The loud ringing hit her ears and her white skin clearly reflected the redness of her cheeks. Charlotte barely looked down and closed her eyes, while Leonid paced around his room drying his wet hair while wearing only his sweatpants.
"What did you say?"
"I said you can take him."
He repeated his words softly and tossed the towel aside before lying down on his bed and brushing his silver hair back. After Leonid lay down, he looked at Charlotte, who was still standing still.
"Don't you want to take him?"
Leonid continued to talk quietly and at the same pace about Hunter, not caring about what he showed Charlotte of his desirable body.
"Okay…"
Finally, she was able to respond. Charlotte's face was distorted with embarrassment, and she could even feel hot moisture on the edge of her eyelids. Oh my God, was she crying out of embarrassment?
She was at the highest level of embarrassment.
"I will come in the evening to pick him up."
Leonid paused for a moment, then said in a low voice.
"Thank you for today, Charlotte."
"You don't need to thank me…"
Charlotte wanted to say just "Leonid" for the first time, but she couldn't.
"I'm leaving now!"
Charlotte moved and left Leonid's apartment quickly. After standing in the hallway outside, she breathed a sigh of relief and then said in a low voice.
"God, I'm so grateful to be alive."
Today she went through difficult circumstances that burdened her delicate and weak heart. Charlotte may wish that what happened today between her and Leonid would not happen again, but that forbidden desire still tried to push her to see that again.
Seeing everything over and over again until you get completely bored of it. Charlotte smiled shyly and kept what she saw in her mind because no matter what she did, she would not be able to delete those snapshots from her head.
Charlotte headed to her apartment and before opening the door, she audibly telepathically spoke to Hunter and told him.
"Hunter be quiet, okay? I'm begging you don't wake them."
Hunter tilted his head and barked again, he was just an animal after all.
His tail was wagging a lot and barking more than usual today, and even Charlotte felt strange.
Charlotte sighed and raised her hand to open the door, when Hunter suddenly jumped out of her arm and began running like a free puppy down the hall.
"Hunter what are you doing!?"
Charlotte shouted from behind and started to follow the hippenter as fast as she could.
Hunter continued to run on all fours causing Charlotte to have to run and show off her mediocre speed running skills.
As Charlotte was racing to catch Hunter, Hunter suddenly stopped in the middle of the side hallway and started barking at Charlotte.
"Hunter stop! You're disturbing the neighbors."
Charlotte approached Hunter and hurriedly lifted him off the ground and tried to calm him down.
The cold wind passed through the open windows of the hall above Charlotte and her chestnut locks fluttered gently, followed by the echo of light bells coming from somewhere in the hall.
"Hmm?"
Charlotte turned to look for the source of the voice. These were bells like ones she somehow knew, or bells she had heard once, somewhere.
While thinking, a man in a uniform walked towards Charlotte with steady and calm steps. That man approached her and said quietly.
"Lady Charlotte Smith."
Every part of Charlotte's body trembled and she felt a shiver run through her body. The familiar voice calling to her from behind was the last voice she wanted to meet that day.
She turned quickly and met her black eyes directly with Monsieur Maxime's hazel eyes. The distance between them was almost non-existent, which made Charlotte involuntarily take a few steps back.
Maxime, a man in his late forties, raised his hat with his left hand and saluted.
"Greetings lady, how are you today?"
Charlotte could have caught the blind spot under that hat before Monsieur Maxime lowered his hand.
"Oh Mr. Maxime… I'm fine, what about you?"
"As you can see, lady, I'm at my best."
Maxime's pale lips smiled and he looked at Charlotte with an intense look. His eyes wandered to her feet and to her slender legs. Of course, his eyes caught Hunter who was in her arms. Then he looked at her face, specifically at Charlotte's eyes, as she avoided looking at him for a moment.
Charlotte felt her usual discomfort and yet she did not move from her place. Who knows what would happen to her if she walked away and ignored Monsieur Maxime.
"Well, it looks like the lady wanted to take her puppy for a little walk. But isn't the elevator on the other side?"
