My Handsome Uncle, Please Be Mine!

27 || Strawberry Lips || Part 27.

“Uncle Joe likes me?” Clara asked to make sure. For a moment, she felt like what she had just heard was just a fantasy.

“Yes, I like you Clara!” Joe answered firmly.

“And then?” Clara hoped Joe would propose to her. Declare his love and ask her to be his girlfriend.

“I like you, I don’t want us to just pretend to be dating, I want us to date and get to know each other better. Then, I will marry you Clara!” Joe said.

Oh! Uncle Joe talked about marriage again? Honestly, Clara’s thoughts hadn’t gone that far yet.

“Why Clara? Don’t you want to marry me?” Joe asked. He turned the car key, then started driving at a moderate speed.

“Umm…,” Clara murmured, hesitant to answer.

“That’s the risk, Clara. Because you love this widowed man, it means you must be ready to get married soon! At least after you graduate from college, I am willing and will wait. How about it?” Joe said. The man didn’t like to play around. Especially after being played by his ex-wife.

“Umm…,” Clara really didn’t know what to answer.ConTEent bel0ngs to Nôv(e)lD/rama(.)Org .

Silence. Joe waited for Clara’s answer.

“You don’t have to answer now, Clara! After you finish your exams, we’ll talk about this again. This time you have to really focus on your exams. Understand!” said Uncle Joe.

“Yes, Uncle!”

Joe parked his car in the garage. Just like Mario did, Joe grabbed the sweater he always kept in his car.

“Put this on! I don’t want Mr. Joko or any other male servants to see it!” Joe pointed to Clara’s chest. “It’s black!” he added while opening the car door.

“Not black!” Clara replied, crossing her arms.

“Black, I’m sure I saw it!” Joe insisted.

“Not black but navy!” the girl said.

They entered the house and went to their respective rooms.

Clara decided to shower in the downstairs bathroom. Kimmy and Mrs. Linn were nowhere to be seen. The house was very quiet.

The same goes for the servants who were nowhere to be seen.

Clara let the cold water flow, soaking her body. Now she was going crazy. Even when she closed her eyes, she saw Joe in front of her. “Is this what love is?” Clara murmured, smiling to herself.

Clara was wearing warm clothes. She walked to the kitchen intending to make hot chocolate to warm herself up.

The kitchen was empty, no one was there. The girl poured cocoa powder, then stirred it with hot water. So it could be drunk immediately.

Tap..

Tap..

Tap..

Footsteps could be heard approaching. Clara turned around and found Joe standing behind her.

“Do you want hot chocolate, Uncle?” Clara offered. She raised her glass and sipped the hot chocolate in front of Joe.

“Sure!” he replied. Continuing to observe Clara. The scent of her soap wafting around made him want to be close to Clara.

“Wait, Clara, make one for me too?” he said.

“You don’t need to, I have another way to drink it!” Joe grabbed Clara’s waist and kissed her. The strawberry lips now smelled like chocolate.

Clara’s eyes widened. She didn’t expect Joe to be so bold. Kissing her in the kitchen, and there could be servants or even Mrs. Clara who would see them.

Joe stopped his kiss. They looked at each other. Before Clara could protest, Joe kissed Clara’s lips again in his embrace. “You are mine Clara!” he whispered.

Boom…

The sound of thunder was heard. Making them stop their activities. Then they went into their respective rooms to rest.

Joe arrived in his room, as did Clara.

Clara’s phone rang. There was a call from Joe.

The girl immediately slid the green icon on her phone screen.

“Hello, Uncle!” Clara greeted.

“Hello, Clara. Are you afraid of thunder?” the man asked.

“I’m more afraid of Mrs. Linn than of thunder!” Clara replied.

“My mom is not scary, dear. We should be able to go out tonight, Clara. How about we go tomorrow instead?” Joe suggested.

“Yes, Uncle, it’s raining heavily outside and it hasn’t stopped! I prefer to stay in my room and hide under this warm blanket!” Clara said. Hiding her entire body under the blanket.

“Are you cold?” he asked.

“Yes, I took a cold shower, there’s no hot water in the downstairs bathroom like in Om Joe’s bathroom!” Clara explained.

“Do I need to come to your room now?” Joe offered.

“What for?” Clara startled.

“To warm you up!” teased Uncle.

“No, Uncle, no need!” Clara refused.

