Crashing into an Old Flame
Chapter 50: Cheesy~

Chapter 50: Cheesy~

She quietly glanced at his hands.

As Maxim followed her gaze, the expressions on his face changed and his grip on her shoulders loosened.

’’Am I hurting you?" While his grip on her was firm enough to keep her in place, it was not enough to hurt her.

Diana shook her head, ’’I am good.’’

’’Sorry for this.’’

Before Diana could understand what was he sorry for, he rolled up the tiny sleeves of her dress above her shoulders and the sight of purplish marks on her skin greeted his vision.

Diana had that milky white skin that she inherited from her Asian father, the kind which highlighted bruises by ten times.

"What the heck is this?" Maxim sucked in a cold breath as he looked at the long slash of purple in front of his eyes. There seemed to be a split skin in the middle of the bruise which had somewhat healed.

Diana glanced at the wound quietly for some time before she sighed, ’’Didn’t I go to Beijing weeks ago? Our neighbor’s dog jumped on me the moment he saw me. He is huge. The metal belt around his neck pressed onto my skin.’’

’’What was his name again, Tom?" Maxim caressed her wound, ignoring her tiny nod, ’’No, this won’t do.’’

’’It is better now. I think the mark will take some time to fade,’’ she said as she watched him turning around to walk towards the refrigerator.

He came back with an ice pack in his hand.

Diana restrained herself from hissing when he placed the ice pack on the burning patch of her skin.

’’This is like the thousandth time that dog has done this to you,’’ Maxim said with a frown fixated on his face, ’’I told you to be careful the last time he scratched your neck,’’ he glared at her.

Diana smiled weakly, ’’He loves me.’’

’’Does loving you gives him the right to hurt you?" Maxim mumbled while pressing the ice pack on her shoulder.

But those words stirred something inside her heart.

Diana closed her eyes for a moment.

She grabbed the ice pack from his hand, ’’I’ll do it. You can continue making me happy.’’

He eyed her frustratedly.

She shrugged.

As he quirked a brow, she pointed her chin towards the spread of eggs, cocoa, butter, sugar, and remaining things on the kitchen counter.

Maxim quietly grabbed a bowl.

"I can help you with the eggs,’’ Diana jumped off the kitchen counter and placed the ice pack aside.

’’Just sit there," Maxim was amused, ’’I don’t think you can do this.’’

’’What do you take me for? I could have been a chef if I didn’t want to become a writer,’’ Diana rolled her eyes.

’’You want to become a writer, talk about being a chef, but you are going to study business yet here you are, majoring in biology,’’ Maxim stepped back, watching Diana as she stepped between him and the kitchen counter.

Diana turned around to glance at him, ’’Do I confuse you?"

Maxim frowned.

’’Come on, tell me. Even I am confused by myself. I won’t mind the truth,’’ she chuckled.

He sighed, ’’Your aspirations do. I know what you really want to do is become a writer. So, I don’t understand why you are putting yourself through the rest.’’

Diana shook her head, ’’I told you I write a NovelFire in my free time, didn’t I? But becoming a writer is not something I am crazy about. I am not crazy about any job out there or family business or anything. I hold a little passion for writing and I am afraid it is the only thing I want to do or the only thing I will be good at so I cling to it.’’

Maxim wordlessly raked his fingers through her messy blonde hair, loosening the bun she had made with a pencil.

He pressed his lips to her forehead, ’’You will be good at everything you do.’’

Diana knew it was more of a comforting friendly thing whenever he touched her. It has been like that for as long as she could remember. And for the record, he hugged her just at the right times when she needed even without her needing to ask him.

It was silly that it always made her smile though. Just like now.

’’You are being cheesy,’’ Diana smiled harder, ’’And you are saying that because you are biased towards me!"

As she pulled back from him, he made a face that looked like he was contemplating her words, ’’Maybe...’’

’’Don’t you dare. Say that I am wrong and you were not being biased,’’ Diana gasped.

Maxim chuckled.

And as good-looking as he already was, Diana always felt like he might be the most handsome person in the world when he smiled. It was not even an exaggeration on her part.

Perhaps because he did not do it more often but whenever he smiled, it was as if he lit up the surroundings.

Diana sighed. People like these were meant to exist in fiction or paintings, not in her kitchen.

’’You were going to help me,’’ Maxim said once he stopped laughing.

’’Of course, I am,’’ Diana defensively grabbed a knife and the egg and made a ’watch me’ gesture at him.

’’Wait—’’ Maxim’s words lingered in the air along with the egg which smashed and splashed on the bowl and Diana in the next second along with the broken shell.

Diana stood there frozen as she glanced at the knife and the mess she created.

It took Maxim a moment to recover from his shock.

As she turned around to look at him, he pursed his lips to stifle his laughter but his body was shaking so hard that he knew he could not control it.

Not when he saw how dumbly she looked at him like she could not understand what in the gravitational theory just happened.

Maxim backed up against the kitchen sink as he threw his head back and burst out in laughter.