stairs seemed to be far easier nowadays. It made her heart fill with even more positivity. Her decision from yesterday in Max's study about starting to go to work physically from this morn affirmed with vigor. Enough time had been wasted, lying like a log, confined to a hospital bed, then confined inside the house. It was about dang time she earned some money and work her way to gaining back her lost dignity.

She made herself a sandwich and coffee in the kitchen. Right when she was about to walk out the door, Debbie arrived for the day and gave her a beaming smile with a cheery 'morning'.

The girl was quickly becoming Sofia's number one fan and was getting used to her tendency to do most of her own work herself.

"Do you need my help, ma'am?" Bean came forward hastily when she came out of the house. He was sporting a concerned look seeing Sofia limp as she walked.

"No, Bean, it's okay," Sofia waved a hand dismissively with a gentle smile. "I'll manage just fine."

Nevertheless, Bean still went ahead and helped her hail a taxi since she was indisposed to drive her car. She thanked the worried-looking guard before she got in and the taxi pulled away from the curb.

Sofia had decided to not try her luck with her Ambassador for a couple of days, knowing very well that it would be an impossible task driving a car with that roughed-up foot of hers which was healing, alright, but not quite declared to be used profusely. Taking another trip to the hospital didn't quite seem like a nice idea when she was still slightly shaken by the bill that came after her last stay there.

Sofia was the first to arrive and open the restaurant, which she was pleased about and planned to do a lot from today.

Her entire staff cheered the moment they discovered her in the office, behind her desk.

The phone pressed to her ear nearly dropped at the sudden noise explosion, Sofia barked at everyone to take position, and start a crazy day of work, just like the old days. Everyone had shit-eating grins on their faces, sadistically looking satisfied by their boss lady's scolding.

For the next two hours, it was a flurry of activities in Mary's Diner, everyone working as one to extend it to a professional catering business. The attic was going to be used for the catering side of the business and for storing all the necessary elements for the job. Additionally, they were going to extend the diner outdoors at the free space before the diner's building, under and around the medium-sized Oak tree. Sofia hoped the customers would love sunny days and starry skies while enjoying their meals. There would be cute beach-style umbrellas over each table. And sometime later she would even put some fancy-looking fence bordering the outdoor extension of Mary's Diner.

And to make all of these a reality they faced an insane amount of workload and an immediate need for more staff.

Outside the diner, under the shade of the Oak tree at the right, Simmy was interviewing the said new potential staff.

Ending yet another phone call to the furniture store, Sofia dropped her head onto her desk with a sigh, but then sprung to her feet and looked through the wide-open door of her small office.

"Mona," She craned her neck when Mona's head popped out from her crouched down state behind the baskets of onions. "Take someone with you at once and go see if the truck with the tables is here yet or not, they may also need direction at the crossroad. Run!"

She sat back down with a huff, her nerves in a knot. She lifted the file with all the new expenses jotted down. On her desk was another open file where her savings were listed and also the average profit of the diner every month. It was a set of risks, she knew, and she was taking all of them at once. But her business must be extended by all means.

This was the only way she knew to clear the devious debt that weighed her down each moment.

Sofia could visualize all her new business endeavors crystal clear in her mind. Blasts of energy and excitement hit her from the inside. She prayed for all her efforts to meet success. She needed that success as soon as possible. Peace in her personal life depended entirely on her career now.

"Sofia!"

It was becoming a regular occurrence.

The shout of her name made her jump slightly, the file dropped down from her hand.

She looked up in time to see through her office door Max Wilder barging inside the kitchen, his tall and broad frame filling up the space like never before.

And oh my! He looked pissed off. Almost like the night she had moved out from the master bedroom.

Now what? Sofia wondered.

Max moved his head around, searching, and then he located her through the wide-open hardboard door to her office. Locating her, however, was not supposed to be so difficult as it was not far from the kitchen doors, but seemed like he was out of his mind in anger again.

The guy just couldn't function properly in anger.

Stomping down the little distance Max slammed his hands down on her desk and narrowed his eyes at her.

"You were supposed to be resting," he accused. "At home, and definitely not laboring your day over here and re-damage your injuries."

Sofia sighed, fingers going up to massage her temples. "Don't you think you're a bit over-reacting?"

"You got yourself discharged from the hospital earlier than the doctor suggested," Max charged not even paying heed to her verbal jab.

"Wasn't that our deal? And weeks have passed after that to re-evaluate the matter," Sofia pointed out with a raised brow, but that didn't stop Max.

"Can't you at least stay home and rest for a few weeks properly, as the doctor instructed! You crawl up and down the stairs but I've been patient about that, you go out in the garden to show your limping skills to the crows but I still kept my peace. You even moved out of our room. And now, now you've decided to do the unthinkable and begin coming back to work. What're you planning to do? Overwork yourself to an early grave!"

