I’ll Make It Up To You (4)

Their fingers touched for a brief moment before Evelyn pulled her hand back tightening it in a fist.

She reached out and plucked the drink from his hand. Pulling the straw out of the glass she chugged it. Jinhai didn't say anything but watched her silently.

He was hurt when she said she didn't trust him anymore. He never thought that this would be the repercussion for walking away from her then. At the time he did it for self preservation. He didn't realize that for her, it would feel like he was abandoning her.

She was right. Over ten years ago he did promise that he would never leave her. When she was fourteen, her mother passed away. She was so heartbroken.

He remembered that day, she had run to the Li Manor in tears. That was the last time he had ever seen her cry. His parents were beside themselves with grief. She had clung onto him and refused to let him go.

He had carried her through the maze garden to the heart of it. He sat her on one of the stone benches facing the big fountain.

She had cried and screamed. She had kept saying that her mother left her. He didn't know what else to do, but he had felt his own heart breaking at how heartbroken she sounded.

He promised her that she wouldn't be alone. He promised that he would never leave her, that no matter what, she would always have him. She had finally stopped crying in his arms that night.

She must have been more devasated than he realized when he stopped talking to her. It made him feel a little bit worse about himself.

Evelyn slammed the glass back down on the table. She wiped her lips with the back of her hand. She began to feel a little bit giddy.

The door pushed open and Phoenix came back with a tray of glasses of ice water as well as a glass pitcher filled with water and lemon and lime slices. She placed a cup of water in front of Evelyn and Jinhai as well as her own place setting before placing the pitcher at the end of the table near her.

Behind her a waiter came in with a cart. On it was a portable electric stovetop, a stainless steel pot, various meats and vegetables meant for hotpot, and an assortment of sauces. There was also the utensils and bowls. Phoenix moved to the side so that the waiter could set up the stove. When it was turned on, he placed the pot on top. When the pot was secure on the stove he lifted up the lid to reveal that the broth was already there.

One side of the pot was a vegetable broth base and the other was a spicy pork bone broth base. The vegetable side had a couple of mushrooms in it whereas the other side had some red chili peppers and dates in it. The waiter then unloaded the rest of the cart and placed the sauces and food around the table.

"Thank you," Evelyn said when the waiter finished setting up the hot pot for them. He acknowledged her and went to take his leave.

"Drink," Jinhai said pointing to the glass of water in front of her.

She took the glass and chugged the water. The coolness of the water was refreshing but also gave her a brain freeze. She placed the glass down shaking her head.

Phoenix poured her another glass of water when she finished. Evelyn thanked her.

"Mhm," She replied. She had taken a spoon and began stirring the broth.

"So what were you guys talking about?" She asked, setting the spoon down to let the broth heat up.

"He wasn't letting me drink." Evelyn complained. Phoenix side eyed the empty glass in front of Evelyn.

"He did a shitty job." She commented. Evelyn laughed.

"I tried," he replied, making Evelyn laugh harder. Soon Phoenix and Jinhai joined her.

"Well food first, alcohol later." Phoenix said. Evelyn rolled her eyes at her. Before long the broth began to bubble.

"Is fatty beef still your favorite?" Jinhai asked Evelyn.

"Yes," she answered. He grabbed a couple of pieces with this tongs and put them into the spicy broth side.

"I can do it myself," she said. Then she remembered, it was his favorite too.

"Is it still yours?" She asked. He nodded grabbing some green vegetables and putting them into the spicy side as well. As he let the vegetables cook he pulled out the beef and signaled for her to take it.

"Oh, thank you. But really, I can do it myself." Evelyn said, even as she extended her bowl to accept the beef. Phoenix didn't say anything as she silently observed the exchange. Even when they were younger, he always catered to her. At the time it seemed brotherly but now, he seemed to be almost tender.

Phoenix was actually aware of why Jinhai stayed away all these years. When she had sought him out for ignoring Evelyn, he had her kicked out of his office. It probably didn't help that she was verbally attacking him. She had received an earful from her parents for being so disrespectful for disrespecting the son of the most influectial family in China.

Zain had told her after leading her out of the building. It was the only way to get her to stop. Only because of his sincerity did she agree to keep the secret from her best friend. She understood what it felt like to love someone you can't love. It was painful to say the least.

"Okay," he said to Evelyn. He took the vegetables out and placed it in his own bowl. Evelyn gently blew on the beef before dipping in a soy sauce with scallion and red chili concoction. She took a bite, enjoying the flavors.

Phoenix on the other hand grabbed some fish to place into the spicy broth.

"There's no lamb," Evelyn commented.

"No, there isn't," Phoenix agreed with a frown. Lamb was Phoenix's favorite hot pot meat.

"Why not?" Evelyn asked.

"Thinking that maybe it can be a special thing," Phoenix said. Jinhai put come more fatty beef in for himself this time.

"But lamb is commonplace for hot pot," Evelyn said.

"True," she replied, taking out the fish to dip into her sauce before taking a bite.

"So why not include it with the menu?" Evelyn asked.

"I just feel like I can do something special with it." Phoenix said. Evelyn deciding to drop the subject.

"How are your parents?" Jinhai asked Phoenix. She pursed her lips. She had a somewhat strained relationship with her parents. Her parents were highly critical of her but they did it under a loving guise.

"They're well. The business is running smoothly," She replied.

"How's Mr. and Mrs. Li?" She asked curteously.

"They're good. Enjoying retirement." He said, taking another piece of beef.

"That's right, you became CEO not that long ago." Evelyn said. He glanced at her. Did she like that about him? He wondered.

"Mom had finally convinced dad to retire," he said, cooking a piece of shrimp.

"He says he's happy in retirement, but you can tell he misses working." Evelyn said. She occassionally visited his parents with her dad.

"He does, but he does enjoy spending time with her," He said. He was happy that his parents remained very much in love after all these years. He knew many couples didn't.

"How's it going at work?" Phoenix asked Evelyn. Evelyn winced at the question, grabbing her drink before answering.

"Well, Shawn fired me so I guess you could say I'm unemployeed right now." She said. She didn't look at either of them when she answered, focusing on her food.