CH 23: Stunned Speechless

Eve yawned when she entered the apartment.

For once, she left work at an appropriate hour.

Yet, she felt more tired than when she left late.

'It must be because I visited the studios. City traffic is exhausting,' she thought. Her eyes hooded as she shrugged off her blazer. She hung it on the coat stand blind, guessing where it was located. She kicked off her pumps and placed it on the shoe rack.

"Andie…!" Eve wailed, taking a step forward. She still had her eyes half-closed. Her walk resembled a zombie. "Darling, I'm home!"

"Welcome home, Eve."

"GAH!" 

Eve jumped, her hand hitting the wall. She yelped in pain and soothed the pain with her other hand. Her heart drummed in her chest from the shock. Any drowsiness left evaporated into thin air. 

She was wide awake again.

A tall figure leaned on the archway. His medium blonde hair had been styled into a slicked side parting. A hint of subtle surfaced around his chin and above his lip. Hands tucked in his pants, he smiled amusedly at Eve.

His sky blue eyes crinkled at the corners. "Hello, my love rival."

"Jarrett!" Eve accused, flaring her nostrils. "Did you have to do that?"

He merely tilted his head and fluttered his lashes. "All is fair in love and air."

Eve's face contoured into a deadpan expression. "You're still not over that, are you?"

This teasing had become a long running joke. Ever since Andie made her boyfriend jealous, Jarrett had seen Eve as his 'love rival'. Her best friend actually pushed through with the plan of using her new appearance for a prank. She hadn't even noticed until Jarrett came up to them.

It was quite a dramatic scene at a cafe.

Jarrett shrugged, unfazed by her look. "Not until you marry a certain CEO."

"..." Eve closed her eyes as her lips parted open. She scrunched her eyebrows hard and bit her bottom lip. Her next words came out in exasperation. "Andie told you, didn't she?"

"I can't really keep secrets from my boyfriend now, can I?" Someone else responded.

Turning her head, Eve stared up to the second floor.

Andie climbed down the stairs. She wore a black cocktail dress that hugged her torso. Skin-tone heels covered her feet. Her dirty blonde hair curled on either side of her face. For makeup, she used a pink lipstick and a black mascara.

"Are you two going out?" Eve asked. The pain in her hand subsided. She moved away when her best friend joined them. Andie stood beside her boyfriend and locked arms with him.

"Yes, you'll have the apartment to yourself," Jarrett answered for both of them. He fished out his car keys from his pocket. "Do tell us if you invite some guests."

Eve rolled her brown eyes. "Ha-ha. How about you become banned from here?"

He wasn't convinced by her threat. Instead, he nudged his head towards the archway. "There's a box of French macarons on the coffee table."

"You are forgiven. Have fun, kids!" 

Andie chuckled while her best friend headed for the living room. Then, she kissed her boyfriend's cheek. "You just love teasing her, don't you?"

Jarrett smirked with his lips closed. "Well, if I bought her favorite dessert, I should get something out of it."

"Come on," his girlfriend said, leading the way to the front door. "I already left a note that I am not coming home tonight."

"Oh, yeah?" Jarrett halted in his steps. He pulled her to his front and placed his hands on her waist. His voice dropped into a husky whisper. "Where would you be, Ms. Summers?"

"Gee, I don't know." Andie sighed. Her hands went to the back of his neck, playing with his hair.  "Somewhere that smells like woods and a river. With a human-sized teddy bear."

Rough lips leaned in closer, ready to capture her soft ones. Her eyes closed in anticipation. It had been a long week for the couple. They hardly talked because of their schedules. This night would be the time to make up for it.

Their lips barely brushed together when a voice interrupted.

"Guys, you haven't left yet. I can still hear you."

Jarrett snapped his head towards the living room. "Well, good!"

His girlfriend slapped his shoulder. "Let's go before Eve pelts us with those macarons."

"I love ya, guys, but I am not sacrificing these babies."

