Adam's POV

Aaaachooo!!

I groaned as I woke up, my head feeling like it was floating on my neck. I walked, more like staggered slightly to the bathroom. A brown haired man with a pale face looked back at me in the mirror. He looked like a hot mess. Sighing, I sat on the toilet and combed my hands through my hair. The fatigue was settling hard on me, but I had to go to work. There was a huge investor whom I had to talk to today, and I couldn't let a flimsy flu get in the way.

I opened up the shower and cleaned myself up. Feeling a little better from the warm sprays, I wore my suit and went downstairs. Emilia was already in her uniform as usual, but Leila wasn't there with her.

"Good morning, pumpkin. How was your night? Any nightmares?"

She shook her head without looking at me, and continued on with her breakfast. After serving myself the food, I took a bite but I couldn't exactly get the taste of it. After a few bites, I just stopped eating.

I took my plates to the sink, ruffled Emilia's hair and left the room. Just as I was about to open the door, someone beat me to it. Leila was in front of me, eyes wide from the sudden unexpected event of us meeting.

"Good morning."

She kept on looking at me, eyes focused.

"You aren't well, are you?"

I quickly shook my head.

"I'm fine."

Just then, my body decided to betray me, and I sneezed. She took a few steps back.

"You aren't fine. Your face says it all. You look very pale, and your eyes look a little droopy."

"I am fine. It's just a small flu. It will go away."

She looked hesitant for a little bit, a worried expression crossing her beautiful face. The idea that she was worried about me made me smile.

"Well......I guess since you can still smile, you'll be okay. You can go now."

Moving out of the way, she stepped to the side looking outside. Her slightly wet jacket had a few drops on it.

"You better get that off soon. Don't want you catching a cold now, do we?"

She shook her head, smiling to herself as she walked into the house.

"Have a good day, Adam."

I got out, took an umbrella and walked to my car. The driver was waiting for me. He drove to work, and parked the car while I walked into the building. People greeted me, but I just nodded my head in response.

There were many proposals I had to look at, and the whole idea made me feel more tired. The files were boring to look at, and all I wanted more than anything at that time was for them to disappear. I sat down and went to work.

*****"

"Adam!!"

I slowly opened my eyes, and I realized that my breathing had become deeper and more dragged than normal. I felt a slight chill, which made me shiver.

"You don't look too well, man. You have to go home."

I shook my head, not liking the idea he was bringing to the table. My voice trembled a little when I replied him.

"I'm fine. There's that huge investor coming and-"

"No need to worry about that. I can do it. There's still a couple of hours before he comes. I got this. You, however, need to go back home."

I tried to stand up, but my body trembled a little, taking me by surprise as to how weak I felt.

"See? You can't even walk on your own. I'll take you home, okay?"

As a person who wasn't used to getting sick, feeling defenseless was not a feeling I liked experiencing. However, I couldn't go like this to a meeting.

"Fine. Take me home."

He helped me get up and made sure that I wouldn't fall if it came to the possibility of that happening. He even went home with me when it was not necessary since my driver was there. I had a really good friend here, one who wouldn't leave when things got tough. As the car moved, I closed my eyes a little, thinking back to the time when our business was still small. Times were rough then because the economy was declining and no one wanted to invest in businesses during that time. After we put in all our money, we managed to attract a huge investor. Things began to pick up and before we knew it, our business had thrived.

I opened my eyes to see that we were already home. James had opened the door and he was waiting for me to get up. We got into the house together and he led me upstairs to my room. Just as I got to the bed, I collapsed on it, feeling very tired and worn out. I closed my eyes amd slept then and there.

******

Leila's POV

If I knew that he was gonna be like that later, I wouldn't have let him leave. I didn't know how I would've done it, but he wouldn't have left. James had just dropped Adam in his room when I saw him.

"Sorry to bother you like this, Leila, but Adam's got the flu and he isn't handling it well. Can you take care of him for me? You're the only adult here."

"Of course, James. I'll help him out."

"Thank you so much. You're the best."

I smiled then, telling him that I was just helping someone in need. He left quickly talking about a meeting he had to go to now that Adam was not feeling well.

Rushing to the kitchen, I went and made some ginger tea for him to drink. After I was done with it, I walked to his room in quick steady steps so as to not spill it. I knocked, and when I heard no answer, I got in.

It was my first time being in his room, and it was just as I had expected it to be. Gray dominated most of the room, but you could spot some white and black here and there. The only, slightly different color in there was the brown blacket that covered him up.

I walked to the side where he was sleeping and placed the tea on the headboard's drawers. The bed looked comfortable, so I sat on one side while I woke him up. Grey tired eyes looked at me which made me feel sorry for him.

"Leila. What are you doing here?"

"You're sick so I made you this tea. Does wonders for the flu."

He eyed the cup suspiciously, clearly showing me that he was not interested.

"Don't worry. There's honey in it. It's not sour or anything."

Looking at me, he seemed to be studying something. I drew my eyebrows together, perplexed by the action.

"Okay then, I'll drink it."

