Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 16 - QUESTIONS RAISED

ELLIE

I watched carefully as he opened his door and walked inside. I heard him greeting someone and the other person greeted him back. Curious at whom he was talking to, I dragged my feet forward, peeking my head past the door and surprised to see his mother at the entranceway.

"Ellie?" she asked once she saw my face and I had no choice but to go inside now.

"Yes, mam," I nodded reluctantly and greeted her once I was inside. She immediately grabbed my hand and dragged me further into their apartment. I shot a questioning look at Jasper as we passed him, do you still live with your parents?

He just shrugged and let me being dragged inside toward the dining room. His mother ordered me to sit and told me to wait as dinner was almost ready. Once his mother scurried away to the kitchen and was out of earshot, I hissed, "Why aren't you telling me that we're eating at your place?"

"You didn't ask," he whispered back.

I started to feel annoy and suspicious at his motive. He clearly had something in mind. He probably already got the plan in moving and I was trapped here. I was about to retort when his mother reappeared in the dining room, holding several dishes in her hands. Jasper scurried out of his seat to help her put the plates on the table and distributed the utensils. His father appeared several minutes later, claiming that he heard the clattering of the plates and the dining utensils yet no one called for him so he wanted to make sure that they didn't start dinner without him. Jasper introduced me to his father, whom I never met before and I had no choice but to greet him back. Once everyone settled in place, we started to eat dinner.

"Ellie, it's nice to see you after so long," his mother started. "Are you working here in Beijing as well?"

"I used to," I answered. "But right now I'm just here for a month. I'm currently working in South Korea, so once I'm done here, I'll be back to Korea."

"Korea?" she gasped. "Why do you need to go there? You have no one else there," she said as if it was a horrible thing to experience for a girl like me. I was about to open my mouth to argue her but Jasper beat me to it.

"See.. You don't need to go that far to get more experience," Jasper meddled happily. "You can still get plenty of experience here."

"Yeah, just transfer back," his mother added as if it was her business to meddle into my life. "By the way, are you seeing someone? I notice there's no ring on your fingers..." she shamelessly glanced on my fingers and perked up when she saw none.

"I ..," I was about to answer her when Jasper cut me off.

"She's seeing someone, but he's a celebrity," his tone was thick with disapproval.

"A celebrity?" his mother's eyebrows shot to her hairline. "Why would you see that kind of people?"

"What kind of people are they?" I couldn't hide the annoyance in my tone.

"You know," she looked a bit shy while waving her hand in the air, "The one that's being praised by many and always super busy. He won't have time for you, and even if he does, there will always be his fans. Some will be okay with your relationship, but some will be jealous and will try to hurt you. You don't always be his number one. And let's not forgetting how easy they are to get involved in a scandal. And having your life scrutinized by the public all the time. Do you really want that kind of life?" she shivered as if that was the most horrible thing in the world. I was about to let out a protest, but apparently she hasn't finished yet. "And I bet they're not the brightest. I mean, if they have the brain, won't they be a doctor or a lawyer and not just being a celebrity? And it's not the most stable job in the world. Yeah sure, --," she hasn't finished her sentence but at that point, I had enough.