For A Star To Fall

Chapter 6: Mock Concern

Chapter 6

"Hey, Jordan? Have you seen Emyle anywhere? I can't find her," a muffled voice sounded from behind the door. More knocks were heard, louder this time, as if the person knocking was becoming more desperate and frustrated.

Jordan and Emyle exchanged an urgent glace. She looked at his laptop pointedly, her meaning clear. Giving her a thumbs-up, he mouthed the words, "I'll keep at it." Emyle nodded and made her way to the door as Jordan shut down his Macbook. The door swung open smoothly to reveal Ana's worried face. "Oh! There you are!" she exclaimed and threw her arms around Emyle's shoulders.

Emyle stiffened despite herself, and kept her hands close to her sides, unresponsive to Ana's cheery enthusiasm. Soon, to her relief, Ana withdrew from her and peeked around her shoulder to look at Jordan. Her gaze immediately fixed itself on his jaw, where the dark purple bruise was now noticeable. Ana raised an eyebrow, looking from him to the girl that stood beside her. Jordan chuckled and winked at Emyle, saying, "Yeah, I'm fine. You know the ladies can't help but throw themselves at me."

Ana rolled her eyes. "You have a head the size of Russia."

His lips curving upwards, Jordan replied, "That's not the only part of me that's big."

Ana stared at him and covered her open mouth, making a slightly muffled choking noise. "Ah, Anastasia, my dear," Jordan held out a handkerchief, "please don't doubt that I am a perfect gentleman, I beg that of you." Emyle saw behind the mock concern in his eyes, to the pure amusement that lurked beneath.

Scoffing, Ana did not reply, but waved away the proffered piece of cloth and grabbed Emyle's hand, dragging her down the corridor. Jordan's mischievous laughter floated after them, like the poltergeist that he acted like sometimes.

With another self-satisfied chuckle, Jordan headed back towards his laptop, turning it on again. He knew that it was not really nice to tease Ana like this, but he honestly could not help it. It was funny to see how she reacted whenever he said something with a dirty underlying meaning. She acted too prim and proper, like some kind of aristocratic lady, and that amused Jordan to no end.

But now she was fussing over Emyle, worrying over her like she was only a child. Of course, he could not blame her for that. He had heard that a few weeks ago, she had accidentally spilled almost all the chemicals they had been using in the lab over the other scientists' research notes. Basically, she had single-handedly destroyed months of pain-staking research in the space of a few seconds. Understandably, Dr. Valin had been furious, but still gave her a second chance, allowing her to take care of Emyle, to prove that she was indeed capable of handling herself in the labs. Jordan shook his head, as if to shake the thoughts away, before silently wishing Ana luck in this endeavour of hers.

Just when his laptop finished loading, another knock sounded at the door. He sighed heavily. When would everyone just leave him alone? Walking back to the door reluctantly, he swung it open and immediately stepped back, surprised. Dr. Valin smiled warmly at him as he stepped over the threshold and into Jordan's room.

Jordan scratched his head and asked hesitantly, "Um, Dr. Valin? With all due respect, sir, but why are you here?"

Watching Dr. Valin trail a finger along the painted walls as he paced around the room, Jordan swallowed, thinking of Emyle and the tablet he had allowed her to take. If Dr. Valin found out about what he had done, he would probably kick Jordan out of the facility for betraying his trust. But, at that time, he had thought that there was no harm in letting Emyle take the tablet. What could she do with it? Maybe it would even help her defend herself, to be able to make a man black out in the space of five minutes.