Hayden smiled resignedly. Aware of Debbie's stubborn personality, he had to back out gracefully. "My assistant booked it for me. I don't know the price of a first-class ticket. How about this? When we return to Y City, you can buy me a meal or something. Then we'll be even-steven."
Debbie hesitated. After a moment, she nodded, "Okay." Then, she put her phone in Airplane Mode and put on the headset, ignoring the man next to her.
Hayden was true to his word. They'd been on the plane for hours, but he hadn't bugged her once.
It had been a sleepless night for Debbie last night thanks to her fight with Carlos. She couldn't fall asleep until the wee hours and then she woke up quite early this morning to catch her flight. She tried watching a movie to pass the time, but she was soon overtaken by drowsiness, her eyelids drooping. She turned off the video and rested her head on the seat back to take a nap.
She fell sound asleep at once. Seeing that, Hayden pressed the button to call in a stewardess, asking her to fetch a blanket. He carefully covered Debbie with the blanket, and tried not to wake her.
For a moment, he kept staring at her sleeping face, eyes glimmering with affection. He wished that time would freeze this moment forever. As the affection in his eyes grew, he couldn't help but plant a kiss on her forehead.
The sleeping Debbie was disturbed, her forehead itchy. She frowned. But the itchy feeling was gone soon, and she drifted off to dreamland again.
She had been asleep for only a few moments before it was dinnertime.
As the stewardess began to deliver the food, Hayden woke her up and asked her what she would like for dinner.
The stewardess had been waiting at one side. In a haze, Debbie mumbled, "What do we have?"
Her sleepy look and mumbling amused Hayden very much. With no choice, he repeated what he had said. "Fruit salad, fish and rice, Australian steak... Which one do you want?"
Debbie lowered her head to look at the blanket in confusion. Absent-minded, she casually answered, "Fish and rice, baked chicken wings, seafood, spaghetti... and a glass of orange juice and a Haagen-Dazs. Thank you."
The stewardess was taken aback by the amount of food she had ordered. Yet, with professionalism, she managed not to show the surprise on her face and replied politely, "Yes, please wait for a moment." Hayden, of course, was absolutely stunned. He knew she could eat a lot and liked to, and her metabolism somehow managed to let her burn all those calories and there wasn't a trace of fat on her, not even a belly. How she did this was a mystery. Hayden was also secretly delighted, because it was one new thing he didn't know about this goddess before. And he loved fi
stuck in the traffic jam for a few hours. He grew more and more annoyed the longer he was delayed. That was why he was late, and the moment he arrived, he saw Debbie getting into another man's car.
In an instant, he unfastened his seatbelt and got out of his car, intending to call out to Debbie. But it was too late. Their car started and drove away as soon as Debbie and Hayden got in it.
Tristan hastily pulled out his phone to call Debbie, but voicemail was all he got for his trouble. Sighing helplessly, he got back in the car. Then he started the engine and followed their car.
Meanwhile, he called Carlos. As soon as the phone was connected, Tristan reported to him in a cautious voice, "Mr. Huo, Mrs. Huo... has gotten off the plane."
"Okay," Carlos simply responded. This was as expected. 'Why do I feel a "but" coming?' he thought.
"But..." Tristan paused.
Hearing him stammering, Carlos frowned and asked, "But what?"
"It's just that... I got stuck in a traffic jam so I got here late. I saw Mrs. Huo... get in Mr. Gu's car." As he finished, he thought in his mind, 'Jesus! No wonder Mr. Huo asked me to grab a contract that the Gu Group was bidding on.
I thought it had something to do with Mrs. Huo. And I'm right!'
There was a moment of silence on the phone. Tristan assumed that Carlos must be trying to compose himself. He could well imagine his boss with steam coming out of his ears.
"Stalk them and report everything to me," Carlos coldly ordered.
"Yes, Mr. Huo!"
In the sapphire Porsche, Debbie wasn't able to contact anyone because her phone died. She hadn't had a chance to charge it, and 12 hours was a long flight. Yet, she didn't want to talk to Hayden either. The only thing she could do was lean toward the window and look out of it, watching the world go by.