Second Arrangement

CHAPTER 17 - INSECURE

JACKSON

I looked at my watch and frowned, it was late, so why was there no one to open the door? I've pressed the bell several times but no one opened the door yet. Wasn't she home yet? I called the hospital to check whether she was being called back to the hospital, but she didn't. They said she has gone home. I tried to call her phone but she wasn't answering as well. The call got through but she didn't pick it up. I tried twice more before she picked it up at last.

"Where are you?" I asked immediately after she picked the call up.

"Umm..," she just mumbled.

"Don't try to say at home, because I know you're not at home," I warned her, just in case if she tried to conjure up some excuses that she was at home.

"How do you know?"

"I've just come from your place and it was still dark so I called the hospital but they said that you had nothing on your schedule tonight, so where the hell are you?"

"I don't know?" she hesitated and I sighed audibly.

"Alright, just send me your location and I'll come and get you. It's late already." I heard a ping from my phone and it was Ellie, sending me her location.

I frowned when I saw her location. It was a residential area, what the hell was she doing there? Yeah sure she was from Beijing as well, but she didn't work at this hospital before, so she didn't have any friends in that area. Except... For one person. I stepped on the accelerator, trying to get to her as fast as I could. It was late and I didn't want any harm come her way.

"Get in!" I called her once I stopped in front of her. Apparently she was still thinking about something else since she looked startled when I called her out. She rushed to the passenger side and slid into the car.

"Sorry," she apologized once she was inside the car. "I must've been interrupted your work."

"It's okay," I gestured her to put on her seatbelt. "I need to make sure that you go home safely. Work can wait until tomorrow."

Her jaw dropped when she heard it, "Really? Just to be clear, between me and your job, you'll pick me over your job?"

I looked at her as if she was talking nonsense, "Obviously. What are you talking about?"

"Nothing," she looked straight ahead, clearly avoiding my gaze.

"By the way," I took a glance at her. "What were you doing in that area? Do you have friends there?"

I saw her face turn pale when I asked her that. I braced myself to hear the worst. She finally opened her mouth to answer me, "I was trying to talk to Jasper about us so I agreed to have dinner with him after work. I thought we would just grab something from the cafetaria or eat out, but," she paused, clearly trying to prepare herself as well. I knew that what she was going to say next would probably hurt me. "It was my fault. I didn't make sure where we would eat dinner nor take control of it. I just let Jasper lead and it was a big mistake. He ended up bring me to his place."

I felt like being struck by lightning, "And you let him?" I asked quietly.

"I didn't know that we were going to his place. I thought we were going to eat out. I was so angry at him that I didn't bother to strike up any conversation in the car. I was busy arranging what I would say to him, to stop him from meddling into our relationship when I realized that he was stopping at a residential area. And to make it worse, apparently he was still living with his parents. And his mother knew me so I had no choice but to stay for dinner," her voice trailed off as she looked at me, trying to gauge my reaction to her news.