The flat apartment had a professional vibe, as though it was meant to be a workplace. It was chilly and dull, with not even a maid in sight.
Maybe the maid went to get groceries? Nidia thought to herself.
The one who helped her shower and changed her into the dress shirt was most likely the maid as well.
Nidia tried to put on the pair of pants she found. However, it was too loose for her.
As soon as she stood up, it would fall to her ankles.
She looked up and found a row of drawers. Having designed many dressing rooms, she immediately opened the one on the very top. Just like she predicted, it was full of ties.
Different variations of ties were arranged neatly in the drawer. Nidia randomly chose one and tied it around her waist and the pants. She then bent down and cuffed the pants. After rolling up quite a few layers, her ankles could now be seen.
She was in a hurry and wanted to leave immediately.
If this was Theodore's house, then Nidia would feel very awkward. Theodore was her senior, after all. She may have been close to him back then, but they were now fully grown adults. It wasn't appropriate for her to be alone in his apartment. Their youthful friendship in the past wouldn't justify anything about this.
'Besides, this isn't Theodore's place. It's his cousin's!' From what Nidia could observe in the apartment, as well as the style of the suits and ties in the wardrobe, this cousin of Theodore's seemed to be very mature and stern.
It was very generous of him to have let her stay for the night at his place.
Although it would be better to thank him face to face, Nidia wasn't the best at this.
She decided to go home and text Theodore to thank his cousin on her behalf instead.
After figuring out how to wear these pants, Nidia walked towards the door, her face still flushed. She was just preparing to leave when someone entered the password to the apartment at the door. With a beep, the door unlocked successfully.
A loud click, and the door was opened.
Nidia lifted her gaze and looked straight at the dark hazel door. Behind it stood a man and a dog.
The dog was a golden retriever with shiny fur. It seemed quite tame as it stood next to its owner.
His owner was tall and wore a black coat, paired with a grey dress shirt. The sleeves were rolled up casually, and his forearms were quite muscular. He seemed more stylish and colder than the average male.
Jackson was holding onto the leash of his golden retriever. After walking his dog, he met Nidia's gaze the moment he reached home.
Nidia's cheeks were already burning up. After making eye contact with Jackson's deep gaze, she could feel her neck and ears burning up as well.
She hadn't expected Jackson to be Theodore's cousin.
"Go in." Jackson's deep voice echoed through the room. He seemed to be talking to the golden retriever next to him.
The dog walked into the room with its short feet. Upon seeing the unfamiliar woman in the living room, it approached her and tugged on his owner's pants.
"What are you doing?" Nidia asked. She was not afraid of dogs, especially not big dogs like golden retrievers.
The dog continued tugging on the pants. It seemed to have noticed that this woman was wearing its owner's clothing...
Nidia felt extremely embarrassed.
Still frozen in place, Nidia was wearing the man's white dress shirt and black suit pants. Her fair skin was now a pink blush. She was visibly nervous...
"Why are you in my clothes?" Jackson said, staring at her.
"I couldn't find mine."
Between Jackson's fingers was a used cigarette that was almost finished. His other hand was holding the retriever's leash.
After releasing the retriever, he pointed towards the left side of the dressing room, cigarette still in hand.
It was a door.
Nidia strode past the retriever and went into the room to look for her clothes.
On the other hand, Jackson continued to stare at her. His eyes laid on her silky hair and her fair skin, covered by a thin layer of fabric. A light tint of pink blush coloured her complexion.
It was afternoon, and rays of sunlight shone through the french windows. Under the bright sun, the white dress shirt seemed semi transparent. A shadow of her slender waist could be seen beneath the shirt.
...
Nidia stood still in the bathroom. She didn't dare to look at her reflection in the mirror. She didn't want to admit she was blushing hard.
There seemed to be a laundry basket in the corner of the bathroom. She picked it up and rummaged through it. She was able to find the dress and bra she wore yesterday.
However, she couldn't find her underwear.
Nidia rummaged through the basket again. To her dismay, she still couldn't find it.
There was only a pair of suit pants in there.
'It couldn't have grown legs and walked away on its own.' Nidia stayed in the bathroom for another twenty minutes. She washed her dirty and crumpled dress, and then dried it with a dryer. After changing back into her dress, she felt chilly between her legs. She was very uncomfortable with the fact that she wasn't wearing anything underneath.
She knew that this uneasiness would follow her on her way home. She had to call a cab and walk a distance without wearing anything underneath!
If the wind were to lift her dress up, that would be absolutely embarrassing!
However, she couldn't do anything else but deal with this on her own.
Nidia couldn't bring herself to ask Jackson about it. This was a private matter, after all. He might misunderstand her intentions and assume she lost her underwear on purpose...
She looked through the laundry basket again. After confirming her underwear wasn't inside, she decided to leave. Just as she turned round, she noticed a box lying on the large cupboards in the bathroom.
It was a box for underwear. There seemed to be one left, but it was for men's...
"Are you done yet?" Jackson's cold voice could be heard from outside of the bathroom.
"Almost..." Jackson stood at the other side of the door, waiting for her to come out. He then squatted down to pet his dog.
In just a few moments, Nidia walked out of the bathroom.
"This flat requires identification to use the elevators, so have a seat. I'll be going back to the office later, so you can hitch my ride." Jackson said. He rose and walked into the bathroom.
Jackson would always shower and change into new clothes after walking his dog.
Only then would he go to work.
After having a cold shower, he went to get the box of underwear in the cupboards.
However, he realized that the box was now missing.
