Chapter 36
It was so quiet in the room that only the sound of their breathing could be heard.
Vanessa wrapped herself in the blanket and closed her eyes for a while, but she could hardly settle down.
After a while, she slightly opened her eyes and saw Shawn leaning on the sofa and looking down at his phone, with his shoulders half crooked and legs casually stretched.
It seemed like he was really going to stay here.
He was sitting there, without talking or doing anything, but it inexplicably made her feel secure.
Vanessa thought that at least someone would be by her side when she was in so much pain.
That feeling of uneasiness had made her afraid to turn off the ringing of the phone even when she was sleeping.
After looking at him silently for a while, Vanessa took out her phone, turned it on mute, then turned her back on him, and finally closed her eyes after a long time.
Suddenly, Shawn spoke.
"Do you have a stomachache, headache, or something else?"
Vanessa opened her eyes and stammered, "Period pain..."
Shawn was silent.
After a while, he said again with a cold tone.
"Well, you should continue to wear a short skirt and also a T-shirt tomorrow, so that you won't feel pain anymore."
Vanessa did not speak.
She thought that he was such a bad man who did not know how to comfort people!
"I wear a skirt for the sake of..." she grunted as she covered herself with the blanket, "It's for the sake of good looks."
"You are pretty enough without wearing a skirt."
Vanessa blinked and looked back at him, saying, "Hmm?"
"Just sleep."
--
Vanessa didn't expect that she could really fall asleep in such an environment.
Shawn also did not expect that she could sleep so soundly.
There was no movement on the bed for a long time but only the sound of breathing.
The afternoon of winter was long and silent and the sky was overcast. It was just two or three o'clock but there was already no more bright sunlight.
The lights in the room were a little bright, dazzling the eyes and making people difficult to calm down.
Shawn looked up at Vanessa on the bed, then slowly got up, turned off the overhead light, and turned on the floor lamp with hazy light at the bedside.
At this time, the screen of the phone on the bedside table suddenly lit up.
There was no sound or vibration, and "Breeder Ms. Wang" was shown on the screen.
Shawn took a look at Vanessa, who was sleeping soundly, so he ignored the call and let the other side hang up.
But after a few seconds, the phone rang again and it was still a call from "Breeder Ms. Wang".
Shawn wondered if Vanessa had a pet at home.
It seemed like it was an urgent call.
So he reached out, and when he touched Vanessa's disheveled hair, he paused.
He was going to brush the hair away from her face and pinch her face.
But seeing that she was asleep...
Shawn suddenly smiled and then he took a pinch of her hair and swept it across the tip of her nose.
Once, twice, three times...
Shawn repeated his movements like he was teasing her.
As if he was teasing her, Shawn kept repeating his movements tirelessly.
"What are you doing..."
After a long while, Vanessa was woken up. She was so impatient that she didn't even bother to open her eyes.
Shawn said, "You got a call."
Vanessa adjusted her breathing with her eyes closed for a while before taking the phone.
The moment she saw the caller ID, she curled her lips and then drawled, "Mom..."
Shawn felt speechless.
He thought that the name that she had given to her mom displayed on the caller ID was quite original.
"I'm sleeping..." Vanessa rubbed her hair without sitting up.
From what Vanessa's mother knew about Vanessa, Vanessa wasn't a person who liked to sleep in the afternoon, so she felt a little strange.
"Why are you sleeping in the afternoon?"
However, Vanessa didn't want to tell her mom that she wasn't feeling well, as she was out alone and it would cause her family living thousands of miles away to worry.
"Nothing. I am just sleepy."
Her mom was silent for a few seconds.
"Nothing? Then why don't you go to meet Lonn?"
As soon as Vanessa heard that name, she sat up abruptly.
Seeing that she suddenly moved, Shawn took a look at her sideways.
They looked at each other, and two seconds later, Vanessa looked away since she felt guilty.
She scratched her head and said, "Mom, can't I just rest and relax on the weekend?"
"Going out for dinner and a movie together is also a rest." Her mom took it all for granted and said, "Isn't there a romance movie on recently? I saw your cousins post it on SNS. You guys can also go watch it."
"Mom, actually, I..." Vanessa lifted her head to take a peek and said when Shawn had already turned his back, "There is no need to do so. Just wait for a while and I will talk to you when I get home in the New Year."
"Talk about what? Why do you suddenly want to go home and talk to me in the New Year? Did you suddenly ignore Lonn again?"
Vanessa grasped the pillow helplessly and said, "No, I just..."
"Vanessa..." her mother suddenly interrupted, "if you do not like him, you can tell me and I will not force you."
As soon as Vanessa heard this, she immediately nodded and said.
"Yes, he is really not the type that I like."
But at the same time, her mother continued, "I will try to find you another one."
Vanessa felt speechless.
"Then tell me, which type do you like?"
Vanessa looked at the back of Shawn and mumbled, "Didn't I send you a photo?"
"Beep..."
As Vanessa heard that, she took a look at her phone and found that her mom had already hung up the phone.
