It'll Come Naturally
Chapter 1489 Playing Hard To Get (Part One)

"Why?" asked Patricia in confusion. "What would you have done if she told you?" Tom didn't answer while Patricia continued. "Would you have joined us for shopping? Is that it?" Her brows creased into a beautiful frown. She didn't understand why Tom was serious about it. After all, it was the first time she saw him act in such a way. A consistent frown on his face made him appear more intimidating than usual.

"Did you really think I'd want to join you? That's ridiculous," huffed Tom, looking at her weirdly. Patricia merely shrugged. "You silly girl. Why didn't you tell mom that your leg was hurting? She would have understood," scolded Tom as he massaged her leg with a gentle hand. He didn't like the idea of her leg hurting.

"I just couldn't tell her at the time. Do you have any idea how excited she was?" asked Patricia, glancing at him. "She really enjoyed shopping with me. I just didn't have the heart to let her down, that's all. I was trying to get on her good side." She sighed in delight. "If I could just make her like me, I guess we won't have a difficult daughter-and-mother-in-law relationship in the future," Patricia reasoned with Tom, who had been silent this entire time. She recounted all the times her leg hurt, and why she felt it was best to keep it to herself. While she knew deep in her heart that Tom's mother wasn't unreasonable like other mothers-in-law, she still couldn't help it. Even though her mother-in-law would have understood, she just didn't want to cause any friction between them. It was better to be cautious. "You make it sound like my mom's unreasonable. Can you stop worrying? She is very kind and considerate. She is easy to get along with. She would never give you a hard time." Tom was really confident about this. He was convinced his mother would never intentionally do anything to make Patricia's life harder, being the kind and gentle woman that she was. She had good manners, and would definitely attempt to get along with her daughter-in-law, even if it was only for her own son's sake.

"I know! I can tell that she is. But that's not it. The more she is kind to me, the more I don't have the heart to let her down. I just really don't want to disappoint her, Tom." Patricia rubbed her nose, feeling rather silly for admitting it to him. This was one of her weaknesses. The more others treated her nicely, the more she wanted to give back. She dreaded the chances of letting down the people who were nice to her.

"So? Is that why you decided to let yourself be hurt?" he asked skeptically, "All right. Go upstairs and have a shower. Then let me put some ointment on your leg when you're done." Tom let out a silent sigh. Though her leg was red and a bit swollen, it was not that bad. All she needed was some ointment, and then she was fine in a matter of hours after some rest.

"But we're about to have dinner. I was just waiting for your return. Besides, I am really hungry right now." Patricia was the kind of girl who couldn't stand being hungry. When in such a vulnerable condition, she couldn't focus on anything else. She was simply unable to function on an empty stomach. That was why she didn't run upstairs to shower before having something to eat.

"You're hungry already? Didn't you have lunch earlier?" Tom asked, looking at her with curious eyes. If she went and had lunch, she shouldn't be feeling hungry so early. So why? Did she have to pass up on lunch to keep shopping with his mother? It sounded a bit extreme to him. Was she too shy to tell his mother that she wanted to eat? Did his mother really forget to invite her to some food, at least some snacks? Tom's mind was reeling with so many possibilities but Patricia was quick to put him at ease.

"We had lunch together," she said, "But I didn't have an appetite at the time, and didn't get to eat much." Thinking back of the lunchtime when she had to go through with those pretentious ladies today upset her all of a sudden. They were too mean and obnoxious for her liking. She couldn't stand it at all. If she had her way, she would never talk to any of them again in the future.

"Why is that? Was the food not delicious enough?" Tom put her leg on the floor and stood up. He was curious to know what made Patricia, a woman who enjoyed eating so much, lose her appetite. It piqued his interest immeasurably. Could there be something bothering her?

"The food was all right. It's just... the crowd, you know? They were just a bunch of nosy and obnoxious women. I just didn't feel like eating a lot around them earlier." Patricia was being honest. She didn't want to lie to Tom, especially not about something as trivial as this. It wasn't a big deal, so she might as well come out with the truth.

"Ha ha," chuckled Tom, relaxing upon hearing her explanation. "I think I know what you mean. Were they mom's so-called friends? They're not her real friends, to be honest. Somehow, she just has to socialize with them." Tom explained to Patricia and felt amused by her reaction. Though he didn't like the old ladies himself, he knew how to ignore them. Patricia, on the other hand, was easily fazed by such type of people.

"You know about this?" Patricia asked in surprise. "To be honest, I'm really impressed by your mother. I just can't understand how a nice and kind person like her can be friends with those pretentious and obnoxious women." Patricia was amazed by her mother-in-law's tenacity around such a difficult group of women. She could stand being friends with them despite their nosiness and, in her books, that was truly impressive. If it were Patricia who had to socialize with them, she would have given up a long time ago and run away as soon as possible. She wasn't the kind of woman who could easily deal with people she didn't like, and quite frankly, she was fine by that.00000000000000