"Next time, don't wait. My wife does, but that is because she likes to eat with me. I can't be sure when I can get out of there, so just eat if you're hungry!" Kevin said that while looking at Leena. He almost smiled, but he stopped himself.

  "But we don't know if you will be late! So just call next time. Do you know how annoying it is to wait? There is so much yummy food here, that our tummies are growling while we wait. So stop torturing us and call!" Leena gave Claire a thankful look. This was precisely what she wanted to tell Kevin. But for some reason she wouldn't tell him this directly. So Claire stepped up to the plate and did Leena a favor.

  "Okay, I will." Kevin noticed the silent exchange between the two, and apparently it was Leena who wanted to say something. 'Would you still hold back if Claire hadn't said something?' Kevin thought, 'I told you to come to me if you had a problem.' He never thought that he should give Leena a call if he was unable to get home on time. Was he too busy to call? Or did he just not care enough to ask how Leena felt? So did she just sit there, anxiously waiting for him to come home? And why didn't he even think of that?

  "Go wash your hands. Dinner is up." Kevin's gaze brought an embarrassed smile to Leena's face. She lowered her head to avoid eye contact.

  "Hmm! I can't eat if I don't shower first. I'm all hot and sweaty. Go ahead and dig in. Don't wait up. I'll be done soon." Kevin went upstairs as he talked. He was in such a hurry to get home that he had no time to take a shower in his dorm in the army base.

  "Let's eat, Claire. He will be back soon." Leena had already taken her seat. Unlike women, men usually finished their showers quickly. Sometimes, just a couple of minutes were enough for them. Besides, men didn't take as much time to tidy up in f

  't want Kevin mad at me. I promised him we would try and get along." Rather than completely fly off the handle, Claire calmed down again after Leena reassured her. She didn't talk about it again.

  "Promised Kevin? What are you talking about? Is he making you be nice to me?" Leena felt confused. She thought it was strange that Claire was nice to her. But she didn't think about it twice, since most people were nice to her. Sometimes it took a bit for people to warm up to someone. Now, it seemed that Claire was treating her better because of some arrangement with Kevin. But what did she agree to? And what was Kevin's part in all this? Leena could not help but feel curious about it.

  "That is a secret between me and Kevin. You will have to ask him," said Claire with her lips curled. Then she dug in to the tasty food, and said nothing more about this secret. The meal was incredible, as excellent as anything cooked by Maud.

  "What are you guys talking about? I could swear I heard my name. So what's up?" asked Kevin, walking downstairs. He was so quick when he showered. In the past ten minutes, he did things that would have taken Leena an hour. Wearing more casual clothing, he looked quite refreshed.