Evelyn and John left the study and headed toward the door. When they got closer Evelyn smelled coffee.
Chloe was sitting by the counter and sipping at a cup of coffee. She was pouring over her drawings again.
"Are those from the grounds that John just gave me?" Evelyn asked her sister. Chloe shot upright. She was so absorbed in her work that she hadn't heard them.
"Uh, yes! It's very delicious!" She said sheepishly.
"Did you make enough for me?" Evelyn asked. Chloe looked chagrined. Placing the cup down and rubbing the back of her head.
"Uh, well." She said. Evelyn narrowed her eyes. She then proceeded to swipe the cup from the table.
"Then I'll take this!" Evelyn said bringing the cup to her lips.
"I drank from that!" Chloe shrieked. Evelyn took a gulp before she answered.
"Are you sick?" She asked.
"No, but," Chloe stuttered.
"Well then, I don't care." Evelyn chugged the warm coffee. She would have preferred it cold but she wasn't super picky about her coffee.
Chloe's cheeks puffed out in anger. John smiled at the ridiculous scene before him.
"This is your fault." Chloe said giving a pointed look at John.
"Me? What did I do?" He asked wiping the smile off his face.
"You enabled her. Are you aware of her horrible coffee addiction?" She pointed a finger at him.
"Pfft, all I did was bring her coffee. You were the one that made it." He pointed out. Chloe glared at him. He glared back at her.
"Ugh! So not fair. He's helping you because he's on your payroll." Chloe turned her attention back to Evelyn.
"No, he's stating the truth. Now be a dear and make another pot of coffee." Evelyn said in a sickly sweet voice.
"No, oh hell no." Chloe said her temper rising.
"Chloe, such language." Evelyn tsked.
"Oh please, you're much worse." Chloe said.
"True, but I'm not the one losing my composure," Evelyn said. But she decided to stop teasing. She left a fourth of a cup and placed it back on the table.
"Here," Evelyn said. Chloe made a face.
"You drank from it." Chloe said.
"If you don't want it," Evelyn taunted, teaching for the cup again. Chloe grabbed it and downed the rest of the coffee.
Evelyn smiled at her sister. She missed their little sibling banter. Of course it was usually because Chloe took something of hers without asking, and Evelyn taught her a lesson. It was her right as the bigger sister afterall.
"You guys are funny," John commented.
"Alright, you report to WWO at 8:30 on Monday morning. I'll brief you on a few things before the rest of the staff comes in. Be ready for a long day of work." Evelyn said to him. She walked him to the door and saw him out.
Mingxi returned soon after with the laundry. They were neatly folded and placed onto the shelves in the closets in the various rooms.
They left soon after and each returned to their homes. Evelyn got back to the hotel at 8:30 in the evening. She called her father when she walked through the door to tell him about her new hire. She probably should have run it by him first, but she knew he would say yes.
"Xiaoli," he answered.
"Hi Ba. How are you?" She asked him.
"I'm well, have you had dinner yet?" He asked her.
"Not yet, I will soon." She answered.
"What's going on? I know this isn't a little social chat." He cut right to the chase. His tone hinted that he already knew why she was calling. Evelyn rolled her eyes. 'Chloe' she thought.
"Let me guess, Chloe." She said.
"Right in one, don't you think you should have run something like that by me?" Deming asked. There was no anger in his tone.
"What makes you think he'll make a good fit?" He continued.
"Because he is dedicated, driven, and loyal." She said.
"According to what?" He challenged.
"Do you not trust my judgment?" She asked, slightly annoyed. As Vice President it was within her power to hire.
"I want to understand your reasoning." He replied.
"He was an employee at the manor. He took the job because it paid well and allowed him time to take care of his sick mother. But he has all the necessary credentials. He put his dreams on hold once. Now he'll chase after them with everything he has, with nothing to lose." She said.
"Nothing to lose, that could easily backfire." He commented.
"That's a chance I'm willing to take." She easily replied. Her sheer intuition when it came to work was usually right on the money. She would trust her judgment regarding John as well.
"So much so that you intend on personally mentoring him?" He said.
"Was her ear pressed against the door?" She asked. She pinched the bridge of her nose.
"Xiaoli," he said.
"Yes, I'm going to mentor John." She said.
"I thought you were going to mentor your brother." He said.
"I am. I can do both. Besides Ben still has another semester before he graduates. Until then his studies are more important." She said. Deming grunted, he begrudgingly agreed with her.
"Fine." He said. He was giving her a harder time than she thought. But she had a feeling that it was because he was concerned that she would neglect Ben.
"Okay, goodnight!" She said.
"Good night," he said and hung up. Evelyn sighed.
She was about to order room service when her phone rang again. It was Jinhai.
"Hello," she greeted.
"Hello," he answered. The phone was silent neither of them saying anything.
"What is it? Is everything okay?" She said at last.