"Oh you're right…"
"Hmm, see what brought the lady here with the elevator in the opposite direction."
"It was just a mistake…it all happened by accident…"
Her breath hitched and she couldn't respond, Charlotte barely turned her eyes away and hugged Hunter close to her.
"It's okay, everyone always makes mistakes."
"Then I will go now. Have a good day, Mr. Maxime."
"And to you too, Lady Charlotte."
Monsieur Maxime lifted his hat again with his left hand and gently returned it to his bald head. His hazel eyes did not hesitate to stare at Charlotte's back and observe every part of her as she left towards the elevator.
Charlotte quickly headed to the elevator instead of her apartment. She couldn't return to her apartment at the moment and under Monsieur Maxime's watchful eye.
The elevator doors had barely closed before she could breathe a sigh of relief.
"God."
Finally she could breathe like a normal person. Charlotte didn't know why or what she was afraid or uncomfortable about. It's just that she suffers from social phobia, so she can't talk to anyone, especially this guy, without feeling weird around him.
The elevator stopped and Charlotte moved towards the outer gate. It would have been easier for her to go to the inner garden of the apartment building, but she couldn't stand crowded places, so Charlotte headed towards the garden located after the intersection at the end of the street.
The other park certainly wasn't crowded because it was located in the middle of the intersection and with the clutter of cars, no one would want to be disturbed especially in the afternoon.
Charlotte walked rather slowly, enjoying the scenery around her under the feathery clouds and cold wind. Everything was so pleasant in her eyes today, from waking up and making breakfast to seeing Leonid and finally taking Hunter for a walk.
Okay, maybe it wasn't a perfect day, but it was still fun.
After entering the park, Charlotte placed Hunter on the grass and let him run freely.
Hunter excitedly shook his tail and started running and jumping.
Charlotte sat on the wooden chair and continued to stare at Hunter, who looked abnormal today, in fact Hunter was different, instead of being an active puppy he was naturally lazy, today he was active and more like a normal puppy finally which made him abnormal.
Charlotte smiled and felt so happy that she almost shed dramatic tears at Hunter, who had returned to his abnormal self.
Time passed and Charlotte spent a pleasant hour with Hunter.
Everything was as quiet as the light wind stirring Charlotte's hair and the leaves, until a strange man sat down in the wooden chair next to Charlotte.
When the strange man sat down next to her, Charlotte turned to him casually, looked into his face for a moment, and then looked away.
The man next to him had pale skin, and his expression was slightly hostile.
The dark green eyes were like tree leaves under the shadows, empty or almost dead.
It seemed clear that this man no longer cared about his outward appearance, as he allowed the black ends of his hair to become randomly longer and disheveled, in addition to his random beard and light dark circles.
It wasn't just the sight of the man that made Charlotte turn to look at the stranger next to her, it was the smell of wine that made her nose and head react involuntarily towards that person.
Charlotte clenched her fists and tried to resist the strong smell of alcohol coming from the man next to her. It was strange to meet someone drunk, especially in the afternoon.
Charlotte sighed internally and was still trying to be patient and endure a little, but that man started smoking and blowing cigarette smoke in her direction.
Charlotte opened her eyes wide as cigarette smoke drifted down the side of her face and auburn hair. Just a quiet moment passed between them until she furrowed her eyebrows and narrowed her eyes at that man.
"How dare you."
Charlotte turned to the man next to her and stared at him with annoyed eyes. The man next to her replied with a dark smile that looked like the smile of a crazy man who wants to mess with any woman.
"Is everything okay, miss?"
The corner of Charlotte's eyebrow twitched at the sarcastic tone of voice this man was using on her. It was all about her now. For some reason, she felt like she was about to commit a heinous crime against this man who was trying to provoke her.
She had a kind of hostility, but Charlotte hid it and whispered.
"This is disgusting…"
"What?"
The man who was next to her asked, holding his cigarette between his lips while putting his hand next to his ear in a sarcastic gesture.
