He came back from the bathroom. His face was still as red as before. It hadn't faded a shade.
"Sit down." She said while arranging the ingredients.
"Are you sure? I can apply it on myself." He tried once more to make her back out. He was so nervous. The thought of having her face near his was too much for him. It was actually the second time already today, since the first was when he applied the face mask on her face earlier. At the time it was bearable though his face flushed red as well. Because during the first time, most of the time, the lady had her eyes closed, and he was busy with the procedure. He was concentrating on the procedure more since he also did not want to mess up.
However this time, he was going to be the prey. He would not have anything else to do but to wait patiently until it's over. He could not distract himself from it. Even if he decided to simply close his eyes for the duration of the procedure, his mind will not rest a bit. Especially knowing the fact that their proximity will last for quite a bit. How could he control his surging emotions? It's as if he was being tested and tempted without any chance of retaliating. He was expected to do literally nothing.
"Yeah, it's not a big deal. Can't be on the receiving end all the time." She shrugged. "Actually when I was a lot younger, my friends and I would do this quite often. Lately I haven't even have the opportunity to catch up with them, what more do this kinds of things with them. Either they're busy or it's me who's not available. It' difficult to find the time. So I'm really grateful."
"Guangxi and I are blessed to have such wonderful neighbors." She grinned with all the gentleness in the world. All of them could feel her sincerity.
'Are we really that lucky? Hmph.' Guangxi could only think about it. Forget about voicing it out. Mo Wenbin might attack him again.
Jinxu stood in front of Chen Linyun, then she bent close. Second later, Chen Linyun could feel the refreshing piece of cucumber on his forehead. He opened his eyes and took a peep. Her face was only a few inches away. He was blushing hard but could not close his eyes again. He kept on staring at her. One by one the tiny cucumbers invaded his face. After a few minutes the procedure was completed. Once he opened his eyes he did not close it again. He decided to take everything in - every passing moment with her. 'I have to save it in my memory. Might not happen again.'
"There! All done!" She beamed proudly. She then turned around to look at the other two. "Look at us! We're so cute! I suggest we take a photo together!"
"What for?" Mo Wenbin was annoyed.
"No, I don't want to. I won't join you." Guangxi and Wenbin were against the idea. They were allies this time around.
Xue Jinxu felt dejected.
"Well, I'm fine with it. Let's take a photo." Chen Linyun agreed.
"Teacher!"
"Hey, Linyun, what for? I really don't get the point. If you explain it to me, I might reconsider."
"Traitor." Guangxi retorted.
"What did you say, kiddo?"
'Oops. Didn't intend it to escape my mouth. Better watch this mouth of mine, he might beat me up soon'. Turning to Wenbin he said, "Nothing, Senior."
Xue Jinxu said, "Well, it's just that it's our first time to bond together and we do not know when this will happen again so I suggest we take a photo to commemorate it. It's a wonderful memory anyway. In the future looking back at the photo we will remember this particular afternoon. Isn't that awesome?" She explained her sentiments so well that all three of them were touched.
"I agree." Chen Linyun said.
"Yeah that's seems to be a good idea." Mo Wenbin was convinced.
Only Guangxi was left at the other side of the argument. His stance wasn't even strong to begin with. He started to wobble. "A-alright. Whatever you say."
And so they took the photo. "I'll have it framed." Xue Jinxu said then she lied down on the couch. She occupied most of the lengthy couch.
"Hey lady, move aside." Mo Wenbin also wanted to occupy the couch. He only wanted to sit down but there's no room for it.
This time Xue Jinxu was lying on her back. She was given by Linyun two pieces of cucumber to cover her eyes. "Find yourself a space elsewhere. Somewhere that is not yet occupied."
"Hey is this your house?"
"No, but I'm your guest. Remember, you invited me here. The regimen isn't over yet."
"Hey you can just sit, why lie down! Give others some space too."
"You're too noisy."
She did not budge. Mo Wenbin was defeated. "Hmph." He placed himself on the floor instead. Guangxi also sat on the floor. After a while they started playing video games together.
