Because the next day is a day off, everyone decided to relax, until they were drunk to end the party. Anthea drank a lot of wine, now resting on Isidore's shoulder, using her unfocused vision to look around dreamily.
"Let me take her home."
dalziel was one of the few people still conscious, taking Anthea and carefully holding her in his arms. Isidore wanted to refuse, but looking at Dalziel's steadfast gaze, the words he wanted to say withdrew into his heart.
Dalziel is trustworthy anyway, won't do anything bad, Isidore can count on this.
"Help me take care of her."
Isidore and Anthea's house is in the opposite direction, he slowly withdraws his hand and instructs Dalziel. Receiving a nod of agreement from the other, Dalziel happily carried Anthea away, a straight line down to the basement where his car was parked.
"Anthea, Anthea..."
Putting the drunken girl down in the passenger seat, Dalziel did not rush to drive away, but softly called her name. Anthea's eyelids were now heavy, and the constant disturbance caused her to furrow her brows and make a soft hum.
"Do you like that Adonis name?"
Dalziel's voice was filled with jealousy, he asked, then raised his hand to smooth the stray hairs from Anthea's forehead. Anthea frowned in annoyance, smacking her lips in response.
"Adonis? Is it my colleague who just confessed to me?"
Anthea squirmed away from the cool hand resting on her forehead, half asleep, her legs hunched over the shoulder of the chair.
"How do you see Adonis? Do you like him?"
dalziel didn't get the answer he needed, repeating his question one more time. Adonis is younger than him, and his personality is also more lively, which suits Anthea very well. not to mention, the two of them stand together so beautifully, maybe Anthea would like that type of person, this is exactly what Dalziel doesn't want to happen.
"Like what, I'm not ready for love right now."
Anthea muttered in her mouth, she had only broken up with Bevis a few days, and wanted to enjoy the happiness of single life for a while. She is still young, not in a hurry to fall in love and get married, everything should happen naturally.
"So you don't like him?"
dalziel verified, and after Anthea nodded affirmatively, she foolishly chuckled. The burden in his heart loosened, he revealed his inherent confidence. yes, what are you worried about, obviously you are the director of Anthea, you have a house, a car, a stable job, she looks at you and then will not be able to keep an eye on others.
“Anthea, allow me not to work overtime this month.”
dalziel spoke generously into Anthea's ear, the soft sound playing in her ear. He saw that she was completely asleep, didn't want to disturb her, just quietly raised the temperature of the air conditioner to make the space more warm and then brought Anthea back. During the process, he asked Anthea if she had anyone at home, but Anthea had been fast asleep ever since, he would not wake up no matter how he shook her. Dalziel was helpless, worried that Anthea was alone without anyone to take care of her, and decided to take her to his house.
His thoughts were slow but his actions were quick, and soon Dalziel stopped the car in front of the house and carried Anthea to the bed. She just frowned slightly and changed her lying position, the corner of her lips smiling into a beautiful dream.
Dalziel coaxed her to drink the antidote, the other helped her clean her face, and then put Anthea on the bed. Looking at the little girl obediently sleeping in her familiar room, Dalziel's heart swelled with mixed emotions. He tried to steady his breathing so as not to overdo it, just placing a light kiss like a dragonfly skimming the water on Anthea's smooth forehead.
“My little princess, good night.”
Dalziel stopped bothering her after saying that, covered Anthea with a blanket and turned off the light in the room, sleeping in the guest room himself. Although the sleeping space was a bit strange today, just thinking about Anthea in the next room happily closed her eyes and quickly fell into a beautiful dream.
Time moves in a hurry, dawn rises on the quiet eaves of the house. Light filtered through the curtains into the small room, Anthea opened her eyes lazily, pulled the blanket over her head. It took her a while to adjust, then she discovered that the current space was different, definitely not her warm room.
The brain confirmed this, Anthea threw up the blanket and sat up, seeing that her body was still fully clothed, slightly reassured. She felt a bit hazy, clutching her head trying to remember the memory of yesterday, but still couldn't remember who had brought her back in the end. The last part of her intact memory stopped at the moment when she rested her head on Isidore's shoulder.
Anthea was certain that this place was not Isidore's home, for the elegant decor and subtle differences, moreover she had been to his house many times, had the ability to distinguish places. While Anthea was still confused, someone pushed open the door and entered.