Apart from Jackson, Nidia was the only one in the apartment. It wasn't yet time for the housekeeper to clean as well.
A thought popped up in Jackson's mind. He stepped on the trigger of the trash bin, which opened its lid. Lying inside was an empty box.
Nidia was in the kitchen, boiling some water with a fairly new kettle.
The water soon boiled. She poured some into a cup and took a few sips. Despite this, her thirst was still unquenched.
From behind came the sound of the bathroom door opening.
Nidia looked towards Jackson from the corner of her eye. His lower half was wrapped in a towel. She thought she could see a few strands of hair sticking out.
She had only taken a glance, but she immediately withdrew her gaze and continued sipping on her cup of hot water.
'Did he notice anything?' Nidia decided to take another glance. Jackson had gone into the dressing room. He opened one of the drawers and took a box out.
He opened the box and shook it slightly. What came out was a pair of men's underwear.
Gulping down the now warm water, Nidia thought a workaholic like him wouldn't notice that one of his underwear was missing.
'He seems to have lots of them anyway. How would he remember how many he has left?' After he had changed, both of them went downstairs together.
In the clean and spacious elevator, Nidia started spacing out. When the elevator reached the sixteenth floor, it stopped. A young and beautiful woman in her twenties then entered. She seemed pretty rich, covered from head to toe in branded clothing and accessories.
"Hey handsome, which floor do you live on?" The beautiful girl asked Jackson with a sweet smile. Although she seemed like she was blushing, she radiated extreme confidence.
...
Just then, Jackson's black phone started ringing. It was the phone's original ringtone, the sound old fashioned and cold. His expression was the same as well.
Nidia took a glance at the phone. It was a brand that she had never seen.
Jackson had not spoken one word, his aura insanely cold and arrogant. Nidia was impressed by the rich girl's courage. It would seem girls from a better background would have such confidence. It didn't matter what type of man they meet, they would voluntarily flirt if they wanted to.
However, Jackson ignored the beautiful rich girl's flirting and picked up his phone.
Someone on the other side of the phone seemed to be asking him something.
Jackson lifted his wrist to look at his watch. He raised his eyebrows and said, "The meeting will be held at 1:40 p.m."
The girl didn't give up. She bit her lower lip and waited till he was done with his call.
Just as the girl was about to flirt again, Jackson put down his phone and the elevator let out a chime. They had arrived at the lowest floor, B1.
Jackson turned to Nidia, who was standing further inside of the elevator.
Nidia stared back at him as well.
Both Jackson and the rich girl hadn't exited the elevator, so she was stuck inside.
They were in her way, so she had to wait until both of them exited the elevator for her to exit as well...
However, Jackson's large hands grabbed Nidia by the wrist, still maintaining a calm expression. Nidia felt a slight surge of coldness as his skin touched hers.
Jackson then dragged her out of the elevator.
Nidia could feel her heart pounding like thunder. Even without turning around, she could imagine the surprised and disgusted look on the rich girl's face.
"What a waste of good looks. What kind of taste does he have in women? How could he be into slutty women like her?" The rich girl thought, frustrated.
Sitting in the passenger seat of Jackson's car, Nidia was still slightly flustered.
After being grabbed on the wrist by his chilly hands, the sensation seemed to have crawled into her skin and seeped into her bloodstreams. The chilly sensation filled her whole body, and she started to tremble.
Jackson's car was a black Porsche Cayenne. For someone of his status, this was a low profile type of car. The car drove out of the parking lot and on to the road.
"You can let me off at the next street!" Nidia reminded him. He had mentioned he would only bring her out of the apartment after all.
Yet even with the reminder, he didn't seem to be stopping his car.
"Theodore invited us to lunch. He made reservations too." Jackson's voice was deep and mellow. His eyes were focused on the road, and he seemed to be quite good at driving.
"I'm not hungry. Hold on, I'll text him." Nidia said, taking out her phone. She then tapped into Theodore's chat box.
She knew she had to thank Theodore some way. If they were to have lunch, she should be the one making reservations and treating him to a nice meal.
They continued sitting quietly in the car as Jackson drove.
In just a few seconds, Theodore replied to her message.
[You don't need to thank me. It's alright if you can't have lunch today, next time then. Oh yeah, by the way, did the maid make you breakfast? I told my cousin to order her to do so.]
[Yeah.] Nidia decided to lie.
[I'll have my cousin ask someone to send you back when you leave. It'll take around twenty minutes to get to your place from his. You still haven't recovered fully yet, so don't faint on me again, okay?]
[Okay, thanks a lot!] After replying to his texts, Nidia thought to herself. Could it be that Theodore sent her back to the Cunninghams' old mansion? How did she end up in Jackson's apartment, then?
Nidia shook her head and turned to Jackson, who was still driving, "I told him I'm not going to have lunch."
This time, she decided not to ask him to let her off. If he was willing to drive her all the way home, it would be a free ride for her.
"Can you..." Nidia tried breaking the awkward silence in the car. However, she stopped mid sentence and gathered her courage again.
"Can you please give me Bubsy's custody? I am a woman after all, I know how to take care of a child better than a man." Nidia said in one breath, staring intently at him.
Jackson, who was focused on driving, parted his thin lips and said, "So you're saying that I haven't been making time to take care of the child?"
Nidia didn't know how to continue the conversation.
She didn't dare to lecture him about this. It would only cause the air between them to grow heavier.
This man was unpredictable. Just from mentioning their child, he immediately turned into an iceberg that would never melt.