The Cold CEO's Funny Wife

Chapter 4: The Fever and The CEO

It was Monday morning, 8:05 AM. Sunny's Cafe opened at 7 AM. But Cassian's Table Four was empty.

Cassian arrived, same black suit, same cold face, same briefcase. He looked at Table Four. No coffee. No Savi wiping it clean.

He frowned.

Mrs. Sunny came out of the kitchen, looking worried.

"Where is Savi?" Cassian asked coldly.

Mrs. Sunny sighed. "Savi is sick, Sir. She has a fever. She worked too much. She worked at the cafe in the morning and sold clothes until 2 AM last night. She fainted this morning when she was opening the cafe. I told her to go home and rest."

Cassian's cold grey eyes turned darker. He didn't say anything. He put his one-thousand bill on the counter.

"Keep the change," he said, and walked out.

But he didn't go to his office. He went to his car.

"Where does Savi live?" he asked his driver.

His driver was shocked. "Sir, I don't know. Why?"

"Find out. Ask Mrs. Sunny. Now," Cassian said, his voice cold and urgent.

Five minutes later, Mrs. Sunny gave the address. A small apartment building, three blocks away from the cafe. Second floor, small room.

Cassian walked there. He didn't care that his expensive shoes were walking on a dirty street. He didn't care that people were staring at a man in a black suit in a poor neighborhood.

He knocked on the door of Savi's apartment. No answer.

He knocked again, harder.

"Savi? Savi, open the door," he said.

Inside, Savi was lying on her small bed, sweating, shivering, with a high fever. She was wearing an old oversized white t-shirt. Her messy bun was loose. Her face was red and pale at the same time. She heard the knocking but thought it was a dream.

"Who... who is it?" she said weakly.

"Cassian," said the voice outside.

Savi tried to sit up. "Sir Iceberg? What are you doing here? How do you know where I live? Are you stalking me again?"

Her voice was hoarse and weak.

Cassian heard her voice and his chest tightened. He never felt this tightness before. Even when his company lost millions, he didn't feel this.

"Savi, open the door. You are sick," he said.

"I am fine! I just have a small fever! Go away! I don't need help! I told you, I don't need saving!" Savi shouted, but her voice cracked. She was trying to be hard-to-get even with a fever.

Cassian didn't listen. He tried the door handle. It was locked but old. He pushed it. It opened. It was not a strong lock.

He entered the small room. It was tiny. One bed, one small table, one electric fan that was not working, and three big boxes of second-hand clothes. It was hot inside, very hot. No air conditioner.

And on the bed was Savi, sweating, shivering, her face red.

Cassian's inner thought was a storm:

*She lives here? In this tiny hot room with no air conditioner? With a broken fan? And she works two jobs? And she still smiles every morning at the cafe and gives me free bread? And she still says she doesn't need help?

She has a high fever. She is shivering. She is alone. No one is taking care of her.

I have to do something. I don't know how to take care of sick people. I have never taken care of anyone in my life. People take care of me. But I have to do something.*

He walked to her bed. He knelt down so he was at her level.

Savi looked at him, her eyes blurry from fever.

"Sir Iceberg... why are you in my house? You... you are too expensive for my poor house. Your suit will get dirty," she whispered, trying to be funny even now.

Cassian didn't answer her joke. He reached out his hand and touched her forehead. His hand was cold, hers was burning hot.

"You have a high fever. Very high," he said.

Savi flinched when he touched her. No one touched her forehead like that since her mother died when she was ten. Her ex never did.

Her inner thought, even with fever, was still hard-to-get:

*He touched my forehead. His hand is cold. Like ice. But it feels good on my hot forehead. Don't like it, Savi! Don't like it! He is Sir Iceberg! You don't like him! But... why does it feel nice? Why does someone caring for me feel nice? I am alone for so long. I take care of myself. I don't let people take care of me. But his cold hand... it feels safe.*

"I'm fine... I just need sleep... Go away... You have a meeting... Big CEO meeting..." Savi mumbled, trying to push his hand away weakly.

"No meeting today," Cassian said. It was a lie. He had three meetings. He canceled them all with one text to his assistant while walking here.

He stood up and looked around the tiny room. He saw a small towel on a chair. He took it, went to the small sink, wet it with cold water, and came back.

He sat on the edge of her small bed and gently placed the cold wet towel on her forehead.

Savi closed her eyes. The cold towel felt so good.

"You... you know how to do that?" she whispered.

"No. I searched on my phone while walking here. How to take care of fever," Cassian admitted honestly. He, a CEO who owned five buildings, searched "how to lower fever at home" on Google.

Savi almost laughed, but she was too weak.

"Sir Iceberg searched Google... for me? Wow... that is... that is the most un-CEO thing you ever did," she whispered.

Cassian didn't smile. He was focused. He took out his phone and called someone.

"Dr. Reyes? Come to this address now. Bring medicine for high fever. And bring a portable air conditioner. Now," he said coldly into the phone.

Savi heard him. "Air conditioner? Sir, I cannot afford air conditioner! My rent is..."

