“What makes you think it’s appropriate to leave a young lady like her, whom you made drunk, in a hotel?” Henson snapped.
“I’m afraid you’ve misunderstood me, Master Henson. I’m at the age where people could even consider me her father, so I could never,” he hurriedly explained.
“Just because you say you’re old, doesn’t mean you’re not a man. You might not harbour these types of thoughts, Burke, but you have to understand that Miss Evans is still young. If people saw her going to a hotel with a man who’s old enough to be her father, won’t this ruin her reputation?” Henson sneered.
“Then, what say I drive her home, senior?” Nancy offered after seeing her dad land himself in such a tricky situation.
Henson’s expression remained aloof as he declined her offer, “You don’t have to. Miss Evans was my brother’s private tutor before, so our driver knows where she lives. I can send her back myself.”
He then turned to Burke before finishing. “You did well tonight, Burke. Since you managed to impress me, I’ll fulfill all my promises to you. I’ll have my secretary contact you by tomorrow to make sure the plan goes forward,” he said.
“Noted, sir. Thank you so much, Master Henson,” President Burke replied.
After that, Henson left the room with Wendy, who was so drunk she couldn’t even stand straight, without saying another word.
As he stepped out of the room, she suddenly blurted, “But I haven’t finished drinking yet, Henson. Let me drink,” she whined.
“What’s the meaning of this, dad? Didn’t you say you wanted to introduce me to Master Henson? Why’d you inform me so late then?” Nancy asked and pouted at President Burke after the room door closed shut.
“It’s not like I could’ve known that Miss Evans would get drunk,” President Burke huffed.
“Who’s Miss Evans?” Nancy asked.
“Don’t you remember him telling us that she was a private tutor for the Charles family a while back?” He guffawed.
“If that’s the case, why’d you bring her along to meet with Master Henson?” She probed.
“I hired someone to do a background check, and rumour has it that Master Howell has a pretty good relationship with this woman on campus. Some people are also saying they might be a couple. So, I thought that it’d be a good idea to string her along to talk business tonight, as she might help me influence his decision-making. I mean, he should give his future sister-in-law some face, right?”
“Some help she was. To be able to act like that when drunk… I doubt she could be a sister-in-law for Mr. Charles anytime soon. If anything, I’d think she was trying to seduce him,” she pouted again.
“That’s absurd. Just look at the way she was dressed. Master Henson would never fall for such a drab-looking girl,” he scoffed.
“But she looks so cunning,” she said after a short pause.
“Sweetheart, Master Henson’s constantly surrounded by beautiful women and yet you never see him take a fancy to any of them. So, what does this imply? It implies that he’s a man who cares for what’s inside, so he’s not the type to fancy airheads. Understood?” He lectured.
She raised an eyebrow and said, “Fine, I’ll stop being angry at you. You better promise to call me earlier next time when the opportunity arises.”
“Of course, my darling. Let’s head home now,” he cooed.
Henson helped Wendy get into the car once it’d arrived.
She crawled out of his arms and leaned against the window. She merely sat there in a daze, blinking profusely while she gazed out the window.
As she saw the trees by the road whooshing past her at breakneck speeds, her already queasy feeling worsened, causing her to hiccup.
“Open the door, quickly! Let me out,” she cried while pounding on the car window.
The driver was at a loss.
“Stop the car,” he commanded.
The moment the car came to a stop, she flung open the car door and scampered to the nearest tree. She dry heaved a few times, but nothing came out.
She then spun around and plopped herself down by the tree, and hugged its trunk with both hands with her face pressed against it.
Henson, who was standing beside her, found how she was acting now to be amusing.
After taking a breath, she dry heaved once more.
He squatted down and gently patted her back after seeing that.
“Does it hurt a lot?” He coaxed.
She didn’t reply as her eyes were glued to the window of a toy store that had already closed shop for the night a few meters away.
Sitting at the corner of the window was a small brown bear plush.
After following her gaze, he asked again out of concern, “Are you alright, Wendy?”
She then grabbed his arm and turned to look at him with a begging look on her face.
“Can we rescue it together?” She asked as she stretched out an arm to point at the bear.
as she stretched out an arm to point at the bear.
“It doesn’t need rescuing though. It’s just sitting there, bathing in the moonlight,” he said while trying his best not to laugh.
She shook her head. “No, it does. It looks awfully lonely now, so it needs me very much. I wanna bring it home to make it my little sister,” she whined.
He burst out laughing in the end. They’re making progress now. At least he didn’t have to dig a tree this time round.
“The store’s closed for the night though. What say I have someone buy it for you when the shop opens up tomorrow? How’s that?” He suggested.
“No,” she huffed. She let go of the tree and used both hands to grab his hands. “I want it now, hic, I want it right now!” She whined.
He stared at her face. Who said she didn’t know how to play cute?
Her drunk self wasn’t like her normal self at all.
He tapped his lips and teased, “Then, give me a kiss. One kiss and I’ll give it to you right now,”
She wrapped her arms around his neck and hung her head on his body, and smashed her lips against his.
Their driver, who was standing in a corner, was horrified to witness the scene unfolding before him.
No wonder Baron had told him that he was most afraid of driving Master Henson and Miss Evans in the same car that day as he didn’t know where to put his eyes.
He finally got what he meant now.
He began to feel fired up after receiving a kiss from her, so he cradled her head to go in for a deeper kiss.
he cradled her head to go in for a deeper kiss.
Her body became limp as she snuggled into his embrace.
He finally let her go after a long while after he was satisfied with kissing.
“Just you wait, I’ll get someone to open the store doors for you right now. Then, we’ll be able to rescue it soon,” he said.
Before she could move, he turned to their driver, who was standing not far away. “Give the address of the store to Dayne so that he can track down the owner. And have the owner come down here and open their doors within 10 minutes,” he commanded.
“Understood, Master Henson.”
Their driver was glad that he finally had an excuse to return to the car. He swiftly made a call afterwards.
Henson then put down his phone, just in time to prop Wendy up as she started standing up on her own feet.
She later staggered over to the window, squatted right in front of the doll, and poked the glass a few times with her nails.
“Patience, my dear. Someone will open the doors for you in a while,” he coaxed.
“So, it turns out you were lying when you said you wanted to give it to me right away. Men are trash, Ken’s trash, Gorman’s trash…”
She pouted and pointed at his face before continuing, “… and you’re trash too. Everyone’s trash. Men can’t be trusted. All of them.”
Disappointed, she pressed her face against the glass. She looked so heartbroken it felt like she was on the verge of crying.
“Oh, baby bear. Your big sister has let you down. I’ve been lied to and can’t rescue you anymore,” she whimpered.
He felt at a loss. So, he was the one who stole a kiss from her now?!
“I’m not lying. The owner of this store will be here soon and I’ll get him to open the doors for you. Then, you can buy as many baby bears as you want, alright?” He cooed as he squatted down to her level.
“I don’t believe you,” she muttered at first. “I don’t believe you!” She said louder this time.
“Then, what can I do to make you believe me?” He pressed.
“You can honour your word by giving it to me now,” she slurred.
He nodded. “Understood, one bear plush coming right up. But first, you have to stand back for me,” he said.