Chapter 36

Freshly showered, I came downstairs right after my last breakfast in bed, served by a smiling Giselle who expressed how dearly she would miss me.

I had asked her to stay and eat breakfast with me, simply because the company had been nice and hearing someone actually say they would miss me was nice.

So I shared my fluffy blueberry pancakes and split my fruits.

I was now heading down the stairs with my tray, a job I had insisted on doing the whole summer, since the staff worked hard enough as it was and I was perfectly capable of bringing down my own dishes. I therefore walked steadfastly towards the kitchen, nudging the door open with my shoulder when my hands were full.

"Good morning, guys!"

I halted in my steps when all four people in the kitchen turned around to look at me; Jean, who with his white chef-outfit smiled and shot me a wave, his sous-chef, Claude, who did all of the prepping and chopping, Giselle who had left me after breakfast to go fetch Harry's breakfast tray, since he seemed to be incapable of doing it himself, walking across the grand foyer and into the kitchen to return his dishes.

But that turned out to be incorrect today, as I walked in on the three usual kitchen staff... and Harry talking to them.

Conversation stopped when I stepped in, and Harry, like the others, turned to look at me as I stopped in the doorway with my tray. I didn't know why I was so surprised. I just couldn't remember ever seeing Harry in the kitchen before, except for the other night.

Or, maybe it was because I hardly ever saw him outside his office, unless there had been an important cause for him to be elsewhere.

Like when hand mixers got away from you or when houseguests swam alone and naked at night.

"Oh," I finally got out, dumbly.

I shifted a little on my feet, but then saw Harry lift a brow when I hesitated.

"This is a surprise. You’re never here."

"I was just speaking to Jean," Harry turned towards Jean who gave a nod when Harry provided him with a look.

"About tonight's menu."

"Tonight's menu?" I questioned, lifting a brow.

"I figured since you are about to go live and thrive on the nutritional diet that is the ramen noodle-soup college special, I would make sure you're sent off with at least one last hardy meal," Harry drawled, Giselle cupping her mouth not laugh from the corner.

I was tempted to follow her lead.

"Oh. Right," I nodded, pressing my lips together.

"Is that your bullshit way of saying we're having a farewell dinner together tonight?"

Giselle now let go of a snort, and to my own bemusement, I saw Harry purse his lips. If he was gonna stand there and be sarcastic with me without expecting a comeback...

"How does 7.30 sound?"

"7.30 is perfect," I replied, grinning when he clenched his jaw.

"The food better be the best I've had all summer."

Excluding his dick, of course.

"I'll leave that to Jean," Harry gave a last look to Jean, who nodded firmly and offered a broad smile.

"Of course! I will whip up something special."

Harry nodded, but then walked towards me - towards the exit.

"See you then."

"I can hardly wait," I dramatically voiced as he walked out quietly, probably shaking his head at me behind my back.

I didn't bother to look, but merely grinned to Giselle who could finally let her giggle escape.

"I think that's a good of a dinner proposal as he is capable of making," She voiced, chuckling as I handed over my tray to her.

"Well, it could've been worse," I sighed, shrugging my shoulders.

"He could've asked like the Beast, from Beauty and the Beast."

Although to be honest, if he had asked like that, the naughty side in me might've just replied, yes daddy, just to see him choke on that.

I worked all day on the seventh assignment, determined to meet my promise to finish it before tomorrow.

I was struggling hard, but mostly because my concentration kept flickering.

What Giselle had said earlier in the kitchen had for some reason stayed with me, but mostly because of something that she had said a few weeks ago.

"Mr. Devon never eats with others, unless he's with a colleague."

Except for the first day here, where I guess he only ate with me to bust my whole act and tell me he knew about what his brother had planned, we hadn't eaten a single meal together, except for when I had forced my company upon him.

Like the lunch we had and the cake I made.

But now we were having dinner together and he was making sure it was a good one.

Why?

Was I reading too much into this?

Were these my emotions taking over again or was there actually some secret meaning behind tonight?

Was he trying to make it special because there

was something he wanted to say to me, or was he merely being his gentlemanly self and bidding me a proper farewell with a nice dinner?

It was probably the latter, but the ache in my chest only intensified if that was true. It was hard to ignore it when the signs kept coming up, but the words never left his lips.

So if tonight was him finally setting the theme to saying something...

No. I couldn't... I wouldn't get my hopes up, because even if I did, it would mean nothing.

Or it would, but... God. I couldn't find heads or tails in this anymore. I wanted him to just say it, to acknowledge something had happened this summer, just so I could leave not feeling so... empty.

So... stupid.

Even if we couldn't stay together, I just wanted him to tell me this summer had meant something to him.

That I had.

Pushing out a shaky breath, I looked down at my assignment and then at the clock. It was almost dinner time and I was a mess. Glancing over at all of my packed bags, I squeezed my eyes shut and forced myself to shut it down.

I was leaving tomorrow.

It didn't have to matter unless I let it.

Just take the experiences with you, treasure them and then move on with your life. That's all you have to do.

Unfortunately, I didn't have the same practice shutting down my emotions as Harry did.

Twenty minutes later, I was dressed for dinner and walking down the stairs. I hadn't known if I was supposed to put on something special, so I had simply put on the same dress as I had worn the first day I came here, the flowery summer dress without straps.

It was comfortable for a big meal and without a doubt, Jean had cooked up a storm that would keep me fed till Thanksgiving.

Coming to the foot of the stairs, I headed towards the dining room when the smell was making my mouth water. I had barely entered before I halted in the door, surprised.

''I've been here for three months now, and in the past 24 hours, you've been more outside of your office than you been the whole summer," I remarked, just as Harry looked up from staring into some papers.

Wearing a brown pair of pants and a dark green shirt that brought out the amber in his eyes and the umber tones in his hair, he offered me a smile and got up from his seat by the dining table when I came in, crossing my arms.

"Cassandra."