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~ Chicago, Jasper\'s penthouse ~

Ellie stared at the bowl in front of her. "Are these… instant noodles?"

Jasper waved his arms defensively. "Hey, don\'t blame me. You are the one who insisted that I cook."

"You call this cooking? Add water and boil for three minutes?" Ellie tried not to laugh. Seriously, men can be impossible to understand. She was not expecting a luxurious seven course meal, but instant noodles?

"It\'s three and a half minutes." Jasper said matter-of-factly. "And I added eggs."

On a second look, Ellie can see pieces of scrambled egg mixed in with noodles.

She laughed. "I\'ve had worse."

Under Jasper\'s watchful eye, she rolled noodles on her fork and stuffed them in her mouth.

\'Did I say I had worse? Why the heck is this so salty? How can he mess up instant noodles?\', Ellie cried on the inside while contemplating if she should swallow or spit it out.

"How is it?" Jasper eagerly asked while observing her expression.

"It\'s inedible.", Ellie mumbled.

"What?", he didn\'t understand.

Ellie looked into Jasper\'s expectant expression and forced herself to swallow.

"It\'s incredible.", she \'corrected\' herself.

Jasper can see that something is off.

"Did I forget to add salt again?", he spoke to himself and placed a forkful of noodles in his mouth. A second later he spat it back in the bowl.

"I\'m sorry. Please, don\'t force yourself anymore." Jasper held Ellie\'s hand with fork in it.

He took both of their bowls and dumped them in the sink.

"How about that delivery?"

Ellie nodded in agreement. "Can I get some water first?"

"I can\'t believe that you actually swallowed." Jasper mused while watching Ellie gulp water. "You must like me very much if you are ready to make such a sacrifice in order not to hurt my feelings."

Ellie turned away from him. She knows that he is trying to get her to talk about her feelings for him, but she is not ready.

They were back on the sofa, chatting while waiting for delivery to arrive.

"Why do you like to tease me?", Ellie asked Jasper.

Jasper paused. "Which part of today was teasing? Me trying to find out more about your day? Or about your thoughts? Or how you feel about me? Or…?"

"Stop that!", Ellie interrupted him. "It\'s not about what you are saying. It\'s how you are saying it."

"How am I saying it?"

"Like this! Look at yourself! Why are you always so… smiling?"

Jasper leaned close to her and spoke in a low voice while inching toward her slowly: "Ellie, you make me smile. Being next to you makes me happy… See? The closer I am the bigger my smile gets…"

The doorbell sounded, and Jasper glanced at the door. "That must be food. I told the doorman to let the delivery guy straight up."

Ellie was already on her feet. "Let me get it." She found him to be too close. Her heart was pounding like crazy and she welcomed this food delivery as a good excuse to increase the distance between them.

Ellie was slightly surprised to see that two men stood in the hallway, in front of the door. One young man had their food in two plastic bags and the other middle-aged man was scrutinizing her.

"Thank you!", she smiled while giving a tip to the young man who handed her bags with their food.

"Can I help you?", Ellie asked when she realized that middle-aged man is not moving. The man\'s suit was definitely overpriced for someone who does food deliveries.

"Why is it taking…", Jasper swallowed the rest of his words. In two swift steps he was next to Ellie.

He placed his arm in front of Ellie, pushing her inside the apartment and behind him protectively. "Father, what brings you here?"

Norman\'s gaze left Ellie only when she was completely behind Jasper. 

Norman looked at his son while trying to control his fury. He called Jasper several times and he didn\'t pick up. He would probably let it be if Lilian didn\'t come again to ask about Jasper. Poor girl was so worried that something happened to him, and Norman agreed to come and check on him. He thought that maybe he is sick or something like that, and he found him with a woman!

"Did you forget the event you were supposed to attend?" Norman\'s icy voice matched his deep frown.

"No, I didn\'t." Jasper did his best to sound firm. Why is his father here? He never comes to his apartment. And isn\'t he supposed to be at that wretched party? Jasper glanced through the hallway to make sure that Lilian is not there as well. Knowing her, anything is possible.

"Why are you not there?" Norman asked.

"I never said that I will attend.", Jasper reminded him.

"Of course… I should have known that it\'s because of some woman." Norman tilted his head indicating toward Ellie.

Jasper narrowed his eyes. "She is not just some woman."

"Are you saying that she is important?" Norman was surprised that Jasper is so protective of that woman who is obviously wearing his shirt. Did he interrupt their intimate moment? The shirt is certainly wrinkled enough.

"To me, yes."

Knowing Jasper\'s history, Norman does not believe him. "If she is so important, why are you hiding her from us?"

"I\'m not hiding her from anyone.", Jasper half-lied.

He hid Ellie from his father, but only because he does not want to give his father an opportunity to bully her. And considering that his father found out about Ellie\'s existence through Lilian\'s twisted story, Jasper is even more confident that he should postpone as much as possible the moment when his parents meet Ellie. Well, he didn\'t have a chance to speak with his mother and find out her take on this, but considering that her only source of information could be Lily and Norman, his mother can\'t have a good impression of Ellie either.

Norman sneered. "Really? Then maybe you should bring her next Saturday to our party."

"Maybe I will…" Jasper stopped himself from saying anything else. He wants his father to leave. "Is there a reason you are here other than to check on me? These are not work hours, and I am old enough to decide how I spend my time and with whom."

Norman snorted and walked toward the elevator without a word.

Jasper closed the door and exhaled. "I\'m sorry about that."

He was surprised when he felt Ellie\'s arms wrap around his torso from the back.

"It\'s OK.", she said in half-whisper.

He turned around slowly and observed her concerned expression.

Jasper smiled faintly and gave her a light kiss on the lips before holding her tightly.

"Thank you.", he whispered.

Jasper wanted to say: \'thank you\', for not asking for details, and for not running away. And he hopes that she understands that he is not ready to talk about it, but he appreciates that she is next to him.

Ellie hugged him while thinking that now she confirmed how they have one more thing in common: headache-inducing fathers. She can tell that Jasper is troubled and that probably he does not want to talk about it. And he does not need to say anything. She is happy to know that her hug and her presence is providing him with silent support.

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