Mafia Lord's Mute Sweetheart

Chapter 36: Chapter 36 Clear Mind

Daisy stopped walking. She turned around slowly, hiding her smile behind her hand.

Cedric sat cross-legged on her carpet, his long legs folding awkwardly, his knees nearly touching his chest. The carpet was too small for him.

He looked up at her. "Are you happy now?"

Daisy nodded. She walked to her bed and sat on the edge, positioning herself behind him. Her knees nearly touched his back. The room was so small that there was barely any space between them.

She leaned forward slightly and studied the back of his head. His dark hair. The tense line of his neck. The way his shoulders were hunched, tight with stress.

She reached under her bed and pulled out her small wooden box. Cedric twisted around to watch her.

"What is that?" he asked suspiciously.

Daisy opened the lid. Inside were her bottles, oils and dried flowers.

Cedric’s eyes narrowed. "Do you have a pharmacy under your bed?"

Daisy ignored him. She pulled out a small glass bottle. The liquid inside was pale green, almost clear, catching the light like a drop of spring morning. The label was handwritten in her delicate script: Clear Mind

She had made this oil months ago, experimenting with different combinations until she found one that worked. Peppermint for cooling. Eucalyptus for clearing. Lavender for calming. A touch of rosemary for focus. A drop of chamomile for peace.

She had tested it on herself, on the nights when her head pounded and her thoughts were messy and she could not sleep.

It worked.

Cedric watched her suspiciously. "Well? Are you not going to make something in the kitchen? Some tea? Some drink? That thing you made before for my stomach?"

Daisy looked at him speechlessly.

Her eyes widened. Her mouth opened slightly. She stared at him like he had just asked her to fly to the moon with a pair of paper wings.

Headaches were not like sea sickness. You could not drink tea and make them disappear. Headaches needed massage. They needed pressure points. They needed oils absorbed into the skin, working their way into the blood, calming the nerves and relaxing the muscles.

Or pills. Pills would work too but she did not have pills.

She gestured toward her own head, then made a circular motion with her fingers, then shook her head firmly. She pointed at Cedric’s temples, then mimed pressing gently with her fingertips. She pointed at the door toward the kitchen, then made a drinking motion, then shrugged her shoulders.

Headaches are not fixed by drinking something. You need massage. Or medicine. I can give you massage. The kitchen cannot help you. The kitchen has no idea how to fix a headache.

Cedric watched her hands. He watched her face. He watched the way her eyebrows moved, the way her lips curved, the way her whole body seemed to communicate without making a sound.

He did not understand her signs. Not really. But he understood her expression. The way she looked at him like he was being ridiculous. Like he was a child asking why the sky was blue.

He frowned.

"Look, I am a businessman, not a doctor. I sell things. I negotiate deals. I sign contracts." His voice was defensive, almost embarrassed. "How should I know how headaches work? I am not a medical professional. I do not have time to learn about... about pressure points and oils and... whatever this is."

He waved his hand vaguely at her bottle.

"Just treat me quickly. I have a meeting at two with Important people. I cannot show up with my head pounding like a drum."

Daisy nodded.

She uncorked the bottle and poured a few drops of oil into her palms. The scent rose between them: peppermint sharp and cool, eucalyptus fresh and clearing, lavender soft and warm, rosemary earthy and grounding, chamomile sweet and gentle.

The smell filled the small room, pushing out the staleness.

Cedric’s nose twitched. "What is that smell?"

Daisy pointed at the bottle, then at his head, then made a soothing motion with her hands, her fingers fluttering like leaves in the wind.

It helps. It calms. It heals. Trust me.

Cedric stared at her for a moment. Then he turned back around.

Daisy rubbed her palms together, warming the oil, spreading it across her fingers. The heat released the scent even more, filling the air between them.

She pressed her fingers to his temples.

Cedric flinched.

His whole body tensed. His shoulders shot up toward his ears. His hands curled into fists on his knees.

Daisy paused. Her fingers hovered just above his skin.

He took a breath. Then another. Then he let his shoulders drop.

"Just... be careful," he muttered. "Your hands are cold."

Daisy smiled softly. She pressed again, gentler this time, her fingertips circling slowly against his skin. The oil absorbed into his temples, cooling and warming at the same time, sinking into his pores, working its magic.

Cedric closed his eyes.

Her hands were small, soft and gentle.

She moved her fingers in slow circles, pressing at the pressure points she had learned about from videos, articles, and late-night research. She had spent hours learning about the human body, about tension and stress, about the places where headaches lived.

The temples. The space between the eyebrows. The base of the skull. The curve of the jaw.

She knew them all.

Her touch was light at first, then deeper, working the tension out of his muscles, pressing the knots until they loosened, until they softened, until they disappeared.

Cedric’s shoulders dropped.

He had not realized how tense he was.

He had not realized how much pain he had been carrying, not just in his head but in his neck, his back, his jaw. He had been clenching his teeth for days, maybe weeks, grinding them at night, waking up with his face sore.

Daisy’s fingers found the knots and smoothed them away.

She moved her fingers to his forehead, stroking from the center outward, smoothing the vertical lines between his brows. Then to his scalp, her fingers sliding through his dark hair, massaging in slow, firm strokes against his skull.

The peppermint tingled against his skin. The eucalyptus cleared his sinuses, made him breathe deeper. The lavender calmed his racing thoughts, slowed his pounding heart.

His headache began to fade.

Like morning mist burning away under the sun.

Like shadows retreating from a rising light.