Chapter 81: Confrontations and Emotions
Helene sank into the soft foam, hugging the blankets tight. She buried her head deep into the pillow, as if trying to disappear inside it while thoughts of Caleb swirled endlessly in her mind.
Unbeknownst to her, the door creaked open. Caleb stepped inside quietly. The room was dim, the only light a faint glow from the curtains.
"Hey, I just wanted to—"
"Arrghh, get out of my head!" Helene yelled, thrashing on the bed.
"Huh?" Caleb froze in surprise.
Helene flipped over—and that's when she saw him.
She froze like someone who farted in church and realized the mic was on.
Red flushed up her neck, climbing all the way to her ears.
"Wh—How—Wh—" She tried to speak, but the words tangled together. Her brain had officially gone into short-circuit mode, leaving her mouth hanging open in pure shock and embarrassment.
Caleb, completely unaware of what had been running through her head, stood there blinking.
'Could it be because of what happened in the bathtub?' he wondered, thinking back to that scene.
'Damn it, she must be embarrassed about that. And I haven't even apologized for what happened in the elevator… and now this bathtub mess. How am I supposed to win these girls without turning this into a full-blown fantasy love drama? What is my life right now?!' Caleb thought, frustrated.
But he forced a breath and kept his composure.
"Seems like you need some space. Should I leave?" he asked softly, noticing the slight tremor in her body.
'Does she… have a fear of men?' The thought hit him, and then another memory followed.
'Shit… Sophia mentioned that in my previous timeline. Please don't tell me it's the same here,' he thought, guilt creeping in for everything that had happened between them so far.
'I should let her rest for some time,' Caleb thought as he turned on his heel to leave.
"W-wait!" Helene's timid voice came from behind.
Caleb turned, their eyes locking.
She blushed seeing his green orbs sparkle under the dimly lit light of her room.
It was just the two of them with the ambient yellow glow from the lamp light Caleb turned on when he entered the room.
For a moment she had envisioned an entire future in seconds.
But Helene quickly snapped out of her daze.
"You said you wanted to ask me something. What is it?" she asked after gathering up some courage.
"I can leave it till tomorrow... You seem like you need some space for now," Caleb said gently, genuinely surprised by her sudden response.
"No, no, no... You can ask whatever questions you want to... I-I'm alright."
Caleb could tell from the way she stuttered that she was far from alright.
But he couldn't argue with her.
'I don't want to scare her more...' Caleb thought to himself, as he remembered the possibility of what Sophia told him in his past timeline being the same as this.
"Alright then..." Caleb said, walking inside the room.
He wanted to close the door, but Helene flinched.
"Should I leave them open?" he asked with a calm voice.
He knew he had to go easy with her.
"Uhm... Y-you can..." Helene said, her voice sounding a bit... unsure?
Caleb gently shut the door behind him, then turned his gaze to Helene who shifted uncomfortably... pushing towards the other end of the bed.
As though getting any closer to him would feed her some sort of love infection.
Caleb took a deep breath seeing her reaction; it stung him in his chest.
But Caleb swallowed down the sore taste in his throat.
Cough Cough
He coughed gently to calm himself.
"Firstly, I would like to apologize for the... uhm, events over the past few hours after we met..." Caleb said, the air in the room shifting awkwardly.
Even Helene didn't know how to react to Caleb's words.
Her face flushed.
She held onto her bedsheets tightly.
"No need to apologize!" she panicked, waving her hands to stop Caleb.
She didn't want to think about the events again.
She had been trying to clear her mind on how good she felt during those moments... but she didn't know what to say.
She only shifted awkwardly.
"So I shouldn't apologize? I mean—"
"Can you just stop talking about the topic, please," Helene asked in panic as her mind began trailing back to what had happened in the elevator and the bathtub.
She could remember the sensation of his length beneath her butt.
She could remember the sleeping python between his legs... and the wet sensation she had between her legs that period.
Ahhh... The thoughts were coming back!
'What's all this!' she thought frustratedly, a cloud of dark energy floating above her head as the embarrassment overwhelmed her; she couldn't even raise her head to meet Caleb's gaze again.
"I really think I'm disturbing you... I should leave," Caleb said, confusing her thoughts.
To him, it seemed as though she felt so bad and disgusted about herself... and he felt bad since it was most likely him that contributed to it.
Caleb quickly made his way towards the door, but as he held the door knob, Helene's voice came from behind.
"Wait! Just say what you want to say... I promise I'm fine." She said in panic, managing a reassuring smile.
"The way you're reacting... it's more like I'm disturbing," Caleb said with a wry smile.
Helene paused for a long minute, drawing a long breath to calm herself.
She sat up with a blush on her face, the blanket held up to her red face.
She looked away, but Caleb couldn't hide the look of shock on his face... He was just completely stunned.
'Is this meant to be some sort of seduction right after making me feel guilty?! What the hell? Doesn't she realize how cute she is like this?' Caleb thought angrily.
She was absolutely beautiful with her reaction... and coupled with the singlet she had on that revealed her smooth shoulders and cupped her petite boobs... She looked edible.
Like candy served for dessert.
Caleb was completely confused...
He closed his eyes momentarily, to remove his eyes from the scene.
'I'm meant to be the one seducing here... You might take my role with that,' he thought, rubbing the bridge of his nose.
Helene finally spoke.
"I'm acting that way again? I'm sorry... It's just... it's just..." Helene's words came out with broken breaths as tears slipped from her eyes.
Caleb was instantly stunned as he opened his eyes to find the terrified girl shaking behind her blanket like a bunny in trouble.
'It has to be the same thing as what Sophia told me back then,' Caleb thought, seeing her reaction and feeling a sting in his heart.
"It's because of him... It's because of..."