Love Contract

Chapter 16 An Unexpected Kiss

Mary had tossed and turned the whole night, unaccustomed to this new environment. It was only now that sleep finally overcame her.

She had no idea what time it was, but she had earlier heard the door open, as if someone was leaving the room.

But now a gentle voice whispered in her ear. "It's time to get up."

Mary swam through her muddled consciousness. 'Who is this angel-voiced person? It can't be William, can it? Didn't he already step out?'

"Mary. You really need to wake up."

Mary murmured something back sleepily. She wasn't ready to get up yet. She turned over. Not even an angel could drag her out of bed. The alarm hadn't rung yet.

William leaned over and continued whispering in her ear. "It's time for breakfast."

'Breakfast? It's too early to eat. I'd rather sleep, ' Mary thought stubbornly.

Out loud, Mary just groaned. She pulled the quilt over head. The corners of William's mouth twitched. It seemed that he had to play his trump card.

"Mary, if you don't get up, you'll be late. And if you're late, your bonus will get deducted," William said in mock lament.

'Bonus? Deduction? My bonus!'

Mary threw off the quilt and bolted upright.

William didn't think his trump card would be so effective. He had no time to avoid Mary's reflexes.

Mary's head collided with his with a loud crack.

"OW! That hurts!" Mary screwed her eyes back shut in pain. When she opened them, the first thing she saw were soft, warm, inviting lips.

William remained leaning over Mary, waiting for his vision to stop spinning. He was just about to curse when he felt Mary plant a kiss on his mouth.

Time stopped. It took a while before Mary finally came to her senses, and when she did, she started screaming internally. 'Oh my God! What am I doing?!'

Mary's eyes flew open and met William's in horror. She gasped and turned her face away quickly. Her headache was completely gone as she felt every fiber of her being sucked slowly into a black vortex of mortification. Both Mary and William remained frozen in place for a few seconds, at a loss for words. Finally, Mary broke the silence. "I didn't mean to do that! I'm so sorry!" The apologies came out of her in a rush.

William's lips tightened. They didn't look so inviting to Mary now. William straightened up and stepped away from the bed. "Hurry up and get downstairs for breakfast. The old man's already waiting for you," he said nonchalantly.

Then he walked out of the room.

As soon as William was out of sight, Mary buried her head in her hands and screamed silently. 'Oh, my God! This is the second time I've made a mess of things! I'm really going to get fired now.'

William headed straight to the restroom and slammed the door.

The mirror in the restroom reflected his red face.

How could he kiss a woman, even by accident? What was worse, he didn't feel bad about it, at all. William cursed silently to himself.

While he was in the restroom, Mary had already pulled herself together and gone down to breakfast.

"Good morning, madam. Quite the early riser," Gary greeted her from his spot beside the table as she came into the dining hall. Mary smiled sheepishly. "Not at all. I'm sorry to keep you waiting." Mary then spotted Timothy seated at the head of the table. "Good morning, Father."

"Good morning, Mary," Timothy nodded in greeting, with a faint smile. Then he noticed her swollen forehead and knees. "What happened? Why are your forehead and knees all red?"

Mary gulped sheepishly. "Oh, it's nothing. Just some little accidents. Nothing to worry about," Mary said, taking her seat.

Timothy's worried face turned stern. "Did William do that to you?"

"What? No, of course not," Mary assured him hurriedly. "He's been nothing but an angel to me."

William, who was walking down the stairs at that exact moment, overheard this. His ears turned red.

"Good morning, sir."

Mary's head snapped up automatically, her eyes meeting William's inadvertently. Both of them looked away as they blushed.

Timothy watched the two silently, amused. He noted the embarrassed air and the matching red bump on William's forehead. He chuckled to himself.

"Good morning, Father." William nodded and sat down, avoiding looking at Mary directly.

Mary likewise kept her eyes on her plate as she ate.

Timothy cleared his throat. "Why don't you and Mary just stay at home today? Work can wait," he suggested.

William sipped his juice coolly. "No, it can't. We have a new TV play launching tomorrow. We have a lot to do today."

"You can go to work, then. Let Mary stay home and get used to being here for now."

"No," William said, shaking his head. "She also has a lot of work to do."

Mary nodded. "He's right, Father," she echoed.

Timothy slapped his hand on the table in annoyance. "You're not taking care of your wife at all!

Your small company won't collapse even if Mary's not there!"

Mary smiled brightly, trying to appease him. "I have nothing to do at home anyway, Father. I'd rather go to work."

"Yes, Father," William added, mock sweetly. "And we wouldn't want to have an idler in the family, now, would we?"

Timothy huffed in disapproval but stopped pushing.

Mary lowered her head and took a big bite of the fried egg. She didn't notice the smile on William's face.

The car ride to the office was awkward.

Mary had already apologized for it profusely, but now the kiss from this morning kept flashing through her mind again.

The memory made her heart beat fast.

William's voice broke through her thoughts.

"Mary." She turned to look at him, chastised. "It seems that we have to set a few more rules between us," he continued. Mary swallowed. "What rules?" she asked cautiously.

"For one, you have to get up early to cook for me every morning."

Mary was taken aback. "What?" She began sputtering in a mild panic. "I...I don't know how to cook breakfast!"

"Then start learning."

Mary pouted. She really didn't want to do it, but fine.

"And," William continued after a pause. "Don't get too close to me."

Mary felt a rush of mortification again. She leaned on the windows, closed her eyes, and sighed. "Look, if this is about what happened this morning..."

William's face burned. He wished she would stop talking about it already. Please check at N/ôvel(D)rama.Org.

"I really didn't mean it..."

"Then stop mentioning it!" William finally burst out. Mary snapped her mouth shut, startled.

Silence filled the car again.

William felt the adrenaline rush through him. He turned and saw Mary staring dejectedly out the window.

He felt a little sorry for her.

He raised his hand to stroke her hair and put her at ease.

But he paused the next second, his hand in midair. 'Why do I need to comfort her? This is just a contract relationship. I shouldn't give her false hopes like that.'

William clenched his hand and put it down.

Looking out the window, Mary didn't notice William's internal struggle.

'That's right. I don't understand you, and you don't owe me an explanation. It's better for us to keep our distance. This is all for the best, ' she thought glumly.