It soon became quiet in the room.
Vanessa fiddled with her phone and inexplicably became silent.
She kept feeling that when she answered the phone just now, Shawn looked at her expression from time to time.
It seemed that he had heard the conversation between her and her mother.
At the same time, Shawn was sitting there quietly, keeping making her feel nervous.
As he had heard the words "He is really not the type that I like" and "Didn't I send you a photo", it was actually not difficult for him to figure out what they had talked about.
After a long while, seeing her fiddling with her phone, scratching her hair, and seeming to try to say something, Shawn suddenly spoke and directly interrupted what she had planned to say.
"Your family is urging you to go on a blind date?"
Vanessa felt surprised.
She wondered how he could guess so accurately.
"No, no." Vanessa shrank a little back into the quilt and said, "My mom said she wanted to buy me a dog."
Shawn nodded and asked, "So which type do you like?"
"Well... I like that type of dog that is well-behaved and obedient," Vanessa said touching her face, "you know, the kind of dog without a breed."
Shawn did not speak.
He somehow felt that she seemed to be talking about him.
It was actually no big deal, but as she had so many tricks and showed a look of innocence, it made people feel angry but couldn't be mad at her.
After a while, Shawn looked away, and after adjusting his emotions, he said, "Vanessa, you really make people feel headachy every day."
Vanessa smiled, pretending to be unable to understand him, blinked, and said, "Then I'll share some painkillers with you."
Shawn felt speechless.
He dropped his eyes and said a little impatiently, "Are you going to sleep or not?"
Vanessa immediately glanced at the time and found that it was two and a half.
"Yeah! Don't you have a meeting at three o'clock? Just go to work. I'm fine."
Shawn took two steps closer and wanted to say something. Looking at her somewhat pale face, he finally just fixed her messy hair and said, "OK."
--
After Shawn had left, Vanessa didn't fall asleep at all.
After the pain had been relieved, she kept feeling weak and tossing and turning in bed.
After burying her head in the pillow for a while, she suddenly remembered something.
She hadn't eaten anything yet!
Vanessa sat up abruptly and was about to get her phone to order takeout when the hotel doorbell rang.
The waiter came in pushing the food cart.
"Miss Green, this is the meal you ordered."
Vanessa said, "I ordered it?"
The waiter nodded and asked, "Isn't this room 1026?"
Vanessa froze for a moment, and then she realized something and said, "Yes, it's mine. Thank you."
As soon as she turned her head, she sent a message to Shawn.
Vanessa: "Thank you, boss!"
Shawn: "Who is your boss?"
Not knowing what was wrong with Vanessa, she typed and sent it to Shawn: "Daddy!"
Shawn: "..."
Having no time to care about what the ellipsis meant, Vanessa was so hungry that she couldn't wait to eat.
Just after two bites, the phone rang again.
She thought that she was really busy today.
When she saw the caller ID, Vanessa was a bit confused.
"Hello, Mr. Darcy. It's been a long time."
Hackett laughed and said, "It's been a long time. How have you been?"
"I'm fine. I'm busy with work."
Hackett Darcy was Vanessa's classmate in college and was also from the same place.
They were in the same grade at college and on the same debate team, so they often met each other in private and gradually became best friends.
But then they graduated and busied themselves with their own business, so they had less contact.
However, as they were once friends, they didn't feel strange when contacting each other again.
"Well, I'm getting married next month."
"Really?" Vanessa was a bit shocked and said, "So soon?"
"Not that soon. We have been together for two years." Hackett seemed to be busy with the wedding, so he said briefly, "On the fourth day of the first lunar month. You will come, right?"
"Yes, of course!"
Hackett replied with a "hmm" and did not say anything else, but it was obvious that he still wanted to say something.
"Well, what else do you want to say?"
"Well... It is just that I found that you seemed to have broken up with Jackson when I visited my friends some time ago." Hackett was a bit ashamed and said, "I'm not trying to pry into anything. I just thought that he is my friend and we are all in the same school, so..."
"It's okay." Vanessa knew what he meant, so she directly answered the question that he felt was difficult to ask, "You can invite him. It's okay. The matters between us should not interfere with you."
"Well, I know. It is just..." Hackett scratched the back of his head and said, "I called him this morning and he said he was going to attend the wedding with his girlfriend. And I don't know whether you..."
Vanessa's fingers trembled slightly, and then she gritted her teeth and said with a smile, "It's okay. I don't care."
Hackett breathed a sigh of relief. He nodded repeatedly and said, "That's good. Then I will contact you later."
"Okay."
After hanging up the phone, the smile on Vanessa's face slowly froze and she clenched the chopsticks in her hand.
And the meal in front of her suddenly did not look delicious.
What she had said was all bravado.
If she attended the wedding alone on the fourth day of the first lunar month, while Jackson showed up with Bianca sweetly, she would probably die of anger.
But Shawn...
"Alas..."
Vanessa sighed.
She was a little unsure of what to do.
