The cleaning lady was wearing gloves and an apron. With a smile, she said, “Ms. Craw, I've finished cleaning up the apartment. And I've already put the fruits in the fridge. Is there anything I need to do?"
"No, you can leave now," Luca replied coldly. She glanced at the living room. It had indeed been cleaned and tidied up.
"Alright. Then, I'll leave first." The cleaning lady took off her gloves and apron after she finished her work. She turned around and left after putting them back in place.
Luca picked up the sample and put it into an impenetrable sealed bag. Then, she put it in the disinfection cabinet. She did not have as many equipments as in the laboratory. Hence, she could only use these home appliances to do her research.
After all, she could not bring these to the laboratory.
After Luca handled everything, she went to take the clams that the cleaning lady had cleaned out of the fridge. She took some out, planning to make a pot of clam chowder as a side dish to have with the leftovers from lunch. She wanted to make an easy dinner.
An hour later, she had finished preparing the creamy and thick clam chowder.
The doorbell rang while Luca was putting her meal on the dining table.
She had a feeling that the person outside the door was Luke.
Even if she did not open the door, he knew the passcode and would be able to come in. Luca thought it was unnecessary to say these things to him, so she went to open the door. The man outside the door was him, indeed.
"Mr. Crawford, what brings you here?" She looked at the man, and a helpless glint flashed across her eyes. The more she wanted to stay away from him, the more often they met each other.
Usually, the chances of running into him at work were lesser as they were not working on the same floor. She thought that it was normal. Now, when she was resting at home, they had been seeing more of each other. She felt that something was wrong here.
Luke really seemed like he was taking responsibility of her...
He picked her up from the hospital and hired a cleaning lady to take care of her.
Noticing the helplessness in her eyes, Luke remained unchanged and asked intentionally, "Am I not welcome here?" "No. Please come in." Luca shook her head and made way to let him in.
Luke came in, unbuttoned his suit coat with one hand, and hung it on the clothes rack behind the door. His gestures were smooth as though he was in his own home.
He could smell food, so he asked, “You made dinner?"
"Yes." Luca nodded and looked at the dining table. Considering that he came at this hour, he must not have had his dinner yet...
It was only courteous for her to invite him to have dinner with her, and it was something that she should do. However, the dishes on the table were all leftovers from lunch except for the clam chowder.
In Crawford Manor, Mrs. Nancy would usually get rid of the leftovers from each meal so that they would not be left overnight. They would not even have leftovers for dinner.
Hence, Luke was very demanding when it came to the freshness of his meals.
How could she invite him to join her when the food on the table were leftovers from lunch?
"Aren't you going to invite me for dinner?" Luke asked.
Luca felt helpless. She kept an arm's length of distance from him and felt safe with this distance between them.
She replied, "The food on the table are leftovers. Only the clam chowder was freshly made. I suppose you're not used to having leftovers, right?"
"Who made the clam chowder?" Luke asked as he walked to the dining table. Indeed, they were all leftovers.
"I made it," Luca answered honestly. She watched his gestures and it seemed like he was going to take a seat.
Luke noticed that there was only a set of cutleries on the table. He was about to sit down but suddenly stood up straight. He walked toward the kitchen.
Luca knew he was certainly going to get a spoon and a fork.
He previously took the initiative to do the dishes, so he knew where the cutleries were in the kitchen. After a while, Luke carried a bowl and cutleries out of the kitchen.
The way Luke made himself so comfortable here almost made Luca think that she had prepared the meal for him.
Luca said slowly as she watched him sit down on the chair, "I don't have bread here, only chowder. Is that fine?"
Luke looked at her and said, "Sure. I'm not a picky eater."
Luca knew he was not a picky eater per se, but he was still very particular about his food.
She picked up the spoon, thinking of filling up a bowl of oats for him. However, Luke said, "I'd like to have some chowder first."
Luca heard him and put down the spoon. Then, she pointed at the big bowl covered with a lid that was opposite him. She said, "That's the clam chowder."
Luke opened the lid and looked at the creamy white clam chowder inside. A savory smell greeted him. He filled up a big bowl of it, then took a sip. She had indeed made it.
He loved the chowder that she made.
Luke usually did not like eating leftovers, but there was one dish on the table that Bianca had prepared herself. That was why he decided to sit down for a meal.
Luca saw the satisfied expression on his face and asked curiously, “Mr. Crawford, you're having dinner here, so what about the kids?"
"Zander will pick them up," Luke explained, "I'll have to go back to the office again to work after dinner." copyrighted © content.
"Isn't it troublesome for you to come back and forth?" Luca asked unconsciously. Although the office was not far away from here, it was pretty time-consuming if he came back and forth.
“I didn't feel like having takeouts." Luke took a sip of the warm chowder. The warmth and hearty feeling flowed through his throat to his stomach. He looked at Luca with his deep eyes. "I have a weak stomach. It's bad for me if I eat takeout food often."
Luca agreed with what he said. He did have a weak stomach. At the thought of that, it seemed reasonable for him to have dinner here.
However, she was not Bianca now.
Luca lowered her head and drank the chowder as she remained silent.
Luke began to eat some oats after he finished the bowl of clam chowder.
The texture of the oats was not as good as they were leftovers from lunch. He wanted more chowder, but Luca did not prepare much of it because she did not expect him to come over. He had no choice but to force himself to finish the oats.
He was eating one mouthful of oats with one mouthful of the sides. Although the food tasted bad, he felt happy with Luca beside him keeping him company.
Luca took a thermos bottle out of the kitchen after they finished dinner and said, "Mr. Crawford, you can bring the clam chowder to the office to have it since you'll be working late today."
"Why do you have more?" Luke asked. Did they not finish the chowder in that big bowl just now?
Luca answered, "I can't cook clam chowder with just that many clams. I wanted to save it for tomorrow, but it won't be as good if I leave it overnight. You can have it."
He had to work late at the office today. He no longer stood on ceremony when he heard Luca's offer. He took the thermos bottle from her and said, "Thank you."
When Luca heard him thanking her, it reminded her of how he used to say 'Thank you, darling' to her. It sounded less warm-hearted now without the term of endearment at the back.
After dinner, Luke had to go back to the office to work. He put on his coat, carried the thermos bottle with him, and opened the door. He turned around and shot a glance at Luca as if he could sense something.
She was looking at him too.
Their eyes met. Luca was a little surprised and asked, "Is there anything else?"
"The chowder you made tasted good. It tasted just like how my wife used to make it back then." Luke closed the door after that.
Luca's heart sank at once. Of course, it tasted the same. She did not expect Luke to come for dinner when she was making the chowder. That was why she did not change the recipe of the clam chowder.