Chapter 57
Vanessa finished her words and did not feel anything wrong, but Shawn who propped up his body did not move.
After a long time, he only sighed heavily.
She ruined the atmosphere at this kind of time, which was really...
It was almost driving him crazy.
Vanessa put up her hand in a daze and easily pushed him away.
Shawn sat by her and watched her struggle to get up for a while but did not help.
Vanessa was a bit groggy and felt dizzy. Shawn did not help her, but she did not get annoyed. She bent down to put on her shoes and went to the bathroom holding on to the wall.
"I'm going to take a shower."
Shawn sat on the sofa, with his eyes following her. He felt somewhat helpless, but he unconsciously smiled a little.
After drinking a little, Vanessa actually became very meek and reasonable.
She was different from the usual and became more like a normal person.
But it made Shawn a little uncomfortable.
Thinking about that, Shawn doubted maybe he enjoyed being abused by her.
He leaned back on the sofa, closed his eyes for a nap, but touched his lips uncontrollably with his fingers, trying to recall the kiss that had not completely disappeared.
The sound of water soon came from the bathroom, and Shawn opened his eyes again, looked in the direction of the bathroom, and loosened his bow tie.
--
After the shower and drying her hair, Vanessa felt better, but she was so sleepy that she couldn't open her eyes.
She slowly walked out in her pajamas, and Shawn was still at her house.
He was quiet. sitting on the sofa as if he was asleep.
Vanessa paused for a moment, slowly approached the sofa, and called him softly, "Shawn?"
He didn't respond.
Vanessa reached out and poked his cheek. "Shawn? Are you asleep?"
The man still did not move with his breathing calm and long.
Vanessa stood up and ran her fingers through her hair. "Make yourself at home. I'm going to sleep."
After that, she was about to get up when her fingers were grabbed.
The next second, he dragged Vanessa hard, and she was pulled back.
She knew that Shawn was not asleep. He was only a little tired and did not open his eyes.
Vanessa sat next to him, curled up her legs, and put her hands on her lap as if she wanted to talk about something big.
"Shawn, I drank and thought about a lot today. I will talk much later. Don't get annoyed, please."
Shawn responded, "Hmm.
"When have you ever been quiet?"
Vanessa was speechless.
Vanessa was a little annoyed with him. "I'm serious. It seems you're cuter after you drink."
Shawn answered, "Well, you too."
"What do you mean?" Vanessa didn't think that Shawn was complimenting her. "You don't think I'm usually cute, do you?"
Shawn opened his eyes and looked relaxed, not even glancing at the woman beside him.
"You're always cute."
In Vanessa's opinion, she felt his words were the same as "I'll praise you to be cute against my conscience, OK?"
He complimented her with a cold face, which was so Shawn-style.
Vanessa really missed the drunken Shawn more.
Seeing her didn't go on talking, Shawn slowly sat up straight, rubbed his neck, and said carelessly, "You say."
Vanessa was very sleepy and did not want to waste any more time, so she cut to the chase.
"I was going to talk to you before the shower, but you interrupted..."
Shawn bent his elbow, propped himself up on the sofa behind Vanessa's head, and smiled nastily.
"I interrupted? Are you sure?"
Vanessa's heart is weak, lowered her eyes and straightened her hair, her face unchanged: "It doesn't matter who interrupted, anyway, I just want to talk to you-"
She raised her head, trying to fight against drowsiness, with gentle light in her blurred eyes.
At this time, Shawn also adjusted his sitting position. He felt a little stuffy in the room and was about to stand up to open the window.
"I really like you.
"It has nothing to do with any script.
"Although I had other intentions at first, which you also knew. I did not know what to do...
"Anyway, I really like you now."
After saying that, Vanessa looked at Shawn nervously.
This was, sort of, her proper confession, although her speech was a bit incoherent.
She didn't know how Shawn would respond.
Shawn slowly turned his head, with his burning gaze on Vanessa's face, and even the tenderness in his eyes was passionate.
In a trance, Vanessa felt that this was not even him.
However, when he started to talk, it was still Shawn.
"Oh? How do you prove it?"
Vanessa asked, "... How can I prove this? Do you want me to dig out my heart and show it to you?"
Shawn seemed to be thinking about it very seriously.
Vanessa was even more nervous. Because of the drunkenness, she looked a little dull.
