Quinn actually had no idea what it meant to be a happily married couple. Her mother was hopelessly in love with her father at first but after he completely tore her face with her things went from bad to worse.
By the time Quinn was old enough to understand all she remembered was seeing her mother crying so much. She would hide it from Quinn but each anniversary she would watch her mother drink herself into a stupor in front of an uneaten candlelight dinner. She would watch her mother from the top of the staircase so her mother never found out.
It was when her father slept with her aunt that things went south. She was so devastated that she wanted to divorce him and take Quinn with her.
The proceedings were a nightmare but things took a fatal turn when her father in law told her that if she continued making a fuss she wouldn't be able to take Quinn with her.
Her mother at that time was heartbroken. She was not only betrayed by the man she loved but her daughter was also going to be taken away from her. With nothing else to lose she decided to take her daughter with her thus she climbed up the highest point of the building and wanted to jump. If it weren't for Quinn's begging their story would have met a tragic end right then and there.
Thus to Quinn love meant death, nothing more. She couldn't act out something she didn't understand so she nervously bit inside her lower lip before asking, "And how is a happily married couple supposed to act?"
Leif was slightly stunned by her question though his expression remained the same. How could the blind lead the blind? Good thing he had people working under him who knew how a loving couple acted in public thus he took out a file.
"This is it. Holidays, birthdays, and events. It's all in there," he said and Quinn opened it. It was very neat and well organized with a table of contents on the front page. Everything from wearing matching couple's outfits and holding hands was in there even the cheesy stuff.
Quinn checked if all this was plausible and it was to her but she wasn't sure if this person in front of her will be able to do some of it. She suddenly had the urge to mess with him. Don't ask her where the courage came from. She just knew she wouldn't be able to sit still if she doesn't mess with him.
"Uh... President Carnell, I am not sure if I can do section two item one. It seems... what's the word... it seems very difficult," she said and Leif took out another copy and began flipping through the pages.
While he was doing so he casually corrected her, "Remember you should call me Leif. Since we are going to be a married couple we should get familiar with each other," he said only to feel something warm and soft touching the back of his hand.
Leif, "..."
His nerves suddenly stretched taut and he shook her hand off in a panic. "What are you doing?" he asked his voice chilling to the bone. He suddenly felt an inexplicable feeling of nostalgia.
She might have forgotten him but he remembered all the tortures he suffered under her tyranny. To others, it was just a teenage girl being a teenage girl but to him it was torment. She would touch his shoulder, pull his wrist, or ruffle his hair on a whim and he would light up like a firecracker internally.
Now she was doing it again only that instead of a wimpy young boy she was doing it to a full grown man. He was about to explode but when he was met by Quinn's smile he found that he lost all the fight in him. He was thoroughly defeated at this point.
"Don't do that again," he said without thinking and Quinn couldn't help but tease him.
"But president... of sorry, Leif. It is stipulated in there that it's within the parameters of acting like a happily married couple," she said her tone sounding pitiful like she had been wronged.
"It states that it should only be in public," he said unaware that the tips of his ears were red.
"Oh... my bad. I just thought we could practice," she said realising how much fun it was to tease such a terrifying figure thus she continued pointing at the next item.
"This one says we should kiss. I am not sure we should include it. I really don't want to kiss you," she said, and Leif who thought she was going to practice again felt like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Well, that is until he heard the second part of her sentence.
He suddenly recalled a distant memory he buried deep down. This person who didn't even remember him stole his first kiss. Yes sure, she was drunk and she thought he was someone else but it was still him who got robbed.
Damn, just recalling that made him want to wash his mouth again. She smelt of beer and buff making the experience very unsettling, especially for a person with mild mysophobia. It's a miracle that Quinn didn't get injured that day because he pushed her away so hard that she fell on the bed.
Leif couldn't help but sneer internally. He didn't want to kiss her either, in fact, he didn't want to kiss anyone. It was just too disgusting to exchange saliva with someone.
The one time he saw his mother forcibly kiss his father he got nightmares for weeks and till now he felt shivers all over just thinking about it.
"Then we are on the same page. Cross that out," he said and Quinn happily stretched out her hand towards him.
Leif who was done crossing out the section for kissing looked at her with a puzzled look in his eyes.
Quinn sighed before saying, "Your pen, please. I need to cancel it too."
Leif glanced at his pen that only belonged to him with slight reluctance. He was not only territorial but also particular about his things. He didn't like sharing at all.