Jade thought it might be rude and irresponsible of her to call her boss over the phone and ask for the day off without completing the task that was assigned to her. She decided to sign the documents with Jake and report back to the office before asking for an emergency day off. Hopefully her boss might agree.She understand why the confused look on Jake’s face. The man look shocked by what she had said, but why was that? He knew what she was here so why the look? Jade didn’t know what to make of it.”Mr Jake?” Jade called out when Jake just stared at her unflinchingly.Jake didn’t expect things to turn out like this. He had thought about this well and hard and that’s why he had asked Patrick to take care of things at Jade’s company.He could tell this was about her work. Of course she would want to return back to the office. But what was taking Patrick so long? He should as well consider himself a dead man if Jade should leave.Jake reluctantly reached for the file in Jade’s hand as he slowly sat up, with Jade watching his every move.”Why don’t you sit. You’re not going to stand all through are you?” Jake asked her. Jade passed him a pen before returning to her seat. Just as she sat down her phone started ringing.Her brows creased when she saw it was an unknown number. She stared attentivel at the number, but she didn’t recognize it. Unknowing to her, Jake was anxiously staring at her. Maybe it was her company.”You should take that” Jake uttered.”Excuse me” Jade said as she walked out of the room. Jake’s eyes were glued to her as they followed her every step till she walked out of the room.”Hello” Jade spoke.”Hello Jade, its Mrs Lin” That familiar powerful voice said over the phone.”Ma””I received a call from Mr Beau’s secretary that the meeting might take longer than expected because Mr Beau is currently indisposed. You should take the rest of the day off when you’re done. I’ll inform your team leader about it” Mrs Lin said. Giving Jade the rest of the day off was the least she could do, since Jade might spend some long hours waiting for Jake, or so she thought.Jade was utterly surprised by this, since she had thought about making same request from her boss. Guess there’ll be no need for her to leave anymore.”Okay ma. Thank you” Jade replied.”I’ll see you in my office by morning””Okay” Jade responded before the call was disconnected. Jade turned to walk back to the room when her hand paused on the door knob.Why did Jake request for this meeting when he was indisposed at the moment? He even called to inform her company. Something didn’t seem right, but whatever it was, she couldn’t figure it out.’Jade you’re just over thinking. It’s possible he might have made plans for this meeting before he fell sick, after all you left work early to meet him’ A voice said in her head.’Exactly, then he could have mentioned it last night’ Another voice said in her head.’You’re just being to suspicious. And your suspicion are baseless. Being too smart can sometimes be a problem especially when you’re overthinking things like this. The man is sick, cut him some slack’ The other voice chided Jade in her head.Maybe she was indeed overthinking things.Jake snappily raised the file up to his face like he was fully concentrated when he noticed the knob turn. His eyes has been anxiously glued to the door since Jade stepped out of the room. He was almost certain that was Jade’s office after confirming with Patrick that he has indeed contacted Jake’s office.Jake didn’t lift his head to look at Jade even though he was dying to. Knowing that call was from her company would make him feel more at ease.Jade felt pity for him when she saw how focused he was with the document. Indeed leadership comes with a lot of responsibilities and sacrifices. It was not an easy job and her heart goes out to people like him who carried such responsibility.People like Jake who were responsible for thousands of workers never have it easy. They always have to be active and ready to make profitable business decisions, because one wrong move by them would make thousands of people jobless. Jade sighed in her mind. She wondered how Jake’s partner would cope.What was she thinking? The guy’s a playboy and from her internet investigation he has never admitted being in a relationship.Jade frowned when she noticed something awkward with. She took steps closer to the man’s side, but the man was prentiously engrossed to the file.”Mr Jake are you okay?” Jade asked with concern.Jake cocked his brows involuntarily. He slowly lowered paper as he looked at Jade with a quizzical look.”Why?” He asked.”Because the file is upside down” She said raising her chin to it. Jake eyes fell on the paper in his hands and he cussed himself in his heart. He was stupidly embarrassed, but he wasn’t about to let Jade see that.”Oh that, it’s nothing. I was just trying to think about something” He said with an awkward smile. Jade narrowed her eyes at him. That doesn’t seem right. For someone as capable as he is, this kind of occurrence was unlikely.His sickness must be quite serious if he was making such a mistake.”Maybe you should drop that for the time being and rest for a while. I can wait” Jade could swear she saw a wave of excitement flashed through Jake’s eyes, but it was quick that she thought maybe she might have saw wrong.”But I have to…””Mr Jake it’s okay, I can wait. I