Zain's eyes were dark as he glared out onto the road. He no doubt heard the entire conversation. He was like her big brother. He always stood up for her.
"Zain," she rested a hand on his arm. He turned from the road for a second, he acknowledged her. He quickly looked back at the road.
It was enough for Evelyn to see his expression. Though there was anger in his eyes, he was genuinely worried about her. She removed her hand but didn't say anything else.
Mingxi looked up watching the exchange. She remained silent in the backseat. She felt bad for her boss.
As if suddenly remembering something Evelyn turned around to look at Mingxi.
"I need you to contact, Driver Chung. I'm going to need a driver until we get you another car," Evelyn said.
"Tell him I may need him tonight," Evelyn continued. Mingxi quickly sent a message to Driver Chung. Driver Chung was her driver since she was young. He had taken her to school on days her parents couldn't. He had served her family for many years.
"Where are you going tonight?" Zain asked.
"I can take you," he continued. Evelyn waved him off.
"That's not necessary. I feel bad for pulling you out of work already." Evelyn said. He reached over and pinched her cheek.
"Hey!" she shouted and slapped his hand away. There were very few people in the world that could get away with slapping him, luckily, Evelyn was one of them.
Chuckling, Zain pulled his hand back. Zain's phone rang through the Bluetooth in the car. The name appeared on the dashboard.
Zain hesitated glancing at Evelyn before clicking a button on the steering wheel to answer the call.
"Brother, what's going on?" he answered calmly. He knew why his brother was calling. Evelyn on the other hand felt conflicted. She hadn't heard from him in years. To this day she wasn't sure why he avoided her.
"Don't give me that crap. What happened?" Jinhai's voice came through the speakers of the car. It was harsher than Evelyn recalled. Mingxi glanced at Evelyn from the backseat. Evelyn kept her face impassive but she felt a sudden sadness and excitement.
"Why don't you ask her yourself?" Zain asked coyly. He smirked, careful to hide it from Evelyn.
"You know why." Jinhai said, his voice sharp. Evelyn turned toward Zain.
"Ask her yourself," Zain said again, punctuating each word. Jinhai didn't say anything for several seconds.
When he spoke again, his voice was considerably softer.
"Evelyn? Are you there?" Evelyn felt her lips tremble. This was the first time she heard his voice in five years. The last time was the night before her wedding. He didn't come to her wedding, nor did he answer any of her calls, emails, or texts since that night. When she had tried to see him in person, either his family would tell her he was unavailable or his assistant would come up with an excuse.
"Evelyn?" Jinhai said again when Evelyn didn't answer him. She balled her hands into fists. She decided to settle on being angry with him.
"Now you want to speak to me?" She asked. She realized how petty she sounded but didn't care.
"How are you?" Jinhai asked her calmly ignoring her comment. Her hands tightened more her nails digging into her skin.
"Why do you care?" she asked her voice barely containing her anger.
"I've always cared," Jinhai responded quietly. Zain felt bad for his brother. He knew why his brother stayed away from her. He knew it wasn't easy for him. Zain briefly met Mingxi's eyes in the rear view mirror before focusing on the road again.
"Care? How? By ignoring me for five years? What the hell Jinhai?" Evelyn said her voice getting louder.
"Not once, did you ever answer me. How could you?" Evelyn's voice caught on the last word. She took a breath to compose herself. She had missed her friend dearly. It always hurt that he ignored her. But now, hearing his voice she was nothing but angry.
"I'm sorry, Xiaoli," Jinhai said. She cut him off before he could say anything else.
"Don't," Evelyn said hearing the name he called her only when he was feeling affectionate. He doesn't get to talk to her like all was okay and forgiven. In truth she missed him dearly. He was always able to help her see reason and comforted her when everyone else failed.
"I know I owe you an explanation," he said. Zain glanced at Evelyn from the side. He could tell how much his brother's disappearance bothered her.
Evelyn didn't answer Jinhai. Up ahead, the hotel came into view.
"We're almost there," Zain said interrupting them. He didn't want to be the middleman between them. This was something they needed to hash out and hopefully on their own time.
"Where?" the sharpness in Jinhai's voice returned when he addressed his brother.
"Sorry, got to go," Zain said as he turned and headed toward the back entrance.
"Zain!" Jinhai shouted. But whatever else he wanted to say was cut off when Zain presses a button and hung up on him.
Mingxi burst out into laughter when she saw what Zain did. Evelyn turned around to glare at her assistant, instantly shutting her up.
Zain's phone pinged with an alert but he ignored it. As soon as he pulled up to the backdoor three bellhops immediately ran out.
Manager Lau was not far behind. Zain opened his door not waiting for one of the bellhops to do so. He walked around to open the door for Evelyn.
"Mr. Li, Mrs. Cheng," Manager Lau greeted while bowing deeply.
Evelyn grabbed her purse and briefcase. Manager Lau reached his hand out to take them from her. Evelyn gently shook her head and smiled.
"That's not necessary, Manager Lau," She said pointing to the trunk of the car that was opening.
"You can help with those," she said. He nodded and quickly went to address the bellhops to grab the bags. Mingxi got out of the back.
"There's more in the backseat," she said. Zain quickly offered his hand to help her down as the car was quite elevated.
"Thank you," her face became red again. He smiled his dazzling smile at her. He believed that Mingxi thought he was attracted to him based on her reactions when he was around over the years.