Chapter 8
At noon, Ms. Twelve cooked bone broth soup with assorted mushrooms for Yolanda for the first time. It was nutritious and tasty.
The soup was comparable to the one cooked by a Michelin star chef.
Yolanda understood that it was Aaron who gave Ms. Twelve a call. Having bone broth soup was a piece of advice on diet casually mentioned by the doctor when Yolanda was in the hospital.
Yolanda thought her tears managed to melt Aaron's coldness.
She also thought about Lenny's words for a long time and felt Lenny was right.
It seemed ruthless of Aaron to set the five-minute limit. But it indeed helped relieve Yolanda's pain. Otherwise, she might have failed to change her wound dressing quickly even if it was getting dark.
From these trivial matters, Yolanda caught a glimpse of Aaron's charms.
Aaron was determined and decisive.
Yolanda had to admit that she appreciated Aaron's qualities.
Anyway, she owed Aaron a favor because of the bone broth soup.
She decided to seize the opportunity to return the favor. In this way, she could improve her relationship with Aaron.
At night, Yolanda carefully prepared her favorite fruit salad for Aaron and waited for him on the sofa. But Aaron hadn't come back yet.
At midnight, Ms. Twelve was about to go to bed. Yolanda asked her, "Aren't you waiting for Aaron?"
Surprisingly, Ms. Twelve asked her, "Do you know why I am called Ms. Twelve?"
Yolanda was confused.
"It's because I only work until midnight. After that, I won't care about anything even if the house collapses."
Yolanda was shocked.
She felt Ms. Twelve was such a cool housekeeper.
So Yolanda could only wait in the living room by herself. Then she felt dulled with sleep and had several dreams. She suddenly felt someone sapping down on the sofa.
Her eyes snapped open, and then she was stunned.
She didn't know when Aaron had come back. Aaron was now lying on the other side of the sofa.
There was a strong smell of alcohol all over.
Yolanda withdrew her legs from the sofa first and then tentatively called out, "Aaron?"
Aaron had no response. His breath smelt of alcohol and cigarettes.
"Aaron?"
"Mr. Jensen?"
"Boss?"
Yolanda used different forms of address to talk to Aaron. Finally, she was certain that he was drunk and asleep.
Since Aaron had fallen asleep, Yolanda had no chance to improve their relationship. So she turned around and left in her wheelchair.
But after a while, Yolanda stopped her wheelchair.
She looked back at Aaron, who was lying on the sofa.
It was winter now. The heating was turned on in the house, but it was still cold at night. Yolanda thought, "If Aaron spends the night on the sofa, he'll catch a cold."
"What if he suddenly vomits but no one helps him? What if he suffocates to death?"
Aaron was not Yolanda's elder brother for real, but Yolanda didn't want to get a guilty conscience.
Thanks to Aaron, she had bone broth soup today.
Yolanda told herself that she helped Aaron for the sake of her bankrupt family. She decided to take care of Aaron tonight.
However, Yolanda hadn't recovered from her injury yet. She couldn't carry Aaron back to his room. Besides, she was not allowed to go to the second floor.
After thinking for a while, Yolanda went back to her room and took out the covers. Then she put them over Aaron.
She sighed silently at Aaron's handsome face. "I helped you for reasons of conscience. I even gave you my quilt. Be good to me in the future."
Aaron still slept soundly.
He looked handsome and flawless even when he fell asleep.
Yolanda couldn't help but think of James with contempt. Any man on the street was more handsome than him.
Yolanda knew it was still a while before Aaron woke up. She leaned on the sofa and picked up her phone.
She needed to take care of Aaron, so she had to stay awake. She decided to browse Twitter to kill time.
At 3 a.m., Yolanda insisted on browsing Twitter.
At 3:30, she began to feel drowsy.
At 4 a.m., she felt cold and pulled the quilt over her legs.
At 4:30, she was sleepy and decided to take a little nap.
Then, Yolanda fell into a deep sleep.
