Chapter 56 : Caught?
After Eiden had caught the falling Linda, he realized with a jolt that his hand had landed directly on her boob. Not only that he’d unconsciously squeezed it a few times before his brain caught up with what it was. The moment the realization hit him, he quickly retracted his hand like it had touched hot metal.
Linda stabilized herself, her arms immediately covering her chest, her face flushed a deep, almost painful shade of red like she’d turned into a beef tomato. Eiden, on the other hand, was scared shitless. Her expression didn’t bode well. He felt the icy hand of doom creeping down his spine, already picturing himself being reported for sexual harassment. This was it, game over.
But then... silence. For a few seconds, neither said anything. Linda just stared at him. Eiden knew he had to act fast before the awkward tension broke into something irreversible. Desperate, he mentally activated every trick in his arsenal. He summoned his Face Master skill to look as apologetic as possible and even lowered his voice to a soothing, genuine tone though he wasn’t sure if it’d work in this situation. Looking straight into her eyes, he said softly, "I’m sorry... Are you okay?"
Her eyes slightly widened as she looked back at him. There was a pause then, surprisingly, she nodded and replied in a quiet, almost embarrassed tone, "It’s okay... and... thank you for catching me."
Without daring to stay a second longer, most likely due to the boiling embarrassment, Linda muttered, "Later," and walked off quickly, her arms still folded over her chest. Eiden stood frozen, watching her retreating figure.
Linda, for her part, wanted to say something more maybe a retort, a sarcastic jab, anything but she held it in. She knew it was her own fault. She had deliberately staged the fall, hoping he would catch her, and she had predicted that very reaction from him. There was no way she could blame him for what happened he had simply reacted like any decent person would. Using this incident to guilt or manipulate him would’ve felt wrong.
Right now, all she truly wanted... was to get away from the scene of embarrassment as quickly as possible. After she had disappeared from sight, Eiden exhaled a long, relieved breath. "Pheww... that was close. And good riddance too," he muttered, shaking his head.
Not wasting any more time, he turned on his heel and headed straight toward the convenience store. No detours, no distractions. Once inside, he picked up the medicine he needed and quickly made his way back home.
When he arrived, he headed straight for the kitchen, but his mom wasn’t there. "Mom, I brought it!" he called out. Her voice echoed from the attic, "Leave it there. I’ll take it."
Moments later, she came down, took the medicine from him with a soft "Thank you," and went to her bedroom where Eiden’s father, Algir, was laying on the bed.