"How are you?" He asked ignoring her question.
"Okay, and yourself?" She replied.
"I'm fine." He said. This felt awkward. She couldn't remember a time that it was ever awkward between them and she didn't like this one bit.
"Is there anything else?" She prompted. Deep down she hoped he would show up again.
"No. Don't go to sleep too late." He said.
"Okay. You too." She answered.
"Good night, Evelyn." He said.
"Good night, Jinhai," she replied. She stared at her phone as the line went dead. 'What's going on?' She sighed. She suddenly lost her appetite and went about packing up her stuff. There was no point in delaying her move into her new apartment tomorrow.
- - - - -
JINHAI'S HOME
Jinhai sighed as he hung up the phone.
"Don't go to sleep too late?" What was that he thought. There was so much he wanted to say. But when he heard her voice, all of it went out the window.
He tossed back the contents of the amber liquid he had poured himself before he made the call. It burned going down but he barely noticed. He poured himself another glass.
He had enjoyed holding her in his arms those two nights before she kicked him out of her bed. He hadn't slept that peacefully since his early childhood. He missed her.
But she asked him to take things easy and give her time to adjust. So he had no choice but to honor her wishes. Deep down he was afraid that by giving her space he would lose her again. He had no idea how he would survive it this time if he did. With that thought he tipped back the rest of his drink.
Zain pushed through the doors, without knocking.
"Did you intend on getting drunk?" Zain asked.
"No." Jinhai answered while pouring his sixth shot of the night.
"We have work to do." Zain said. With him were the folder on Shawn and all his dirty little secrets.
"Then let's get to it," Jinhai replied. He poured a shot for Zain then raised his glass. He figured he would need the alcohol to stomach the things he was about to find out.
- - - - -
OASIS HOTEL
Evelyn finally collapsed into bed after a shower. She had packed up the entire room, ready to move everything tomorrow. She had asked Zain if he could give her a hand again and he agreed.
Evelyn thought back to the phone call with Jinhai. He was giving her space. She hadn't seen him in two days. She found that she missed him. Shaking those thoughts from her mind she turned over and fell into a deep slumber.
When she fell asleep she had another night of nightmares.
This time it was a series of confusing images. But the ones that stood out were the horrifying images of a mutilated baby. She woke up, the wailing sound of a baby ringing in her ears.
She sat up sobbing again. The nightmares were back. The recurring nightmare of a mutilated baby started after her first miscarriage. It had gotten better but they would always flair up again every traumatic event.
For almost two weeks when Shawn was on a business trip, she had nightmares every night. They stopped after he had come home and shared the bed with her. Then Jinhai was there and she had slept peacefully. Now she was alone and the nightmares were becoming worse.
The sky was still dark and she quickly went to the bathroom to splash cold water on her face. The ice cold water hit her face and ran down the back of her neck making her shiver.
There was no way she was getting anymore sleep tonight. She sat on the couch until daybreak.
Then she got ready for the morning, her feeling of unease hadn't gone away.
She put her hair up in a ponytail today and it made her appear more youthful. At 7:30 she got a phone call from Zain.
"Good morning!" He sounded rather happy.
"Good morning, Zain." She said.
"Do you want to go for breakfast with me and Jinhai?" He asked.
"Okay," she said.
"Alright, we're on our way over to you. We'll be there in 15 minutes." He said.
"Okay," she said then hung up.
She went to go put on her foundation. She didn't bother concealing the bags under her eyes. The fact that her eyes were blood shot were going to give her away. She opted for a lip tint today then packed up the rest of her makeup and shoved it into her bags.
When the guys arrived they came upstairs. They knocked on the door and she let them in.
"Good morning sunshine!" Zain said and pulled her into a tight hug. He released her and she turned to Jinhai. She hugged him as well.
"Why do you look so tired?" He asked her as they pulled away.
"You can't ask a girl that," Zain said as he elbowed his brother. Jinhai shot him a dirty look then turned back to her.
"I'm fine," she said. She turned to grab her purse.
"Where are you going?" Zain asked her.
"I thought you said breakfast." She said looking confused.
"Yes I did, but it's also only a quarter to 8 o'clock," Zain said laughing. Evelyn's stomach picked that moment to rumble loudly. Her face tinged red.
"I skipped dinner last night," she replied sheepishly.
"Why did you skip dinner?" Jinhai's tone was sharper than he meant it to be.
"I wasn't hungry then," she answered. He stared hard at her. She met his gaze head on, daring him to say anything about her eating habits. His eyes softened a little as he met her gaze.
"I'll be right back," he said then turned and let the room.
"What's up with your brother?" Evelyn asked Zain when the door closed. Zain only shrugged.
"Heck if I know. But he hasn't shut up about you all night." He answered then bit his lip, a guilty expression on his face.
"What do you mean?" She asked turning to him.
"Nothing, forget I said anything." He answered then moved quickly away from her.