At 6:30 a.m., Ms. Twelve got up to prepare breakfast. When she walked past the living room, she saw Aaron and Yolanda lying together on the sofa. She glanced at them calmly and went to the kitchen as if she had seen nothing.
About 10 minutes later, Aaron was awakened by the noise in the kitchen.
He opened his eyes unhappily and found himself sleeping on the sofa. But he was not so surprised. He closed his eyes and sighed in relief. When he was about to sit up and take a shower, he noticed Yolanda lying beside him.
He also shared the same quilt with Yolanda.
Aaron was stunned and instantly shouted coldly, "What are you doing?"
His tone was tinged with reproach.
Yolanda was woken up and opened her eyes, but she was still not wide awake. After seeing Aaron beside her, she sat up immediately and realized that she had spent the night on the sofa.
"Aaron, are you fine?"
Soon, she noticed Aaron's angry look and cold gaze. "What's wrong?"
Aaron stared at Yolanda for a while and then pulled away the quilt. He said coldly, "Leave here if it happens again."
Yolanda was in a daze.
She saw Aaron walking to the second floor and was at a loss.
Ms. Twelve came out of the kitchen. She reminded Yolanda while setting the table, "Mr. Jensen doesn't like being touched by women."
Yolanda was speechless.
She wondered what Aaron thought of her.
She laughed with disdain.
"Aaron came back late at night and lay motionless on the sofa. I couldn't wake him up no matter how hard I tried. I am too thin to carry him upstairs. I was afraid that he would get a cold, so I put my quilt over him. I was afraid that he would vomit and no one took care of him, so I stayed up late. He dislikes being touched by women, but I am his younger sister." Yolanda didn't know if Aaron could hear her words. She deliberately raised her voice to air her grievance.
"I care about my elder brother. Is there anything wrong?"
Yolanda felt aggrieved.
Ms. Twelve stopped pouring milk and asked Yolanda, "Why didn't you ask me for help?"
Yolanda was speechless with rage. "Didn't you say that you would ignore everything after midnight even if the house collapses?"
"Yes. I don't care if the house collapses. But I will care for Mr. Jensen if he is drunk."
Yolanda was lost for words.
She thought Ms. Twelve was sly.
Yolanda was irritated by the strange ways of thinking of Aaron and Ms. Twelve.
She chose to pass over this matter.
So she didn't explain any further. She picked up the quilt that Aaron had thrown to the ground and went back to her room.
She thought, "Aaron is very ungrateful. If he froze to death last night, he would deserve it."
"Similar things will never happen again. No way!"
20 minutes later, Aaron went downstairs after taking a shower. Ms. Twelve cooked Aaron soup that could sober him up. When Ms. Twelve served the soup, she murmured.
"Miss Jensen told you to cut down on your drinking. But you don't listen to her."
Aaron didn't look up and sipped the soup before he asked, "Where's she?"
He didn't mention Yolanda's name, but Ms. Twelve knew who he was talking about. "She went back to her room."
Then Aaron didn't mention Yolanda anymore. He had a quick breakfast and returned to the company.
Aaron's secretary brought him a cup of Americano as usual. But Aaron frowned as soon as he took a sip.
"It tastes bad."
The secretary was stunned. "But every day, I make coffee in the same way."
After a while, Aaron said, "You can leave now."
After the secretary left, Aaron carefully observed the coffee in his hands. He wondered if there was any problem with this coffee. But it suddenly occurred to him that...
He drank a cup of Americano made by Yolanda yesterday.
It tasted mellow and delicious.
Aaron didn't know why he would think of Yolanda. He pinched the bridge of his nose and put the coffee aside. He lost the desire to drink it.
The director of the Brokerage Department happened to knock on the door and came in.
"Mr. Jensen, I would like to hear your opinions on the casting of Dragon Hunt."
This year, the domestic entertainment industry was sluggish. Mainly because of policies, many small-scale film companies closed down. Under such a circumstance, Aaron attached great importance to every investment.
The fantasy movie Dragon Hunt was a key project for the coming year in which Azel Film Company had invested 300 million.
