Love Her to No End

Chapter 30

Chapter 30 His Considerate Words And Actions

Upon entering the restaurant, Michaela realized that Jonathan had picked a fondue shop.

As a hard core foodie, fondue was her top favorite.

When she was gazing at the falling rain through her office windows earlier on, a big pot of piping hot cheese fondue was what she was craving.

Great minds think alike! Suddenly, Michaela did not find Jonathan as annoying and frightening as he was before. In fact, she thought that he was quite friendly.

The change in perception made her feel more at ease. As soon as they entered the restaurant, someone came up to them and collected the umbrella from Jonathan’s hand. At the same time, he addressed him reverently, “Mr. Xander.”

“Hi, just go ahead and carry on with your work. We’ll head upstairs ourselves.”

He did not want to be bothered by anyone when he had the chance to spend quality time with Michaela.

“Noted.”

As the restaurant manager retreated, he took a glance at her.

Subsequently, Jonathan led Michaela to the second floor. They walked past a row of private rooms, took a few turns, and arrived at one with a striking wooden carving on its door.

Mich in My Heart.

She hesitated to take a step forward. A peculiar feeling rose within her but vanished a moment later.

“What’s wrong?” he saw her gaze fall on the block of wood and asked the obvious.

His voice snapped her back to her senses. Michaela shook her head and said, “Nothing.”

Meanwhile, a hand appeared from behind and turned the knob to open the door right before her.

Though it was a simple action, she felt like he did it on purpose, seemingly hugging her in a way. “Let’s go in.” He continued to behave indifferently.

“Okay.”

She strode into the room, not realizing a smirk had settled upon Jonathan’s face.

The private room was so huge that it could easily host about thirty people at any one time. Yet, there was only one long table inside.

Jonathan removed his jacket and went ahead to make a pot of hot tea, whereas Michaela made her way to the French windows by the balcony.

She had always found them fascinating.

Coupled with the pitter-patter of the rain, she was also captivated by the hustle and bustle of the vibrant city. Cars zoomed past the busy roads, and the pedestrians quickened their steps to get to their destinations; everyone seemed to know where they were heading to.

Michaela was so engrossed in the eventful scenes unfolding before her eyes until a familiar baritone voice resonated behind her and interrupted her thoughts.

By the time she turned around, the room was filled with a faint fragrant of earl grey. Jonathan waved at her. “Come on over and try the tea that I’ve made for you. It will warm you up in no time.”

“Thank you, Mr. Jonathan.”

She kept on addressing him formally as if he was a stranger. On the other hand, she spoke casually to Walter.

Am I that old?

Jonathan’s gaze darkened. Right when Michaela was about to take another sip, a crisp voice said sarcastically, “I remember clearly that back in the days, you refused to use honorifics when Old Mr. Simmons insisted that you do so when talking to me. Ironically, you’ve not dropped the title once these days.”

Cough… cough…

Michaela’s face was flushed a crimson red when he brought up the past. She choked on a gulp of warm tea and started coughing violently until tears filled her out.

Jonathan shook his head helplessly when he saw that she was all tensed up. He knew that he was growing impatient.

“Why did you drink so fast? No one is fighting for the cup of tea with you,” he said languidly as he approached her and gently patted her back.

I wouldn’t have panicked if he didn’t startle me like that!

Admittedly, she was repulsed by the honorific terms back in the day. Moreover, she was going through a rebellious stage then. Due to that, she even threatened Jonathan before.

At that time, she was reluctant to acknowledge him as an elder because he was only a few years her senior.

Well, kids say the darndest thing. How could he take it seriously? He must have an elephant’s memory to remember such a thing that I’ve said before and try to use it against me now. How vengeful and petty!

While she was still cursing him in her head, the restaurant manager knocked on the door courteously and entered the room thereafter.

After supervising the waiters to serve an array of gourmet dishes, he intended to leave two waiters in the room to wait on the duo. However, his suggestion was rejected by Jonathan. The manager was astounded to see the latter rolling up his sleeves, ready to serve his guest food.

Whoa, this lady must be a special someone to Mr. Xander!

The cheese fondue was absolutely delicious. Jonathan was very good at pairing the cheeses and keeping the burner at the most ideal temperature. Michaela enjoyed herself thoroughly. In contrast, Jonathan had very little because he was busy tending to her needs.

By the time dinner was over, it was already nightfall.

And so, it’s not exactly that bad to dine with Mr. Jonathan after all. I’m supposed to treat him to this meal, but I clearly ate more than him.

Thus, she came up with an excuse to go downstairs, wanting to foot the bill. The manager saw her and asked immediately, “Is there anything that I can help you with, Miss?”

“Please get me the check.”

The manager chuckled. “You must be joking. This restaurant belongs to Mr. Xander. There’s no need for you to pay, Miss.”

What? This place is owned by Mr. Jonathan? There’s no wonder he’s so familiar with it like he’s a regular here. Oh no, I was supposed to give him a treat. Now, it’s apparent that I owe him another favor.

Left with no choice, Michaela thanked the manager with a smile and headed to the stairs. Suddenly, a couple who were walking down caught her attention because they were publicly displaying affection for each other.

Wait, aren’t those two Lucille and Zack? What a pathetically small world to run into this pair at dinner!

Ever since the incident at the emergency ward, Lucille had officially moved into Zack’s condominium.

The few days before their engagement was called off, Zack was grounded by Quentin. However, the grounding period did not last long. Yvonne felt so sorry for her son and restored his freedom in the name of work.

Now that the two finally lived together, they were inseparable and could not keep their hands off each other.

Zack was stunned to bump into Michaela. Upon noticing that the arm wrapping around his was trembling, he patted Lucille’s hand and consoled her, “Don’t worry, I’m here.”

Michaela was taking in all their reactions and little interactions. She burst out laughing and decided to go up the stairs. Surprisingly, Zack took the initiative to greet her, “It’s been a while, Mich.”

Michaela ignored him and continued walking upstairs. When she was passing them by, she heard Lucille called her name under her breath, “Michaela.”

She wanted to disregard their presence and strode forward, but a hostile voice held her back. “Michaela, must you be so heartless? Do you want to see Lucille dwell in sorrows and guilt forever? Is that what you want? To err is human, to forgive divine. Why can’t you stop being so overbearing?”

“I’m heartless and overbearing? Wow!” Michaela repeated his words through her gritted teeth. She looked him straight in the eyes and faked a skin-deep grin. “Zack, who are you to lecture me after doing all those disgusting things?”

“You!”

Zack had been a favored child all of his life, and no one had ever publicly humiliated him.

“I see your true colors now. Thankfully, I called off the wedding. A woman like you don’t deserve to bear my surname. Nobody will find you lovable.” Feeling embarrassed, he responded with a grimaced look and harsh words.

Her fiancé cheated on her with her sister, and she became the victim. Although Jonathan managed to suppress all the rumors and hate messages that had gone viral, he could not stop anyone from gossiping.

She had never expected Zack to rub salt on her wound with no qualms about hurting her deeper.

Instantly, tears welled up in her eyes. Before she could react to anything, a calm voice spoke on her behalf, “So, that’s how you roll huh, Zack?”