When he heard that it was about Rachel, Michael rolled his eyes. 'Didn't they sign the divorce agreement already? What's going on?!' he thought.
"Why don't you come and have a drink? It doesn't make any sense to be angry all by yourself, you know," he said after he briefly cleared his throat.
There was a brief silence as Jack considered his offer. "Okay," he replied.
Jack was a powerful man when it came to work and business, but when it came to relationships, it seemed that he was as helpless as everyone else.
It was obvious that he was not aware when he started to develop feelings for Rachel. He was obviously clueless with his own self.
Anger and frustration made him drink as fast as Michael could refill his glass. After a few shots, Michael decided that he couldn't stand it anymore and stopped him by holding his glass down. "I did not tell you to drink alone. Tell me what happened, and I might be able to give you some advice."
He squinted and took a deep breath as he stared at Michael. "What do you want to know?" Jack asked dryly. Michael decided that it was either his natural bad mood or the alcohol.
"First, I want to know why you are upset. Tell me what's bothering you," Michael said calmly. Michael stretch out a hand to Jack's shoulder and gripped it. He smiled as he raised his eyebrows. "I might be able to give you some advice if you tell me what happened, alright?"
But Jack's manner remained cold. He didn't say a word as he seemed to be in deep thought. He slowly placed his glass on the table and started to lean back in his seat to relax himself.
In the meantime, elsewhere, Rachel felt that something was oddly wrong. It was time for her to rest, but she was still wide awake.
She held a book in her hand but never opened it to read a single page. Instead, her attention was completely drawn by the passing time.
She watched the seconds of the clock as it slowly ticked away. Her mind was completely uninterested with the book in her hand.
When the clock struck 22:32, she became so uneasy that she decided to get out of bed.
She glanced at Jack's room. It was quiet, and there was no sound of any approaching car from outside. Rachel stood on the second floor for a while as she tried to get her mind in order.
She stared at the bandage that still wrapped her injured foot. Her eyes then went to the door of Jack's room once more.
He was really pissed off when he drove away. She realized that it was not appropriate to talk to him like that.
'I think I misunderstood him,' she told herself in self-realization. ■d
Rachel's shoulders suddenly drooped as she slowly stepped backwards to lean against the wall. Her mind was still in a mess. She thought that she should apologize to Jack later.
A short time later, a sudden realization seemed to have brought her back to her senses. She was too ashamed to apologize to him. She played with the phone in her hand for a while.
When she felt that she was at a complete loss, she decided to send Lea a voice message, and sought her advice.
'Do I need to apologize?' she kept asking herself.
It was a long time before Lea replied to her message. She couldn't understand what Rachel meant. Her question was not completely clear.
A few minutes later, Rachel's phone finally vibrated and she hurriedly checked the message.
"Well, even though I don't like Jack, you seem to misunderstand his good intentions for you. I think you should take the initiative to apologize to him. After all, he did that out of kindness."
The message of her friend made it easier for Rachel to organize her thoughts. She immediately felt relieved after she read it. Her mind agreed that she should apologize to Jack.
After she hesitated for a long time, she finally picked up her phone and made a call to Jack. The phone rang for a while.
The call kept ringing but Jack never answered it. Her hand fell limply to her side. She felt like her arm suddenly became too weak to keep holding her ■d
phone up. In her mind, she imagined the angry face of Jack silently staring back at her.
'Is he still mad at me?1 she wondered to herself.
She gave him another call, but Jack still didn't answer her call. She decided to give up.
Since he was still mad at her, she decided it was best to talk to him the next day.
She finally put the book back. She had it with her for nearly two hours but she barely read a single page. By the time she finished washing and went to bed, it was almost eleven in the evening.
It was still quiet outside, and there was no sound of a car coming back. She quietly turned off the light as she listened for the sound of any incoming car.
At almost the same time, elsewhere, the bar was bustling with activity. Marcus struggled to get his way upstairs through the crowd downstairs.
He pushed the door open and went in. Michael looked up at the person that stood in front of him, picked up the bottle of wine and poured into two empty glasses. "I called you as soon as we got here. Why are you so late?"
Marcus twitched his lips as he loosened his shirt. "You really picked a good place. A lot of acquaintances downstairs, almost got my skin peeled off when I came in."
Michael laughed out loud. "Did you just meet your ex-girlfriends just now?" he jested at Marcus.
"Cut the crap," Marcus said as he waved his hand dismissively at Michael who was still giggling. ■d
Marcus sat down beside Jack who quietly leaned back on the sofa. He seemed so relaxed.
"Hey, Jack, how's your Rachel?"
Michael couldn't understand why Marcus brought it up to Jack. He turned his head away as he covered his face with a hand. He thought that Marcus' brain must be badly damaged.
Michael leaned over to pour wine into a glass for Marcus. "He's drunk. Don't talk to him," he said to Marcus as he muddled his drink.
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