He had ignored all their words and walked out of the class his expression blank. He opened his mouth slightly but his wrist was suddenly pulled and the sound of desks and chairs scraping the floor sound behind him but he kept staring at the hand holding his wrist feeling very uncomfortable.
He tried to pull his hand away but she gripped his arm even more tightly. Quinn was his senior hence she was taller and stronger than him. Coupled with his bad family conditions at the time he was basically a weak chicken when compared to her.
She dragged him to the empty stairs and pressed him against the wall. She let his wrist go and said angrily, "You know our agreement, right?"
Leif had glanced at her nervously though his face remained the same. Quinn didn't even bother to wait for his response. She knew it was like talking to a block of wood.
She opened Leif's hand and placed the granola bars in his hand and said, "Eat… both of them."
Seeing how he was refusing to move Quinn took one and opened it before pressing it on his lips. "Don't make this difficult. I don't mind skipping class. I will let you go when you have eaten both of them."
Because he didn't want to miss class he opened his mouth and took a small bite. As the sweetness tickled his taste buds his eyes brightened imperceptibly. He tried to take the granola bar from Quinn's hand but she dodge his hand forcing her to continue eating in this humiliating way.
What he didn't realise was that Quinn didn't ask him to buy those for herself but for him. She knew his situation at home was extremely bad and most of the time he would leave without eating breakfast and walk all the way to school.
Thus when she saw him once holding the granola bar with stars in his eyes outside the corner store she decided to give him money and make him buy it every morning any flavour of his choice.
She could have brought him a normal breakfast but with the kind of crappy personality, he had he would refuse to take it. He had already rejected her once.
Leif came back to himself suppressing the anger rising within him. He took the granola bar and tossed it into the trash his expression dull. Quinn looked at the granola bar with a complicated expression.
Two light taps on the table brought her back and Quinn looked at him. When the pair of eyes met Quinn felt uneasy.
She couldn't help but ask, "What do you really want from me…. sir?" she asked deliberately pausing in between.
Leif turned his body slightly and said, "Eat first," before a dinner plate was placed in front of her. She had vowed to be perfunctory about it, eat a few bites, and make an excuse to speed this along but when she saw the chargrilled sirloin with porcini mushrooms risotto and wilted spinach her heart wavered.
Because she was now on a budget she couldn't get one of her favourite meals anymore. Now looking at this exquisite mouth watering meal her eyes couldn't help but brighten. Was she really going to sell her soul for a meal?
She pinched the fork in between her fingers looking at the plate in front of her with slight resistance. Anyone who saw her right now could tell she was having an internal struggle. She bit her lips telling herself just a couple of bites will do but the foodie in her was slowly creeping up.
Leif couldn't stand it anymore thus he asked, "Not to your taste?"
Quinn glanced at him but their gazes accidentally met. She lowered her head immediately and replied, "It's good," before taking her first bite.
It was game over for this foodie. Her day had gone from getting fired to eating a divine meal at a fancy restaurant and she didn't even have to pay for it. It was like being rewarded for all her misfortunes. The universe was indeed fair.
Well, at least she thought so until Leif addressed her after the meal while she was leaning on the chair lazily like a cat stewing in the sun after a hearty meal.
"Did you enjoy it?" asked Leif and Quinn who had forgotten about this big buddha sitting across from her sat up straight as she replied,
"It was good, thank you… Now can we talk about why I am here? I have to go job hunting so…," she trailed off when Leif curled his fingers slightly calling someone.
A petite girl dressed in formal attire walked over her steps brisk but elegant. She handed him an envelope before taking a few steps back.
"No need for you to look for one. I have an offer for you," he said and these were the most worst he had ever said to her since the trespassing incident.
Quinn's brow arched as Leif handed him a stack of papers stacked together. "What's this for? I am not very skilled but if you are looking for a gym instructor I can…," she said but her eyes widened as she pulled the papers closer thinking she was hallucinating.
She was definitely sleepy from the itis, right? She was most definitely exhibiting signs of a food coma otherwise why would she be hallucinating the word 'marriage' and the word 'contract'?
Quinn's lips couldn't help but quirk before she broke into laughter. This was as ridiculous as her breaking into a crime boss' mansion in a half-drunken state. Wait….
"Shit," she swore under her breath and Leif's brows furrowed. He wanted to remind her about her language but he held back. She was always like this dropping f-bombs and s-bombs everywhere like it was a second language.
Okay, he was over exaggerating but he spent more time with her so it did sound like a lot to him.
Quinn's laughter died down when she saw his serious expression. "Wait… are you serious? No. Why on earth would I want to marry you? Well, no offense, you seem like a mildly nice guy but I am sure one of these snobbish ladies would marry you, right? Oh, how about Alison? She is pretty into you so… you have plenty of options."
Lars who overheard everything, "…"
It took him a long time to get the clean suit from the office and yet after purposefully delaying for so long he just had to walk right in the middle of a failed proposal. Could he say he was unlucky? I say very unlucky.