understand that you’re sick.” Jade cut in. Jake was doing a happy dance in his heart and was really trying to hold a smile threatening to break out on his face. Things were finally going according to plan.”Are you sure?” Jake asked. He wasn’t going to refuse or argue with her, when she was the one offering.”Yes” Jade nodded.”Mr Jake what would you like to eat. I remember the doctor said something about you taking your drugs. I should get you something to eat” Jade said.Jake almost felt like dying with happiness. This girl was sure making him very happy. “Really?” Jake asked raising a brow, feigning surprise.”Yes” Jade nodded.”Anything will be fine” Jake said. Sincerely he had skipped breakfast because of all this.”Alright. I’ll be back” Jade said as she reached for her bag.”Wait!” Jake halted her. “Take this” He said taking his credit card from his wallet. Jade looked at the card but didn’t take it.”There’s no need for that Mr Jake. It’s just breakfast. I won’t get anything expensive” Jade declined taking it.”I insist Miss Jade. You’re doing me a great service …”” Then see it as a way of thanking you for the burritos and pizza” Jade said with a small smile, while Jake pursed his lips as he withdrew his hand.”Thank you” He said with a smile, which responded to with a smile of her own.Jake almost did a happy jump on his bed as soon as Jade stepped out. Another day with Jade was pure bliss.Jade soon returned with two packs of McDonald’s breakfast back. She took away the file and set a plate up for Jake on the hospital bed table.”Here you go” Jade said handing him a spoon. It was a simple breakfast of Bacon, eggs and cheese McGriddles and also fruit & maple oatmeal.”I didn’t know what to get. The doctor said no spicy food, so there you go.”Jake was flustered by Jade’s consideration. The girl was paying attention to details. He has forgotten Leo said something like that and not only did she think of him, she had gotten him breakfast with her own money. He looked at her face before picking up the spoon. He felt guilty for using her like this. She was taking care of him when she didn’t need to.”What about you?” Jake asked when he noticed there was no more food in the bags.”I’m okay” Jade said with a smile.”No, you can’t do that. How can I eat this when you’re not eating””Join me” He said picking up the extra spoon attached to the plate of oatmeal.”Huh..?””Eat with me Jade” He said stretching out a spoon to her.Wait did he just call her ‘Jade’?A simple breakfast of McDonald was all they were eating, but to Jake it felt more than that. Every little moment shared with Jade felt magical and he wished it could last for eternity. He could feel himself wanting more. More of her time and more of her.Jake watched the way Jade ate slowly. Even the movement of her lips as she chewed on her food was enticing to him. He swore he was losing his mind.Jake cleared his throat to gain Jade’s attention. He didn’t like the silence sitting between them as they ate. “Uhm..So tell me what does a girl like you find so interesting in the gaming industry?” Jake asked. He opted for this line of conversation because he knew this would be the most comfortable thing Jade would comfortably talk about, and he was also curious why a girl like her with all her great features would go for that line of job.Personally, Jake will pick her for a model or an actress, something related to the entertainment world. Because to him, she has the perfect body and whatever it will take to ensure a successful career in that field.Jade raised her eyes to him for a few seconds before she answered, “Because it’s the only thing I like” Jade’s response was a bit nonchalant as she opened up a bottle of water and passed it over to Jake. Jake lowered his eyes and looked at the water before returning his gaze to her. He raised the bottle to his mouth and took a sip as he pondered on her reply.’What exactly did she like? Games or the industry’ Not everyone who liked playing games go as far as working in a game company right?Jade looked at him and she could see the confusion on his face, making her sigh.”I love designing games characters and also programming the codes for new game. It’s the only thing I’m good at” Jade said the last part with a sad smile which Jake didn’t miss.”I’m not sure that’s true” Jake said.”Huh?” What was not true? Jade asked herself.”You don’t look like someone who’ll be good at just one thing. I look at you and from my few years of working with people and trying to understand them even from their looks, I can tell you’re a multitalented person. You just haven’t tapped into your inner self so you can harness those gifts locked up inside of you. I believe you know more and can do more than just game designing and programming” Jake said with sincerity hinted in his voice. He didn’t know why Jade’s countenance changed for that slight moment, but he felt like he should say something to cheer her up.Jade gazed at him before her lips broke into a smile. “Thank you Mr Jake, those are kind words…But the truth is I like designing because its the only thing that connects me to my father” Jade explained. She was sure Jake might have misinterpreted her words when she said that was the only thing she was good at. Gaming was the only thing she liked because that was the only thing her father taught her, and she had enjoyed everything about