"I am not asking you to pay. I am buying it for this room because it is too hot. You will get more sick from the heat," Cassian said, his cold voice but caring words.

"I don't want your money! I told you! I am hard-to-get! I don't accept expensive gifts from cold CEOs!" Savi tried to be angry, but she was too weak to shout.

Cassian looked at her, his grey eyes serious.

"This is not a gift. This is... rude tax refund. You charged me rude tax every day. Two thousand per day. For ten days, that's twenty thousand. An air conditioner costs twenty thousand. So this is your money, not mine. I am just returning your rude tax," he said, making up a lie quickly.

Savi stared at him. Rude tax refund? That was the most ridiculous, funny, but... sweetest lie she ever heard.

Her inner thought:

*Rude tax refund? He made that up! He made up a funny lie to make me accept the air conditioner without feeling like I owe him! He knows I am hard-to-get and I won't accept gifts! So he turned his help into my money! He is cold but... he is smart in a caring way.

He searched Google for me. He came to my poor house. He touched my forehead. He is putting cold towel on my head. He is buying air conditioner with a funny lie.

Is this... love? No, Savi, don't say that word! But... I feel loved. Even though I keep saying I don't like him, I feel loved. I feel taken care of for the first time in years.*

A tear fell from Savi's eye, mixing with her sweat.

"Why are you crying? Does your head hurt more?" Cassian asked, worried. He wiped her tear with his thumb, gently.

Savi quickly turned her face away, trying to be hard-to-get even while crying.

"I'm not crying! It's sweat! It's sweat from fever! I'm not touched by your stupid rude tax refund lie! I'm not!"

Cassian didn't argue. He just kept the cold towel on her forehead, his cold hand holding it in place.

After twenty minutes, Dr. Reyes arrived with medicine and a small portable air conditioner. The doctor checked Savi, gave her medicine, and installed the air conditioner. The room became cool within minutes.

Savi felt better, her fever going down a little from the medicine and cool air.

Cassian paid the doctor and the doctor left.

Now it was just Cassian and Savi again in the small cool room.

Savi was lying on her bed, looking at Cassian who was sitting on a small plastic stool beside her bed, his expensive suit wrinkled from sitting on a low stool.

"You can go now, Sir Iceberg. I am feeling better. Thank you... for the... rude tax refund," she said quietly, her hard-to-get voice softer than ever.

Cassian stood up. He looked at her. He wanted to stay. He wanted to make sure she was okay.

But he knew she was hard-to-get. If he stayed longer, she would get annoyed and say "Go away!"

"I will go. But I will come back at 6 PM to check your fever. And I will bring soup. Not from me. From Mrs. Sunny. She asked me to bring it," he lied again. Mrs. Sunny didn't ask, but he knew Savi would accept soup if it was from Mrs. Sunny, not from him.

Savi nodded weakly. "Okay... bring soup from Mrs. Sunny... not from you..."

Cassian walked to the door. Before he opened it, he turned back.

"Savi," he said.

"What?" Savi said.

"Even when you are sick and have fever, you are still hard-to-get. You still say you don't like me. You still say you don't need help," he said.

Savi looked at him, her eyes half-closed from fever.

"Yes. I am hard-to-get. I will always be hard-to-get. Even with fever," she whispered.

Cassian's inner thought as he looked at her:

*Yes, you are hard-to-get. You say you don't like me, even now. You say you don't need help, even when you are burning with fever. You push me away with funny words.

But I felt it today. You let me touch your forehead. You let me put cold towel on you. You accepted the air conditioner because of my stupid lie. You let me take care of you, even though you said no.

That is how I know you care. That is how I know you love me in your own hard-to-get way. You say no with your mouth, but you say yes with your small actions. You let me stay. You let me care.

And I will keep coming back. Even if you keep saying no for a long, long time. I will wait until you finally admit it. I can wait.*

He opened the door.

"Sleep, Savi. I will come back at 6 PM with soup," he said.

And he left, closing the door gently.

Savi was alone again in her now cool room, with cold towel on her forehead, medicine on her table, and a new air conditioner humming quietly.

She touched her forehead where his cold hand had been.

Her inner thought, finally honest for one second before she fell asleep:

*He came. He searched Google. He bought air conditioner. He made a funny lie about rude tax refund. He took care of me.

I say I don't like him. I say I am hard-to-get. I will keep saying that for a long time because I am scared.

But today, I felt it. I felt loved. And maybe... maybe I love him too. A little bit. But I will not admit it. Not yet. Not for a long time. I am Savi, hard-to-get Savi.

But thank you, Sir Iceberg. Thank you for feeling that I love you, even when I don't say it.*

She fell asleep, a small smile on her feverish face, hugging the small yellow hair clip he had kept from her online shop package.

And outside, Cassian Reid Alcantara, cold CEO, stood outside her poor apartment building for five more minutes, making sure the air conditioner was working, before walking back to his luxury car, his suit wrinkled, his heart beating in a way it never beat before.

He felt loved too. Even though she never said it.