“If this is also troubling for you, then I must be useless.”
Jane suppressed the expression on her face. In fact, she didn’t think it was much of a challenge. After all, she had been too lazy to use such childish schemes years ago.
She was just curious if the truth would match her own guesses.
Someone lightly bumped into her shoulder, pulling Jane’s attention back.
“Sorry.”
A low voice sounded in her ear, and an indescribable sense of familiarity made Jane pause in mid-step.
She turned around but could only see a stream of people passing by. She couldn’t find the person who had just bumped into her at all.
Patrick looked over at Jane silently, questioning what was strange about her behavior.
Jane shook her head to indicate that there was nothing wrong. Maybe she had just felt something wrong?
On the plane, Jane was bored and wanted to rest for a while. But when she saw Patrick working on his computer next to him, she carefully leaned over towards him instead.
It really was some unfinished files that Patrick needed to work on. So Jane rested her head against Patrick’s arm and lazily watched his computer screen while fiddling with his sleeve cuff – which happened to be the pair that she gave him as a gift – before moving onto his hand back after spinning it around aimlessly for a few times.
Patrick didn’t react much and continued working despite Jane’s actions.
Jane played with Patrick’s sleeve cuff until he finally hooked one finger under her chin like he would do when teasing an affectionate cat.
“Bored?”
“You can focus on your work; don’t worry about me.” Seeing that Patrick paid no attention to herself anymore, Jane began having some mischievous thoughts.
Patrick’s gaze flickered slightly, but he followed Jane’s words and continued with his work. He even withdrew his hand slightly.
The corners of Jane’s mouth turned up subtly. She glanced around, adjusted her seatbelt, and leaned slightly upward, bringing her cheek close to Patrick’s.
“Patrick?” Jane’s voice sounded cheerful as she blew a breath near Patrick’s ear.
Patrick remained indifferent.
Seeing his reaction, Jane discreetly rolled her eyes and wondered how to further tease Patrick. Suddenly, the plane experienced a minor turbulence, causing Jane to stumble and fall directly onto Patrick.
Her hands landed on Patrick’s chest, feeling his heartbeat resonating through his skin.
The aircraft’s announcement sounded, informing passengers about the recent encounter with an air current, resulting in some turbulence.
After a while, the plane regained stability and continued its flight.
“Is this your way of throwing yourself at me?” Patrick lowered his head closer to Jane, his voice deep and husky.
Jane blushed slightly and attempted to sit up, but Patrick’s hands firmly held her waist, preventing her from moving away and keeping her pressed against his chest.
“Stop messing around.” Jane huffed lightly and glanced nervously in another direction.
“If you give me a kiss, I’ll let you go,” Patrick whispered into Jane’s ear, his lips brushing against her skin.
Just then, a flight attendant approached, and upon hearing footsteps, Jane froze and buried herself in Patrick’s embrace, afraid to move.
The passing flight attendant paused briefly, softly inquiring if Jane was feeling unwell.
Patrick’s expression remained indifferent. He seemed about to say something, but Jane, fearing he might say something inappropriate, discreetly pinched his waist.
“It’s alright,” Patrick shook his head. The flight attendant, though still concerned, eventually left.
Jane felt embarrassed now; she tried to move slightly within Patrick’s hold but he kept pressing down on her waist even more tightly than before.
She thought it was because the flight attendant hadn’t left yet so she tightened her grip around his waist and asked anxiously, “Hasn’t she gone yet?”
Listening to Jane’s anxious whisper, a hint of amusement flickered in Patrick’s eyes. “Not yet,” he replied.
Jane felt her waist growing sore and silently complained about why the flight attendant was still standing there.
“Why hasn’t she left yet…” Jane gritted her teeth, but the next moment, she heard Patrick’s low laughter from above.
Jane paused for a moment, realizing that Patrick was teasing her. She straightened her waist and a blush swept across her cheeks.
“Patrick!” Jane glanced at him with a coquettish expression.
Patrick, seeing her reaction, leaned down and kissed Jane’s lips, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth. “You brought this upon yourself. Why are you feeling shy now?”
Pouting her lips, Jane huffed and sat up straight. “I’m ignoring you.”
Seeing her response, Patrick reached out and gently brushed Jane’s tender cheek, causing her to turn her head away.
“Now you find it boring? Weren’t you the one who wanted to buy a plane ticket?” he said.
Hearing Patrick’s words, Jane blinked. “What, are you blaming me?”
Patrick lifted a strand of Jane’s hair with his fingertips and played with it, his eyes filled with tenderness. “How could I dare to…”
For Patrick, he was willing to give everything for Jane.
Looking into Patrick’s affectionate eyes, Jane’s heart filled with sweetness. She lightly kissed Patrick’s cheek, her smile radiant.
…
After getting off the plane, Patrick had arranged for someone to pick them up in advance. Jane, thinking about work, was taken directly back to Star Entertainment by Patrick.
“I’ll pick you up tonight.” Patrick reached out and touched Jane’s long hair, speaking softly.
Nodding at him, Jane was about to get out of the car, but Patrick held her back.
“What’s wrong?” Jane was startled, looking at Patrick in confusion.
Patrick tilted his chin toward the outside of the car, furrowing his brow slightly.
Following Patrick’s gaze, Jane looked in the direction he pointed and was startled.
The company entrance was crowded with media reporters. Each person was looking towards the company, seemingly waiting for something.
Media presence at the entertainment company’s entrance was not uncommon, but Jane had never seen so many reporters before.
Even though Jane had already instructed the company to remove the hot search and lower the hype on the plane yesterday, she hadn’t expected these people to still be here waiting.
“It’s nothing, just the media,” Jane patted Patrick’s hand, signaling him to let go.
Jane could handle the media. After sending a message on her phone, she got out of the car.
“I’m leaving. Remember to miss me.”
Blowing a flying kiss to Patrick, Jane playfully winked her eye and turned to leave.
Jane didn’t intentionally avoid the media, so when she approached, the reporters immediately surrounded her.
Since Jane and Patrick’s extraordinary engagement, she had not appeared in the public eye. It was unexpected for her to show up here.
Coupled with Maria’s recent incident, the media speculated that she might explain something about Maria.