I've Been There Before (Grace and Caden) novel Chapter 74

Grace was forcefully pulled out of the Royal Club by Franklin.

They went to a busy night fair. Franklin led her through the crowd holding her hand and the vendor's hawking could be heard from time to time. Grace was not accustomed to walk hand in hand with someone. But Franklin seemed to have a tenacious nature. Even if, for several times, she found some excuses to take back her hand, he would smile and hold up her hand again.

They shuttled in the night fair and the tantalizing aroma from the stalls around drifted into their noses.

Grace walked in a slow pace, but Franklin didn’t urge her.

She raised her head glanced at the back of the muscular and tall man who was holding her hand… Franklin didn’t urge her to walk quicker; plus, Grace even noticed that he was slowing down his pace secretly.

Usually, a night fair would attract a large number of people every night. Since today was weekend, there were even more people, and among them, there were many couples.

In the milling crowd, a handsome man was walking slowly and hand in hand with a plain woman.

This was naturally a combination that would attract people’s attention.

Grace subconsciously wanted to dodge the gazes from the people who were studying her… She hated such kind of gaze very much.

Could you please don’t look at me?

Could you please don’t look at me with that kind of gaze?

Those gazes seemed to penetrate through her fresh and bones.

Could you please…

“Let go of my hand! Let me go!” Grace desperately struggled to cast off his hand, “Mr. Cordon, let go of me! Please!”

“Please!”

She roared desperately and huskily with all her might.

Her wrist was red because of the fierce struggle, “Please…” Her voice was finally tinged with a trace of plead after the hysterical roar.

Grace looked at Franklin, and Franklin also turned around to look at her. Suddenly, Franklin let go of her hand. But before Grace could heave a sigh of relief, Franklin held up her hand again. But this time, he held her hand more tightly. His warmth and comfort transferred from his palm to Grace’s palm.

“Don’t be afraid of it. Don’t care about them.” As Franklin was speaking, he suddenly pulled Grace closer to himself and then hugged Grace tightly. He then raised his head and glanced around, “Damn! What’s the point of looking at us? Haven’t you seen a loving couple hanging out together?”

With Franklin’s loud reproach, most of the passers-by shifted their gazes.

“Let’s go. Let’s enjoy our meal.” Franklin held Grace by her shoulders in an overbearing manner and led her into an alley. There was a beef noodles restaurant in the alley. The decoration of the beef noodles restaurant was not as exquisite as that of restaurants outside the alley, and even appeared to be obsolete and aged. Franklin then led Grace into the restaurant.

“Noah, two bowls of beef noodles, please.”

“Little Frank, you rarely come recently, and you’re free today?” The owner of the restaurant was a middle-aged man in his fifties. There was some grey hair among his black hair. He was always smiling and appeared to be kind and friendly. When he saw Franklin, he immediately put down the plates, wiped his hands on his apron, and then poured two glasses of warm water for Franklin and Grace.

“Who’s this?”

“I’m his friend.” said Grace.

Franklin smiled and added, “Girlfriend.” He looked up at Noah, “Noah, how does my girlfriend look like? She’s great, right?”

Grace was petrified… G… Girlfriend?

She blankly watched Franklin talk to Noah, who looked so kind, from time to time.

“Noah, Franklin was talking nonsense.”

“Hmmm… This girl looks so beautiful. She has good facial features. But she looks too thin.”

Grace was stunned again… She glanced at Noah with doubts. How did Noah judge that she had good features?

To be honest, Grace was beautiful three years ago. But now, her beauty had faded because of the vicissitudes of life.

“Little Frank, I will go and make beef noodles for you.”

“Bosh, I’m not your…”

Grace wanted to explain it, but Noah had walked towards the kitchen. She was then in a daze for a long while…

“Grace, Grace, Grace… Seems like you’re always absent of mind, right?”

The pleasant and joking voice sounded in Grace’s ears and Grace finally came to her own sense. When she looked at his handsome face, a strange feeling suddenly surged in her heart. She then softly and weirdly called, “Little Frank?”

Franklin was originally playing her hands. When hearing the words, his hand paused in the air and his ears became red. He hurriedly explained, “Don’t follow Noah’s suit. When I was young, my parents didn’t allow me to have snacks and they were very strict in controlling my diet. So I liked to come to Noah’s restaurant and had a bowl of beef noodles behind my parents’ back.”

“Noah’s techniques of making beef noodles was passed down from his ancestors. It’s said that the receipt was originated from the Ming and Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). And you can’t have such flavor except in Noah’s restaurant.”

“Little Frank.” A trace of smile flashed across Grace’s eyes. Right at this moment, there was a trace of childishness on her, just as she preserved three years ago. Franklin was red from ears to his necks. He anxiously said, “Noah is my senior, but you are not. Don’t call me ‘Little Frank’ like Noah does. You can just call me Frank.”

Grace didn’t reply.

Noah put two bowls of steaming beef noodles on the table, “Enjoy it when it’s hot. If it’s not enough, I’ll add more beef and noodles in it.” He then specially instructed Franklin, “Persuade your girlfriend to have more. She’s so thin. Little Frank, you’re not a qualified boyfriend.”

“I’m not…” Before Grace could utter the remaining words ‘his girlfriend’, she was interrupted by Franklin.