“Am I awake? Is there something wrong with you?"
Dalziel put breakfast down on the table and seriously inquired about Anthea's condition, seeing that her face was still normal, he gently patted her head. Anthea dimly accepted this act of intimacy, and only when sober did she ask him about yesterday's events.
"At that time, she was too drunk, I was not sure, so I took her home."
Dalziel answered in detail about the chaotic development, and ended with this explanation. Anthea pouted, silently replying, that being near him made her uneasy, because Dalziel was the most dangerous person she had ever known.
"Don't stand there dumbfounded, you have breakfast."
Dalziel pushed breakfast towards Anthea, on a small tray with a sandwich and a glass of apple juice, Anthea nodded, went to the bathroom to brush her teeth, wipe her face to relieve her drowsiness, and then obediently ate breakfast. As she ate, she asked Dalziel if she could take her home later, because her car seems to have been left at the bar, it will take time to get there.
“Can you stay and help me move to my new house? When it's done, I'll take you home."
Dalziel decided spontaneously, Anthea pondered over her own leisure schedule and agreed, completely forgetting that Dalziel had his secretary Egan handle everything for him. Seeing her respond without hesitation, Dalziel sat down across from her smiling for the sake of achieving his goal.
Anthea finished her breakfast and rolled up her sleeves to help Dalziel clean up. Called cleaning, but the work is not much, merely helping Dalziel arrange a few messy things on the tabletop into a container. The rest is the job of the moving staff, Anthea and Dalziel just stood to one side and watched as they loaded the large boxes into the truck, stacked neatly.
"Where are you moving to?"
Dalziel's current residence is a lavish mansion in the city center, the price of the house is something that Anthea has not dared to think about, so she is very curious where his next destination is. When Dalziel heard this, he only smiled mysteriously, and replied in a very suggestive way.
"You'll find out soon enough, I'm sure my new place will surprise you."
Anthea shrugged, probably just some of the most expensive mansions in town. The wealthy people she knows often change cars and houses, they say they need a difference in their lives, perhaps Dalziel is no exception.
It was not until an hour later, when standing in front of Dalziel's new "home", that she knew he was not fooling her at all, because she was indeed shocked. yet he bought an apartment opposite her apartment, in an apartment building with a normal price but a bit cramped. Anthea opened her mouth wide and then closed it, glaring at Dalziel, who was snickering beside her.
“Is this the surprise you mentioned?”
Anthea looked at the moving staff who were busy moving large boxes of goods in, feeling her days of freedom and freedom were coming to an end. Dalziel pretended to be respectful and nodded, not forgetting to extend his hand in front of Anthea to start a conversation.
"From now on we will be neighbors, I look forward to your help more."
The word "help" was emphasized by him in particular, making Anthea firmly assert that he was doing it on purpose. Peacefully leaving the luxurious mansion to run to this remote place to be her neighbor, Dalziel is too free or his brain is already damaged. She swatted his hand away, not wanting to talk to someone as indecent as Dalziel.
“Dalziel, are you going bankrupt?”
Anthea racked her brain to think of the most logical reason to explain Dalziel's series of baffling actions, watching him warily. But Dalziel just innocently nodded to admit it, and happily said that he had fallen, and would often "freeze" Anthea. She was so angry that she shivered, glaring at him, could he hide his smile to make his words more real?
"Now, new neighbor, it's already noon, can I invite you to a meal to get to know each other?"
Dalziel kept his usual slouched posture as he spoke to Anthea. She knew that she couldn't win against Dalziel in an argument, so she turned around, looking for the house key in her bag, wanting to get a flag and escape.
"No, I'm not in the habit of eating with strangers."
Dalziel knew he had angered Anthea, immediately went into the water, lowered his voice to comfort, his feet immediately strode towards her.
"Don't be so cold to me, or come to my house this afternoon, I'll cook for you, okay?"
Anthea suppressed the urge to slap Dalziel in the face, stood three meters away from him and then breathed a sigh of relief, the door opened without hesitation and went inside, pouring cold water over Dalziel's enthusiasm.
“I can cook it myself, thanks.”
Dalziel watched the unwelcome girl disappear behind the door, licking her lips slightly, as if he had made a bad impression on Anthea again. It's just, Anthea's angry stomping, gnashing of teeth made Dalziel imagine a cat, a little kitty with ruffled fur ready to scratch and upset him.