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035: San Francisco (II)
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2024-10-29 19:42:56"Ayla?"
Claude called her out as he tried to catch up to her steps, climbing up the stairs.
"Hey, hey, hey…." He grabbed her elbow and tugged at it to bring her close. "I know what we talked about, and I meant every single word of it." He used his free hand to brush away the stray locks of her hair. "There's no one in my life, and there will never be one as long as you are with me."
He didn't know why, but her words affected her more than he let on. Every last one of it serves as a jab to his soul. It made him wonder about the depth of his feelings for her. So far, he used to believe that he was attracted to her because of reasons he didn't know yet.
"That's not what I mean." Ayla was no less confused by her sudden outburst. Why did she make a big deal out of it? There he was, trying his best to give her a good life. And she was doing nothing but to ruin their trip.
"I am so sorry." She shook her head as an apology left
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"By the way, if you don't mind me asking, how exactly are you two related? Claude kept on saying that it's a surprise and refused to tell me anything." She rolled her eyes at Claude first before giving Katherine a smile.Ayla didn't find it comfortable to be poking her nose in their private matters, but she had to know for sure."This little fool hasn't told you about me?" Katherine was a little baffled by the sudden revelation. "Don't tell me that you haven't told her anything?" She shifted her eyes to throw Claude a deadly stare, only to see him shaking his head."For real?" Katherine was clearly having a hard time believing her ears, but all Ayla could do was to watch it all from the sidelines."I didn't get the chance to do it." This time Claude spoke up in his defence. "Everything happened so fast, and I wanted her to get settled down first before disclosing anything about the family's secret. More so, I couldn't do it with Mo
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"Name the devils and here they are. Come on Ayla, I'll introduce you to them." Given no other choice, Ayla followed Katherine out of the living room with Claude walking closely behind her. As soon as she was out and about, her eyes landed on three children—two boys and one girl—and a man following behind them with a couple of plastic bags in his hands. "Noah!" Katherine threw him a glare before giving him a warning out loud. "You better have not let them overshop that sugary junk. Or else, be prepared to sleep on the couch tonight." Ayla found the whole scene a bit hilarious as her eyes darted around the entrance hall which was now filled with loud chattering. "Kids, behave!" Katherine yelled once again, but this time it was directed at the three children who had their eyes focused on Ayla. Their eyes shifted back and forth between her and Claude as they exchanged a few words every now and then. "Is that our new aunt?" The gi
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"It's already midnight." Claude spoke up as he looked up to meet her gaze. "Do we really have to go?""It'd be rude." Ayla rolled her eyes before picking up her denim jacket and pulled it over her shoulders. "Kathie looked eager to spend time with you." She added with a shake of her head."No! She is eager to spend time with you." Claude corrected her before burying his face into the pillow. "And there's no way we'll be able to come back inside before the sun is up. You don't know her like I do.""It's not like you are an early sleeper anyway." Ayla interrupted him. "And you don't have to wake up early either tomorrow." She added, trying to persuade the man who was refusing to get out of the bed.Claude, on the other hand, found himself to be in a dilemma. As much as he wanted to spend time with his family, he needed the rest more. He agreed completely with what Ayla said about his sleeping habits, but there were certain things she
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"Claude…""What is it?" He muttered a reply under his breath as he took a step closer to her. Bringing his free hand up to her face. He slowly tucked away a few stray strands of her hair which had managed to slip out of the bun that rested on top of her head.A sharp breath left her trembling lips and she shook her head."N-nothing.""Talk to me." He refused to let go of it. He wanted to know if any of his actions bothered her. Because if they did, he would respect her space and take a step back no matter how badly he wanted to feel her in his arms."Kathie must be waiting for us." Ayla forced herself to reply to him. She lacked the courage to say anything else to him even if she wanted to. Hence, she chose to make the safer bet and brought his attention back to the matter at hand. But what she didn't know was that he could be a lot more persistent than he seemed."She can wait." His thumb moved over the
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Claude finally forced his eyes open and looked in her direction only to find her staring back at him. Her face was shadowed by a threatening frown. "I'll be fine here." He mumbled once again, hoping that she would give up this time. "Alright then. I'll just go and ask Katherine to arrange another room for you." Ayla shrugged her shoulders casually and was about to get out of the covers when she was interrupted. "Fine." Claude got up on his feet and walked to the other side of the bed. "Don't you ever threaten me like that again though." He grumpily added before throwing himself on the mattress. He didn't forget to pick one of the pillows from behind and placed it between them. "I will threaten you again if I want to, Mister." Ayla mumbled with her half droopy eyes. "If that's what is going to take to make you have a good sleep." She pushed herself under the covers, snuggling against the pillow behind her. "Have a
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