Chapter 4 : Bumpy Roads

Surprised by Hannah's sudden attempt to kiss him, Steven's eyes widened in shock.

He leaned back avoiding her kiss.

Hannah was also unsure of where her sudden rush of courage had come from.

She stood up on her tiptoes and tried to kiss him once more.

She held onto his shirt tightly unwilling to let go or even loosen her grip in the slightest.

Steven pushed her away with some force and said in his low and deep voice,

"Hannah you don't know what you're doing."

"I do... I swear I do." Hannah continued pressing close to him refusing to give up. She didn't break eye contact with him.

"Steven tonight I will either stay here with you or return home with you. You choose!!"

The night obscured many things from sight but it could not cover the determination in her eyes.

Steven stared at her for half a beat and Hannah returned his gaze without hesitation.

Steven did not reply to her but suddenly threw his suit jacket on her body.

This was his indirect way of answering.

Realising that he wanted her to leave.

Hannah felt her stomach drop. Her eyes burned a little.

He was mad at her yet he still treated her so well.

She resented how cold and callous she'd been to him in the past. She wondered whether he could ever forgive her.

On the road back to city park Hannah sat in Steven's car. Her hands absently played with the seat belt.

Occasionally her eyes were drawn to Steven who was in the driver's seat next to her.

The lights on the road flashed red past the window.

Steven's thin eyebrows furrowed slightly.

As Hannah ruminated on everything she realized that given Steven's family and many achievements he could have left her alone at home and gone out and painted the town with any woman of his choice.

However he never seem to give any other woman a second glance.

She suddenly spoke up breaking the silence in the car.

"The Van family Chauffeur doesn't seem to show up often. Do you always drive yourself home?'

"Occasionally" Steven replied.

"You didn't sleep much yesterday. After working for the whole day don't you feel tired?"

Hearing this Steven glanced at her. His eyes seem to be saying that he did not sleep yesterday because of her.

Hannah looked away immediately. Her ears slightly warm.

"What I mean is... you shouldn't push yourself. Next time when work ends come straight home to rest and..."

before she could finish a large truck sped towards them from the road ahead. Even when turning it did not slow down as though it's brakes were not working. The truck was heading straight towards them.

"Watch Out!!" Hannah called out in a panic.

Steven had already turned the car in the other direction avoiding the truck.

The screeching sound of the tires ring loudly.

Hannah's body fell forward while her head knocked against the dashboard. The pain was almost inexplicable. She could do nothing but call out.

"Does that hurt!!!" Steven reached his hand over. Carefully checking her reddening forehead.

"Ouch... don't touch it!!" Hannah flinched pushing his hand away. Steven held her in place to stop her from moving too quickly.

He rubbed the back of her head sternly forcing her to turn her whole head around for him to check.

He saw that her wound didn't seem light. It was already swelling up causing her eyes to redden in pain.

He frowned... "Did you hit your head badly. Is it painful?? Do you feel dizzy??"

"Pains" Hannah muttered.

To be honest her head had only lightly hit the dashboard. There would most likely only be a bump tomorrow.

She had not planned on whining too much about it however when she caught a hint of worry and heartache in his eyes she could not help but exploit it for all it's worth.

Steven's concern made Hannah feel a strange sense of belonging.

She had a husband who was close to her, whose heart would ache for her.

"I'm sending you to the hospital" Steven compelled her to sit properly. Buckling her seat belt for her.

Hearing the word hospital Hannah immediately felt fear. She rushed to press her hands against her forehead saying it's actually not that serious and it's already so late let's not trouble the doctor.

Steven did not give her any chance to refuse. Warning her to not move around too much.

"I'm really fine" Hannah insisted.

She softly suggested the nearby family clinic but Steven ignored her and took her to the hospital.

Steven was only willing to send her home after the doctor had seen her. The doctor confirmed that the redness would reduce after a few days and there was not even the slightest bit of a concussion.

When they returned home, Rose, the family's chef saw the obvious bump on Hannah's forehead and rushed forward in worry. Hannah was directed to sit on the couch as if she were frail, a light breeze knocked her over.

"Miss Oliver what happened? does it hurt?"

Hannah smiled, " It's all right I just bumped my head. I'll be fine after two days."

"Oh God!! Why is it so swollen!! Did you let the doctor check it??"

"I did I'm fine."

Rose nodded suddenly taking in the scene.

She was flabbergasted to see that Hannah seemed to have returned home with Mr Van. She hadn't seen them together in a long time.

Hannah also looked up at Steven, watching as he spoke to the maids on the side. She decided to take advantage of the fact that he was out of earshot to talk to Rose.

"Rose" started Hannah "In the future you should just call me Mrs Van or Madam, both work.'

Rose first seem surprised before looking as though she were about to celebrate with joy.

"Yes madam. Mrs Van."

To rose it seemed like Hannah had finally thought things through and wanted to live happily with Steven.

They had even returned home together. That had to mean something.

Rose informed Hannah that she would start preparing dinner but Hannah said... " You should go rest. I'll prepare dinner."

Eh? Rose looked at her in surprise.

