Chapter 12 Mistakes

Grace had purchased a bag of medium-dark roasted Espresso Blend, with a slight caramel flavor that reduced the acidity and bitterness of traditional Italian espresso.
Grace thought that drinking something sweet might help Caesar and herself relax a little.
She squatted in the cabinet on the floor for a few more minutes, when Caesar's voice came from above, "Are you looking for this bag of coffee beans?"
Grace looked up and saw Caesar taking out the bag of coffee beans she had bought from the corner of the table.
"Yes!" Grace stood up excitedly, "How could I forget that I had taken them out already?"
She stood up too quickly and felt a bit dizzy, but the various types of alcohol she had consumed earlier were starting to take effect.
Grace felt a bit woozy, her body unsteady, and Caesar grabbed her arm.
"You're not suitable for making coffee tonight," Caesar said.
But Grace quickly held onto Caesar's arm, pressing her whole body against it, her voice pleading, "Please don't leave, I can make coffee. If... if not today, I don't know when I'll have the chance to finish... "
Suddenly, she seemed to remember something and tightly closed her lips.
Then she leaned in to look at Caesar, "You didn't hear what I was saying, right?"
Caesar lowered his gaze to look at her. Her eyes were no longer clear, as if she had mixed and blended various types of alcohol and they were now presenting in her eyes.
But at the same time, there was also an unwavering determination in her gaze. She held onto his arm tightly, refusing to let him go.
Caesar took a slow breath.
"Alright, I'll stay."
Grace immediately smiled.
Unlike the smile she had earlier in the office, she now appeared relaxed, coquettish, and clingy. Like flowing caramel, emitting an irresistible aroma.
Caesar restrained himself and withdrew his arm.
Grace confirmed that he had no intention of leaving and immediately began grinding the coffee beans.
She filled the grinder with coffee beans, covered it, and started grinding.
Caesar stood by her side watching.
The awkwardness he had felt earlier had eased, and he now felt somewhat relaxed.
After Grace finished grinding the coffee beans, she suddenly realized that she hadn't preheated the water.
"Just wait a moment," she said and turned around to find the water heater.
Caesar, however, stood frozen in place.
Because she spoke in English.
Grace wandered around the room, found the water heater from a corner, and filled it with water to heat. She prepared the drip kettle and filter paper, filled it with coffee powder, and waited for the water to boil.
In the bedroom, the water heater made a gurgling sound.
Grace sighed in relief and looked up at Caesar.
She switched back to English and said, "Please wait a moment, the coffee will be ready soon."
Caesar didn't respond, and during the wait for the water to boil, Grace felt a bit awkward.
She struggled to find a topic from her chaotic mind and said, "I hope the team's ranking improves in the new season."
Caesar, however, didn't respond to her topic and asked, "Your internship ends in the middle of the season, right?"
His sudden question caught Grace off guard. She hesitated for a while before saying, "I think so, but... I... I feel a bit dizzy now, not really able to answer serious questions."
Caesar asked again, "Do you like this job?"
Grace nodded vigorously.
In that moment of nodding, her eyes became moist. Perhaps due to the alcohol, everything around her became sensitive. Both her body and emotions.
In that moment of nodding, Grace remembered the story of how she took step by step to walk out of that home, and how she came to Italy alone.
It's difficult to think of the hard work she endured after work at the store until midnight. Her emotions rose quickly, in just the moment she nodded her head.
Caesar's palm, resting on the edge of the table, twitched slightly, but he did not wipe away Grace's tears. "Why are you crying?" Grace wiped away her tears with the back of her hand.
"I love this job so much, I deserve it, I earned it through my own efforts."
After saying this, sShe started crying again. But the next second, she wiped away her tears again and said, "Sorry, I seem to have had too much to drink.
Sara says I always cry after drinking." Caesar asked, "Who is Sara?" "Sara is my friend, she introduced me to this circle." Caesar did not ask what kind of circle.
He looked at Grace. Because of her recent tears, her eye sockets and cheeks turned red, transparent tears were wiped away, and some clung to her soft lips.
She leaned in close to him, perhaps feeling a bit dizzy and unable to judge the proper distance between people.
Caesar felt dry and parched in his mouth, he needed a cup of coffee.
