I racked my brain for a moment. “Could you carry me out of here?”
Anthony laughed helplessly. “Is your leg injured?”
“No!” I said, with a shake of my head.
“Then why would I carry you?”
“You would if you love me!” I said in a huff and got up to walk.
I knew that he wanted me to say it out loud, but if it had to be forced, it’d lose its meaning.
Anthony looked at me with a twinkle in his eye. As I walked past him, he swept me up roughly in his arms.
I was startled by the sudden movement. “Anthony, you jerk!” I squealed.
He grunted without saying much else.
As we exited the corridor, the employees of the base caught sight of us and stared.
They had an odd expression on their face. I wouldn’t blame them. After all, they were under the impression that Anthony and Rachel were something of a couple given their closeness.
Especially since that day when we had dinner with Channing, Anthony did not bother to correct Channing’s assumption that he and Rachel were an item, thus accidentally condoning the rumors.
As time passed, that notion became the default in everybody’s minds.
Now that Anthony and I were this intimate under the public eye, it might attract some very unwelcome gossip and speculation about us.
Anthony acted as if he hadn’t noticed anything. He carried me straight to the office and plopped me down onto an empty chair.
“Where’re you going?” I blurted, seeing as he was about to leave.
“I’m getting a first aid kit,” he answered, turning around to look at me. “Do you intend for those to turn into scars?”
“Of course not!” I shook my head.
As his tall and thin frame departed, I pored over the documents that Joseph had neatly arranged in a pile.
They were mostly the minutes of recent meetings that they’ve had, nothing important. I got bored of them quickly.
Anthony returned soon after with a first aid kit in hand.
“Where else are you injured besides your arm?” he asked as he rolled my sleeve up.
I shook my head. It was common for girl-fights to just bear some scratches on non-vital areas. They would heal up soon enough.
It wasn’t even anything serious; Anthony was just overzealous.
I couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotions as I watched him tend to my wounds with such tenderness.
Anthony looked up unexpectedly and caught me staring. Panicking, I averted my gaze immediately. “What’s wrong?” I asked when he stared at me intently.
“Pick up the phone!”
“What?” I asked, feeling even more confused.
“Your phone!” Anthony reiterated as he closed the first aid kit with a slam.
I wrenched myself out of my reverie only to notice dully that my phone had been ringing for the past few minutes. It was Nora on the line, and she did not sound happy at all.
“Babe, what’s up with you? Why weren’t you picking up?”
I felt slightly embarrassed. “Oh, I had something on. What’s the matter? Are you here?”
I recalled earlier in the day that she had called to state her desire of coming over to the base and then going over to her grandfathers for dinner.
“I’ve reached a long time ago. I’m at the hotel now, but I don’t know the exact location of your base. Why don’t you send someone over to pick me up?”
I shot a glance at Anthony. Joseph had been dispatched to send Rachel to the hospital, and Linda was probably off with her own tasks. Armond, too, was busy with the incident of the theft.
It looks like I’m the least occupied one for the moment.
“What is it?” Anthony asked when he saw me staring at him.
“Nora wants a lift from the hotel, is that alright with you?” I did not know if he had anything going on currently, so I thought it’d be better to ask first.
Anthony grunted. “She’s at the hotel?”
I nodded.
Other than his grunt, he did not indicate that he had heard what I said after that. I was doubtful that he understood the situation but trusted him to handle it and allowed the matter to drop.
It wasn’t a big deal. We emerged from the office and headed for the museum.
Joseph was already waiting there. At the sight of us, he hurried over. “Mr. Featherstone, there are some documents from Mr. Quinn for your kind attention.”
Anthony nodded and took the stack of documents that Joseph was offering him. “How are things being handled?” he asked with a glance toward the museum.
“There was a breakthrough,” Joseph answered. “The perpetrator had contacted his partners on the outside. It doesn’t appear to be a simple break-in now, but we’re still not certain.”
Anthony frowned but nodded. He took the documents and headed over to the visitors’ room.
I found Linda, who was back to her old self again. She stared in surprise at me. “Did you not have a fight about what happened earlier?”
She was, of course, referring to Anthony and me. At that, I nodded and told her, “He told me to defend myself and not let myself get hurt the next time.”
She gaped at me and burst into laughter. “Hats off to Mr. Featherstone for giving his wife an unlimited berth.”
We suddenly caught sight of Rachel who had had a change of clothes. She glared at us with hatred when she passed by. It was as though she would love nothing more than to rip us from limb to limb.
However, Linda was not intimidated. She stared provocatively across and said in a loud voice, “She thinks that she is so popular just because she’s good-looking. But it all amounts to nothing if her manners and character are rotten.”
I tugged at Linda’s shirt. “Alright, that’s enough,” I said softly. “Nora’s coming here; Anthony sent for someone to pick her up. Do you still have much to do? When we’re done here, we’re going over to Mr. Oberick’s house for dinner.”
Linda was taken aback. “You’re going to her grandfather’s for dinner?”
I nodded. “She’s been bored all day and is in desperate need of companionship.”
Linda shrugged but ceased her attempts in taunting Rachel.
After some time, Nora made her grand entrance by emerging from Armond’s car. Linda cast a look of surprise at me.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply