Just as Sabrina expected, Cedric didn't say a word-he simply grabbed her by the arm, over her coat, and started walking her out of the restaurant.
He didn't even really hold her hand. It was distant. Cold.
The traditional-looking man, seeing Cedric walk away with her like that, reached out in a panic and caught Sabrina by the palm instead. "Sabrina!"
It clearly slipped out of him out of urgency. Calling her "Miss Lionhart" felt too formal-using her name might have softened her stance a bit. Maybe if he played it right, she wouldn't take the keys back.
After all, he was just following orders.
Cedric came to a halt. So did Sabrina, who was also trying to yank her hand back from the man's grip.
Ugh, what a mess. If she'd known dealing with people would be this exhausting, she would've just let her lab team keep selling the patents for her.
Cedric turned around, eyes landing right on the hand intertwined with hers. That grip looked tight-almost like they were holding hands on purpose. His expression darkened with irritation.
He reached out, grabbed the man's wrist, and flatly demanded, "Who the hell are you?"
That line hit harder than it should have. Sabrina blinked up at Cedric, stunned like she just misheard him.
Was this seriously the same man who was always being asked who he was-not the one doing the asking?
Cedric's hold didn't look forceful on the surface, but the traditional guy was already breaking into a sweat. The pain must've kicked in early. "This has nothing to do with you-it's between me and Sabrina!"
Sabrina glanced between the two, raising an eyebrow. Wait, was there... something weird about what he just said? A little too personal, wasn't it? Where was the 'I'm just the messenger' vibe she expected?
"That so?" Cedric fired back.
Sabrina could practically hear the teeth-grinding underneath those words.
"Okay, okay, dude, ease up!" the man winced loudly. Dignity all gone, he surrendered immediately.
Cedric's voice dropped low, every word soaked in warning: "Take your damn keys and disappear. If I see you messing with her again, you won't walk away next time."
"Got it. Loud and clear." The man was already calculating whether this counted as a workplace injury and if Pama would give him a danger bonus.
Cedric finally let go.
The guy took off like a shot, dragging along the mixed-race man bumped into on his way out-they fled together, like they'd rehearsed it.
Cedric arched an eyebrow slightly.
Wow. Modern dating really had leveled up. What was it now-show up two at a time to increase your chances?
He casually dusted his hands off and glanced down, catching Sabrina still staring toward the door. He misread it as fear. "Next time someone pulls this crap, just report them for sexual harassment."
Sexual what, now?
Okay, yeah, it was uncomfortable, but... sexual?
Sabrina scrambled to recall... oh, maybe the hand-holding?
So, wait-Cedric considered that that serious?
Looked like he actually cared. Quite a bit.
Realizing this, she pressed her lips together, holding back a smile.
"And what about you?" she asked, switching gears. "What were you doing here?"
"Dinner." Cedric rubbed his temple, looking drained.
Business dinners-he was over them. Just people drinking, telling gross jokes, and dragging in escorts to "liven up" the vibe. Draining as hell.
"Oh. So, you're done?" she asked again. Otherwise there's no way he could've shown up just in time.
"Yeah." Cedric nodded and casually started walking toward the restaurant's exit.
Sabrina was scared he'd leave her behind, so she quickly sped up to catch up and said deliberately, "I wonder if they've gone yet."
Cedric obviously saw through her words, but still played along even though he knew it was a trap. "I'll take you home."
He was worried those two guys might still be around.
"Okay!" Sabrina nodded, a smile sneaking its way into her big, bright eyes.
Just those three words "I'll take you" were enough to wipe out all the earlier awkwardness.
His sweetness could really fix anything.
No matter how miserable she'd felt before, hearing one line from him could light her back up.
Following behind him out of the restaurant, she heard him telling someone to get her a cab. That's when she realized-there was someone else with them.
A stunning woman, probably his assistant.
She glanced her way, just in time to catch the woman looking at her too. Sabrina quickly shifted her gaze, then saw the assistant cross the street to hail a taxi.
The clicking of her heels against the pavement echoed a rhythm, her slim waist cinched tight by a professional pencil skirt-basically the textbook definition of a knockout. And she was being sent off by herself? That didn't sit right.
"Your assistant's gorgeous," Sabrina commented, laced with something more.
Of course, men are all the same. Always drawn to pretty faces. Ugh. Thinking about how busy Cedric usually was, didn't that mean he probably spent, like, sixteen hours a day with this bombshell?
How could something not happen under circumstances like that?
Sabrina felt a wave of unease.
Cedric shot her a sideways glance without saying a word.
Who said that woman was his assistant?
Actually, his male assistant was down with food poisoning tonight, so he pulled someone from sales who could hold her liquor to fill in. That's it.
