Jen just come out of the shower when she saw a row of messages from Sebastian:
"Hey, did you get home safely? I am omw to Victor's house, and will stay there for a couple of days. Wanna come over for dinner tomorrow?"
"If you don't have time tomorrow, another day is also okay."
"Or if you prefer lunch?"
"Don't worry, Victor has enough rooms here, I can arrange a guest room for you."
"You know, to say thank you for helping me, again."
"And for helping Victor when he faked being sick."
Sebastian was basically talking to himself for 30 minutes, probably wondering why was Jen not responding to his messages.
"Dinner sounds good. I won't sleep over though." Jen texted him back, knowing that Sebastian wouldn't take no for an answer, and telling him no would also hurt his feelings.
Today was a strange day for Jen- she woke up to see her own name and photo on the news, fooled by two members of the Day family, and then finally got home after all the troubles- "It feels like today had 72 hours." Jen wrote to Luna.
"Wanna come and grab lunch tomorrow?" Luna asked her.
"No, have plans with Sebastian, need to get ready."
"Wait, are you two going out on dates now?"
"Of course not, don't be silly. Just dinner with his uncle."
"Wow, meeting the family already? Remember to invite me to your wedding."
"Noooo, it's just a work thing, I'm pretty sure. They want to get to know me."
Jen put down her phone, lying on her soft bed, covered by her fluffy blanket.
Why does the room feel so empty today?
For the past few days when Sebastian was sleeping over on her sofa, even though it was a little unsettling at first to have an almost stranger in her room, Jen felt the warmth of a kind company that she hadn't had for a while-
when he opened her fridge trying to prepare some breakfast for her; when he was cleaning the bathroom glass because he was embarrassed to trouble her at her own home...
"I wish I had someone like Sebastian," Jen wrote down in the notepad on her phone, she always does that when she is sentimental, "I wish Sebastian was my family. Then he would always be around. But now we only have 3 months left."
The night passed quietly, like nothing had happened during the busy day.
Jen woke up around 9, which was quite early for her.
"What should I wear?" Jen couldn't help but wonder what kind of situation she would be in today:
Does Victor have a big fancy house like most rich people do? The crazy fancy ones with a lot of decorations? Or is he more of a high-tech, modern guy?
Thinking of how Victor pulled off an entire act of his own, Jen could not imagine him living in a mansion- maybe somewhere cozy but quirky? He did say he bought those tangerines for his daughter, does he have kids?
Jen wanted to Google Victor but it felt very creepy for her to research a person she was going to meet soon- even though the Day family had been a part of the news for the past decades, Jen never really did full research when she took this part-time job.
"It's okay, it's just dinner with your boss/friend and your boss's uncle. Maybe they just want to know more about you?" Jen pulled out a dark blue midi dress that seemed suitable for the season-
The dark blue, which resembles the deep deep ocean, falls naturally on her legs; the sweetheart neckline flatters her long and elegant shoulder line.
Jen pulled out a brow belt to match the dress- but it made her look too skinny and would draw too much attention to her waist.
Her dad had always tried to get her to eat more, if he was ever mad at Jen, all she needed to do was to finish dinner and then ask for more.
"If Dad was here, he would definitely say this is such an ugly dress because it made me look like a stick." Jen smiled for a second at the thoughts of her parents, but the empty room was constantly reminding her that she was alone in this world.
"Oh why bother, he is not here to see anymore." Jen felt her tears about to roll down, she looked up to the ceiling, pulled on the belt, and stood in front of the mirror- she looked nice, at least nice enough for a regular family dinner, she was not sure if this was Day's standard.
Just when Jen was wandering in front of the mirror, her phone started ringing- it was Sebastian.
"Good morning, Jen." When Jen picked up, she heard a strange voice from the other side of the phone, "This is Victor Day. I didn't get your number the other day, so had to call you from Sebastian's phone."
"Oh, Victor, hello, yes, this is Jen." Jen was a little thrown off by this phone call, "What can I help you with?"
"Oh sweetie, this is not a work call, don't worry. I just want to ask if I could send someone over to pick you up a little earlier- Sebastian is feeling very good today, I thought maybe I could show you two around the town a little bit."
"Sure! Why not, I am also ready now." Jen agreed but wondered why Victor would want to show her around- considering that she had been in this city for a long time, unlike Sebastian who just got back not long ago.
"Thank you, Jen, for being willing to keep us company. Your ride will be there in 30 minutes."
Sitting in the backseat of the car, Jen couldn't help to feel a little embarrassed- she was still not used to being drived around, especially when the driver was trained not to make small talk: The Day family had very clear regulations that the YD workers were not supposed to be nosy, even when they saw something that they shouldn't see, their best option was to keep quiet.
"Miss, we have arrived at your destination." The serious-looking driver finally opened his mouth to Jen after the depressing drive over here.
"Thank you very much, Sir, may I know your name?" Jen asked, thinking that this driver looked pretty familiar, maybe she should know his name.
"My service number is 0063, Miss. Have a good day."
What? 0063? Jen didn't know the service people are numbered in the YD family- that is quite rude.
She wondered if she had a number as well- assistant 9302, or babysitter 002?
When Jen stepped out of the car, she was expectedly surprised by the view in front of her face:
A beautiful 18th-century Cottage with red roses climbing around the wall- the cottage doesn't look very big but it had a spectacular vibe: mysterious and homey.
A lady was already waiting for Jen by the door, when she got out, the lady walked towards Jen with a delightful smile:" Ms. Jen, Mr. Day asked me to wait here for you. Welcome to Rosa Land, Mr. Day and Mr. Day are already waiting for you."
"HA, two Mr. Days." Jen followed the lady into this cottage called Rosa Land- walking passed the long hallway, Jen could see someone waiting at the end of the road: "Sebastian! You feel better now?" Jen waved and walked faster towards him.
He turned around, wearing a casual light grey shirt, his hair was down, covering his eyes a little bit- he smiled back, walking towards Jen, as if they hadn't seen each other for days:
"Jen! Welcome to Rosa Land."