From the employment of the staff to the selection of actors, Aaron would check all the details in person.
The director said, "You chose Sally to be the leading actress, but she didn't live up to your expectations and even caused a scandal. Now we will choose between Sandra Mason and Ruby Quinn. Both of them have good acting skills. The screen director was satisfied with their audition. So which one do you prefer?"
Aaron looked at the photos of Sandra and Ruby for a moment. Then he took out one of the photos and said, "Sandra is better."
The director was surprised but soon calmed down. "I got it. As for the supporting actor, the director wants to choose James for personal reasons. James has recently been popular, but he is not a worker of our company. I want to sign a contract for film and television with him. It can facilitate centralized management of actors."
Aaron thought, "James?"
He bore this name in mind and nodded. "Make a document of his achievements for the last six months and send it to me. I'll take a look before making a decision."
"I got it."
Aaron didn't have a good sleep and was drunk last night. Probably because of these, he felt listless and tried. So he canceled all the business activities in the evening before getting off work.
Ms. Twelve was notified that Aaron would come back home early. So the dinner was well-prepared when Aaron arrived home.
There were four meat dishes, two dishes of vegetables, and a soup on the dining table. Aaron had dinner alone and asked after a while, "Where's Yolanda?"
Ms. Twelve stood bolt upright and said, "She is in her room."
She paused for a moment and then added, "I have asked her to eat dinner. But she said she wasn't hungry."
Aaron didn't ask any other questions. He had a quick meal and planned to go upstairs to rest.
Just after Aaron walked a few steps, Ms. Twelve muttered to herself behind him, "Yolanda took out her quilt for you because she feared that you would get a cold in the living room."
Aaron frowned and turned back. "What?"
Ms. Twelve glanced at Aaron. She completely repeated Yolanda's words, probably because she was afraid that she could not sum them up well. She also raised her voice when she said, "Is there any wrong with caring about my elder brother?"
"I'm not on Yolanda's side. But I can't bear to see you misunderstand her good intention."
Aaron was silent.
After returning to the study for a long time, Aaron seemed to be wide awake.
He kept thinking about Ms. Twelve's words. Thus, he managed to recall some details of what happened that day.
Yolanda leaned against a cushion and tried to keep her distance from Aaron. She only stretched her legs into the quilt to keep warm.
Besides, the quilt was soft and decorated with a floral pattern. Aaron didn't notice the quilt at that time. Now it turned out to be Yolanda's quilt.
Aaron closed his eyes and rubbed his temples.
After Yolanda was warned by Aaron, she looked puzzled. Her expression and words kept running through Aaron's mind.
[I put the quilt over you in case you had a cold. I stayed by your side because I feared that you would vomit and be unattended.]
Aaron was repeatedly reminded by Yolanda's words that he had gone too far.
Aaron felt irritable. He picked up the glass on the table but found that it was empty of water.
He opened the door of the study and wanted to ask Ms. Twelve to make him a cup of coffee. But he suddenly heard voices from downstairs.
He changed his mind and took a few steps forward quietly.
As Aaron expected, it was Yolanda who came out of her room.
Yolanda was in a wheelchair with a glass in her hand. It seemed that she was going to the living room to drink water.
Aaron stared at Yolanda for a while. For some obscure reason, he also went downstairs with the empty glass in his hand.
He stuffed his hand in his trouser pocket and walked to the water dispenser indifferently.
Ms. Twelve cast Aaron a bewildered look. "There is also a water dispenser upstairs. Why did you go downstairs?"
Aaron was embarrassed.
Yolanda noticed that Aaron had gone downstairs. But she didn't greet him enthusiastically as usual.
She didn't say anything but bowed her head and moved back as a gesture of submissiveness.
Aaron actively talked to Yolanda, "After you."
Yolanda thought, "Well."
She moved forward with a poker face. And she bent over to fill her glass with water.
After that, she turned around and passed by Aaron impassively. She went back to her room and shut the door with a bang.
Aaron was at a loss.