But for some reason, seeing Sabrina misunderstanding the situation didn't make him want to clear it up.
The dry autumn breeze drifted between them. They stood there, each tangled in their own thoughts.
After a few quiet days, Cedric had calmed down.
He'd thought a lot about it-Sabrina was probably pretending nothing happened because she felt too guilty over what happened with his grandma.
When people face tough stuff, it's human nature to avoid it-like a snail tucking itself into its shell.
Especially someone like Sabrina. She might seem bubbly, but deep down she was as softhearted as they come.
If pretending to forget was her way of coping, then so be it. But what happened with his grandma? That wasn't something he could just brush off.
Instead of lashing out at her, maybe it was better to...
Just keep things normal.
No more avoiding, no more being affected every time she reached out.
While they waited, one of the restaurant staff pulled up with Cedric's car. The driver got out, respectfully inviting them in. Sabrina climbed into the passenger seat and buckled up.
The car hummed to life and cruised smoothly along a quiet road, pulling away from the restaurant.
Streetlights streaked past one by one, and a big neon sign slipped by above the car. Noticing they were headed the route toward her place, Sabrina had a sudden realization. "Wait, how do you know where I live?"
She hadn't told him since coming back.
Cedric, hands steady on the wheel, didn't even glance her way. The light cutting through the window danced across his face as he stated simply, "I've been to your place plenty of times."
Sabrina wanted to chew her own tongue.
Right. He really had. Many times, actually.
She used to come here when Lynne was around, but came way more often when she wasn't.
Thinking back to all the reckless things she'd done during those years, Sabrina's fingers unconsciously curled into a fist on the door handle.
Man, those years really hit her like a thunderbolt-wiping out all the sweetness from before, only leaving behind this cold awkwardness now.
Realizing they were getting close to her place, and not wanting this rare opportunity to end just yet, she opened her mouth: "I'm hungry. Can we stop to get something?"
Cedric glanced at how close they were to her apartment, originally planning to tell her to eat after going home. But then remembering how fragile her body was-basically made of glass-he figured maybe she really couldn't hold out much longer. So instead, he said, "Yeah."
He switched lanes, exited the overpass, and slowly cruised down the service road until parking near the side.
There was only a bubble tea shop and a 24-hour convenience store around.
"Parking here's kinda tricky, just grab something simple for now and eat properly when you're home," Cedric said, unbuckling his seatbelt and stepping out with her.
"Alright," Sabrina followed along.
First, he led her to the bubble tea place and got her a hot pearl milk tea, then headed to the convenience store. He pointed at the cooked food section and ordered a bowl of udon with fish balls for her. Every move was so natural-like muscle memory-without even asking, like she was still that girl who loved pairing udon with milk tea.
Seeing the staff dropping thick white noodles into the pot, Sabrina swallowed hard, but just didn't feel like eating at all.
Anything but udon.
Cedric must've noticed her reluctance, his brows slightly furrowing, "Weren't you into this stuff before?"
She used to eat this instead of proper meals. Maybe that's exactly why her body was wrecked now.
"...Yeah." Sabrina didn't want to brush off his kind gesture. It was touching that he still remembered what she liked.
But honestly, back in the lab, it was all about convenience. Udon was pretty much their daily meal. In the beginning, it was because they were broke and had no choice-the lab was in the middle of nowhere, and below it sat a lonely convenience store. So udon became their default.
They even tried to spice it up: salty, spicy, sour, sweet-every version possible.
Eventually, when they had more funding and moved to a better location, they all collectively agreed to never touch udon again.
While she was zoning out, the noodles had finished cooking. She took the bowl and sauce packet from the staff, placed them on the counter, opened the sauce, mixed it in, grabbed a pair of fork-just about to dig in...
And the bowl was swiped from under her.
She caught nothing with her fork.
Cedric took it.
"What's going on?" she asked, confused.
He stared at her-couldn't read even a flicker of joy on her face. It wasn't like before, when she'd be jumping with excitement just at the sight of udon.
Yep. People change. He realized he'd totally misjudged-assuming she'd still love the same things.
"There's a bug in it," Cedric said casually, lying without flinching.
"Really? Where?" Sabrina leaned in, trying to see.
"Let's head home first," he said, pressing a hand on her head and gently redirecting her toward the door.
Milk tea had enough sugar to fill her up for a while anyway.
Sabrina gripped her hot bubble tea with both hands, not putting up a fight. She really didn't want to eat udon anymore.
Still, she noticed something-that Cedric seemed... kinda off?
Was he upset because there was a bug in the food? Like, did he feel bad about it or what?
