"Hey, it's me. Steven."
Hearing her tired voice, Steven felt his hands getting clammy. He grasped himself. "Sorry to bother you in the middle of the night."
Walking out of her bedroom, she paused, furrowing her eyebrows once she heard Steven's voice pop out of the speaker.
"How did you know my number?"
Her memory wasn't as good as Steven's, not remembering that she gave him her number.
"Oh, you forgot, it was during the last time we met. You gave me your business card when I asked your name," Steven reminded her.
He had also remembered that she told him to not call her unless it was for emergencies, but he didn't bother to bring that up. That was also partly the reason why he never dared call her, especially in light circumstances.
"Oh! I remember now." Carla nodded, the memories already coming back to her. She glanced at her phone. "It's quite late now. Anything I can do for you?"
"Have you sold the painting I've given to you? Because if you have it, I have a buyer here in the city.
I just thought to ask you, I mean, if you haven't sold it yet..."
Steven started to ramble. Although everything was normal and his voice was still as stable as it could be, his heartbeat was already going fast and his hands started to get more sweaty.
He had never been so nervous, not even for any business meetings that he had attended.
"Oh, the painting's still in the warehouse. I'm not in JA City right now, so I won't be able to hand it to you at the moment."
Carla had paused before answering him. She had told him to sell the paintings and donate the money into charities in his name, but when she went abroad to see Terence, things had been postponed. Now it was entirely different.
After what had happened, she wasn't in the mood to talk about paintings.
"It doesn't matter, as long as you still have it. My friend will be relieved. Ms. Carla, are you in another city right now?"
Steven said quickly.
"Yes. I have something to take care of in BH City," Carla blurted out. "I really am sorry to keep your friend waiting. I might not be able to go back to JA City for a few more days. How about I'll give you a call when I'm back?"
"All right, that's fine. You're in BH City? What a coincidence. My friends and I will be going there to do some painting in two days. Do you want to hang out?"
Steven clenched his other hand, trying to keep his voice as casual as possible. In these moments, he felt like
ure to compliment it.
Terence followed her silently, watching as she stared long and hard at all her selections. She had always been cautious of her purchases, making sure that everything suited the room and her taste.
As he had expected, her apartment must be almost done with the renovation.
Carla couldn't make up her mind about which sofa she should choose. The sofa shouldn't only be small enough to fit the room, but it should also compliment the entire design of her apartment.
As she continued to stare at the couches, a phone call interrupted her. She glanced at the ID to see that it was Andrea, her mother.
"Hello, mom? What? You're coming to JA City?" —
Hearing what Andrea had just said, Carla almost dropped her phone. The sofa left forgotten, she inched away to the hallway to talk.
"Yes, Tristan's wedding issue has been taken care of, so I wanted to visit you and Sally. I miss all of you," Andrea brightly replied.
Actually, her real purpose was to bring Carla to another physical examination, one that she knew her daughter wouldn't go to, alone.
It had been a while since Carla had taken the Chinese Medicine that she had sent, but she still hadn't heard any news. As her mother, Andrea couldn't help but be worried for her daughter.
"Mom, I'm not in JA City now.
"I have a lot of things to deal with, so I came to BH City. An old friend of mine is in the hospital, so I came over..."
Carla trailed off, not noticing that someone was behind her, listening to every word she was saying.
The man in sunglasses was leaning against the wall, intent on hearing what else she had to say.