Sue stood in front of Alex and Sam. She looked so dishevelled and despairing that Alex was moved.
"You're—" she recognized Alex but still had no idea who he was.
"Mr. Ambrose bought Lawrence Heights a few days ago. He's the new boss here," Sam explained to her.
She was slightly surprised but not shocked. People bought million-dollar properties in New York all the time. There was nothing so remarkable about someone buying Lawrence Heights.
"Sam, from today, Miss Bradley is going to be the new property manager at Lawrence Heights. Please help her settle in and teach her about her new role. She will start in two days' time. Do you understand?" Alex hadn't discussed his decision with Sam at all. He was just giving him an order.
"Yes, no problem," Sam said as he looked at Sue. Although he had doubts about her suitability, he didn't dare disobey Alex's instructions or question his decision.
"You can go now," Alex told him. Sam and the other staff member who had fetched Sue walked out of the office.
Sue looked at Alex feeling slightly dazed. She couldn't understand why he had just given her such a good job.
"What's wrong?" he asked with a slight frown. He was a bit frustrated with her.
"Nothing," she replied as she lowered her head slightly and started to tidy her hair with her hands. In her opinion, she and Alex were worlds apart. She couldn't understand why he should care so much about her situation.
He let the matter drop. If she didn't want to tell him, he wouldn't pry. "Sit down," he said, preparing to talk about her new position with her.
That afternoon, he had been alone in the office thinking about who should take the manager position that Philip Geller had vacated, and he thought of Sue. He knew that she was looking for a job, and he wanted to help her. The job came with a decent salary that should satisfy her family.
Sue walked over to the sofa. Suddenly, she felt a sharp pain in her foot. "Ouch," she cried as she stumbled and nearly fell. Alex quickly stepped out from behind his desk and helped her.
He looked at her feet and took a deep breath when he saw that she wasn't wearing shoes. Her feet were bleeding, and her stockings were stained with blood.
She lowered her head in shame, and Alex sighed deeply.
He helped her to the sofa, where she sat down with relief. He quickly stood up and walked outside. Before long, he returned with a plastic bag, which he gave to Sue. Then he brought a bowl of water from the bathroom and sat down beside her.
Sue saw that there was some ointment inside the bag, and she felt grateful.
"Now give me your foot, and I'll help you apply some ointment," he said to her. When he had seen her injured foot, he had felt some responsibility, so he had run out to buy medicine without saying a word. During his "poverty training," he had lived alone for seven years. He had learned all about treating wounds and knew what to do.
Sue slowly extended her foot toward him.
He gently removed her silk stockings and exposed her barefoot. When he looked at the wound, he was relieved to see that it was not serious. She just had a few cuts caused by treading on stones on the street. He held her foot in the water and washed it carefully.
Sue tried not to let herself make a sound, but when the water touched the wound, she couldn't help crying out in pain.
"Sorry. I'll be finished soon, and the wound will be clean," he said as he continued cleaning her foot.
When he finished, Alex tried to disinfect the wound with alcohol.
"Hang on," he said as Sue tried to pull her foot away. He held it tightly and looked at her injuries. He told her, "You have to bear the pain. If we don't disinfect it, it might get infected."
"It hurts too much. Let go. Let it get infected," Sue cried. Although she was not from a wealthy family, she had been well taken care of since childhood. She had never suffered in her life and was not used to dealing with pain. Although she liked Alex, she scolded him, "Let go, Alex, why do you hate—"
But no matter what she said to him, Alex was unaffected. He continued to meticulously disinfect her foot and finally applied four band-aids to protect it.
She pulled her foot back and tucked it beneath her in the corner of the sofa.
Alex shook his head helplessly with a wry smile. He picked up the used tube of ointment and put it aside. Then he picked up the basin of water and took it to the bathroom.
After a few minutes, he returned carrying a large bag.
"Are you still angry with me?" he asked as he sat down next to her.
"Hum," she snorted, reluctant to forgive him.
"I'll tell you about your new position," he said. He was not going to beg her to forgive him. He had been happy to help her by tending to her injured foot, but he didn't feel sorry for her anymore. He told her about her new job. "From Monday, you will be responsible for the rental business of Lawrence Heights. Your new title is property manager, and the initial salary is three thousand dollars a month. Once you've passed a probation period, it will increase. If you work hard and do well, you could be on five thousand a month by the end of the year."