For a long time, Shawn tilted his head.
"If I went bankrupt one day, would you make money to support me?"
He said that with a serious expression, not like joking, making Vanessa confused about whether it was she or Shawn who was drunk.
"That's it?"
"Do you think it's easy to support me?" Shawn smiled. "It's difficult to support me because I will not make do with food, clothing, and other aspects."
...
Vanessa said, "Do you mean you want to live off me?"
"Hmm?" Shawn raised his eyebrows. "I suffer from indigestion. What is wrong with that?"
...
Vanessa was speechless.
"I'm in deadly earnest. Why are you so childish?" Vanessa stood up with disfavor on her face. "I'm going to bed."
Shawn asked, "So early?"
"Yeah, I have to work tomorrow." Vanessa walked toward the room step by step.
"Otherwise, how can I support you?"
...
Seeing that Shawn did not move, Vanessa really went into the room with the door left unlocked and slid under the covers.
After a long time, the sound of footsteps finally came from the living room.
Shawn stood by the bed, looking at her in silence.
Vanessa had turned off the lights and could only see the outline of Shawn by the moonlight that went in through the window.
And his eyes were still very bright in the darkness.
After they looked at each other for a long time, Vanessa slowly pulled up the quilt to cover half of her face.
"My... bed is narrow and can not hold two people."
Shawn glanced at her.
"I said I wouldn't settle for food, clothing, and other aspects."
Vanessa was confused.
Shawn continued, "I can't sleep on these pink sheets."
Vanessa was speechless.
She snorted coldly and turned her back on him.
And then, Shawn lowered his head and looked at Vanessa's back. The moonlight shone on her body, reflecting her extreme uneasiness.
In fact, every word she said tonight was like a stone on her mind.
The guilt, uneasiness, and apprehension wrapped around her layer by layer.
It wasn't the alcohol that made her meek tonight. It was those feelings.
She was now thoughtful and cautious, which was not the Vanessa in Shawn's heart.
Whether she was acting or from the heart, her usual performances made her different from a normal woman.
But Shawn liked that Vanessa.
He liked her a lot.
It was a kind of love that a man had for a woman because of hormones.
--He wanted to caress her, kiss her, and had sex with her.
He loved her so much that he was willing to be led by the nose by her and reluctantly left her after he caught her in a lie.
But now Vanessa began to reveal her true emotions to him little by little.
Besides the sex, he cared about her.
He was probably masochistic.
He was the one who was cheated, but he felt very protective of Vanessa.
He even wanted to smooth those insecure feelings brought to her by others out for her little by little, and it could only be him to do it for her.
After a long period of silence, Shawn finally spoke.
He knew Vanessa did not sleep. Before she could respond, he said, "Vanna, those things have long been history for me, so you should let them go. Understand?"
Vanessa did not speak.
Shawn leaned down closer and propped himself up by Vanessa with his arms.
His figure melted into the night, and Vanessa looked straight at his shadow in the french window.
"Vanessa, you are my girlfriend, and it has nothing to do with others. I want you myself. There is no other reason or script. We're not different from other couples."
A low voice finally came out of the bed.
"There is still a difference..."
Vanessa looked at the blurred Shawn on the glass, but she could feel his presence clearly.
"Others' boyfriends don't call their girlfriends by their full names."
Shawn was speechless.
A few moments later, Vanessa felt warm breath on her cheeks.
Shawn whispered in her ear.
"Go to sleep, Vanna."
--
There was still heavy traffic in the city late at night, and planes with flashing lights soared through the sky, decorating the dark night with starry light.
When Shawn stopped at the intersection, his cell phone beeped without stopping.
Generally, this situation didn't good.
He casually opened his WhatsApp to take a look and found Vanessa, who had said she wanted to sleep, had sent him ten voice messages.
Shawn played them.
The green light came on, the car started again, and Vanessa's voice rang out in the car.
"Are you lonely driving late at night?"
"Radio Vanna accompanies you."
"Does this listener want to listen to a story or order a song?"
"Our radio station is rather poor and only has one song to play."
"The host will sing it for you personally."
"Ahem, it's about to start."
-- "Did I have my first love again."
-- "It's impossible that I've fallen in love for the first time again."
-- "But it's really, really my first love."
-- "This kind of feeling..."
...
--
It was Friday, and it rained a bit in the early morning.