"I didn't hear what you said, miss. Do you dare repeat that?"
This man continued to fool around and smoke, blowing cigarette smoke in her face for the second time, Charlotte bit the inside of her lip while containing her anger.
Just what kind of morals does this man have, how dare he bully her or try to mess with her, does he think she is weak and can't answer him.
Charlotte's nails pierced her palms and she couldn't take it anymore. This man was provoking her in a way that would make her very bad.
"I said that's disgusting! You disgust me."
"Is that so~? This is so funny, should I take this as an insult?"
She furrowed her eyebrows at the man's sarcastic smile and his provocative way of responding.
"Well, I'm glad my words didn't hurt your heart."
This way, Charlotte won't feel guilty later about saying rude words to someone she doesn't know. She hurriedly got up and walked to Hunter.
"Hunter!"
Charlotte called out to Hunter and approached him to pick him up. She carried the energetic puppy in her arms and immediately left the park without looking at the man who was smiling satisfied with her actions like a crazy man already thinking of following her and messing with her.
"That bastard, if I wasn't a respectable lady, I would have pierced his eyes and broken his neck, damn him…"
Charlotte muttered angrily as she walked to the apartment building, her steps rather quick, while her long hair fluttered behind her.
"I will never forgive him, I will never go to that park again!"
Charlotte gritted her teeth and tried to suppress the bitterness she felt in her throat as well as the heat in her nose and eyes. She continued walking to the apartment building, struggling hard not to cry because of those negative emotions.
The elevator opened its doors and she headed towards Leonid's apartment, hugging Hunter in her arms. She stopped and rang the bell while her index finger remained fixed on the button without stopping.
Within a few minutes, Leonid hurriedly opened the door and stared at Charlotte with an unreadable expression. He was wearing a white t-shirt with his sweatpants.
"What's wrong with you? Why are you ringing the bell like that!?"
"Take!"
Charlotte's eyes filled with tears, but she did not shed a single tear. Hunter reached out to Leonid and said.
"please."
Leonid picked up his puppy and turned back to look at Charlotte. He noticed that she wasn't feeling well, and he could see it clearly.
"What happened to you? You don't look well."
"Nothing happened to me. It's just that I'm in a bad mood."
Leonid's expression remained calm, but his eyes flashed with suspicion. In his eyes, Charlotte was on the verge of tears, even barely uttering her words once.
Have you been exposed to a bad situation? Did you see something she shouldn't have seen? It was the mystery of the moment.
Leonid asked many questions in his mind and felt how important it was what had happened with Charlotte during her absence. Whether she is ready to tell him everything or not, he will definitely make her talk in a very effective way.
"Charlotte Smith."
The first step: claim rigor.
Leonid called out to Charlotte seriously, causing her to grit her teeth and raise her tongue to press the roof of her mouth to prevent her tears from falling.
"I can clearly see how upset you are, so tell me, what happened to you?"
Step Two: Claim to know all its aspects.
Leonid had his charming way of pressuring Charlotte.
"Is it Hunter?"
"No! Not Hunter!"
Leonid tried to hide his dark smile from Charlotte as much as possible and covered his mouth.
Final step: blame another person or animal.
Leonid already knew that he wasn't Hunter and it was impossible for him to be him, but when you want to get information from someone as stubborn as Charlotte, it's worth following some similar methods.
"So it's not Hunter."
Leonid spoke calmly and then said sternly.
"So tell me who…"
Leonid tosses Hunter aside, then grabs Charlotte's hand and drags her into his apartment against her will.
After letting her in, he closed the door with his foot and pinned Charlotte against the wall while her hand was still in his fist.
"dared.."
Leonid lifted Charlotte's chin with his index finger and made her look into his eyes. The distance between them was almost non-existent, yet Leonid continued to approach and continue using his stern tone.
"To tease you?"
He already knew that Charlotte was sensitive to his actions, whether she loved him or just couldn't resist the touch of a man like him. Leonid did not plan to back down, but rather take advantage of Charlotte's weakness so that she would tell him what happened to her