They arrived on the 8th floor shortly, but they had to walk a long aisle as they were on the other side of the hotel.
Fraine is hugging her briefcase and purse tightly on top of her body while this man carries her into a princess-style. She was still flustered as she was not comfortable being held like this. Also, she was anxious that she might be heavy, which honestly, she only weighs less than a hundred pounds.
However, it always appeared in her mind not to owe anyone. Aside from that, she is not used to being this close with men. She always took her distance and avoided them as much as she could.
Fraine took a peek at the man. She always averted her gaze from him, so she had no idea about his entire feature. But now that she had taken a closer look at him, he resembled someone she killed countless times inside her head.
All of a sudden, Fraine's heart was beating wildly. The more she looked at him, the more he looked like him.
Halfway through their journey toward her hotel suite, she noticed the man frowned as his face darkened.
Rodney, who is uncomfortable being stared at, can't help to feel irritated, and Fraine misunderstood that. She bit her lip as she started to feel embarrassed, thinking she had troubled him so much. But she also comforted herself that she didn't ask for his help, and he volunteered to do this.
"We're here."
Fraine was pulled out from her train of thoughts when the man suddenly spoke. She turned her head to the door and checked the room number.
"You can put me down here…."
"Just open it."
Rodney cut Fraine. She has no energy to argue with the guy, so she opens the door quietly.
Fraine gasps in surprise when she sees her room. She didn't expect that it would be this grand. But knowing that it was a five-star hotel was not surprising then.
When she received a phone call from her boss, he told her to come to The Peninsula Hotel in the evening to meet Director Dale. She was still feeling dizzy. But she needed to get the contract to be signed.
Then, Fraine met up with Christian Dale. Doctor Ben didn't allow her to leave right away, but her boss said that Dale Enterprise had prepared a suite she could stay in, even for how many days she would like. But Director Dale chose that their meeting is in a pub.
The place is nice and quiet. Even so, it suffocates her being inside that long. She wishes to leave soon, and she was grateful Director Dale didn't have questions or prolong their meeting.
He simply meets her in person, and then out of courtesy, he asks her if she wants to eat and drink something before they part ways, which she declines as she just wants to go to sleep after their meeting. After that, Director Dale handed her the contract, and everything was done.
But when she got out of the pub, she felt nauseous and dizzy. If it were not for this man, she would have already thrown up in the lobby and lost consciousness there.
Fraine heaves a sigh of relief when the man puts her down on the sofa.
"Do you need anything?" Rodney asked Fraine. He swept his eyes to the entire room; it was spacious enough for a single bed suite. There is a mini-pantry with basic needs, such as coffee, bottled water, chips, chocolate, candies, and biscuits. He thinks that the small fridge is full of different drinks such as juice in cans, fresh milk, beer, etc.
"Thank you. I'm fine. You can leave now."
Fraine looked up at Rodney. She is certain that this guy looks a lot like Zaijan. But she could see that he was younger than him, so impossible that Zaijan had a twin brother.
Besides, what she knew was he was the only son.
Lopez is a big clan, so it's not possible they were related, and if that's the case, she has to avoid him next time they cross paths.
Rodney turned his head and studied the woman's face. She still looked pale, like all the blood on her face was sucked out. He is debating whether it is best to leave now if this woman feels better and is okay to be alone here.
He would have chosen to drive her to the hospital, but she said she had just come from there today.
Rodney was observing Fraine. He then noticed that she took out a small organizer box from her bag containing different kinds of pills. It surprised him, but it gave him an idea. It only meant that she was seriously sick.
"Do you need some water? I will get you one first."
Rodney does not wait for Fraine to respond. He rushes to the pantry to get bottled water after seeing her take out two different colors of pills from the box.
Fraine was surprised. She didn't expect this guy to be overly attentive to her, who is only a stranger. She can't help but be nice to his gesture and suppress herself to be snobbish.
After Rodney handed her the bottled water, which had already taken the cap, Fraine felt warm in her heart. For so many years after her parent's death, there's no one helping her but herself. So, having a stranger showing a little act of kindness gave an inexplicable feeling in her heart.
"Thank you," said Fraine in a lower voice. She added, "I don't have the money to pay you, which I think you don't need them. I'm sorry if you need to trouble yourself. You can leave now."
Rodney scoffs inwardly and raises an eyebrow. All the women he knew were doing everything to get his attention and flirt with him. And yes, they love faking to trip and hurt their feet or ankle, pretending so that he will feel pity for them.