The water in the kettle was ready, and Grace went to get it. With one hand up, she was about to pour it into the funnel. But she didn't control the strength well, and too much water rushed out, some of it pouring directly onto the funnel, spilling coffee grounds all over the floor.
The other part rushed onto her left hand. The scalding hot water made Grace scream in an instant; she almost threw the kettle away.
Caesar quickly grabbed the kettle and put it aside. Grace sucked on her scalded left fingers tightly. And her tears fell again.
Caesar took her directly to the bathroom, turned on the tap, and pulled her left hand out, placing it under the intense stream of water. He embraced her.
Caesar embraced Grace completely, tightly, without any gaps. Her eye sockets became even redder, and she even closed her eyes. She was completely drunk, her entire body leaning against Caesar's chest. The water continued to flow, and she seemed to be slipping down.
Caesar extended his right arm and wrapped it around her waist. The delicate features on her neck, the soft black hair, the reddened earlobes, and the lightly open mouth revealing white teeth. In the mirror, she was completely under his control.
So obedient, so docile. At the entrance of the bathroom, there were the white panties she had taken off. In the narrow space, Caesar felt the oxygen gradually thinning.
Her hand had been under the water for a long enough time, her hand should no longer be in pain. But Caesar did not raise his hand to turn off the faucet. He was watching Grace in the mirror. The bathroom was equipped with fluorescent lights, shining brightly on her, giving off a pure white milky tone.
It made people can't help but want to plunge their hands in and feel the softness of the water. His thoughts drifted far away, but were suddenly brought back by Grace's voice. She seemed to have just returned from that place.
Waking up from a brief sleep, but she didn't open her eyes. Her words carried a plea, "I can't see, please don't leave."
A disjointed sentence.
Caesar stared at her reflection in the mirror, and she began speaking English again.
Grace tightly closed her eyes and continued, "I won't open my eyes, Master."
Caesar's body gradually stiffened.
She no longer knew who was in her home.
Grace pulled her hand back from the faucet and tightly clasped Caesar's right arm, pleading once again, "Master, please don't go."
"I know it's you visiting me. Grace will be good. I won't open my eyes; I won't see you."
Caesar remained rooted in place, letting Grace turn around and tightly hug him, her hands passing through his arms.
"This way, I won't see you," Grace said, "Master, I miss you so much."
Caesar noticed that the front of his shirt was lightly damp, and Grace's voice had become moister. "Master, have you... have you drunk coffee? I know you don't engage in offline training, but today, can you hold me? I've been faithfully following the punishments you assigned. C... Caesar, did he... did he drink coffee?"
"He did," then Grace said confidently, "I made him coffee, and burned my own hand. Master," she choked intermittently, "can you... hold me?"
Caesar's voice was restrained and deep as he asked in English, "If you can't see me, how do you know I am your Master?"
Grace tightened her embrace around his arm, "It's a feeling, it's Grace's feeling towards her Master. Only the Master will run water over Grace's hand, only the Master will hold Grace."
She easily spoke these words, and alcohol was her greatest accelerant.
Grace couldn't think, and so she lost the ability to judge the impactful nature of her words.
Caesar remembered an idiom he had learned when studying English in his earlier days: as if by magic.
If there was ever a moment in his life that could perfectly explain this phrase, perhaps it was now.
He wrapped his arms around Grace.
"Grace," he called out.
Holding Grace's body so intimately, without any gaps, was not through a distant screen, where one could see but not touch.
Only now did he realize how soft she was.
Grace said, "Master, you're hard.'
After saying that, she extended her left hand downwards, gently covering it.
The soft, delicate fingers couldn't encompass the entirety of the bulge in his pants. She could only slowly move up and down, taking into account all his sensations.
Caesar knew he should speak up and stop her, but when he opened his lips, he found that he couldn't make a sound.
Grace earnestly stroked him for a while, whispering softly, "Master, it's gotten so big."
Caesar took a deep breath and said in a low voice, "It is necessary to receive punishment for such actions without permission, Grace." He started speaking in English.
Grace's heart pounded, "Master, please punish me."
As she spoke, she grabbed Caesar's hand.
Down, down it went.
Sliding beneath the hem of her skirt, along her delicate and soft thighs, arriving at the unobstructed secret garden.
"Master, please punish me."
Caesar gently pressed, and it was already wet there.