She put her index finger to her lips to silence Dalya. Secretly smirking, she motioned the girl to run towards her room. Dalya nodded and did what she instructed.
"You have to get up tomorrow early else you'll lose the Municipal scholarship. You don't want that to happen, do you Jewel? Jewel, are you listening?"
She turned back to Gideon and nodded quickly. "Of course, I'm listening. I'm not deaf." And laughed wryly.
Gideon's eyes squinted at her. "You're pale. Are you sick?"
"No! Of course not! What are you talking about? Don't overthink!" And she laughed. Jewel simply wiped the sweat from her forehead. "So, are you done? I need to go back to my room. You know... my friends and I will have a chat."
Gideon's brows met. "I thought you cut off ties with them?"
Her eyes widened and she smiled. "Of course, I'll have to say goodbye to them. It's part of parting etiquette isn't it? Last statement before goodbye?"
He sighed. "Alright. At three o'clock, get dressed. We're going somewhere later."
Jewel nodded. "Aye, I like that." She showed her teeth, grinning, and blinked.
"Something's wrong with you," he commented before turning around and walking down the stairs.
She took a deep breath and ran back to her room. "Dalya?" she called carefully.
"Miss," Dalya said. "The books are under the bed," the girl whispered.
The smile on her lips widened. "That's my girl! All right, have you gotten your tip from the change?"
"Yes, Miss."
"Good. Hmm, have you applied pest control as I asked you to do?"
"Yes, Senyorita. I'm sure rats can't ruin your books. Besides, it looks like there are no pests in this house. It's clean, Senyorita. There's almost no dust and I haven't seen a cockroach yet."
"That's fine. All right, you can go out now."
"Thank you, Miss." Dalya came out smiling and Jewel quickly closed the door and locked it.
She ran to the bed and peeked underneath. There are ten new and thick books. She started reading two books from the shelves.
Jewel was tossing around her bed everytime an explicit bed scenes were mentioned and muffled screams could be heard from outside her room. Since everyone on the mansion was busy, no one paid attention to the girl who was drowning in her pleasure.
At three o'clock, she stopped and sighed when a knock was heard in the door. It was Dalya who was checking up on her and she shooed the maid away. But after sometime, she heard another knock and it was from her husband. He reminded her to get dress and so she hopped off the bed and ran to the bathroom.
She was ready, dressed in an elegant blue nightgown with a little make up on the face when Gideon knocked on her door again. When she opened the door, she saw him in his format suit. A scent filled her nostrils as she stared at her handsome husband. Jewel blinked a few times, finding it hard to tear her eyes away from him.
Gideon cleared his throat and smiled at her. "You," he whispered, chuckling, and flicked her nose with his finger.
Jewel came back to her senses as her cheeks burned red in embarrassment. She quickly looked away. "W-What?"
He shook his head and lead her out of the house and opening the car's passenger door for her. She sat inside while Gideon walked in front and opened the driver's door, hopping in. He drove the car out of Cansanit.
"You didn't tell me where we were going," she said after awhile.
"You never asked."
Her lips twitched. Of course, she didn't ask earlier because her mind was filled with the newly bought books. Jewel sighed and looked outside the window.
"Am I wearing a good dress for that event?" she asked instead.
Gideon glanced at her through the rearview mirror and the corner of his lips tugged up. "It suits you well." After sometime, Gideon added. "I'll attend another seminar next week. I expect you to behave well in University, Jewel."
"Okay, no worries. I'll be very very behave then."
"Also stay away from Saaved---"
"I know. I'll stay away from Simoen."
"You don't have the same course with the three girls. So I assume you can't ---"
"Okay, I understand. I won't hang out with them."
"Jewel."
"Yes?"
Gideon glanced at her for a moment before turning his attention back on the road. "Make sure you understand my words."
"Sure, sure!"
But Gideon's face darkened at her reply. He was reminding Jewel out of goodwill but his wife was acting like a brat again, cutting his words and replying in a sarcastic tone. He was not happy.
On the other hand, Jewel didn't notice Gideon's dark mood because she kept on replaying the scenes she had read earlier. She was at the climax of the story when Gideon interrupted her reading and it's making her frustrated not to know what happened next.
The car was filled with silence as the two of them were busy in their thoughts. Until the car stopped in front of a grand hotel.
Jewel hopped off first and looked up at the tall building. Surely, the organizer of this party's wise to spend money. Taking a deep breathe, she walked close to her husband who was silent since earlier. She wondered why but her thoughts was distracted when she saw a woman hurriedly walked towards them when they entered the hotel.
"Gideon!" the woman greeted, smiling from ear to ear.
Jewel's brows met when she heard the woman's tone. After Elise and Julie, another woman popped out of nowhere, ready to flirt with her husband. She sneered and secretly pinched Gideon's arm. Gideon looked down on her but she didn't meet his gaze and just stared intently at the woman.
"Analisa," Gideon greeted the woman.
'Ah, so this is Analisa?' she thought. She once heard the woman's name when Gideon talked with the guidance counselor.
The woman grinned and looked at Jewel. "This is...?"
"This is my..." Gideon looked at Jewel before turning his attention back to Analisa. "My companion for tonight."
Jewel's body stiffened like a bucket of ice poured on her upon hearing Gideon's words. She looked up at him, bewildered, but Gideon seemed didn't see her stiff expression. Analisa clearly read her surprise and the woman smiled sweetly. "Ah, your companion, I see. The party hasn't started yet, let's go in?"
Gideon lead Jewel inside the hotel, following behind Analisa who was walking in front with her hips swaying everytime she took a step. She bit her lip and stayed silent. It was hard to admit that she's disappointed with Gideon's words but she could not refute her husband in front of other visitors.
She almost couldn't held her emotion right when she saw Elise and Julie inside the party's venue. It was when she realized that Gideon's attending a reunion part with his batchmate in UDM. And she was his 'date' for that night.
But when Elise was explicitly flirting with her husband, she could not control her jealousy and finally splashed wine in Elise's face.
Suddenly, the venue went silent and all eyes stared at the mess she made. Jewel looked at Gideon who was staring wide-eyed at Elise, surpised at what she had done to his 'colleague'.