Mirabelle watches as Derek begins to eat slowly and carefully, making sure not to seem defenseless in front of Serena. This was his chance to prove to her that he's capable of being independent.
"How has work been, Serena?" Derek asks and Mirabelle tenses as she takes a spoon full of milky and creamy oatmeal into her mouth, her favourite meal.
"Uh..." She looks over to the assistant who isn't even glancing her way to help her as her eyes are glued on a tablet instead. "It's been well. I have a good agent..."
"Right." He nods and she looks down at her breakfast. There is too much going on in front of her. Some toast, some eggs and bacon, plain bread with butter on the side and some jam... Then the oatmeal.
It was as though they decided to pack the table and let whomever was eating decide what they preferred. She is now curious as to what really happens to the leftovers from the table, and she prays they aren't thrown away like most rich people prefer even when it's not been touched at all.
"So, I was thinking..." Derek says as he carefully feels around the table, glazing his fingers softly against the surface in search for something.
Mirabelle watches him for a moment, then slowly notices the toast on his hand.
She knew he was either looking for the jam or butter, so she reaches over and quietly moved the jam and butter towards him, hardly noticed by him of course.
He feels the small bowl of jam and traces his finger to the inside edge to take a small sample and places it on his tongue to taste what he'd just gotten. It doesn't seem to be what he wants so he shifts his touch to the other bowl and feels the inside, feeling the soft surface of the butter.
He traces his hands back to his side and feels for the butter knife before reaching back for the butter bowl and carefully takes a scoop, getting Mirabelle to sigh in relief before turning to her bowl of oatmeal.
"I was thinking... Since we will spend this month together, why don't you move into my room?" His voice is almost silent, a silent prayer that she accepts the offer.
"Sir, remember what I said already." The assistant frowns as she speaks, getting Derek to frown at her and clench his fists.
"But if she wishes to spend nights with me, I see no problem in it." He defends, gripping his knife hard.
"She's right... Two rooms is best... Since you should have more room for sleep considering the preparations for the next surgery." Mirabelle jumps in, unable to stomach the thought of even spending a night with him when she knows she won't even survive ten minutes alone with him at night without getting jumped on.
To her, he is a man in heat and she wants nothing to do with it.
Derek's shoulders slump and he nods with a heavy sigh that he's not even trying to hide at this point.
"Very well. However, I have one request." He says, getting the assistant to frown deeply as she feels he's just trying to lure Mirabelle into getting intimate with him. "Let's spend our afternoon in my garden. We'll have some tea around four with any of your favourite snacks."
The assistant sighs in relief and Mirabelles ears perk up from the mention of snacks.
"I can have the chefs prepare some sweet pastries... What do you say?" He asks, feeling around the table again but this time, for her hand.
She willingly reaches out to meet him half way as her mind fills with the various things she can try that she's never gotten the chance to.
"Of course." She smiles excitedly and he could feel it from the tension in her hand which makes him grin.
"However, my assistant will not accompany us. I wish to be alone with you." He says, caressing his thumb again her hand. "Is that clear?"
The assistant knows full well he's asking her and not Mirabelle. She sighs and looks over at Mirabelle who only shrugs.
It is out in the open, what would he do that's not appropriate? After all, he's a rich and respectable man and he prefers to keep it that way.
"Of course sir." The assistant nods and sighs again as they all continue to eat.
Derek hasn't stopped smiling since Mirabelle agreed to spend quality time with him. Alone.
He is going to get something out of her today and he wants to at least do anything romantic with her, either to get her to giggle, embrace her or maybe even kiss her hard on the lips...
Gosh, how he wants to feel those lips so bad it's driving him insane. He wants to feel the warmth of her mouth, to feel his tongue against hers, to feel so close and intimate with her.
He grips his hand on hers, feeling the warmth slip into his own hand as he continues to eat with his free hand, unwilling to let go of her softness.
Too afraid all this will turn out to be fake, to be a dream he's afraid to wake up from.
It took too many years for him and her to get to this point. To get to a point he'd have breakfast with her and hold her hand. To get to the point she would want to spend time with him alone in the garden.
She used to avoid him at all times and hated the idea of being alone with her. Worse of all, she used to push him back more aggressively when he touched her romantically.
Yet he held her from the back and loved the warmth of her body against his. The curve of her back against his front nearly made his hormones go for a rampage.
But as the assistant said, he needs to take it slow and so he didn't whisper his desires to her right then and there when he wanted to...
She is driving him crazy and he wants all of her already...
He wants to see her right at this second as she eats breakfast for the first time with him. He wants to tuck her hair behind her ear and see her red face... He wants to see her lips, the lips he plans to kiss in the garden...
Yet he had to wait to see any of that and it pains him...
He squeezes her hand to make sure he's really feeling her hand underneath his and sighs in relief before continuing his food.
He's captivated by Serena.