Everything seemed to have been out of her expectation.
For example, before this phone call, what she thought about Shawn when she saw and thought of him was totally the man himself, instead of Bianca's uncle.
She felt that she was simply in a relationship with Shawn now, without any other purposes.
The day was getting dark and the twilight shone slightly.
The day was getting dark and the twilight shone dimly.
The room resounded a moment with the sound of a woman's sigh, and a moment with the subtle sound of a pillow being rubbed and pinched.
The time passed slowly and she finally calmed down due to the sleepiness brought about by the medicine.
--
When Shawn came back and passed by the door of Vanessa's room, he stopped subconsciously.
He knocked on the door, but there was no response.
After waiting for a moment, he directly opened the door with the key card.
Walking outside her room, Shawn knocked on the door again, but there was still no answer.
He frowned, and then gave her a call, but no one answered.
He had no other scruples at this time.
Shawn opened the room door and saw a messy bed and a head of hair scattered on the pillow.
His heart beat faster, and not knowing what he was thinking, he reached out to feel Vanessa's breath.
After feeling her even breathing, Shawn withdrew his hand and thought that he was a bit silly.
He raised his hand to check the time.
It was 7:30 pm.
He thought she was really a good sleeper.
He came in and out of the room noiselessly.
Apart from the fact that one of Vanessa's hands was tucked into the quilt, no other changes could be perceived.
But in fact, Vanessa was not as good a sleeper as Shawn had thought.
It was eleven o'clock at night.
Shawn was about to change his clothes and take a shower when he suddenly received a message from Vanessa.
Vanessa sent him a sticker of rolling around.
Shawn: "You are awake?"
Vanessa: "I just woke up..."
Shawn subconsciously wanted to say "it's so late, and you should go to sleep", but he then felt ridiculous as he thought about it.
Shawn: "So?"
Vanessa: "I cannot fall asleep..."
It was just as Shawn had expected.
Shawn put his hands down when he was about to unbutton his shirt.
Shawn put his hands down when he was about to unbutton his shirt and texted her.
Shawn: "Then?"
Vanessa: "Is there anything I can do for you?"
Vanessa: "For instance, ask someone to send some more information or something to me for reading."
Shawn: "It's so late and you still want to bother others?"
Vanessa: "Alright, I got it. Bye."
Shawn: "Get dressed."
Vanessa: "What?"
Shawn: "Let's go out."
Vanessa: "Where to go?"
Shawn: "Take you to watch a movie."
--
Until she sat in the movie hall, Vanessa was still a bit confused.
She actually went out with Shawn to watch a movie at 11:30 at night.
What she also didn't expect was that there would be so many people in the cinema at this late hour in winter.
There were only three movies available at this time. One was a movie that was obviously aimed at making money, while the second one was a tearful documentary.
Vanessa did not want to become drowsy, nor did she want to shed tears, so she chose the last one, whose name sounded very artistic and romantic.
Especially at the beginning of the film, the protagonist was passing by a blue sea on a bicycle and the title of the film gradually appeared. A random screenshot of the scene could be used as wallpaper.
Many young girls in the front row took out their phones and started taking pictures.
Taking advantage of the dim light, Vanessa glanced at Shawn sideways.
He was looking at the big screen, and his face reflected the shifting light.
Sensing that Vanessa was looking at him, he looked over sideways.
They were sitting side by side, and as he turned his head, their breaths were entwined.
With his back to the light, Vanessa could not see his expression and his eyes clearly. However, this unexpected eye contact with him made her feel her heart flip.
After a few seconds.
Vanessa suddenly came back to her senses, and then she looked away and took out her phone to take a picture of the beginning of the film that was about to disappear.
In the beginning, the movie was boring, and just after twenty minutes, some people started to sleep, and more people started to look at their phones.
Vanessa thought that the reason she could not watch the movie at all must be because the plot was too boring.
Thinking about it, she looked down to see the photo she had just taken. Then, she posted it on SNS without knowing why.
She did not say anything.
It seemed that a kind of emotion surging in her was hidden in the phone.
It was not too late at this time, so she soon got likes from her friends.
Sophia was the first one who liked it.
Sophia commented: "You went to the movies with your dad at such a late hour?"
Vanessa replied: "..."
Vanessa thought she was really a killjoy.
She didn't know what to say and replied with the ellipsis.
Sophia took her reply as a tacit acknowledgment that she and her dad had gone to the movies, so Sophia replied: "My dad never has time for me. I'm so jealous. Your dad really treats you like a babe!"
Vanessa replied: "Ha-ha."
All her moods were gone. She put away her phone and concentrated on watching the movie.
However, the movie was really too boring.
A few minutes later, Vanessa looked at her phone again.
The dissipated strange mood came up again.
Among the numerous profile pictures of people who had liked the post, she unexpectedly saw Shawn's.
He actually gave her a like.
This made her feel surprised.
Among various posts on the SNS, he knew what she was doing and also silently acquiesced to everything she had done.