Flash Marriage: Slow Down Mister novel Chapter 43

When Horace and Clara finally settled down to have dinner, Horace received several calls from his colleagues. Horace had put his work away to help Clara, for which Clara was quite grateful, but she also knew it was time for him to leave, so she said, "Horace, I will take care of mom. You just go back to work."

Horace looked at Clara, who was eating so hurriedly that there was a bit of sauce left on the corner of her mouth, and he wiped it off for her, saying softly, "Ok, I'll take my leave then. I will be back tomorrow and don't hesitate to call me when you need help."

Clara nodded but Horace didn't move at all. Clara frowned and asked, "You are not going to work?" Staring at Clara indulgently, Horace unconsciously licked on the finger which was stained with the sauce wiped off from Clara's mouth, and only after a few minutes did he begin to speak, "Oh, I am just thinking whether you take what I said seriously."

However, Clara had been utter stunned at Horace's unconscious action thus ignoring his words completely. How can he lick on the soy sauce? The sauce had been on the corner of her mouth minutes before! Didn't he think this was too intimate? It should be a sign of bad hygiene if it was done by others, but once it was Horace, it turned out to be kind of sexy with his long finger, handsome face, and thin lips.

"What? What did you say?" Feeling her face burnt, Clara took her eyes off him and asked confusedly.

"I'm wondering whether you'll ask me for help if you are in trouble," Horace repeated. But Clara trying to avoid eye contact annoyed him a bit, so he forced her to look into his eyes by holding her face and said seriously, "Clara, I hope you really take me as your husband."

Husband? Staring into his dark eyes, Clara suddenly lost her words. But soon, she answered, "Of course. From now on if I need help, I'll call you first. I promise"

Her answer satisfied Horace. He smiled and said, "Ok." Then, he let go of her and was about to leave. When he reached the door of the ward, Clara stopped him suddenly. "Horace!" He tilted his head and saw Clara was looking at him with her face blushing. "Horace, thanks a lot for your help."

Though the words were plain, Horace's heart was filled with happiness and he said, "You're welcome."

The night fell and Clara slept in the ward to watch over her mom. Fortunately, Horace had already changed a private ward for her mom, so she could sleep on the camp bed, which made the watch over much easier.

The next day, Clara was woken up by a fit of coughing. Even though she was not fully awake, she knew it was her mom who finally regained consciousness after all these years.

"Mom!" Clara dashed to her mom and asked excitedly, "How do you feel? Do you feel better? Do I need to call the doctors?"

"I am fine." Though Helena Selman still looked pale, she managed to reach out and stroke Clara's hair lovingly, her eyes glistening with tears. "Clara, oh, my dear Clara. I miss you so much…I miss you so much."

Clara burst into tears and she nodded madly, choked with sobs. "Mom, you know…you know you sleep for two years. It's just so long…so long for me."

Two years ago, that terrible night, when she lost her virginity and two of her most beloved folks – her lover, Darren, disappeared without a word while her mom was struck by illness and fell into a coma.

Laughing bitterly, Helena held Clara's hand and said, "I am so sorry I can't be with you in these two years, Clara. You must have suffered a lot, you…" Helena stopped suddenly at the sight of the ring on Clara's finger.

"Clara," Helena exclaimed excitedly, "You…you are married?"

Clara paused but soon answered smilingly, "Yeah, mom, I am married." Clara knew her mom never had a happy marriage so her mom had always expected Clara to find her happiness, so Clara didn't hold back about her marriage.

"Oh my, that's great." Helena was so excited that she even cried. "Who's your husband? Is it Darren? Did you get married after graduation?"

When Helena mentioned Darren, Clara couldn't help but shiver. Helena had been in a coma for two years and she didn't know Darren had broken up with Clara.

Clara bit on her lip but finally managed to say, "No, it's not him. We broke up two years ago."

Helena was surprised. "Oh, my poor Clara. But it was over. You've found your happiness now, right?"

Clara nodded with a smile on her face to hide the bitterness in her eyes. While Helena examined the ring carefully and smiled more contentedly, saying, "He must be a good man."

Clara said nothing since she knew her mom didn't want her to marry someone with great power or fortune, so her mom could be happy even with the simple-designed ring. But she couldn't imagine what would her mom think of her once she told her mom that she had married Horace, Darren's uncle as well as a great Kirkland.

"Stop it! Don't think about these, Clara." She could only tell herself in this way.

It was when Clara was going to buy lunch for her and her mom, but at the moment someone knocked on the door. Clara was quite bewildered since her mom didn't have many friends in Stratmont. Who would be the visitors then?

She opened the door and it turned out to be Horace and Isaac. Horace still sat in the wheelchair while Isaac was holding the lunch boxes and a bag of fruits.

"Horace?" Clara asked surprisedly.

"Clara? Who is it?" Helena asked from the ward. Clara looked into the ward bewilderedly and suddenly didn't know how to explain. But Horace, hearing Helena's question, raised his eyebrow and said, "I am Clara's husband, Horace Kirkland. I've brought you lunch, madam."