Return of The Betrayed Luna

Chapter 13 : A Guilty Conscience

Naomi did not hesitate to shut the door before Marvin turned to leave. He showed the intention of leaving and Naomi reciprocated by shutting the door right in front of his face. Her mask was dry and crusty. The first thing she did was wash it off and finish off the paper skin care routine.

She did it extra slowly because she was dreading this night.

Sleeping was the most relaxing part of the day. However, when sleep gets plagued by nightmares and even scarier sleep paralysis, it would scare even the laziest person into avoiding it. Naomi wasn't the bravest person to exist. She got scared after falling victim to weird dreams and stiffness and sleep paralysis. If only she had a sleeping pill to suppress those things while she slept...

It was guaranteed whether it would work, but it wouldn't hurt to try. Now Naomi stalled her time by doing things she never did. She picked up a random book and started reading it. This book looked old but untouched. It was one of those books that were brought but never read by the owner.

"Let's see if you can put me to sleep," Naomi told the innocent book and held it captive in her hands. It was a thriller romance between a police officer and a criminal. They fall in love without knowing the other's identity. Naomi clicked her tongue and almost threw the book so many times that it was hard to keep count.

When two people refuse to talk in a relationship, it is a perfect recipe for disaster. They never acknowledge their identities and expect the other to automatically know everything. It was stupidity in it's finest form.

Forget sleep, Naomi was so frustrated that she grew hungry in the middle of the night. It was not even a small hunger that could be tolerated until the morning. She felt her stomach growl loud enough to wake up another person if there was any in the room. She got off the comfy chair by the window (that had become the spot for her to read) and went downstairs to hunt for food.

The fridge was in sight and the growling grew harder. She made a beeline for the fridge and looked through it. It was full of things. Vegetables, fruits, some canned food and frozen things too. The only appetizing thing was an apple, but Naomi wasn't a fan of it.

There was no sign of cooked food. Not even left overs.

"Hungry?" Someone said behind her. Naomi's skin tightened and her body jumped. Inertia was out of her control as she fell forward and bumped into a cold shelf in the fridge.

Her face was frozen stiff by the time she managed to stabilize herself to standing again. She immediately looked back to curse at the person who made her look stupid. But turning around made her purse her lips tightly to hold back. She couldn't possibly curse at that face. She'd be hanged.

"Why is it you again?" She asked in a mildly annoyed tone. Wasn't he a bit too involved in her life these days? Where was the indifferent Marvin who wouldn't wish to see Juliette no more than two times a week? Where did she go wrong in the act?

Marvin raised an eyebrow, not surprised at her attitude. Not being surprised was one thing. Her attitude still rubbed him the wrong way, but there wasn't anything he could do about it. They weren't enemies. He could handle a little disrespect here and there if it was his partner.

"I'm here to fill my water jar," Marvin held up the empty glass jug, "You?"

Naomi did not want to admit that she was hungry. For some reason she thought it was a matter of dignity and late night hunger pangs were disgraceful. But when her stomach growled once more (very loudly) and her hand instinctively touched his belly, Marvin did not even have to guess.

Marvin thought, since it was already so obvious, she'd admit it. But she surprised him with a denial.

"No reason. Just taking a walk around the house."

Marvin started filling up the jar with the filter and said, "Really?"

"Uh-huh."

Naomi subconsciously rubbed her belly and looked away. She looked about ready to roll on the floor crying. Marvin smiled upon seeing that. He hadn't seen a whiny and stubborn Juliette before. It was a sight to see for sure. Her pajama pants were still rolled up to her knees.

"Why aren't you wearing slippers?"

"Is that important?"

"It's been getting cold recently. Remember to take care of yourself. Don't expect me to take time off to look after you when you get sick."

He did not mean to say it like that. A casual statement like that was made by mistake. But once said, words can't be taken back. He could have said something to make it sound less careless, but it was useless. His words showed his true feelings towards Juliette.

She was a chore. He had to take care of her and he'd rather not do it if he had the choice.

Naomi chuckled, "I never expected you to look after me. And I don't need your time. If I do get sick, I'd rather die from it than take some medicine from someone who doesn't give a s**t about me."

"......."

Marvin heard her footsteps moving further and further away from the kitchen. A dull sound followed a few minutes later. It came from upstairs and if someone was paying attention to it as much as Marvin was, they'd know it was the sound of a door slamming shut. And the person who did it was angry to the point that they did not care about the door or walls breaking apart.

It was wrong for him to say that, but his behaviour towards Juliette wasn't going to change in a short time, even if he wanted it to. He had to pay attention to his words if he did not want slip ups like that.

He felt guilty towards her for these things. The way he made her feel with his words and actions. If not a mate and partner, then he should at least treat her as a person who shared the same home as him. It proved to be difficult though. The blame had to be borne by him for this one.