Most of the time Chen Linyun stayed in the kitchen. After sometime enticing wafts filled the whole apartment. After a few minutes he emerged carrying a plate. "I baked some cookies. It's still hot though."
The two wolves dived right in. "It's delicious. Yum. Yum"
Xue Jinxu who was lying on the couch was asleep. Chen Linyun watched her intently while she enjoyed her afternoon nap. It was a lovely Saturday afternoon enjoyed by friends. The atmosphere was light and filled with warmth of people with good spirits. To top it all, his woman was here inside his house, sleeping comfortably. His heart and his brain both were filled with too much contentment. 'What good have I done in my past life to receive such blessings today?' He thought. 'I wish for the coming days to be this peaceful and happy.'
Then someone's phone rang. It was Xue Jinxu's. She was woken up by the call.
"Boss." It was the timid voice of her Secretary, Miss Yan.
"Speak."
"There were quite problematic incidents that happened. I'm here to report." She paused but when she assessed that her boss will not react, she continued. "Some of our ships had encountered mishaps."
"Be more specific Miss Yan."
"There were two major instances. The most severe was that our chemical tanker MT [1] Serendipity's bottom had touched the seabed during pull-off operations. The marine officers are still finalizing the report and what really happened. It was not clear yet if the bottom bore holes or if there are any leaks…"
"The second item is that we received a claim from the port of Shanghai that one of our ships bumped hard with their fender and that some parts of their port wall had been damaged. They want us to compensate for the damage." Miss Yan supplied her with the details.
"Anything else?" the lady boss inquired.
"There are a few others but not to the magnitude of the first two, ma'am."
"Got it. Contain the issues. Make sure the proper point persons are on top of the situation. Collect all the necessary data from all parties involved including the pier and the by-standers. We need witnesses. We need documents to support. Call the PR department to control the news. We have to sort this out first."
"Prioritize gathering the data whether there's a hole or any leak from MT Serendipity. You know what to do, we have standard procedure for that. Tell the Technical Marine Head to send me updates every hour."
"Schedule a meeting at eight in the morning on Monday. Make sure all the executives, department heads and responsible key personnel will be there."
"You get all of that Miss Yan?"
From the other end of the call, Miss Yan said, "Affirmative ma'am." The call ended there.
She was still lying at the couch. She raised her other free hand towards her face. Then she remembered that she still had her face mask on. Her hand stopped in mid-air. Without the mask she would have pinched the space between her brows.
The spectators around her were speechless. 'What just happened?' They thought.
"My sister is so cool." Guangxi murmured.
'My woman is so cool.' Chen Linyun also thought. He could not voice it out so openly. However, he could openly express his concern.
"Anything the matter?" Chen Linyun asked with a worried expression.
"Some problems at work. Nothing that cannot be addressed." It was brushed off just like that.
"Guangxi, you join the meeting with me on Monday." Having said that she extended her hand to grab a cookie on the table in front of her and took a bite. "Holy cow! Where did you get this?"
Chen Linyun's face grimaced at her reaction. "Why what's wrong?"
"It was heavenly heavenly delicious. So where did you get this?" She pushed with full curiosity.
"I baked it." Chen Linyun honestly admitted.
Mo Wenbin and Xue Guangxi were bobbing their head in agreement.
Her eyes widened then she laughed, "If you ever think of opening a bakery, let me know I'll back you up." Then she laughed heartily, as if she just found a treasure.
Finally their face mask party was about to come to a close. They took turns in rinsing their faces in the bathroom.
As Xue Jinxu expected, her brother shouted in euphoria, " Unbelievable! It was like magic! My face! My face! It so much softer and supple and refreshed! Wow, amazing! Teacher Chen you're amazing!! What sorcery is this? We should do this more often!!!"
"HAHAHAHHAHAHAHA!!!!!" Mo Wenbin guffawed as if it was him who just got praised.
Chen Linyun scratched his head, "A-ah, Sure." He was looking at Xue Jinxu who just shot him a look that said, "I told you so."
[1] MT stands for Marine Tanker