His words made Heather all the more curious to have a look. I’m definitely going to take a look at The Fifth Season! Just then, she beamed widely because she was quite confident that it was only a matter of time before the waiter in front of her gave in to her request.
“Don’t tell me that the customer from that room doesn’t need their meals to be served, nor do they need any service?” she asked quite forcefully, causing the waiter to be quite intimidated.
“Well…” He looked at Heather with a torn expression.
“Please help me out here,” Heather said while she took out some money. She knew that no one was able to resist the temptation of money. “If you’re willing to help me with this small favor, then I won’t let you be at disadvantage.”
The waiter looked at the wad of cash in Heather’s hands and he started to hesitate. Upon seeing that, she lamented deep down, Luckily I brought the money with me; otherwise, things might not proceed as smoothly.
“Then I—” the waiter could not make up his mind and he seemed to be struggling.
Just then, Heather directly placed the wad of bills into his hands; the money felt heavy in his hands and at that moment, he was quite tempted to take the offer. Although he was quite perplexed as to why Heather was so insistent on seeing the room, his decision was already swayed toward her and he had already shrugged off the constraints of his work ethics.
“I’ll take you there!” He hastily kept the money into his pocket. It’s dumb to reject a gift of money!
And so, Heather trailed after the waiter and mused, Luckily he didn’t insist on knowing the reason! Come to think of it though, it must be quite common to encounter people who give out money recklessly here.
The waiter knocked on the door to The Fifth Season while Heather hid by the side where she could clearly see the inside of the room. Once the door opened, then she would be able to take a glimpse of the whole room.
Inside the room, a low male voice rang out, “Come in.”
Thoughts whirled in Heather’s mind and she felt like she had heard this voice from somewhere before. Just then, the old-fashioned door creaked and then opened from the inside. She widened her eyes to look inside and tried to get a clear look at the person’s face but unfortunately for her, the waiter was in her way.
She narrowed her eyes and tried intently to get a clear look at the person’s face. At the same time, she didn’t see Everly in the room so she was slightly disappointed. However, she also heaved a sigh of relief after that. If Everly wasn’t in this room then obviously, she would be in the other room.
From Heather’s current position, she could see that there were shadows outlined in the other room. She contemplated for a moment and decided that she would pick a room next to that one.
Just then, the waiter came out of the room with a gloomy expression. It was quite likely that the customer in the room was in the midst of an important discussion and had lost their temper at him due to the disruption.
Heather shot a sympathetic look at the guy. She had already made up her mind about her choice of room so she mentioned to him, “I would like to book the Autumn Room please.”
He glanced at her with a confused look as he commented, “But then you haven’t even seen the Autumn Room.”
Heather smiled. “The Fifth Season isn’t as good as I imagined,” she murmured. “I’ve seen the Spring Room and didn’t like it that much either, but I’m not a big fan of winter so I guess I’ll just go with Autumn.”
Upon hearing that, the waiter gave her a baffled look, quite likely because it was the first time he had ever encountered such a strange customer. However, since she had already made up her mind, that made things much easier for him too. “Sure, I’ll make the arrangements right away,” he responded politely.
Soon after that, Heather entered the Autumn Room and noticed that the decorations inside were quite apt with the theme of the room. The room was furnished in gold and yellow hues, and the whole place reverberated with the joy of harvest. This was a contrast to what she had imagined because she had assumed that the theme chosen for this room would be ‘The Autumn Bleaks’, but it didn’t cross her mind that they would have chosen a joyous theme like the ‘Season of Harvest’.
Heather took a seat comfortably by the table; there was a tatami mat in the room and this Japanese style simplicity was well-suited to her taste. She chose to take a seat by the tatami mat but she didn’t even bother to give the actual dining table a second glance.
Just then, the waiter handed over the menu to Heather. She glanced at it then turned to him and said, “Can I have my meal by the tatami?”
He smiled at her in reply and nodded his head. “Our customers are our priority, so you can choose to have your meal at any section of this room.”
Heather was quite pleased with his response. Then, she randomly picked a few recommended dishes to order. After all, this was her first time visiting the place so it would be wise to pick a couple of their well-known dishes and have a taste. She looked at the coffee table in front of her and realized that the space was quite limited, so it would very likely be crowded later on when all her dishes were served. She frowned out of frustration at that thought. Soon after that, she picked up the teapot on the table and poured herself a cup of tea. Then, she lifted the teacup and took a whiff of the fragrant tea. It smells quite good, she thought and she smiled out of pleasure because she had an appreciation for good wine and great tea.
However, right now, her priority was to find a way to determine the person in the room next to hers. She tried to place her ear to the wall and eavesdropped on the situation next door. To her dismay, the soundproof system of the room was faultless and she couldn’t seem to hear a single sound. Meanwhile, there was no way she could barge into the room so she remained at a loss for what to do.
At the moment, the only thing that she was able to do in her room was to keep her eyes on the door to the next room and take note of the time they left the room. When that time came, perhaps she could work around this and open her door slightly to take a peek when they left the place.
