“Do you have a fever?”
The voice before Rachel came to her ears, pulling her back from her thoughts. She suddenly regained her senses and took a half step back in a panic. “Nope… I-I’m just feeling a bit hot here.”
As she said that, she fanned her face.
Hot?
Although there was no winter in Enistan, spring had just passed, and it was not the hottest time of the year, not to mention that the air conditioner was still on in this room.
Facing Justin’s doubtful gaze, Rachel panicked. “I’ll go back and talk to Jolly first.” With that, she turned to open the door.
“Rachel.” Justin’s voice came from behind. “I’ll ask you to come downstairs for dinner later.” “Okay.” Rachel had no time to look back and simply left in a hurry, leaving only the word ‘okay’ echoing at the door.
Justin held the door, looked at the figure walking away in the corridor, and smiled. As soon as Rachel returned to the room, Jolly poked her head around the sofa and quipped, “What took you so long? What did you do just now?”
“Ah? It’s nothing. I went to the front desk to go through the procedures for changing rooms.”
“Are we going to change rooms?”
“It’s not us. It’s me. I’m afraid that Mrs. Bennett will send someone to give us the wedding invitation card and that person will find out that Justin and I are separated and that I’m staying with you. When the time comes, they will investigate, and things will be difficult to handle.”
“Wait a minute.” Jolly straightened up. “What you mean is that you-”
Jolly stretched out a finger at Rachel and pointed at her face. “Do you want to stay in the same room with Justin?”
Rachel shoved her hand away. “It’s not what you think; it’s all for you and Leroy’s sake.”
Jolly raised his brows, obviously in disbelief. “You’re both single and staying in the same room. Are you sure sparks won’t fly?”
“If you say one more word, I won’t change the rooms anymore. Anyway, Mrs. Bennett’s men will find out that we have been with you all the way. Don’t have any strange ideas. If we can’t bring back Leroy, you’ll be the upset one.”
“I was wrong.” In front of Rachel, Jolly always played meek, so she immediately came up with a submissive look. “I’m just talking nonsense.. Don’t be angry, okay?”
Rachel didn’t actually want to find fault with her. “By the way, why don’t you come downstairs for dinner later? Or do you want me to bring you food?”
“I’m not going. You can just eat with him. You have made such a big sacrifice to change rooms; how can I go with you? Will I just be a hindrance? We’ll just contact each other by phone these days. Don’t mind me.”
Rachel looked at Jolly and sighed. “Don’t think too much. It’s just for a few days. If all goes well, Leroy will come back with us when we leave.”
“Then what if he really falls in love with that woman and doesn’t want to come with us?”
“Then, I’ll slap him for you.”
“It’s a promise.” Jolly hugged Rachel. “I knew you were my best friend.”
“It’s hot. Let me go.”
“I won’t.”
“Get off me.”
“Are you in a hurry to find Justin?”
“Jolly!”
“Okay, okay. I was wrong. I won’t say it anymore.”
Before going downstairs for dinner, Rachel sent her luggage to Justin’s room, then went downstairs to eat with him. “Will the previous check-in record be investigated?”
“Don’t worry. As long as it doesn’t reveal anything suspicious, no one will come to check on us.”
Rachel nodded thoughtfully. “Right.”
Seeing Justin pressing the elevator to the 1st floor, Rachel wondered, “Isn’t the restaurant on the 12th floor?”
“Frankie said that the food in this hotel is average, so he booked another restaurant for us. We’re going out to eat.”
“Is that so? Is it far?”
“Not far. It’s just nearby.”
There were many authentic local restaurants all over the streets and alleys, most of which were very small establishments. When Rachel sat down in the restaurant, she looked around suspiciously and then asked Justin, “Is this place really reserved by Frankie?”
The shop was very narrow and tiny, and it didn’t look like it needed to be booked in advance. They went in without a reservation before they quickly found a place to sit down.
Justin took the menu. “It wasn’t a reservation, but it was recommended by Frankie. This place is usually crowded with people, but this time we came at just the right time, so there’s no need to queue.”
“Is Frankie very familiar with this place?”
“His wife likes to come here, and she’s here seven or eight times a year, so she is familiar with the food around here.”
Rachel was a little surprised. She originally thought that Justin would not pay attention to things other than subordinates’ work, so she did not expect him to mention Frankie’s wife in such a casual tone.
“What would you like to eat?” Justin handed the menu to Rachel. “Pork chop, a side of fries, and a glass of iced tea.”
The food was served very fast, and everything that they ordered was ready in no time. For some reason, Rachel felt like she had to rush back to the company to work overtime after the meal. Perhaps it was because the food was relatively simple, and she only ordered a main.
“When I was in Montenegro, there was a restaurant just like this one near the office building where I worked. Jolly and I often went there to eat at noon. As we ate, we would complain about how terrible the boss was to each other. It lasted for around a month, then once during a company meeting, we then found out that the person sitting at the table behind us every day was actually the boss.”
Justin laughed. “That’s why I rarely eat near the office building.”
“Do you often hear people criticize you?”
“Isn’t hearing it once enough?”
“That makes sense.” Rachel blinked. “It can be deduced then that the boss of our company was really a pervert. He consistently listened to our criticisms for a whole month.”
“What happened after that?”
“Later, we both felt humiliated and never went to that restaurant again. Then, I was transferred to be a secretary to Hernandez, and occasionally when I saw the boss, I would hide from him. After a long time, I thought he’s forgotten about me, but…” Speaking of this, Rachel became angry. “Do you know what happened later?”
“What?”
“Later, the boss wanted to invite everyone to dinner and asked for restaurant recommendations. He actually booked that exact restaurant, and he teased me in public saying that I loved that place. That’s when I realized that he had been pretending not to know me!”
Rachel talked about her work in Montenegro on her own, and now she still felt ashamed when she thought about the incident. After talking for a long time, she found that Justin kept looking at her. She coughed and said, “Isn’t it rather boring?”
“No.” Justin actually laughed. “Do you want to order something more?”
Rachel’s face darkened. “Do you think I have more embarrassing things to talk about for a long time?”
“I didn’t say that.”
“That’s what you mean. When I go back to Riverdale, I will also try to eat at a place where my employees often eat to experience my boss’ feelings at that time.”
“Trust me. You’re not going to enjoy the experience.”