Jarrett opened the door and yelled back. "Enjoy your EVEning, Eve."

"Cut the puns, Jarrett. Don't ruin them." Eve shouted, taking another macaron. She sat on the couch with her ankles up the coffee table. She held her phone in one hand and scrolled through an online novel.

The macarons added extra sweetness to the story.

A notification dropped down from the top of the screen. Eve ignored it, fully engrossed to her reading. It had been three days since she last opened the novel. She had chapters updates to catch up on.

A few seconds later, she straightened in her seat. 

Her thumb brushed the screen and displayed the notification bar. Her gaze skimmed through them until it landed on the messaging app. She hadn't imagined it.

The text message was from Avery.

It read: ``Eve, I know you must be tired but don't forget to log in the site. I will have your account linked to your email or your number so you'll receive push notifications. Have a good night~``

Today's earlier events floored Eve. 

Avery and Luna had told her Ambryan's call was fine. They said she had nothing to worry about… but what was this now? Did her boss message Evangeline?

Why?

She was more than ready to never open that site again. What happened? Did she get caught?

Groaning, Eve typed a quick reply and opened the web browser. She followed the instructions until the site showed her profile. It still amazed her how she barely recognized her photo. 

Her best friend would have more insight. She had yet to ask Andie's opinion. 

The chat tab had one notification. Eve flinched. Only one person could message her. Dread wash over her head as she opened.

.

``Yan: Ms. Evangeline.``

.

That was it. 

Eve frowned. Her boss always liked to be efficient and concise. With that in mind, she expected a long message—content packed into the least number of sentences. Her eyes flicked to the chat header. She saw a tiny green circle beside his name.

He was online. 

Her thumbs tapped out a generic response. 

.

``Lin: Mr. Hathaway. Good evening.``

.

Eve held up her phone at an arm's length. The window hadn't erased their previous chat. She scrutinized the flow of messages. 

Had she been working too much? That she'd respond to him as if they were in a workplace? 

Lying down, she forced herself to relax. Both of her hands held the phone above her face. She silently convinced herself that she was chatting with an acquaintance—someone who knew her friend.

This was a casual conversation and nothing else.

.

``Yan: You replied quite late.``

``Lin: I also work, Mr. Hathaway.``

``Yan: You have another job besides modelling?``

.

Eve bit her bottom lip. She assessed the situation. As a rookie model, she didn't receive a lot of projects. If she said she went to training, she wouldn't be able to answer him if he asked for details. 

She wouldn't be able to talk about modeling at all. 

In the end, she chose one of her many previous job experiences.

.

``Lin: I work as an online tutor for part time.``

``Yan: In what subject?``

``Lin: English. What about you? What does a CEO do? Sign off checks?``

.

Groaning again, Eve snatched a throw pillow and buried her face under it. Her message sounded so unlike her. She only wanted to shift the attention away from her. 

What kind of topic would make a CEO talk? There had to be some clue. A brief mention of something that wasn't related to work. 

They had worked together for five years. 

There had to be something.

Anything. 

Until she figured it out, she needed to stall.

.

``Yan: One of many things.``

``Lin: Is it confidential to tell?``

``Yan: It's irrelevant for me to not tell.``

``Lin: Then, what's relevant for you to tell?``

.

Eve tossed her phone. 

It twisted in the air and landed on the floor. Her brown eyes widened. Alarm flashed in them. She looked at it as if it was a time bomb. 

What the hell did she just say?

A notification ping rang out of the phone speakers.

Hand shaking, she reached down at the floor and picked up the phone. A jolt electrified her spine. She bolted upright and stopped breathing. Horror drained the blood from her face as she read the new message. A nightmare just materialized before her eyes.

How could she wake up from this? 

For it to poof like a dream cloud?

Her thumbs trembled over the keyboard. She lost the ability to control them. They hovered, unmoving. Nothing processed inside her brain—not even the words she just read.

.

``Yan: How would you like to continue this conversation in person?``