Van's eyes widened. Of everything he had ever expected her to say to him, this was the least. The request was so genuine, and it was so clear to him that she wanted to avenge the death of those who killed her parents, yet she did not know him. He knotted his fingers into a tight fist and then gently released it. What was he supposed to do with his hands while she hugged him?
"Please," Jade repeated, letting him go and stepping back briskly. He did not hug back and she had kind of expected that. "I don't know if I would ever see him again." Jade wiped the tears off her face, not minding her makeup. It was too bad already.
"I cannot keep the president waiting, Jade," Van simply uttered and walked past her like he had not heard anything she said. "I will see you later." Those were his last words before disappearing into the elevator.
Jade stood for a few seconds, shoulders dropping in disappointment, it safe to say that she couldn't think straight. But when she was about to leave, the elevator opened again. Instinctively she turned around, and it was Van.
"Why did he come back?" She wondered.
"We cannot keep the president waiting, Jade," he said, placing emphasis on the first word. He stepped out immediately, speaking as he came closer to her. "How long would it take you to fix your makeup?"
"Uhm…" Jade did not have time to think. He was already in front of her. He grabbed her hand, not harshly, but like a father in a hurry.
"You have five minutes, Mark is my friend. He would wait."
Jade did not expect that. She simply followed him to where he was taking her to fix her makeup. And why did he want her up there so badly? One could attach something romantic to his gesture, but what if he was trying to prevent Jade from trying something else with a fruit knife?
He led her to a washroom, escorted her inside, and stood next to her by the sink, facing the mirror. "I think you can just wash it off." He said.
"What?" Jade could only exclaim in her head and stare at him in disbelief.
"You look okay without it, and I don't have time," he said, even helping her turn on the tap. Without wasting a second, he rushed to a white closet inside the bathroom and pulled out a big white towel from the hanger. "Will this do?"
Jade nodded yes, but the perplexity was still in her eyes. Where did the sudden behavior come from? He never seemed to be in a rush. He was never not composed, so why this?
As soon as he handed her the towel, Jade turned to the sink, soaked a small part of the towel under the running water, and began the cleaning process.
Van watched, almost with keen interest. There were no expressions on his face, just the usual composure. Although for the first time, he tended to notice that she had really gorgeous eyes, brown ones. He looked away but was compelled to look back. Each time she shifted her hair to clean a side of her face, he noticed something new.
"Done?" he asked her, even though she clearly was not. He just needed to distract himself from all these features that he was starting to notice. "It looks like you are done."
"I am just…" Before she could finish speaking, he grabbed the towel from her, and Jade turned immediately, brows raised.
"I look horrible if I do not clean it off properly, sir."
Sir. She had always called him that, but all of a sudden it sounded cringe to his ears.
"It is clean enough. Let us go." He tossed the towel by the side of the sink and took her hand the same way he had brought her in.
"But the water is still running." Jade tried to argue, but the next thing she heard was,
"Alexa, turn off the bathroom sink."
She could not speak. For a while she had forgotten just how rich he really was.
That aside, as they walked through the corridors, Jade tried to catch a glimpse of her face on one of the reflective panels on the wall, but he was moving too fast and taking her along.
Eventually they got to the elevator. The back wall was reflective, so while he pushed the button, Jade turned to check her face.
"I said it is fine, Jade." Van rolled his eyes playfully, but she did not notice. What she did notice, however, was his tone. It sounded so sarcastic and playful, almost like a boyfriend convincing his girl that nobody cared about the tiny and almost invisible smudge on her dress.
"I… yes, it is not so bad, sir," she muttered, turned around, and stood upright. She drew a breath and realized that she was standing too close to him.
It was then, right at that moment, that the post emotional clarity hit her, if there was such a thing.
"God, I hugged him."
She tried not to make a face at the thought of it. Not sure what he did, but it made her forget her dad for at least five minutes. As much as she hated to admit it, she enjoyed his company for five minutes, yes five minutes but it felt like ten… or more. It could not fully be explained with words and she could only blame that on emotion.
"Not like I was aware." She thought.
Inside Van's head, something similar was going on, but he was not entertaining it. Up until now, he did not want to entertain anything that made it seem like he saw her differently, so he shunned the thoughts as quickly as they came.
Ding!
The elevator snapped both parties back to reality, and they both stepped out. With the conference room ahead, Jade swallowed hard, is was going back to have dinner with the president. If this isn't the most luxurious kidnap ever, then tell me what is.
Before going inside, he stopped in his track, and Jade paused as well, wondering why.
"We are leaving the mansion tomorrow morning," He said, "So pack your things tonight." With that, he pushed open the door and they both walked in.
Things? What things? Perhaps he had forgotten that he brought her with nothing but the clothes she wore that night, and that he had gotten her nothing else but the pair of black dresses she had on. This had got to be interesting.