Thankfully Mona peeked in through the front door.

Panting heavily from running, Mona announced, "The truck's here, but they've sent a stick of a man," pausing, Mona sneaked a brief glance at Max before continuing again, "Sofia, I don't think who they've sent will survive carrying all the things down from the truck."

Sofia slapped a hand on her forehead. Baring teeth, hissing out a curse, and totally ignoring Max, she limped past him. "Then come with me, I guess we will have to do the task ourselves."

"Where do you think you're going? Come back here, I'm not done talking to you," Max bellowed from behind.

But of course, Sofia didn't go back, so without any choice, it was Max who followed her outside.

"Are you freaking insane? You're clearly not thinking to get those tables and those shitty-looking umbrellas down the truck by yourself!" Max thundered, looking shocked at the sight of the heap of things on the truck.

Again, paying no heed to Max, Sofia went ahead to stand near the truck.

The boy that came with the furniture was almost passed out leaning against the tire. Sofia scowled at the sight and sent one of her staff to bring some water for the fool.

Simmy had taken a short break from the interviewing and was now situated on top of the truck along with another woman, they held out a folded table for Sofia and Mona standing below to take.

Sofia was just about to grab the table, but then, unexpectedly she found herself being softly yanked away from its reach.

"Max!" Sofia screeched in utter irritation. "What do you think you're doing? Just let me do my work!"

Gesturing Mona to back away too, Max alone held the table with a grunt and then another one too in his other hand.

That's one fine... strong man!

Somewhere deep down, Sofia found she was impressed.

His shirt-clad back was facing her, and her eyes stayed stuck on the rippling muscles while he moved, grabbing tables and her precious umbrellas one by one and putting them securely down to the ground.

"Just like I've said, I'm not going to let you do such labor in the state you're in, at least not until the doctor announces you are alright. Go back inside. And don't worry," he said. "Everything will be alright under my care."

While speaking, he'd already finished getting down half of the contents from the truck.

"And don't even think about arguing with me over this," he announced further.

Sofia wanted to throw a fit, kick his ass, or something like that. But as she moved forward and had a closer look at his face, she became aware of the sudden sparkle in his eyes.

It was like he felt happy, or was that pride? And for what? Was it because he was helping her, or because he was highlighting her weakness?

Sighing, she backed away slowly and then turned around to go inside.

Mona gave her a teasing smile. "I see you've got quite the besotted husband, Sofia."

Sofia sighed again. She was hearing this a hell lot of times recently.

"Why don't you go and help the others in the kitchen, Mona, and not waste time here saying nothing of importance!" Sofia barked.

"Hell, Sofia, no need to get so jealous," Mona left muttering, hiding a smirk. "He's all yours, we all know that."

Sofia glared at Mona for a good long minute, but the girl carefully and wisely avoided meeting her eyes and blissfully chose to stay unaware.

Sofia also noticed that all the other women were sneaking funny glances at her as well. Obviously, all of them were thinking of Max barging into the restaurant like a troll as a scalding-hot romantic act of some sort. Poor women! The whole lot of them clearly lived in the fantasy world.

Sometime later, Sofia was giving some instructions to a couple of new boys and a girl she had recently hired. Max walked in then. Sofia absentmindedly dismissed her new employees.

Max's shirt was crinkled all over and had some patches of dirt; his hair was a mess and his face was red from the glaring sun outside. Perspiration covered his forehead and she could see him trying to suppress his panting breaths.

Without a word, she got a bottle of cold water from the freeze in the kitchen. She walked towards her desk gesturing for Max to follow her, and he did. He was following her everywhere anyway without her saying so.

"Have a seat."

And he lowered himself onto the chair before her desk. As she kept the glass before him, he took it and greedily gulped down all the water in one go.

Sofia watched his adam's apple bobbing up and down, and somehow it made her feel thirsty as well. When she looked up at his eyes, she was taken aback to find him staring at her.

Clearing her throat quickly, Sofia looked away and reached for some tissues. She held them in front of him.

The way Max was still staring up at her as she stood before his sitting form with her thighs almost touching his knees made her feel all nervous. Nervous, to the point, that she could distinctly feel a tingly feeling down to her bones.

Must be the pain meds. She reasoned. She took two pills this morning after all. She was almost alright but not completely free from all aches.

Taking the tissues from her hand, Max began wiping his face. The whirling air from the ceiling fan above made his already messy hair fly in all possible directions.

The guy needed a haircut soon.

Just to chase away the tingly feelings from her wrecked bones—or was it on her skin—Sofia put a hand on her mouth and faked a cough.

"Why don't you have a hanky with you?" she asked. "I heard that the badass lawyers and posh business people always have one with them as a tradition or something."

"Well, I don't," Max shrugged, busily pinching off the crumbs of napkins that had come apart and were now clinging to different places on his face. The sight was slightly hilarious.

