The Mysterious Room

Halia spent another 2 days in Hong Kong relaxing and thinking to herself. So much had happened lately that she hadn't had time to process everything. The Captain was right to give her some time off. By the time she returned to Beijing, she was refreshed and ready to take on her next mission.

But, the first thing she did after getting of the plane was visit Jackson's apartment. After all, she was supposed to keep it clean for him while he was away and she had been gone for a week.

As soon as she entered the apartment, she could smell the familiar scent of Jackson's cologne. It had only been just over a week since she saw him, but it felt so long.

As she was cleaning the apartment, Halia gave Max a phone call to see if he had any news about Jackson, but Max simply replied that Jackson was awaiting trial in an unknown location and he couldn't even get in contact with him.

Halia sighed. Things did not look promising, but she wanted to at least wait and hear his sentence. She knew it was unrealistic to dream of a future with a criminal, but she didn't want to give up just yet.

While she was vacuuming the home, Halia stopped outside the one room in the apartment that was locked. She remembered trying to get into that room before but having no luck. Back then, Jackson obviously had something hidden inside the room that he didn't want anyone to see, but he was now apprehended, plus he had already revealed his operations to her. Did that mean she was allowed in this room now? He did tell her to keep the entire apartment clean.

Halia picked up the keys to the apartment. Obviously, one of the keys was for the front door. Apart from that, she had used some keys for the windows and the balcony door. But, there was one key which she hadn't used yet. Did he leave the key to the locked room for her? Did he want her to see what was inside?

Halia held onto the key and careful slotted it into the handle of the door.

It fit!

She then twisted the key and it clicked.

Halia's eyes opened wide in surprise. The door was unlocked.

After taking a deep breath, she turned the handle and walked in...

...

Meanwhile, over in a restaurant not too far away, Max was signing off some renovations while he waited for Cleo to arrive.

While Sean was away in Hong Kong for a week, Max had taken advantage of the opportunity to try and win over Cleo's heart.

First, he used his menu as an excuse to meet with her everyday. Then, he took her to dinner afterwards to thank her for her help

Cleo thought of Max as a friend, so she didn't think much of it.

But, she had no idea that whenever she wasn't around, Max had been visiting the gym to lose weight. He had seen the way she looked at Sean and knew he couldn't compare. He even cut down on the number of cigarettes he smoked because she told him it was unhealthy.

That day, Cleo arrived at the restaurant around lunch time as usual. Even though the rest of the restaurant was still under renovation, the kitchen was ready to use. So, over the last few days, Max had been cooking a couple of dishes every day for Cleo to try and she watched the entire process as well as the ingredients that went into them. They'd then taste the dishes together and Cleo would give him her honest advice.

"I haven't seen you go out for a cigarette break lately," Cleo commented while Max was cooking. The first time she visited the restaurant with Max, he went out every hour for a quick puff, but over the last few days, he only smoked a cigarette before she arrived and once before dinner.

"Oh, you noticed?" Max asked happily.

Cleo nodded her head, "Are you trying to quit?"

"Yes, you told me it was unhealthy and that you didn't like it, so I decided to quit," Max replied.

"You're doing it because of me?" Cleo asked.

"Yes, your opinion means a lot to me," Max smiled.

Cleo looked at the man and felt the warmth from his smile. He was quite big and intimidating, but after getting to know him, she realized he was just a gentle giant.