Quinn had vowed to exact revenge but sitting in front of her was her favourite meal, her kryptonite. She almost thought she would go on and eat with no problem but she managed to pinch her thigh so hard that she woke up of the trance and said, "I am full, I think I ate too much popcorn."
Leif just glanced at her briefly his eyes dark like he had seen this coming but he didn't utter a single word. The air pressure around her increased drastically almost suffocating her but she survived through it.
She stood up wordlessly and went to the kitchen her fluffy slippers making a light patter patter sound on the tiles.
Leif's body paused for a moment listening to the sound of her footsteps and all her movements in the kitchen.
When he heard the sound of the bin lid opening he misunderstood and the rage in his eyes burst forth as he aggressively cut the steak on his plate.
He didn't even raise his head when Quinn passed him and walked upstairs to bed. When the bedroom door upstairs closed softly he got up aggressively and went to the kitchen unable to contain his anger.
Quinn on the other hand was rolling on the bed with her eyes crying tears of blood. She was stuffed with popcorn but that didn't mean she wasn't greedy. She could very much make space for the perfect steak even at the risk of having indigestion.
She wailed into her pillow like a cow in labour. Damn it, she hoped Leif wouldn't really throw that meal like he did the leftover from the previous night.
She planned on going back down to the kitchen after Leif went back to bed. Thus Quinn got up and took a shower quickly before changing into her pyjamas and hopping into bed.
Her room was dim with the only lights coming from the lamp on her bedside and her cellphone screen. She was busy streaming the love series from before and waited until it was past midnight to get out of bed.
When she opened her door the downstairs light had been turned off with the only light filtering through from the dim light of the corridor.
She didn't know why it was on but she was extremely grateful. Her issues with complete darkness weren't resolved yet so she was happy when she saw some light on however dim it was.
She tip toed past Leif's room and headed straight for the stairs her steps very very careful.
When she reached the bottom of the stairs she pressed the standing lamp light on before walking into the kitchen while trying to make as little noise as possible.
She opened the bin and heaved a sigh of relief when she saw there was nothing inside. She walked over to the fridge and found her dinner laying still in the fridge and grabbed the lunch box with her tongue sticking out of the corner of her lips.
She placed the lunch box on the counter only for her heart to drop to the bottom of a frozen lake when she heard the words,
"What are you doing," coming from behind her. That voice was like that of a ghost in the abyss reaching out to drag her down deep into her nightmare.
"I am I am," she said only for her to realise that she couldn't come up with a good lie thus she resorted to stirring up some shit instead.
"So you waited for me to come downstairs this entire time and catch me in the act? Is that it president Carnell?" she said even more daring than a daredevil.
Sure enough, Leif clenched his fist and said, "Don't call me that," sounding very unhappy. When she did that he felt like they were unfamiliar with each other despite him having been tormented by her in high school. He had earned his stripes already.
Quinn initially wanted to eat the meal but now that Leif had caught her he had to proceed with a fall back plan thus with great reluctance and a troubled heart, she walked over to the bin intending to throw away the food.
Leif stood right in front of her towering over her and Quinn was close enough to catch a faint waft of an intoxicating scent of a fragrance she couldn't quite discern.
A man didn't necessarily have to smell like a bucket of roses. Just a person with roll-on and body spray was fine in her books until she smelt that fragrance whenever Leif came close to her. It stirred something in her making her slightly irritable.
"You move. I am since you don't like leftovers in your fridge then I am going to throw them out," she said with the lunch box in her hand.
The two of them glared at each other for a while and Leif started to question himself. Why wasn't she afraid like she was the first time they met? Wasn't his reputation to the outside world clear enough?
Why could she openly defy him and anger him time and time again? He began to suspect again that she remembered who he was otherwise why was it so easy for her to adapt and even show her sharp claws in front of her?
Quinn stepped aside and walked past him only for her arm to be grabbed at the elbow stopping her. With their bodies facing opposite directions they could only stare at each other from the corner of their eyes.
"Let go," she said her heart pounding hard like it was going to burst. His reaction just now was impulsive and now that he had touched her felt a sense of discomfort but it wasn't as unbearable as before.
As expected, his therapist was right. This woman had touched him so much when he was young and now he had somewhat developed a certain level of tolerance. Though minimal it was enough to keep her around and resist the urge to kick her out.
He let go of her and said, "I didn't."
Quinn was still mourning over the meal she was about to toss in the trash and yes she felt bad that there were people starving out there but she just couldn't let Leif get away with it, right? So when she heard him say I didn't she was still a little confused.
"Didn't what?" she asked and he answered,
"I didn't... I didn't throw it away. I ate it... last night."
Quinn, "!!!"