"But if you sew me one," he drawled. "I guess I'll follow the hanky tradition dutifully. So, Sof..., will you?"

Sofia's mouth nearly fell open.

Was he like flirting with her?

And again he called her Sof. Why did that sound so personal coming out of his mouth?

"I don't sew," it took her just a moment to gather herself and retort. "As you can see here, I tend to stay busy cooking the whole day."

"My misfortune." Max heaved a long breath playfully. "I really wanted one of those hankies where my name would be at one corner with little flowers, and maybe even some hearts, surrounding it intricately."

Sofia narrowed her eyes at him. Max, however, looked on innocent.

It was supposed to be weird but it didn't feel like that, not anymore. Sofia hated to acknowledge this but it was true she was getting quite used to these playful banters with Max. Used to, to the point where she actually was beginning to look forward to their next verbal match of tennis.

The feeling was addictive when they were like this.

The feeling of breaking free.

And that exactly was what made her feel petrified.

This change between them was frightening, for it reeked of hope. And hope was in itself another frightening matter under the current circumstances. It was too good to be true.

--

After his honorable presence and help at her restaurant in the afternoon, Max had left for his own office. And finally, Sofia could work without any distractions.

It was half past ten when her phone rang.

She was busy closing the accounts for the night and some paper-works for the new catering orders. With most of the staff gone already, the silence was beginning to reign in the restaurant.

"Sofia, I'm leaving now. Why don't you call it a night too?" Simmy said. "You will collapse again if you keep on working at this rate."

"Nothing like that will happen again, Simmy, that I assure you. You don't need to worry, just go home already. And..., come half an hour early tomorrow, huh?" she said shuffling things on her desk to locate her ringing phone.

Sofia huffed seeing the name on the screen. From its fall twice down on the cruel floor first the night she fainted weeks ago and then when Max decided to go all dramatic that night over the whole room changing topic, her phone screen was cracked in two places. It looked pathetic. But still, surprisingly it was working somehow. Yes, it forgot to ring sometimes; the time was frozen; the alarm rang whenever it wanted to, and the notifications gave her a haunted feel but still, she assured herself that her phone was working just fine. Or what was she supposed to do? Buying a new phone was completely out of the question this month.

After punching the screen for the fifth time, the call was received.

"Come out now," he said without any formality, his tone was soft though.

"Why?"

"I called home and Debbie said you're not home yet. So, I'm giving you a ride home."

"Again," Sofia deadpanned. "Why?"

"I was going home and thought to pick you up as well, it seemed like a nice idea since we live in the same house and you didn't take your car today. Need any more reasons?"

Sofia needed to whack the phone to end the call. She sighed and closed all her files. Picking up her crutch and her bag, locking the doors of Mary's Diner and Catering, Sofia trudged towards Max's sleek black car parked at the curb.

This moment here--this felt like a déjà vu, making her involuntarily recall the day of her wedding. She had to shake her head to clear the memories.

"I could have taken a taxi," she said settling on the passenger seat.

Max moved wordlessly to buckle her seatbelt.

As he hovered over her, Sofia's breath hitched for a moment. He moved away just as soon, breaking the pause in her breathing.

The car was soon pulled out on the road.

"Is it too bad to let someone take care of you?" Max asked after a while.

"It would depend on who that someone is," Sofia returned after taking a moment to answer. Her eyes stayed fixated out the window and into the night. "And what that someone's intention is. The defense mechanism works this way."

A frown appeared on Max's face as he too looked ahead only, out the windshield and not at her anymore. "This defense mechanism is then one hell of a stone wall."

A wall, that seemed to be cracking because of his persistent attacks.

And his intentions yet were not very clear.

Her confused self still saw it as some sort of a trap.

If the wall finally broke someday, where would that leave her? Would it break her as well or would she be surprised with something else instead?

For the rest of the drive, both of them remained quiet. Their thoughts, however, turned the air inside the car uncomfortably thick. It was suffocating. But thankfully, there was less traffic that night and they were soon pulling over at the familiar gravel driveway.

"Can't you not cook tonight?" Max stopped her and asked when she was about to go up the stairs to freshen up.

The corners of her mouth pulled up to a smirk. "You know very well that I'm not going to listen to you," she told him. "Besides, cooking doesn't tire me out, it calms me when I come home and cook the food of my choice. I don't loathe take-outs, Max, because that would be hypocrisy considering I'm in the restaurant business myself and now extending it to catering as well." she paused to breathe, to find words to voice her thoughts. "It's just that I enjoy cooking my own meals, I prefer it over someone else doing it for me."

Max stared at her, in a way that made Sofia feel like he was dissecting her, or at least was trying to do so. He looked at her as though she was a puzzle, a complicated one. And he had dedicated himself to solving it, gathering scattered pieces from everywhere.