But now? This woman is deliberately chasing him out. If it were other women, they might act in pain to make him stay.
Fraine looked at Rodney when he remained to stand in front of her.
"Aren't you going to hang out in the pub?" It was just her guess as there's nothing in that part of the hotel but the exclusive pub, which only VIP members and their guests can enter inside.
Fraine cleared her throat and added, "I am tired. I want to go to sleep now."
Rodney was reluctant to leave, but he had no reason to stay. Besides, they were only strangers to each other, and he was just doing an act of a good samaritan. "Okay. I'm leaving now."
Fraine was relieved when the man finally left. She slowly got up from the sofa and walked toward the closet. She found her luggage inside. She changed her office suit into a pair of pajamas and headed to the bed, tucked in herself under the quilt, and dozed off after the medicine kicked in already.
Meanwhile, Rodney headed back to the pub, then searched for the private room Christian book for them.
"Hey, Rodney! Where were you? Zaijan said you already left half an hour ago. Have you lost again?" Matthew had that ridiculous smile on his face. Clearly, he was only trying to tease Rodney; however, the guy didn't buy his joke to his surprise.
Rodney sat silently next to Matt, grabbed a clean glass, and filled it with cognac. He didn't put on some ice, so the liquor burned his throat and almost coughed.
"What's wrong with you?" asked Matt, shaking his head as he wondered how odd Rodney was acting now. Matt moved over to Rodney, just to be surprised when his nose caught with a strange fragrance from the guy. With a huge grin in his mouth, he teases Rodney, "You smell with women's perfume the reason it took you a little while to come?"
Rodney lowered his head and sniffed his shirt. He could smell that woman's perfume still lingering in his shirt.
"So?" Matt snickered.
Rodney glared at Matt. "Shut up! It's just a woman who fainted, and I need to carry her back to her suite."
He regrets he yelled that out loud. Now Matt had even widened the smile on his face.
"I see. Is it a woman who is faking suddenly out of consciousness?" teased Matt.
Rodney twitched his mouth and said, "She's not faking it. I think she is truly sick."
Matt remains laughing. Christian, who is giving some instruction to Hobert, got his attention. "Who are you guys talking about?"
"It's nothing."
"Hey, Chris, check this out! Rodney…"
Both Matt and Rodney said at once.
But Rodney immediately covered Matt's mouth.
Christian was perplexed. "What?"
"I came here to drink, not gossiping," said Rodney.
Matt shrugged a shoulder, chose not to taunt Rodney furthermore, and quickly changed a topic. But Rodney appeared timid tonight.
"What's up, bro? Does that woman bother you?"
Rodney turned toward Matt's direction with confusion on his face. "Why would she?"
"I don't know. You were silent all night, which is not really you," said Matt.
"I'm just thinking about Vincent and aunt Hilda's request." Rodney's excuse. He was truly thinking about her, which also made him wonder why.
Rodney didn't stay longer, and he bid good night first. Zaijan was still awake when he returned to the presidential suite.
"Back early?" asked Zayn. He was in the mini-pantry fetching himself a water bottle when Rodney arrived.
"Yeah. I want to take an early rest." Rodney answered, rubbing his nape.
"Okay. I'm heading to bed soon as well." Zaijan walked past Rodney when his nostril caught something pleasant.
Zaijan returns to his track and sniffs Rodney.
"What's wrong?" Rodney took a step back when Zayn did that. "Hey, what are you doing?"
"Nothing… It's just that… You smell a woman's scent."
Rodney creased his forehead. "Even you? Is this fragrance really obvious to me?"
"Wait… So it is really from a woman?"
Rodney rolled his eyes when there was a smirk on the corner of Zayn's mouth.
"Jeez. I just help someone out. Nothing special or what…."
"Alright. I'm not teasing you." Zayn heaves a sigh. He resumed walking but then halted again and glanced at Rodney. "This particular fragrance… It just reminds me of something."
"With what?"
Zaijan shook his head. "Forget it… Go to sleep."
Rodney watched Zaijan's back get swallowed by the door of his room. "What was that about?" he was left behind, wondering.
On the other side of the door, Zaijan leaned his back and pressed his eyelids when suddenly, distant memories played on his head.
"Vanda Sanderiana…" Zayn muttered with a bitter smile on his lips and regrets in his voice. "It was her favorite flower. She actually makes her own perfume."