“Yes, I’m just kidding!” said Joe.

“Umm…”

“Okay, Clara, you rest, okay!” said Joe. He would call Antoni to find out about the information from his client earlier.

“Yes, Uncle?!”

“See you!”

“See you, too!”

The phone call ended.

Joe searched for Antoni’s number. Then he called him.

The phone call connected.

“How was your meeting with Clara?” Antoni inquired curiously.

“Successful!” Joe replied. Clara’s face flashed in his mind.

Click. Joe ended the phone call before Antoni could ask again.

==❤==

Clara looked at her phone screen angrily. Articles about Joe Sebastian spreading on online media made her furious. Jealousy, more precisely.

Just yesterday, the man kissed her and confessed his liking. However, news of Joe’s closeness with Celine surfaced, becoming a trending topic. Understandable, as Celine was a rising model.

“Uncle Joe, what does this mean!” Clara complained.

Drrrtt..

Drrrtt..

[Clara, I’m going to take you and Kimmy out for ice cream. Get ready!]

Clara only read the message. She wasn’t interested in replying, nor was she interested in going.

Her phone rang. Joe’s name appeared on the screen.

Clara didn’t want to answer the call. No. Jealousy wasn’t pleasant.

Tok.

Tok.

Tok.

The sound of knocking on the door. Definitely Uncle Joe. Who else, lately, he often came directly to her room.

Creak.

And…

Sure enough, the handsome man was standing in front of the door with his innocent expression.

“Why didn’t you reply to my messages and didn’t answer my calls, Clara?” Joe protested. His eyes stared straight ahead.

Clara just shook her head softly. “No!” she whispered.

“Don’t be silent like that, Clara!” he protested again.

Clara just remained silent and kept staring at Uncle.

“Let’s go buy ice cream?” Joe offered.

“I don’t feel like having ice cream, Uncle!” she replied.

“Then what do you want?” Joe persuaded. He thought after his confession of love yesterday, Clara would be more open. However, Joe was wrong. Clara was very different today.

“I don’t want anything!” she replied curtly.

“Clara, I’m serious, let’s spend time together this Sunday!” Joe was sure something was wrong. It couldn’t be that Clara changed so drastically if there wasn’t a problem.

“It’s better for you to leave my room now before Mrs. Linn or Mr. Bond comes!” Clara ordered. She was very annoyed. All those articles managed to make her angry, but Joe seemed indifferent.

“Are you angry?” Joe held the door to keep it open.

Clara shook her head.

“Is there something wrong with me?” the man asked again.

“No!”

“Are you hungry? What do you want to eat?” Joe offered.

“I’m not hungry and don’t want to eat!” Clara replied firmly. Trying to close the door because she didn’t want to talk to Joe.

“Clara! Tell me what’s wrong, don’t be like this!” he insisted.

“Get out of my room now, Uncle, or Clara will scream, so Mrs. Linn and Mr. Bond come here!” Clara threatened, still feeling annoyed.

Joe slowly backed away. Letting Clara close her bedroom door. Strange! This morning, Clara replied to his messages enthusiastically. Why was she so angry this afternoon?

The man sighed in frustration and decided to go back to his room.

Meanwhile, Clara was busy taking screenshots of articles about Joe and sending them to Nadia.

[What should I do, Nad]

Clara wrote beneath the article photo about Joe and Celine.

Clara waited for Nadia’s reply. However, her friend still hadn’t responded to her message. Instead, her phone rang again, a phone call from Joe.

“What’s up again, Uncle?” Clara asked angrily.

“What you need to do is get ready, and I’ll explain about those articles!” Joe said.

“What do you mean, Uncle?” Clara scrutinized what Uncle had just said.

“If you’re jealous reading those articles, it’s better for you to ask me directly, Clara. Nadia also can’t answer what really happened!” Joe explained. He smiled, happy to be envied by Clara.

“Maybe!” Clara’s words stopped.

“Yes, Clara, you sent that message to my number, not Nadia’s!” Joe said proudly.

Clara was silent. She felt embarrassed because Joe knew she was jealous of Celine.

“Hurry up and get ready; we’re going on a D-A-T-E, and I’ll explain everything!” Uncle said.

“Yes,” Clara replied unenthusiastically. Her face turned red with embarrassment. First, she was embarrassed because of jealousy, and second, she was embarrassed because she sent the wrong message.