Vanessa hung her umbrella up on the balcony of her company to drain. When she came back, Tracy winked at her.
"What's wrong?"
Vanessa asked casually while turning on her computer.
"Well..." Tracy looked around. Although there were few people there, nothing was a secret in the office. She always felt whatever she said would go about, so she said, "I'll text you on WhatsApp."
"Why are you so mysterious? "
Vanessa had hardly picked up her phone when Zoie walked to her and knocked on her desk. "You come to my office."
"Oh, okay."
Vanessa immediately got up and followed Zoie over.
After closing the door, Zoie sat behind her desk and took off her jacket with some annoyance.
"You're in a relationship, right?"
"Yes." Vanessa nodded. "I told you that day, so I will not participate in the company's sociable gathering."
"There is no sociable gathering. I am not running a dating agency."
Zoie also put down her phone, drew in her horns, and said solemnly, "I'll tell you something.
"First of all, I am not prying into your privacy. Although we are superior and subordinate, we are familiar, and I treat you as my friend. You were in a poor condition and cried hard in the company a while ago. You broke up with your boyfriend at that time, right?"
It was a bit humiliating to talk about that, but Vanessa didn't deny it.
"Well... sort of..."
Zoie pouted her lips and looked around for a while before asking, "Now do you have a boyfriend again?"
"Hmm."
Zoie had a more and more disapproving look on her face.
"Let me tell you plainly. These days, many colleagues saw you get into your boyfriend's car after work. That was your boyfriend's car, right?"
These days, she did take Shawn's car after work.
But he only showed up once, and at other times, he was unavailable and just asked his driver to pick her up and take her home.
Vanessa didn't want to be high-profile, so every time she asked the driver not to park downstairs of the company but pull over at a junction opposite. She walked there by herself.
But she had not expected that some people would think of such behavior as a deliberate cover-up.
And now looking at Zoie's expression, needless to say, Vanessa had guessed something.
"Why? Are there any rumors in the company?"
"Anyway, this kind of rumor is not something unusual." Zoie also first paved the way. "It was rumored that you had a great boyfriend."
Vanessa laughed in embarrassment twice.
"Yes, so what?"
Her boyfriend was quite impressive.
The problem was what Sophia said on the phone. "You're with my uncle now?"
Sophia's voice was familiar to Lily. She could recognize it.
Everyone in the company knew Sophia was from a wealthy family, and she worked here just for fun.
Sophia was in her twenties, so her uncle was likely to be in his fifties or sixties.
At first, Zoie was also confused. Wasn't Vanessa with Shawn? How did it become Sophia's uncle?
Then she thought maybe she had a new boyfriend.
The story spread from one to another, and gradually it went about all over the company.
Zoie had ears and naturally heard of it.
In fact, even if this was true, it was Vanessa's private business. Zoie was not qualified to meddle.
But as she said, they had known each other for several years and were friends. This kind of thing was definitely not what was worth publicizing.
To put it mildly, she had an older boyfriend.
To put it bluntly, who knew if he had a wife.
Moreover, the position of Associate Editor had been vacant recently, but it was not up in the air. Everyone knew who the candidate was.
Such rumors at this time directly aroused the company's desire to gossip.
Zoie said, "It's nothing to have a boyfriend. I just heard that your boyfriend was old."
Vanessa was speechless.
Sure enough, she knew it.
Zoie said that euphemistically, but her words contained too much information. Only fools would not understand what she meant.
Vanessa fired up and threw her phone onto the desk, making a big noise.
Zoie said, "Hey, do not be angry with me here. You just tell me privately if it's true."
"I have said that many times. If I had that kind of idea, why would I wait until today?"
She had contacted many powerful men, old or young, tall or short, ugly or handsome, married or unmarried. If she wanted to get involved with one, she had had many opportunities.
If she really wanted to live off a wealthy man, why was she still living in a rented apartment now?
Vanessa laughed with anger and ran her fingers through her hair. "And my boyfriend ranks highly in his family. If he meets you, he should call you Sister, Miss Lopez."
Zoie was stunned.
She felt Vanessa was saying she was old too.
Anyway, Vanessa said so, and Zoie had no reason to doubt her.
"Okay, I do not meddle in your personal matters. After all, it is not a big deal. We'll clear the air. A clean hand wants no washing."