Meanwhile, Everly was currently in the Winter Room and would definitely walk past the Autumn Room when they left the place. There was only one route to get out so for safety purposes, Heather decided to employ a foolish tactic of waiting it out patiently.
And so, she kept her eyes focused on the room next door while she ate her meal. I wonder how long will it take for them to end their discussion? she mused, starting to feel quite anxious.
Today’s task required endless patience but Heather, who usually regarded time as the essence, was willing to spend her precious time on this today and wait patiently. After quite some time, she practically felt that she was about to become a mummy from all the time that she spent vegetating in the room. However, there was no activity at all from next door. What are they doing inside there?
Even if there’s something fairly important to discuss, how is it possible for them to take such a long time? Heather was really tempted to barge in there right away. She sat alone in the room and was bored out of her mind. It was near lunchtime and she wondered, Don’t tell me I have to take another meal here?
She had had too much for breakfast so she was quite full just then and didn’t have any appetite for lunch. At that moment, she was so impatient that she considered digging a hole and to find out what was going on next door.
Throughout this excruciating ordeal, Heather was full of contempt for herself. Why did I choose such a stupid and passive move anyway? Just as she was about to give up, suddenly, there was some noise from next door. She was quite thankful for the design of this old-fashioned building which made such a loud noise. Otherwise, she wouldn’t have realized the activity from next door, let alone be able to take a glimpse.
Heather stood on guard by the door and as soon as their door opened, she would definitely be able to see the face of the customer next door right away. She opened a tiny gap by the door and observed closely. Luckily I haven’t ordered a meal, or else the waiter would have come in right now.
The door to the next room opened from the inside and Heather waited with bated breath. She could vaguely see a strapping male figure walking over. He neared her room and it wouldn’t take too long for her to see his face. However, she suddenly noticed something and she didn’t know whether to laugh or cry at the situation. That man had a mask on his face and his current attire looked out of place.
Nonetheless, the person next to him was Everly and everything had gone according to plan. Unfortunately, though, there was a flaw in the final and most critical step. I wonder whether he’s trying to avoid others intentionally or could it be for some other reason? Anyway, after spending such a long time and trailing after Everly, this plan is a flop.
Heather was quite displeased with this outcome. Meanwhile, she focused her gaze on the man’s figure but unfortunately for her, he didn’t utter a single word while walking out. After all, if Heather could put a voice to him, then it would make him easier to identify.
After the man left, she requested a piece of paper and a pencil from the waiter. Then, she quickly sketched the man’s figure. She had quite good sketching skills so she banked everything on this sketch she did. If I hand this to a private investigator, they should be able to come up with something!
Right now, Heather wasn’t worried about the outcome but she was more anxious about running out of time. She was quite close to a few skillful private investigators in town and she was confident in their abilities. The only problem right now was that there wasn’t much time left.
She had already contacted the private investigator that she trusted upon receiving the first phone call from the kidnapper but up till now, the private investigator hadn’t managed to come up with the kidnappers’ hidden lair.
On the surface, it seemed that Heather was busy trying to figure out the whole incident but in reality, she was actually trying to help cover the tracks of the private investigator. She clearly knew that she wasn’t a professional in this field, so it would be much more reliable to leave this investigation work to the hands of an expert.
She had succeeded in gaining the attention of the kidnappers. After all, they probably didn’t expect for her to engage the services of a private investigator so early on, and especially a well-known one too.
On the way back, Heather immediately sent her sketch to the private investigator. Truth was, she actually owned a phone that couldn’t be hacked. It was one designed for her personally by Leon, and the privacy features it had was exceptional.
Recently, she had been using this to keep in contact with the private investigator. Of course, she kept in contact with Leon as well using this phone. He had the same model too, and the male version was black while hers was white.
Initially, Leon had designed this as a couple phone but Heather had ended up falling in love with someone else. Nonetheless, after that, if they had any private and urgent matters, they would normally use this phone to make contact.
The private investigator, also known as the Great Detective, looked at the photo on his phone and revealed a cunning smile. He had flown from miles away to get to Bradfort City to investigate this kidnapping incident. This was his way of showing his respect to Heather.
“My darling Heather, I just got off the plane and I’m knackered. Could you please give me a break before I throw myself into work?” he teasingly replied to Heather with a flippant tone of voice.
“I’ll increase your pay to 500,000. Just bring me the identity of this person right away,” Heather countered swiftly. She didn’t quite trust his words and knew that he tended to drag things on, so her only solution was to throw money at him.
“Darling, this isn’t a matter of money.” He smiled perversely. He hadn’t seen her for quite some time now and he recalled his previous encounter with her. She was dressed in a bright red dress and was so attractive back then. If only I can have a night with her, then that would definitely be my motivation to work hard.
“Where are you?” Heather was quite aware of his perverse nature, so she knew that he must be raring to meet her. Although she couldn’t stand his perverted manner, she knew that he was top in this profession and she had no better candidate for this job.
“Darling, do you miss me as much as I miss you?” he murmured flirtatiously.
In the end, Heather didn’t want to waste her time beating around the bush so she said bluntly, “Send me your location and I’ll head over right away.”