it and decided to remain loyal to it.She and her father would play games and draw several games characters all day long whenever he was less busy with work and throughout the weekends. Her father had worked with a gaming company just like her.”Your father is a gamer too?” Jake asked with interest.”Yes he was” Jade said with a proud look. In as much as Jake could see that proud look on her face like she was talking about the world’s greatest man, he took note of the word ‘was’ which she used and that sad smile.”He stopped designing?” Jake asked curiously. He liked the fact that he was getting to know her.Jade fell silent for few seconds before muttering, “No, he died””Oh, Sorry about that” Jake apologized sincerely. He must have stroke a wrong chord and he was sorry for that.”I’m sorry, for bringing up such memories” He apologized again.Jade saw the guilty look he had on his face and she understood why. “It’s okay. It’s been a long time, I don’t get too worked up over it” Jade said in an almost casual tone like she wasn’t truly bothered. Few seconds of awkward silence ensued after that.”So tell me about character designing” Jake said taking a bite of bacon.”You want to talk about character designing?” Jade asked a little surprised.”Yeah. I think it might be something fascinating” Jake said bobbing his head up and down.”Okay” Jade said with a shrug. “it’s true that character designing is indeed fascinating. It’s like giving life to sketches and using them to tell a story even when they are just sketches. Creating your own character from scratch involves a lot of creative thinking. A lot of skill and effort has gone into making those familiar characters we know effective.Most character design starts with sketches and that is when the essence of the character is captured. So when working through your design, you try to maintain the original working style so as not to lose it’s magic. Personally I try not to think of characters as creation, but as beings I have encountered.One thing you’ll learn during character designing is you must start designing your character with the feeling you want to evoke…”Jake listened attentively as Jade passionately talked about her job. His eyes were zeroed on her lips as they moved and curled with every word she said. From the way she was talking about her work, Jake thought it might be acceptable if it was indeed all she knew.Jade noticed the odd way at which Jake was staring at her. “Sorry I must have said too much” She apologized with an awkward and embarrassed smile.”You don’t have to apologize. I was right when I said it would be fascinating and you did proved me right” He said with a small smile.”You’re done?” Jade asked when she noticed he has stopped eating.”Yeah” He nodded. Jade stood up from her seat and started clearing out the table.”Thank you” Jake said.”For what?””For taking care of me, even when you didn’t need to” The guilt in Jake’s heart was beginning to increase by the moment. Jade was taking such great care of him and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable by it. It would have been better if he was truly sick, then he’ll know that her efforts were not being wasted and then his heart would be at peace.Though this was also serving a purpose of getting to know her and spending time with her, he still didn’t think it was completely a right decision.But what should he do? He has observed the girl was being really careful around him, he wouldn’t blame her for that given the circumstances at which they met. He also knew Jade was different from the other girls he had met, so her being cautious of him was fully understood. He has a bad record with women.For the first time Jake was beginning to regret the kind of life he had led. If didn’t have a promiscuous history with girls and even her, he might have had the courage to tell her that he was very much attracted to her and that he loved hanging out with. And maybe he would ask and plead with her to spend even more time with him and maybe also tell her of the crazy feelings he was experiencing inside of him, because they were becoming unbearable and he was beginning to think he might need to talk to someone about it.”Mr Jake, you don’t need to thank me. It’s nothing. If its anything at all, I’m happy to help” Jade said with a smile.”Can I ask you another question?” Jake asked.Jade paused from what she was doing to glance at him.”Sure””It might be sort of personal” Jake said, his heart was racing like there was a tornado about to rupture inside of him.Jade’s gaze at him suddenly became intense. Her eyes narrowed as she thought about his question. What sort of personal question was he about to ask? Should she say no? That would be the best option so to save herself the embarrassment just in case it was something she couldn’t bring herself to answer. But on a second thought, she’d love to hear that question.”Sure, as far as it’s not too personal and I have an answer to it” Jade’s curiousity got the best of her. She stared at him intensely, patiently waiting for his question.Jake felt like taking his words back and ask a none personal question, but the question in his mind right now was already forming on his lips and it made him very nervous.He slowly opened his mouth and the question that came out was,”Do you have a boyfriend?”
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 58