Although Zoie comforted Vanessa, she was still speechless when she walked out of the office.
There were a variety of sex scandals in the industry these years. Vanessa had long seen an invisible springboard in the circle.
Many successful men in power preferred talented and educated women. If they were beautiful, it could not be better.
Such women could get these men's sexual passion satisfied and show they valued women's inner beauty.
Seeing many such things, everyone didn't feel surprised anymore.
Some women simply didn't care about their dignity and lived off wealthy men to get away from their original life.
And more women worked as if they were walking on eggshells and maintained a safe distance from those men, fearing that they couldn't bear others' judgment once they crossed the boundaries.
But very often, even some "talented" male journalists, who did not have the ability to get some good resources as other female colleagues did, would say jealously "gender advantage".
"What did Miss Lopez say to you?"
Vanessa had just returned to her office cubicle when Tracy came up. "Is it about your boyfriend?"
Vanessa glanced at her. "You've heard about it too? Why didn't you tell me earlier?"
"I just heard two men in the next group talking about it when I entered the elevator this morning, but..."
Tracy patted Vanessa on the shoulder. "I don't believe a word of them."
Vanessa raised her eyebrows. "You believe me so much?"
"I'm not believing you," Tracy said. "I just believe in the principle of a face-obsessed woman."
Vanessa didn't know how to respond.
Tracy continued, "Unless that uncle is very handsome."
Vanessa was speechless.
But she didn't know why she was not angry any longer after hearing Tracy's words.
Maybe she had not particularly cared about the thing much.
"So who is your boyfriend?"
Tracy asked, "Is he from our industry?"
Vanessa thought about it. "Sort of. You should have heard of him."
Tracy asked, "Who is it?"
Vanessa answered, "It's Shawn."
Tracy couldn't believe her ears.
She wiggled her fingers. "You're kidding, right?"
"I'm not."
Looking at the phone that she had thrown onto Zoie's desk, Vanessa felt bad. "If you do not believe me. I'll call him now in front of you."
Tracy froze for a long time. When she remembered that Vanessa had interviewed Shawn, she was not so surprised.
"I believe you! I believe you! I absolutely believe you."
Vanessa reposed her head on her desk and yawned.
She didn't want to make a big deal about who her boyfriend was, but she didn't want to cover it up and make it as if Shawn was unpresentable.
In a place that bred gossip, it was often a dead end to struggle to defend oneself. As Zoie said, it was better to observe the principle that a clean hand wanted no washing.
Otherwise, it was the same as being led by the nose and putting one's head in a noose oneself. She had seen many such examples.
The day went by without incidents.
In the afternoon, when Vanessa took a break, she propped her chin up and sent a message to Shawn.
Vanessa: It's the weekend. I wonder if Mr. Yeats is free tonight.
The two of them hadn't had a serious date yet.
Shawn: I'm busy.
Vanessa: ...
How uninteresting his life was!
Vanessa: Then what are you busy with?
Shawn: I'll accompany my girlfriend.
Vanessa giggled at her phone for a while. Seeing that, Tracy frowned reluctantly and quietly moved her chair farther away.
--
As soon as it was time to get off work, Vanessa immediately packed up her things and was ready to leave.
Unfortunately, when she reached the door, she was called back by a girl from the Finance Department.
The expenses of her previous business trip to Bostabaca had not yet been reimbursed, and there were some problems with the invoices, so they had to be rechecked.
She was delayed more than half an hour.
It was particularly easy for Vanessa to recognize Shawn's car in the parking space downstairs. She stood in the lobby on the first floor and straightened her clothes facing the door before walking over step by step.
Although she was very excited in her heart, she tried to walk at a graceful pace.
The car door was opened, but the back seat was vacant.
"Where is he?"
The driver was not clear. When Shawn got off the car, he did not tell him.
Vanessa did not get into the car. Standing by the door, she called Shawn.
After a while, she got through to him on the phone. She bent down to look into the car as she asked, "Where are you?"
Her voice was sweet, but she was looking under the car seat.
Probably because of her addiction to acting, Vanessa lifted the car cushion and searched.
"Where did my boyfriend go? I've been looking for him."
Then she uncovered the armrest box in the middle of the car seat and took a look. "Oops, he's not here, either."
...
Shawn stood behind her, holding his phone, and an impulse to turn around and leave welled up in his heart.