He sat himself up while I put some pillows behind his back to make him comfortable. I gave him the cup and I sat there to make sure that he drank it.

"I said that I'm going to drink it. It's not like I have the power to go the the bathroom and throw it away."

Laughing, I shook my head and told him that I wasn't going anywhere until he drank the tea. After a few minutes of constant bickering about the tea, I had a smug smile on my face while he took his first sip.

"Wow. It's not as bad as I had expected."

"See? Don't judge something just because you've never had it before. Since now I'm certain you won't throw it away....."

I stood up and began to walk out. Adam's voice stopped her from taking another step.

"Wait. You're already leaving?"

Turning to look at him, I smiled.

"I am going downstairs to make something to eat and some medicine."

When he didn't say anything, I left the room and sauntered downstairs to make some soup for him. After putting in all the ingredients in, I allowed it to simmer while I played with my phone. Suddenly, there was a knock on the door, and I wondered who that could possibly be. It definitely wouldn't have been James, since he just entered and left whenever he pleased.

When I got the door, I was shocked to see Jane there, looking as glamorous as ever. Did she go about looking like she was ready for a photoshoot everyday, because she looked like she was ready to get on the catwalk and rock it.

"Hey, Leila. James told me that Adam was sick. I'm here to see if he has gotten better."

I felt a small pang at my heart, but I pushed it away and let her in.

"His room is-"

She quickly raised her hand which silenced me.

"I know where it is. I'll just head up there myself."

Taking the steps two at a time, she was quickly out of sight, but she definitely wasn't out of mind. She seemed to be close to Adam.

Too close.

I turned to stir the soup and when it was ready, I put it in a bowl, took a spoon then went upstairs. When I got to the door, I heard her laugh which made my stomach drop a little.

Would I disturb them if I got in?

He's sick. Just get in already!

Taking a deep breath, I opened the door to see her sitting where I'd been sitting earlier talking animatedly. She turned to look at me and smiled when she saw the bowl. I put it on the table and looked at Adam who was looking at me.

"I brought the soup for the cold."

His eyebrows furrowed while Jane stood up and took it from the table. Without giving me a second glance, she thanked me and sat back on the bed.

"Come now, Adam. You have to eat this while it's still warm."

She dipped the spoon in the bowl, and put the spoon to his lips. He shook his head and took the spoon and bowl from her.

"It's ok, Jane. I can still feed myself. No need to worry yourself too much."

"Adam, I just want to help you, okay?"

No longer wanting to be there, I left quickly. When I finally got to the kitchen, I sat on one of the island chairs. Playing games on my phone for a while didn't help me in any way.

What were they doing? What were they talking about?

"Aunt Lei! I'm home."

I looked at the time on my phone.

1:27 pm.

Time had really flown by while I was cooped up in there. I went to the front door to see Emilia running towards me. She stopped when she was in front of me, smiling.

"Hey, little one. How was school?"

She began to tell me about how her flower drawing got in to the top three best flowers in class, and that they had a visitor who told them about self defense. They would be coming to their school once a week, teaching them special self defense techniques. I had made our small lunch and we were eating when I decided to tell her about her father.

"Your father is not feeling well right now."

Her jovial mood disappeared and was quickly replaced with worry.

"He's going to be okay, right?"

I smiled, hoping that my smile would lower her anxiety.

"Of course. He has the flu. It's not anything serious."

She smiled then, pleased with my reply.

"I'll go see him when I'm done with my food."

True to her word, she left her plate on the table and ran upstairs. I took the plates and washed them. When I was through, she was coming down.

"Is he awake?"

She shook her head, and made her way to the sitting room. I sat with her, and we watched a movie. After a while, I made dinner and we had it in silence. I guessed that it was because of Adam's ill health and absence, which was something that we were not used to.

********

With another bowl in my hands, I went to his room. After knocking twice, I got in and saw that he was still sleeping. He had improved, but you could see some small beads of sweat on his forehead. I went to his bathroom, took a towel and wet it before wiping his forehead. He opened his eyes then, stopping my movements.

"That's cold."

I took it off, picking up the bowl I'd put on the table.

"You were sweating, so I figured that you needed something to help you cool down. I also brought you more soup."

He shook his head, looking at the bowl.

"I really don't feel like eating anything. I can't even taste anything."

"That's normal for a man with flu. You just have to eat for the medicine."

Taking the bowl from my hands, he held the spoon to his mouth and ate. When he was done, he took his medicine and went back to sleep. I could see that he still wasn't comfortable in his sleep, and that made me feel sad. I didn't want him to be sick, although it wasn't a serious disease.

I bowed my head and prayed for his health. When I opened my eyes, I was shocked to see his eyes opened, looking at me with an expression I couldn't exactly pinpoint.

"Leila....."

"Yes?"

He smiled then, which made me smile as well, although I had no idea why he was smiling in the first place.

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For being there."

I patted his shoulder and made my way out of his room, the emotions I was feeling overwhelming me.

"Goodnight Adam."

†††††††††††††

There's your chapter, lovelies!!❤️🌼