Sharon's breath hitched. She should have been pleased to get Alex's attention, to have him respond with interest, but the casualness in the response could not let her feel any of that.
Alex's smile widened, as if he was laughing at her reaction. She pushed her nails deeper into the flesh of her palm, and forced herself to keep her composure. She took a breath, and continued with a measured tone after exhaling:
"The day after I left your place last month, I got buried in an avalanche of cardboard boxes."
Alex paused what he was doing, and raised his head to Sharon. The dismissiveness in his tone diminished as he scrutinized her. That got her furrowing her brows, and she studied his expression:
"What?"
Alex's casual smile came back, and he replied, his face now gleaming with interest:
"Nothing. It is just that I seem to have been buried in an avalanche that same day, a true avalanche of snow."
"Cough! Cough!"
The casual tone with which Alex described the dangerous situation he had been in caused Sharon to choke.
She just… And if what she was suspecting was true, which, against all logic, was most likely the case, that meant she just found the source of the misfortune of that day.
Sharon narrowed her eyes, but did not explode, just yet.
"I won't talk about the other small instances of bad luck that made it seem as if life is against me. Even finding work has been more frustrating than before, and I had to rack my brain just to make enough money to get by. Then, there is–"
"Wait a moment, Miss Kender!"
Alex casually placed the dish towel at the side after he wiped his hands, and squarely looked at the blonde:
"So you have been jobless well before meeting me."
Sharon frowned, pushed back the bad memories, and nodded. And that confirmation was all Alex needed, as he looked at her, partly curious, partly intrigued:
"So, what makes you think that it is because of me that you are still jobless?"
Sharon froze. The simple question stung like a needle piercing in a sensitive part. She blushed, then loudly defended herself:
"Don't look at me like someone who blames everything on fate. I'm just saying that things have been more difficult this month."
Alex made a face like realization was dawning on him:
"Oh~ So that is why you tricked Ron out of his car sometime ago."
"Ron?"
Sharon was confused, but only for a second:
"I didn't trick that… Ron out of his car. We competed, and I won."
"I see."
Ales smiling eyes gave Sharon the urge to turn her head away, but then she froze, and she looked back sharply:
"Did you recognize me at that time?"
Her voice was low, to hide the trembling of her heart.
Alex came out of the kitchen with a smile, and an amused gaze like he could penetrate the composed facade of the blonde. His behavior made her dread grow, as she wondered what he could have schemed after knowing her identity for almost a whole month.
That was until he gave a one-word answer that brought her relief, then a feeling of a monkey being played:
"No."
Sharon's relief turned into frustrated anger which melted into annoyance as she glared at her host. She took a deep breath to return to the subject under the reminder from the dull pain on the left side of her body, but froze when she was reminded of something else.
"Since you didn't recognize me before, how did you recognize me today? How did you know it was me at the door just now?"
Alex yawned, and went to throw himself onto the couch. It was only then that he turned to Sharon who had pivoted to keep facing him as he passed by her side.
She frowned as he let his gaze roam over her body, his smile threatening to poke at her forcefully held composure. It was only when her discomfort started growing in the silence that he opened his mouth:
"First, there is your voice…"
Sharon stopped focusing on his smile and frowned for a different reason, because she was having trouble accepting his words.
Alex read her confusion, and he explained:
"Didn't I tell you last time? You are an amateur. You didn't use a voice changer when you broke into my room and tied me to a chair, and compared to visual memory, auditive memory is stronger, and longer-lasting."
Sharon's composure cracked, while Alex's smile deepened, and he continued:
"Of course, there is also your… distinctive figure."
Sharon understood the underlying meaning behind that point. Her prideful shapely figure had given her away. She could only exhale her frustration away, as Alex's smile deepened, like the coup de grâce was coming:
"But most importantly…"
He didn't speak further, but his gaze moved down from Sharon's face to her chest below.
It took a moment for the latter to catch on what Alex was wordlessly communicating, and when she did, her face blushed, then paled, before she recoiled while hiding her chest with her hands, and spitting out through her teeth:
"Pervert!"
Alex raised an eyebrow and sat up:
"I prefer to call myself a connoisseur, because you see, everyone's shape, and size, are different."
His meaningful smile made Sharon finally decide between blushing and paling. Her face felt so warm that she had to bite her lip to keep her mind straight.
She couldn't help but wonder just how experienced someone had to be to recognize a person through such a body part, especially when its shape could shift when wrapped in a bra.
"Of course, there is one last point."
Alex stood up, and approached the blonde. She reflexively stepped back, her hands still on her chest to protect herself, especially as his smile grew, like a predator getting ready to savor his prey.
Sharon grew more nervous, to the point that she missed the obstacle behind her, and she tripped.
"Ah!"
The nervousness, the uncertainty about the pervert's intentions, the exhaustion from all the troubles in the last period, especially the apex said troubles reached today…
All of that made Sharon let out a cry unbecoming of her usually strong self, a cry more fragile than ever, as her heart skipped a beat, and she moved wildly to correct her posture. At least that was the plan, before she suddenly felt her fall stop, and she was pulled back.
She fell onto a chest that felt stronger than expected under the touch of her hands, while a strong arm embraced her by the waist.
*Ba-Dump*
Her heart skipped another beat, and this time, for a completely different reason.