Sue was still confused. She asked, "Why do you want me to work here? I'm a journalist. If you give me this management position, aren't you afraid that I'll ruin your company?"
Alex said with a leisurely smile, "Oh, you underestimate me. If you think that you can single-handedly bring down my company, that's something I would like to see. If you actually do manage to destroy my company, I'll give you another hundred thousand dollars." He felt that he had seen enough of Sue to have a good understanding of her character, and he trusted her.
"Well, even if you're not afraid that I'll destroy your company, I am. You'd better supervise me all the time. Otherwise, you might not have a company at all in a few weeks." She glared at Alex with some tears in her eyes. Her foot was still really stinging.
"Well, before you do bring down my company, at least look after your foot. I suggest that you find yourself some shoes," he said jokingly.
"You—" she snorted and got up to leave.
"Slow down. Don't hurt your foot again, I might not be there to patch you up." Alex grabbed her arm and stopped her. Sue frowned in surprise.
"Put on some shoes, and I'll help you back to your apartment." Alex picked up the plastic bag he'd brought with him and took out a pair of pink slippers. "I didn't know what you liked, so I bought you these. They'll have to do for now."
He gave her the shoes.
"They're hideous," she said, "I can't wear those." She looked at Alex with disgust.
"There wasn't much choice. I'll buy you a better pair next time, but please put these on now," he pleaded. But she refused. He sighed and asked, "Are you really not going to wear them?"
When Sue remained adamant, Alex gave up asking her politely. He grabbed her foot to put on one of the slippers. When his hand touched the skin on her foot, she flinched. They looked at each other and both laughed.
They seemed to have reached a tacit understanding. He let go of her foot, and she slowly put on the slippers. Without another word, he helped her to her apartment.
As Alex was about to leave, Sue said, "Why don't you sit down and have a drink." He poured two glasses of water and sat on the sofa next to her.
"Thank you so much for the job. I'll do my best," she said. She had finally calmed down.
"I'm sure you will. I can see that you're a very capable person. My company needs people like you."
Sue took a sip of water, and then glanced at him and asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?" She quickly sipped from her glass again to cover her uneasiness. She had been wondering about that since she met him and decided to ask him directly.
Alex hesitated for a moment. Have I got a girlfriend? he wondered. I once had the best girlfriend in the world, but I lost her. I've no idea where she is now. Was I a good boyfriend? Did I deserve to be Debbie's boyfriend?
"No," he replied sadly. He gulped down his glass of water and wished it had been a glass of liquor.
When she heard that Alex had no girlfriend, Sue's heart fluttered.
"Is there some girl you like?" she asked carefully.
"Yes," he replied, thinking about Debbie. When Sue heard that there was another girl that Alex liked, her heart sank.
"Can you tell me what kind of girl she is?" she asked with some disappointment.
"She is a kind and beautiful girl. Things have not gone smoothly between us, and we've had many misunderstandings. I thought I could protect her, but I realize now that I couldn't. I think I even caused her more pain. If it wasn't for me, she wouldn't be in the situation that she's in now." Alex felt increasingly desolate.
"Does she also go to Preston University?"
"Yes."
"Does she like you?"
"I don't know now if she likes me, dislikes me, or hates me..." Alex's head was starting to ache. He was sure that Debbie hated him now because he had failed to protect her.
"Can you tell me her name?" Sue was very interested in the girl who made Alex so emotional.
"I need to go. My head hurts. You stay home and rest." The more she asked, the more Alex thought about Debbie and the more miserable he felt. He couldn't stand it any longer, and he covered his head and walked out.
Sue sat on the sofa with her arms around her knees and looked at the band-aids on her feet. She remembered how gently Alex had handled the wound for her earlier and a trace of tenderness came into her heart.
She saw the pair of pink slippers lying on the ground and picked them up gently. Slowly, she closed her eyes and held one of the slippers against her face. As she thought about Alex and remembered that he already had a girl that he liked, her face wrinkled slightly in pain.