Bitter & Sweet
The Part 22
Chloe who had just cut off a small part of her fruit tart, smiled widely when she heard the question from Matteo.
"I don't think so ... But ... I don't know!" Chloe deliberately said the floating answer, as she was about to joke with Matteo.
And Matteo, too, seemed to be lured into Chloe's prank, for Matteo seemed distracted, and said,
"What kind of answer is that? Just confusing."
Chloe finally laughed.
"I'm just kidding, Sir ... To me, Mister David is a good person. Because he's the one who doesn't hesitate to help, when I'm really in trouble....
... And of course I like it. But I think, both me and Mister David, no one has that much interest, so they want to be lovers" Chloe said.
"Hm ... Sounds like you admire David. If you spend a lot of time with him, you may fall in love with him" Matteo said.
"I can't predict the future. So I wouldn't say impossible. Because, what if in the end I did fall in love with her...?" chloe said, with the question hanging.
"... *You'll eat your words!" matteo said, connecting Chloe's words.
(*You'll lick your own spit.)
"Yes! ... That's why, then it would be better if I didn't say anything" said Chloe, smiling, then continuing to enjoy the pieces of tart.
"Are you always this honest, every time you talk to people around you?" ask Matteo.
"Hm ... I guess not. Only to people I feel I can trust" Chloe replied.
"You may not know. In the office, I often lie to most people, so that there is no tension between shareholders and the CEO."
Matteo seemed jolted after hearing Chloe's statement, and looked increasingly curious, Matteo then said,
"really? Is that as hard as your job?"
"Actually, it's not as difficult as you might think. Among the crowd, of course, we will meet people who have different characters," replied Chloe.
Chloe put the tablespoon she held onto the plate, then leaned her back, relaxing on the back of the chair.
"Sometimes, the CEO, either Mister Nathan or Mister Matthew, may not intend to cause a commotion. It's just, they might not find the right way to talk, ...
...So that their words do not provoke anger, from people who basically do not like them....
...So that I will mediate it, because I already know and memorize, the characteristics of each of those people....
... I'll get people who hear from the CEO not to be offended, even if I have to lie" Chloe explained.
"Loyalty and totality. Still coupled with honesty," chirped Matteo, then looked at Chloe fixedly. "As an employee, you have a work ethic that leaders will love."
"I presume, that you are now praising ... And, thanks for the compliment!" chloe said, smiling.
"Chelle! ... Wasn't there any of the higher-ups in the company, who invited you to work for them?" matteo.
"Hm ... There are. Mister David," Chloe replied.
"Nrt! ... Need you. What should I do, lest you be tempted to work for him?" matteo said, then leaned roughly on his chair.
Chloe chuckled.
Without responding to Matteo's words further, Chloe immediately stood up and lifted the dirty dishes from the tart, then cleaned them in the sink.
"Are you not sleepy yet?" asked Chloe, who was standing on her back to Matteo.
"Yet" replied Matteo. "What about you?"
"I'm not sleepy either ... Instead, I might have to move a little bit to burn the calories from the tart" Chloe said.
Chloe then arranged the dishes that were already clean and dry, returning to their original place.
"But I can't go too far, because Mister Matthew could have woken up, then looked for me" Chloe continued.
"Geez! ... In fact, I plan to take you on foot around this housing complex," said Matteo.
Chloe laughed, then said,
"Why do you have to walk that far? Not only will you burn calories, you'll just get tired of it."
"You don't know. Abroad, I usually walk up to a few blocks from my home. In addition to seeking inspiration, ...
Chloe laughed again, and even this time, Chloe could barely manage the volume of laughter coming out of her mouth, so Chloe had to rush to cover her mouth with her hands.
"Why are you laughing?" Matteo reprimanded Chloe who was laughing, while he himself was also laughing.
"How many coins can you find?" ask Chloe, who's in Matteo's joke.
"Hm ... I've collected up to 15 pennies. It's nice to call for a few minutes on a pay phone" Matteo replied.
The way Matteo spoke, he looked made to sound serious, as if what he was talking about was indeed true.
"Are you interested in trying it?" matteo asked, seemingly trying to restrain himself from laughing.
"Hm ... Waita minute! I'll check on Mister Matthew first. If she looks unperturbed, maybe we can take a walk for a while" Chloe said.
"Okay!" matteo, sounds excited.
Chloe and Matteo then walk to Matthew's room.
While Chloe walked into Matthew's room, Matteo waited for her by standing at the door.
Matthew seems to be asleep when Chloe checks on him, so Chloe just pulls the blanket slowly, covering some of Matthew's body.
Still moving slowly, Chloe then moved out of Matthew's room, then rushed off with Matteo, to take a walk around the housing.
The atmosphere of the street outside seemed very calm, considering that the housing there was indeed for the people of the upper class, so the level of security was quite high.
Surveillance cameras are visible at almost every corner, with non-stop monitoring from security personnel, for 24 hours every day.
So is the lighting enough, so that almost no part of the street looks dark.
So that Chloe and Matteo, can take a leisurely walk, without worrying about criminals or anything like that, which will not be that easy to enter the area.
However, inside the silence, Chloe repeatedly heard Matteo's heavy breathing, as if something was troubling her mind.
"What's wrong?" ask Chloe.
"It's okay ... I just miss something" replied Matteo.
"Can I know? ... What do you miss?" Chloe simply asked, if Matteo wanted to express the burden of her mind.
"Many things" replied Matteo. "But the most disturbing thing is that when I walk with you, I remember my ex-boyfriend."
"Ugh? ... Well then, we should just go home," said Chloe, who then turned around, about to walk back to Matthew's house.
"Tsk!" Matteo clucked, hurriedly holding Chloe's steps, holding her arm.
"I cut off our relationship a year ago, in a summer like this," Matteo said, turning Chloe around to walk with him.
"We dated for about 4 years. But in the third year, she never wanted to again if I invited her to come with me, whenever I wanted to take a walk like this....
... In fact, before that he was the one who often asked me if I wanted to take a walk with him, while carrying our pet dog," said Matteo.
While still walking slowly, Chloe just fell silent listening to Matteo tell a story.
"Initially, I thought that he would no longer take a walk with me, because our pet dog had suddenly fallen ill and died....
... Apparently, he betrayed me. He was in touch with one of my friends. And I just found out, after they've been cheating for almost a year" Matteo said.
Matteo let out a long sigh, and his gust sounded heavy, before he finally continued to say,
"The funny part is, I could tell that he had betrayed me while I was walking around like this, and found him making out with my friend by the side of the road."
To Chloe, nothing funny from Matteo's story sounded like an outpouring of heart, but Matteo spoke while chuckling.
So Chloe knew, that it was not a happy laugh, but a way for Matteo to cover up her heartache.
"You can laugh at my stupidity" Matteo said, smiling.
"Hm ... Nothing to laugh about. Everyone can make mistakes, and that doesn't mean stupidity" Chloe said.
Chloe who then remembered her stupidity until she could be tricked by Brad, then continued to say, 'So,
"If I laughed at you, you would laugh even harder....
... Because when compared to you, then I'm even more stupid, if you find out what I'm going through."