Raymond, who just puffed his cigarette, quickly dropped it when he heard Grace's voice: "Of course it still stands; how about I pick you up tomorrow after school?"
"No" Grace looked around; it was about to get dark, and she didn't have anywhere to stay. "Can you pick me up now?"
This got Raymond worried: "Did something happen to you?" His face darkened, and he was ready to pull the trigger on anyone who hurt her.
"I am at Green Coffee Shop in my community," then she ended the call.
She looked around, wondering if she was doing the right thing. It was obvious that Mr. Xu wasn't a decent person, but she had no other choice.
All she needed was a place to sleep without anyone hitting her with a stick, calling her names, or giving her deadly glares.
"Are you done?" Alice returned after some minutes, and Grace handed her the phone. "Come with me; at least let's have dinner together."
"No, I am waiting for someone."
Alice got curious. "Who is it?"
"Just someone I know."
"Steph? Ken… Who else do you know?" Alice kept teasing her.
"You should go then." Grace urged her to leave; Alice sighed and bid her goodbye. Immediately Alice left, a black, familiar car parked in front of Grace.
Raymond whirled down the window and stared at her. He was the one driving, and he was about to go down the car when she blurted, "Don't go down."
She didn't want anyone in her community to see his face, so she hurried and sat behind him, and Raymond frowned at her. "What now? Am I your driver?"
"Uhm…"
"Sit in front," he ordered, but she shook her head in denial. "I don't want to."
"This is one thing I need to add to the clause, then," he said, letting it go before he drove out.
While driving, he kept staring at her face. She looked sad, but he didn't ask anything because he didn't want to make her feel uncomfortable. And seriously, he didn't care; he just wanted to protect her from physical harm, and that's all.
"Can I see the rules and regulations now, please?"
He nodded, took the document next to him, and handed it to her.
There was a long list, and her eyes widened in shock. "If you need a girlfriend, then why give her rules and regulations?" She muttered in disbelief.
"Mr. Xu, did you probably lie to your parents that you have a girlfriend and that's why you need to hire one?"
"What???" Raymond stared at her in disbelief. "If I had parents, then I wouldn't need to lie to them about such, and I am not hiring you."
"Oh," she said, feeling bad when she realized he didn't have parents. "I am to sign a contract; won't that make me your contract girlfriend?"
"How does signing that document make you my contract girlfriend?" He questioned her in disbelief because he had not yet thought about it that way; all he knew was that he wanted to protect her, and he could only do that if she was close to him.
The only reason he was giving her the rules and regulations was because he didn't want to be disrespected while playing the role of a boyfriend.
"You offered me a house and other stuff in exchange for me being your girlfriend."
"Okay, fine, but there is no time limit. You will become my wife," he blurted, and she blinked severally, wondering if he was joking.
"Rule 1: I am not supposed to have any male friends." She read it before a frown formed on her face. "Ken doesn't count, right?"
"If he is an animal, then, of course, he doesn't count," he scoffed. He needed to keep her from any male because he didn't know when the enemy would show up.
"Rule 2, I am to alert you before going anywhere or joining any activity." She was okay with that.
"Always pick up your call, even if I am in class."
"Do not be friends with your friends." She read the weird rules and stared at him, who was busy driving.
"Obey every order you give to me."
She was used to following orders, so that was normal. "Be polite to me whenever I come over."
"Whenever you come over?" she questioned.
"Hm." This made her realize that they wouldn't be sharing a house, so she sighed in relief.
She kept reading the non-ending rules and regulations till they arrived at the mansion, which she had come to earlier.
This time around, three maids, a butler, and a driver stood at the entrance, ready to welcome her.
"Good day, Miss Chen," they all said in unison.
"Mr. Wang, I will leave her to you." Raymond said before he handed a pen to her, "Sign it."
Grace quickly signed the papers and handed them to him. He took a step closer and pulled her in for a hug. "You should rest well," he said, then placed a soft kiss on her forehead before he walked to his car and drove out.
Grace froze because she never expected such a gesture from him. She subconsciously touched her forehead.
"Miss Chen, please come with me," Mr. Wang said, and she followed him inside. A maid also followed her while holding a pen and a jotter.
"Miss Chen, what are the furniture pieces you want to change and what color?"
Grace was confused. Another maid brought her coffee: "Miss Chen."
This was a new feeling; she was always the one serving coffee to others, but no one ever served her.
"Thanks" Grace took the coffee and looked around, only to find everyone staring at her. "This is weird," she thought.
"I am Mr. Wang, your butler, and this is Jen, Nel, and Krish; they are the maids," Mr. Wang introduced, and Grace nodded.
"And this is Li; he is your driver." The driver smiled at her.
"Thanks, Mr. Wang."
"I will prepare a warm bath for you." Jen excused herself and walked upstairs. "I will serve dinner." Nel and Krish went to the kitchen in order to serve dinner.
"I will come take you to school tomorrow morning, miss." Li left after he informed her.
Grace didn't even know how to behave or how to feel because this was all new to her.
-
After having dinner and getting a warm bath, she slipped into one of the nightwears in the closet. There was a library in her bedroom filled with novels and science books.
She loved reading a lot, so she picked one of the books and sat on the bed to read it when a sound boomed through the bedroom.
"A phone is ringing," she said as she jumped down the bed. That's when she noticed a brand new phone on the study table. She checked the caller ID, which was "My protector."
"What? Whose phone is this?"
The call ended, and she thought of going to hand the phone to Mr. Wang when a message popped up: "When you see my call, call me."
"This is my bedroom; apparently, I am the mistress of this house. So does this phone belong to me?"
She picked up the phone and sat on the bed before swiping it open. Then she dialed the call, and it got connected.
"Little lotus," Mr. Xu's voice came in. She got so nervous and thought of ending the call.
"Did you forget your phone here?"
"I thought science students were meant to be smart," Raymond joked, but Grace found it an insult.
"I am sorry for not being too smart," she said sincerely, hoping that he wouldn't chase her out of this house. He smacked his lip and said, "Stand by the window," as he ordered.
She walked down the bed and stood by the window. "Look around; do you notice anything?"
"Uhm…"
All she could see were street lights as it was dark outside. "Street lights?"
"How many of them can you see?"
This got her confused, but she remembered the rule about always obeying him: "Six."
"You ain't that bad with mathematics, right?"
"Oh, it's six pairs; that's twelve." She suddenly realized they were opposite each other.
"Good, every night you stand there and count the street lights. If the number suddenly decreases, then call me immediately."
Huh?
"I am not familiar with this relationship stuff, but don't boyfriends usually tell their girlfriends to look out at night because of some shooting star?"
BEEP
He hung up on her. "Such a grumpy man."