“Okay, okay, okay.” Franklin smiled and urged Noah, “Noah, go ahead with your own stuff. I and my girlfriend are dating, are you so cheeky to peep at us?”

“Bullshit. Little rascal.” Noah laughed and left after saying the words.

Grace looked into Franklin’s eyes, “Why did you deceive Noah? I’m not your girlfriend.”

Franklin handed the chopsticks to Grace and said, “Who told you that I was deceiving Noah?” He suddenly raised his head, “Grace, please consider about me being your boyfriend.”

Grace was so shocked!

It was too sudden!

Grace felt that her ears were ringing and she blankly stared at Franklin for a long while… “Mr. Cordon, what… did you say just now?

She suddenly felt the warmth on the back of her hand as Franklin said, “I said, would you like to my girlfriend? What about having a try?”

Grace hastily took back her hand and refused without hesitation, “Mr. Cordon, the noodles have cooled down… By the way, don’t joke about this matter in the future.”

“I was not jok…”

“You were!” Grace glared at him and shouted, “It can just be a joke, Mr. Cordon.”

“I…” Franklin suddenly swallowed the words he wanted to say and stared at Grace. After a long while, he sighed helplessly. “Yes, I was joking just now. The noodles have cooled down. Quick, let’s enjoy it.”

Grace was so stubborn; in addition, Franklin, who had a pair of sharp and keen eyes, caught the bitterness flashing across Grace’s eyes just now.

A moment later, Franklin raised his head and asked, “You don’t like to eat scallions?” Although Grace’s action of not eating the green scallions was so subtle, Franklin still had noticed it. Without saying a word, he reached out his hand, picked up Grace’s bowl, and then put it in front of himself.

Grace was extremely dumbfounded this time. The man sitting across her was swiftly selected out the scallions in her bowl and putting them in his own bowl. “Nah, I like scallions very much.”

Grace was still dumbfounded as she glanced at the bowl which was put in front of her again – there was no scallion in the beef noodles

The two of them finished the noodles. Franklin held up Grace’s hand again and walked in front of her, leading her through the milling crowd and turning around to tell Grace those interesting things happened in his childhood from time to time.

Grace, who was following Franklin, stared at the clasping hands blankly. She was completely petrified and followed him without a trace of reluctance.

“Franklin, aren’t you afraid of embarrassing yourself?”

She suddenly asked the question.

“Why will I feel embarrassed?”

Grace opened her mouth. After a long while, she finally managed to squeeze out a sentence, “Because I’m a laughing stock.”

“If you can bring others laughter, I think t’s a positive thing. Then why should I feel embarrassed by a positive thing?”

“…” Can… can the word ‘laughing stock’ be explained in this way?

Grace lowered her head, feeling that she herself was so despicable… On the way when Mr. Cordon took her to the restaurant, she had been wondering: If I ask for Mr. Cordon’s help, and if I recommend myself to him, maybe I could sell my bacon at a good price.

“What do you want to say?” When Franklin and Grace arrived at the entrance of Royal Club, Franklin suddenly stopped Grace and asked.

Grace opened her mouth, but after a moment…

“No… Nothing. I have nothing to say to you.” Originally, she intended to abandon her dignity and asked him: Would you like to buy my bacon? But right at this moment, Grace just felt that her throat was so dry and her voice was so husky that she couldn’t utter those words.

She glanced at Franklin, and then turned around and walked towards Royal Club hurriedly, as if she was escaping from something.

But since her legs were problematic, she couldn’t walk fast and dragged one of her leg forward like a clown.

She dared not to look back at the man as she felt extremely ashamed in her heart: Grace James, you’re really despicable! Grace James, you’re really disgusting!

She stood in front of a lift. With a ‘ting’ sound, the door of the lift was opened. Just as she was about to step in, she raised her head and saw a handsome man in the life, whose cold expression showed that he was extremely angry.

Out of instinct, Grace stepped backward. She had a hunch that this man was extremely horrible and dangerous at this moment. The man in the lift reached out his hand and quickly dragged her into the life. Before Grace could steady herself, she was pressed on the wall of the lift by a scorching hot body; and before she could say anything, the man’s passionate kisses landed on her lips.

Grace’s heart skipped one beat. She was annoyed and reached out to push him away. But her hands were grasped by a big hand, help up above her head, and then pressed on the wall of the lift.

“Hm… Hmmm…” Let go of me!

She struggled violently. But the man confined her with his tall figure.

She struggled violently to dodge his kisses.

He was so angry while she was so scared.

The door of the lift was opened again, and those people who stood outside the lift all gasped in shock, “G… Grace James?”

Grace’s heart missed one beat as her eyes widened when she peered at the people… “Hmmm!” She struggled even more fiercely.

Caden didn’t spare a glance at those people and reached out a hand to close the door.

The lift didn’t stop on any other floor thereafter and ascended all the way to the 28th floor.

Caden squinted his long eyes at the breathless Grace, stooped down to carry her in his arms, and strode inside the room.

He hadn’t utter a word from the very beginning and silently threw Grace onto the bed.

Grace’s body bounced on the bed. When she steadied herself and propped her upper part up with her arms, she saw Caden, who stood by the end of the bed, unclasping the buttons of his white shirt quietly.