Memory of the Heart

Chapter 28: The Aftermath

When Dalena woke up the next morning, waves of headache welcomed her. She couldn't even open her eyes well as her head kept on throbbing.

Afterwards, she felt an ugly feeling on her stomach that made her instantly rush to the nearest common bathroom.

"Bleurgh!" Dalena expressed as she vomited.

Panting after what she has done, Dalena knelt on the floor and clutched on her chest, trying to calm down her feelings.

Suddenly, the next moment, she decided to stand up and splash herself with water to make her a little bit more awake.

As she looked at herself in the mirror, she was still absent-minded but frowned as she noticed that she was still wearing the same outfit as last night.

'Why does my head hurt so much?' she naively thought to herself.

The next moment, as she tried to recall what happened last night, she watched her expressions rapidly change on the mirror.

"No... no... no... way." Dalena murmured to herself.

She bit her lips in disbelief as her eyes widened. Then, the next second, she hit her head a couple of times.

'This must be a dream. A dream. That was an hallucination, for sure.' Dalena thought.

But no matter how she fools herself, Dalena knows that it was definitely not a dream. She touched her lips and her cheeks reddened even more.

'My first kiss, gone just like that?' she thought again, embarrassed at what happened.

Even though she was already 23 years old, she has kept her mind rational at all times. She chose to work first and non-sense things such as romance had no room in her life.

So naturally, even though she has heard and seen romantic acts from her co-workers and movies she has watched, she has not actually experienced it herself...

To think that she would share a kiss with her boss though... Dalena never thought it was possible.

Actually, even before, she never really thought much of the Duke. Maybe, it was her subconsciousness that time that revealed her true feelings and her secret attraction for him?

After all, even though Dalena was quite stubborn about her real feelings, she had to admit that the Duke was very handsome. He did not only have a good face, but he had a good body structure and on top of that, he was nice to her and also have a good background.

He was a perfect man through and through, so maybe, it was only natural for any woman to be attracted?

Last night, as Dalena recalled, her lips accidentally touched with Luke's.

She said some shameless things afterwards, like how it was 'delicious' and suddenly, Luke moved closer to her and kissed her even deeply?

Luke captured her lips effortlessly and skillfully. He even tilted her head to gain more access as his wet tongue slid in between her lips, sucking and licking like he couldn't get enough of her.

Then, Dalena remembered tugging at his sleeves when he broke the kiss for a split second.

"Ah..."

Afterwards, they locked lips once again and at first, it was gentle and soft. Their lips brushed against each other like feather. But it didn't take long for Luke's thick tongue to enter her mouth once again and rub the tender flesh inside.

It was a deep and long kiss, as Dalena really felt the intensity of Luke's desire.

Thankfully, after a while, the Duke finally stopped kissing her and out of breathlessness, Dalena did not say even more shameful things.

The next parts were a bit hazy but Dalena remembered that Luke escorted her personally to her room and even assisted her to drink what seemed to be hangover medicine soup. Subsequently, Luke just left while Dalena fell asleep.

As her recalling comes to an end, Dalena bit her lips once again and slapped herself.

'Only making out! Nothing more than that, thank goodness!' Dalena thought.

With one more look at her flushed face, Dalena took a deep breath and as fast as she could, she ran back to her room and locked her door.

'Am I done for?' Dalena asked herself, wondering about the consequences of what she did.

As far as she remembered, there was that certain 'Rule Number Twelve' on her employee contract, right? She was not allowed to be in love with Luke.

But then, is what her feeling really love?

Dalena shook her head right away at that thought.

Nope. This isn't what love like as she doesn't really know the Duke well. As somewhat of a hopeless romantic, she believes that love is something that's supposed to be magical and somewhat precious.

But this... it's only attraction that she feels for the Duke. He is like a celebrity in her mind so of course, she likes his looks and image.

'Damn it. Damn it. Damn it.' Dalena kept repeating in her head.

Even though she says that, it doesn't change what she did. What does Luke think of her now? In the first place, why did he kiss her more when they only accidentally kissed the first time?

'Maybe, he's also attracted to me?' Dalena thought, but shook her head quickly as she thought she was too narcistic to even think of it.

After all, what could she have that can possibly attract Luke? She did not fit this country's ideal beauty standards as she was a foreigner. She has no background and has not even finished formal education as well.

Dalena is sure that with the Duke's calibre, he is no short of beautiful and qualified women beside him.

But then... Dalena knew that she has a 'blessed' body. For her, she barely passed as 'somewhat pretty' but her body is definitely well-endowed on the right areas.

Somehow, Dalena frowned and pouted at the conclusion she has made.

'In the end, all guys are the same. It doesn't matter which girl it is, they will be willing to hit on them. They're just all sexual beings lusting on every woman they see. Maybe, that's why there was a contract like that. The Duke plays with all the nannies like this and makes them fall in love with him for fun. Maybe it's all a façade and he's really that type of manipulative person?' Dalena warily thought.

In the end, as she worried even more, Dalena could only let out a sigh.

***

After having a quick shower and packing her things quickly, Dalena walked straight away to Hamish's office.

While walking, she was silently praying that she would not bump to a certain man.

Fortunately, it seems like the heavens listened to her and she made it through Hamish's office without seeing him.

"But Young Master George may be upset that you're leaving two days early, Miss Angeles..." Hamish told Dalena.

At the mention of Little George, Dalena felt both embarrassed and sorry. She felt embarrassed for hooking up with his father and at the same time, sorry because she couldn't even say bye to him.

Dalena looked down for a while before finally having the courage to look at Hamish.

"I'm sorry, Sir. But I really need to take my Christmas leave early because of personal issues. In return, as what it is indicated, I will return two days early..." Dalena replied in a small voice.

That's right, because it was the holidays season, the employees of the Grosvenor estate are actually allowed to have a leave for up to three weeks. Besides, during this time, it was not like a nanny was needed as the Duke, Little George and the rest of their family have personal matters to attend to as well.

Dalena was supposed to take her leave two days later, but because of a certain event last night, she is too embarrassed and muddleheaded to even face that person...

"It seems like I cannot convince you further so alright, Miss Angeles. I will be approving your leave. Enjoy your holidays." Hamish said formally, leaving a small stiff smile for Dalena.