How could a rich young lady like Hannah possibly know how to cook.

"Your head's been knocked about." reasoned Rose... "What are you going to make. You should return to your room and get to sleep early."

Steven finally entered the room.

Hannah turned to speak to Rose and the other members of their staff...

"It's already late. All of you can go to bed."

Rose clearly wanted to say more but seeing how Steven had returned she quieted down. Nodding her head before leaving the room.

To Steven Hannah said...

"You probably haven't had dinner. It's already so late I'll just whip up something quick."

She paused...

"You like Chicken Marsala right??'

As Hannah walked past him. Steven grabbed her wrist eyeing her suspiciously unsure whether she was joking.

"You know how to?"

Hannah's lips quivered. Though she was confident in her cooking skills she did not intend to boast.

"I can't promise that it will taste good but it'll be food."

Steven eyed her wound and saw that it did not look too serious.

Although he did not intend to let her enter the kitchen because she seemed so excited about it he did not want to ruin her mood.

As he let go of her wrist Hannah could still feel the warmth from his palm. The sensation lingered on her skin giving her a strange sense of security.

Not long after Hannah brought out two plates of chicken marsala. When she entered the room Steven appeared to be answering his phone.

Hannah sat down at the table mindlessly cutting up the chicken. Eventually Steven ended his phone call and turned around to see Hannah all by herself.

This was Hannah's first time cooking for him in both her past and current life.

Although she seemed calm on the outside, her heart could not help but flutter with nervousness.

The two plates of food were especially fragrant. Steven walked over. All the hired help had already gone to sleep. Thus only Hannah had been in the kitchen. It seemed like she made the dish all by herself.

Steven surveyed the chicken marsala....

"When did you learn how to cook??"

"A long time ago. You just didn't know" Hannah blinked her eyes.

"Remember in our vows I promised you'd come home to dinner even if it's just something simple like this so you see I didn't lie."

Steven did not ask any more questions.

Seeing that her eyes were full of anticipation, he took the utensils she passed over to him and tasted the dish.

Hannah for her part could barely take her eyes off him. Even the way he ate was so naturally graceful. In the past she had never looked closely at stephen but now the more she looked at him the more she felt her once frozen heart warm up to him. Her heart beat also started to speed up.

If Melanie had not created trouble causing the relationship to sour. Perhaps Hannah would have fallen in love with him a long time ago.

Clearly Steven grew uncomfortable with Hannah's gaze on him.

"Is there something on my face?" He asked.

Hannah sighed... she felt somewhat unhappy about ending the day with this dish of chicken marsala. She wanted more from Steven. She wanted more for them... for their relationship.

"Why don't you move your things back to our room!!!" Hannah spoke, her face involuntarily reddening.

Steven finished eating, placed his fork and knife on the table and said quietly...

"I'll be in the study tonight. I have work to finish. You need to rest. Get some sleep."

After speaking, he stood up, turned around and walked away.

Could it be that he had misunderstood her. She was not planning on offering her body or using methods of seduction to coax him into agreeing to divorce her.

She wanted to live with him. To create a real life together.

After taking some time to collect herself Hannah stood up. She saw that Steven was on the phone with his secretary.

It seemed like he'd been telling the truth. He did have a significant amount of work to finish.

Hannah had initially thought that today's first battle would be a victory but she only ended up with a swollen bump on her head.

She should have known that Steven could not be dealt with so easily.

Late at night Hannah could not fall asleep.

She got up from the bed and went downstairs to prepare herself a cup of warm milk.

She thought to pour one for stephen too.

But then she had a memory of Steven not particularly enjoying warm milk.

She paused then turned to go upstairs.

She walked towards the study, pressing her ear against the door she could not hear any sounds.

It was the first night of winter.

The hallway was slightly cold.

Time slowly passed.

At three in the morning the door suddenly opened.

"Hannah??"

Steven walked out to see Hannah kneeling by the door asleep.

Hannah raised her head in a daze...

"Ah!! You finished working!!"

Steven pulled her up...

"Don't you know what time it is!!! What are you doing sleeping out here in the hallway!!!"

Hannah did not make a sound. Steven brought her into the study and as she opened her eyes she saw the room he often stayed in whenever he returned to city park.

Just like his office it was clean.

There were some documents on the desk as well as two computers.

Steven looked down at her thin sleeping gown and felt her ice cold hands.

He escorted her over to the sofa and brought a coat over to cover her.

"Hannah how old are you!!" he finally demanded...

"Are you a child. Don't you know that if you sleep in the hallway in this weather you will catch a cold."

"I was waiting for you to finish working so we could talk but before I knew it I was already asleep."

'It's already late. Whatever you want to say save it for tomorrow."

Because she clearly had not slept well on the hallway Steven noticed there were some bruising beneath her eyes.

Right now though nothing was more important than letting her sleep.

Hannah still wanted to talk but against her wishes Steven walked her out of the study.

As he did so he felt her hands in his warm palms. Hannah continued to insist that she wanted to stay with him to talk but before she knew it she was back in her bedroom... alone.

Steven did not want to talk to her...

and with a bang... The door was closed.