You and I, Wolf

Chapter 6

Flashback

On the following Monday, the week after Veena had mistakenly gone to Luke's apartment thinking it was her scheduled day to clean it, she woke up feeling a huge hesitation inside her heart. She thought that she was already fired, and intended not to go there already.

She received a message from the person who hired her, reminding her of her schedule at Luke's apartment. After getting herself ready, she quickly took a tuk-tuk that brought her straight to Luke's apartment.

Just like the usual, everyone at the reception greeted her warmly, and then she smiled back at them as she headed towards the elevator.

She started with her usual routine, feeling glad that Luke wasn't there. She still felt embarrassed about the last time, thinking that she saw him completely naked.

Just after she cleaned the toilet up, and as she got ready to leave, the main door suddenly opened. Luke appeared there, smiling at her as she had turned to face him.

“Hi,” Luke uttered, smiling at her from ear to ear. “I'm sorry to return early, I thought you were already done with your work here.”

“Good morning, sir,” she replied, keeping her head down. “I just finished, I am actually about to leave.”

“I see, thank you for keeping my apartment tidy,” he briefly uttered, moving towards her direction with both his hands inside his pockets.

“It's my job, sir.”

“Luke, my name is Luke,” he chimed in, standing in front of her. “You're Praveena, right?”

“Veena, just call me Veena, sir Luke.”

“Drop the ‘sir’, will you?” he asked, sounding more of a command than a request.

“I'll go now, Luke. Thank you!” she stated, grabbing the envelope from the table.

“I added some,” he uttered, referring to the payment for Veena's services.

“Why did you do that? Sorry, I cannot take the extra,” she replied, refusing to accept the additional payment. She threw a worried look at him, and then she immediately glanced away as she headed towards the direction of the door.

“Look, that's for the tom yum soup that you prepared for me last time. It was really delicious, and I am actually thinking of asking you to prepare that for me again today, or maybe on your next schedule?”

“I am not sure if I can do that, I still have another job at the city library,” she courteously replied.

Luke's facial expression went from happy to sad, real quick. Honestly, he never thought that Veena was actually gorgeous. He thought he was only having a sort of delusion when he tried to remember her when he became sober on that day that Veena found her inside his toilet.

“Is that so? Well, I am insisting that you take the extra money, Veena. I also need to thank you for helping me out that day.”

“You don't have to, Luke. I just did what I thought was right,” she replied.

“Well, I still feel that I have to thank you.”

“You are very welcome! May I leave now?”

“Oh, I am sorry for keeping you around. I hope to see you again, Veena.”

Veena just nodded at him, forcing a smile as she passed by him.

“Take care, Veena,” he muttered, and then he heard the gentle sound of the door as it was pulled by Veena.

After Veena left, Luke could not easily get her off his mind. He kept thinking about her; how she looked, the softness in her tone, and her timid behavior.

He knew that he instantly felt an attraction to her, admitting to himself that he was right about his thoughts about the beautiful woman who helped him when he was so drunk.

Just about an hour or two after she arrives at the library, Veena was asked by Ms. Ami to go by the reception as someone was actually looking for her. She thought that it was someone from the orphanage, so she rushed towards that direction.

A familiar image was standing just a few inches away from the reception, and her heart started to race as she got closer to him.

“Hi, I was just thinking of asking you out for dinner tonight? After your shift, I guess.”

Luke took a deep breath after saying that, praying at the back of his mind that Veena would accept his kind invitation.

Before she could answer, Ms. Ami came in and introduced herself to Luke. “Hi, I am Ami, I am in charge here. Veena considers me as her guardian, and I just need to know who this handsome gentleman is standing before me.”

“Hi, my name is Luke Walters, and I am…”

“He's my other boss, Ms. Ami,” Veena chimed in, trying to end the awkward situation.

“Oh, nice to meet you, Mystery Boss!” Ms. Ami exclaimed. “She calls you that way, she doesn't know your name.”

Luke shook his head, “She already knew what my name is, Ms. Ami. I introduced myself to her this morning.”

“Oh, that sounds interesting! Looks like Veena here is trying to keep a secret from me.”

“Oh no,” he interrupted her. “It was so unintentional. I actually returned home earlier this morning and found her there.”

“Is that right? And then after she left, you just realized that you need to follow her here?”

“I am a very honest man, Ms. Ami, and I can only say yes to that as an answer,” he politely replied, moving his glance up at Veena.

“I'm sorry, Luke, but I actually overheard you asking her out on a date tonight. Am I right?”

Veena started feeling her cheeks as they turned red, she could not identify her emotions, and she was beginning to feel embarrassed.

Luke, on the other hand, pulled both his eyebrows up and then he pressed his lips together as he nodded at Ms. Ami.

“What do you say about that, Veena?” Ms. Ami looked at her, making her feel even more embarrassed.

“I don't know, honestly,” she sighed, swallowing a lump of discomfort on her throat after.

“Are you turning me down?” he asked, his tone laced with sadness.

Veena could not utter any word, she didn't know how to answer him. She could not even process the thought that a very handsome man, who apparently was her boss, was asking her out on a date.

“Don't worry, I am not going to push you, Veena. Just know that this invitation is available anytime, should you have a change of heart.”

Ms. Ami stared at her with her brows raised, as if telling her to take the invitation.

She gasped and then she pursed her lips. “I can try,” she uttered.

Luke's eyes widened, glimmering with excitement as he realized that Veena had just agreed to his invitation. “Shall I pick you up from here after your shift?”

“We closed at 5:30,” Ms. Ami narrated, feeling excited for Veena's first time going on a date.

“Am I not going home to change first?”

“It's up to you,” Luke replied to her. “We are not going anywhere fancy, unless you want to.”

“Oh no, I don't like that,” she quickly uttered. “I don't even have anything fancy to wear, to begin with!”

“I'll be here by 5, Veena. I will just wait for you outside.” He then looked at Ms. Ami, “Thank you, Ms. Ami!”

“Oh, why do you have to thank me? I didn't do anything,” she sweetly replied. “Make sure to take care of her, and take her home before midnight,” she added.