Chpt 14: The Maiden Doubts The Beast
Two weeks and a very fulfilling talk later, Levi feels like he is on cloud nine, not that his face give his emotions away. Now that the two of them have talked things out and Petra is no longer avoiding him, Levi's efficiency at work increased a few notches. To make things even better, he's finally going on a date tonight, with Petra, of course.
Just a dinner date, nothing much, he explains to himself and not to the bunch of flowers sitting on Petra's desk right now.
Imagine the pleasant surprise Petra receives when she saw the bouquet of tiger lilies sitting delicately on her table with a small card tucked in between the bright petals.
Looking forward to tonight's dinner.
- L
Picking up the phone and dialling the extension number she memorized by heart years ago, she tries to not smile like an idiot but it all fails when she hears the deadpan voice of his.
"What?" is Levi's greeting; only the senior employees of Rose Law Co. knows his extension number and he, unfortunately, knows every one of them as well so fuck the flowery words and get straight to the point.
"Thank you for the flowers, Levi." The constipated-looking attorney sits up straighter in his chair when he hears Petra's sweet voice over the headset.
"You're welcome. I hope you like it."
"Of course I do. I'm surprised you still remember I like them."
Only because it is you.
"My memory isn't as bad as a goldfish." Is what comes out of his mouth instead but that doesn't stop Petra from smiling.
"I'll see you later then."
Petra hangs up and stares at the flora adorning her cubicle. She's really looking to their first date in a long time.
The needle hits five and Levi sees a swarm of bees leaving their cubicles as if someone set it on fire.
Typing the last few clauses before saving his file and backing it up, Levi shuts his computer and grabs his bag, switching off the lights on his way out and locks up his office. It takes only ten minutes to do the aforementioned but only a handful of people are left, typically the ones who tend to slack in the afternoon and realised shit, the day is ending.
As they walk towards his car in the parking lot, Petra starts to fidget, wringing her fingers until they turn red, the bouquet's wrappings rustle by her movements. She has no idea how the date will turn out and neither does he but they are both trying their best right now to get back together. The memory of the incident will never be erased but they will overcome it.
"You seem nervous. Don't tell me you're shy now." He comments as he remote unlock his car and opens the door for her like the old times; Levi's quite the gentleman even though his choice of words is... quite the opposite, to put it simply.
"I'm just worried about Leo. He gets a little anxious when I'm gone for too long."
Hmmm, Levi thinks about Petra's words. "How about I cancel the reservation and we get some take-out?"
Turning the car around to the same Chinese restaurant they met a while back before Petra can give him a reply, she sighs; when Levi has made up his mind, nobody can change it unless she pulls out the old tricks from the book.
The queue isn't long but it gives them sufficient time to think about what to order. "So, what does the brat like to eat?"
"Levi!" She scolds him in a hushed manner. "Don't call our son a brat. And don't you dare call him anything of that sort when you see Leo."
Levi unexpectedly tucks a stray bunch of hair that escaped behind her ear and Petra flushes at the sudden show of affection but she notices more than that, she notices a rare smile on his face.
"At least you said Leo is our son, not your son only."
"Of course Leo is our son; I can't get pregnant all by myself, can I?"
Levi lets out a snort, pushing her gently at the small of her back when the queue moves forward. "I don't even want to know if it is possible."
Other than taking after his hair, Levi concludes for now that his son inherited nothing else from him and hopefully not his height genes in particular. He's only met Leo once but the kid acts as if they're really close.
After placing the takeaway bags on the dining table, he finds his son already clinging onto his leg.
The brat sure can wobble fast. Like a ninja too, he thinks.
"I think he likes you."
"That's good. At least we won't have to go through the bridging part."
Picking up the toddler with ease, Leo claps his tiny hands a little too close to Levi's nose, making his dad flinch the tiniest bit. "Watch the nose, big guy. I like it the way it is."
Leo gurgles incoherent words and continues to clap, seemingly trying to reach out to his face. Even though his kid may be trying to gouge his eyes out or pinch his nose for all he knows, a smile still manages to make its way to his normally stoic face; with the amount of smiling he's done nowadays, Hanji will probably say something stupid along the lines of I'm going to strike the lottery soon.
Petra watches their interactions and thinks about how natural their interaction is.
"Ok boys, time to eat. You two can play after dinner."
Levi turns to the giggling child in his arms and says sternly, "You heard mummy so let's go."
Dinner is uneventful other than Leo making a small fuss; he refuses to eat his vegetables unless Petra cuts them into really small bits and conceals them underneath the rice and noodles. Even then, Leo will occasionally spit whatever peas detectable out and onto the table.
"Peas. Yucks."
Levi quickly looks down at his own plate of stir-fried hor fun when Petra side-glares him as if to tell him to not encourage Leo to grow the habit of not eating his fruits and vegetables. To him, peas are the worst type of green so he totally understands his son's lack of love for it.
"I'll head back now," he begins. "It's getting late and I'm sure you're exhausted already."
He notes the way her moves are slowing down and slouched posture as she puts away the dishes while he dries his hand with a clean rag. Leo's already tucked in, wearing his favourite power rangers pyjamas, complete with the hat.
Petra looks up and sees it is getting late, for a weekday, at least. "Oh. I'll walk you out."
"I'll see you tomorrow?" A redundant question but if it means he gets to be with her for a minute longer today, he figures it's alright.
"Of course." Leaning against the door frame, waiting for him to put on his shoes and coat, Petra thinks it is a little too cold.
Except he doesn't see her the next day.
Finally getting into office after finishing a court session, Levi sees her cubicle empty and asks Nanaba of her whereabouts.
"I heard she called in sick. You can ask Mike for the details."
And so he does; turns out Petra have a fever, and a high one at that.
Then who is taking care of Leo? The babysitter?
Packing his laptop and whatever files he plans on tackling for the day into his bag, he leaves for Petra's house, putting the pedal to the metal.
He rings their doorbell and waits. What took only fifteen seconds feels like half a century before the door opens to reveal a dishevelled Petra wrapped in a blanket.
"Levi, why are you here?" Her voice muffled and congested and overall, she definitely sounds like a sick person.
"Never mind why I'm here; why didn't you tell me you called in sick?" He shoos her in back into the warmth of her apartment when he feels a cold draft waft through the corridor, not wanting her fever or whatever sickness she's currently having to get any worse. "And where is Leo?"
Petra all but shuffles back in and flop onto her couch when she reaches it, already exhausted by the short trip from her bedroom to the entrance. "I had brought him to the day-care centre for now but…" She trails off.
"You have no idea what to do at night?" He continues for her.
The worrying mother nods and lies across her sofa, eyes glazed with tiredness.
"I can look after him for you." He volunteers.
Petra shoots up but a wave of dizziness hits her at the sudden movement. Clutching her head trying to suppress the pain, she pops open one eye and looks at Levi in the eye. "You? No offense, Levi, but even though you're his dad, I don't think you know how to take care of a child."
Levi gives a huff of indignation and crosses his arms, "I resent that statement, Petra. I may not have much first-hand experience – in reality, he has none – I believe I won't hurl Leo out the window or down the rubbish chute if he pisses me off."
Petra raises a brow; that does not put her worries to ease.