A Graduation Gift

It felt like Rufus was burning into her skin. Part of her felt so shy that she wanted to tear herself apart from his embrace, but that only made him clutch her tighter and tighter.

"Rufus.." Cassandra said softly. "The dinner is ready, I have to arrange the table..."

Rufus gently planted his soft lips on hers before she could go any further. The fusing of their mouths, the feeling of his hands moving all over her back ignited a kind of electricity in her body. She moaned and exhaled with pleasure, only wanting him more. She let herself flow for just a few seconds, before saying, "Rufus...Stop... Please...It's time for dinner. It took me so long to make all those dishes. You wouldn't want to eat them all cold, would you?" Cassandra brought herself to say despite the fire she felt in the pit of her stomach.

After leaving the Tang Group, she had hurried back simply so she could cook dinner for Rufus, which was something she had always wanted to do. For her, cooking for her beloved and waiting for him to come back home after a day's hard work was the real happiness in life.

With his face buried in her neck, he let out a small chuckle and finally pulled himself back. Well, he thought he could wait a bit after sensing her embarrassment. They had the whole night to themselves.

At dinner, they sat face-to-face, with dozens of appetizing dishes on the table between them.

"I don't think Chinese food goes very well with red wine. I have here a pot of traditional yellow wine that my granny left me. Do you want to try it?"

Before Rufus could even say yes, Cassandra already picked up a porcelain cup, filling it up fully. As the pure, amber colour liquid flowed out of the beautiful, antique crock, a lovely, intoxicating aroma greeted them.

"It tastes great, but this kind of yellow wine really has a kick to it. Just try a little first, you might get drunk pretty easily," she said, putting down the crock and pouring herself a cup of tea. "Cheers! With the wine and the tea, let's toast for my resignation from the Tang Group today!"

Cassandra announced gleefully, raising her cup and waiting for Rufus to clink it. Rufus was torn between smiling and weeping at her words.

"I never knew one could be so happy losing their jobs, you know," he said, amused.

And then he raised his cup, clinking it with hers. They looked deep into each other's eyes as they sipped from their cups.

The amazement escaped Rufus's face the moment the cup touched his lips. Pleasantly surprised by its flavor, he took a good look at the liquid. Now, it looked orange-red to him, even clearer in the white porcelain cup. Although it looked fairly transparent, the taste of it was quite dense and as rich as the smell that lingered in the air. Even the aftertaste had the perfect balance of acidity, sweetness and a slight bitterness.

This was the first time he had had yellow wine. It was unlike anything he'd drank before, as if it had things to express and stories to tell.

"This wine tastes really rich! It seems so special. Tell me more about it," he urged, reaching for her hand.

Judging by the antique pot and its traditional flavor, he guessed it had a deep historic background.

However, Cassandra's face fell at the question. A look of sorrow came across her beautiful eyes.

"It has another name—Maiden Rose," she said slowly after a while. "I was brought up by my granny, who was in fact my mother's wet nurse. She was a southerner, and followed the tradition of burying a pot of this kind wine under the ground if a girl is born into the family. The wine is to be kept underground till the day the girl is married," she recalled. "This pot was prepared for me when I was born...but Granny passed away before I got married..."

before she finished, with a sense of suppressed sadness. Her

grown up with her granny. It

memories of her beloved granny flooding her head. Granny was the only person she had most dearly loved ever since she remembered existing, a love she had neither received

had decided, wiping the tears off her wet cheeks, to keep the pot, as a token of her granny's

no affection involved in that marriage whatsoever. Her heart never allowed herself to present the wine to anyone, or to ever open and drink from it. But, now she was with Rufus, the man she truly loved. She had not been

had just told him. He hadn't expected that the story behind the wine would also be

she wasn't really attached to her parents. For all he knew, her parents, Vernon and Edith loved Cassandra's sister, Cloris, much more. No wonder, for her, the granny who prepared this pot of Maiden Rose held much more importance

she

in a soft

of course the love was mutual. We buried her ashes in the cemetery that's

back her tear. She truly loved her granny and her memory always brought tears to her

his throat, as if to gauge whether he should speak something or not. "Cassandra, I have taken a day

care of Cassandra. And for another, he wanted to know more about

or defect, certainly no burden to the family.

tears, Cassandra

about we forget all these sad things

him small portions of everything on the table. The sheer thought of

one, Rufus tried all the dishes, pleased and surprised with each.

was so delicious and she must have put all her heart into it. He never knew she was so good at cooking as

I've always dreamt of preparing a table full of delicious

her hands. There was innocence in

Her beautiful plump lips were too

sofa, looking deep into her eyes. Cassandra let out a small cry of surprise as he

a sweet and enchanting smell into the air as the two were lost in each other, making

cemetery. Cassandra was overwhelmed by how much he cared. They decided to go to the suburbs.

she looked like a warm and beautiful person, inside out. Rufus stared at the photo for quite

how Cassandra felt. His mother had been the closest person to him, the same way Cassandra's granny had been

two of them

the bad things in life. While they were leaving the cemetery, she

know about Cassandra's divorce, because of which Cassandra felt this heaviness all the way home. She couldn't imagine how her

got out of the car too. Cassandra had wanted to ask him to stay in the car and wait

be afraid..." he said,