69 House Warming (1)
Evelyn woke up the next morning with Jinhai beside her. The anger hadn't dissipated since last night. The anger she has felt was still rushing through her veins.
She wanted to march up to that old house of hers and demand answers. She wanted to look Shawn in the eyes and scream, "Murderer!" But she understood that it would achieve nothing.
Jinhai was still asleep and Evelyn quietly got up. She had given herself a hobo bath last night and she was in desperate need of an actual shower. She didn't want to wake Jinhai so she carefully removed her clothing and taped up her bandages.
She carefully turned the shower on and made sure her left shoulder avoided direct pressure of the shower spray. She stood there for a while as she felt the calming water on her. She leaned her forearm on the side of the wall and rested her head against her arm. Momentarily she let herself forget everything.
She knew she needed a clear head to deal with the days ahead. When she finally felt collected, she quickly cleaned herself. After she finished she wrapped herself up in a towel and went back into the room.
Jinhai was awake and was staring up at the ceiling. His arms were folded together under his head.
"What's wrong?" Evelyn asked. "Nothing," he said. He didn't look at her but rubbed a hand down his face. He started to look in her direction and stopped dead in his tracks.
"What?" Evelyn asked. Instead of answering her he gave her a smoldering stare that made her skin flush. He slowly stood and went to grab the bandages and gauze. He then gestured for her to sit on the edge of the bed. Jinhai got down on one knee so that they were eye level.
Evelyn lowered the towel a little so that he could change her bandages. He was as gentle as he could be but there was still a small amount of pain.
When he finished she got dressed and he went to take a shower. Evelyn went to go make some coffee when she realized Phoenix's door was slightly ajar.
She crept up to the room and softly knocked. She quietly pushed the door open and saw that Phoenix wasn't in the bed.
After a quick search it dawned on her that Phoenix had never come home. She left Phoenix's bedroom and went back to her room.
She heard Jinhai in the bathroom and knocked on the door.
"Come in, Jinhai's voice sounded. She opened the door and he turned to look at her through the glass door. Luckily the lower half of the door was frosted and covered his private areas.
"Did you hear Phoenix come in last night?" Evelyn asked. "No, I didn't. Did she not come in?" he asked.
"I'm guessing she didn't," Evelyn replied. "Do you think they're okay?" Evelyn asked?
"They're fine. If they weren't we would have heard something," Jinhai reassured her. That was true as they all had bodyguards following them now. But Evelyn wasn't convinced.
She remembered the last conversation she had with Phoenix and was worried she hurt Phoenix's feelings.
She stepped out of the bathroom without another word. It was still too early in the morning for Phoenix to be awake so she called Zain.
The sound of groaning could be heard when Zain picked up her call.
"Are you guys okay? Where are you?" Evelyn asked rapidly.
"Good morning to you too," Zain answered sarcastically. "We're fine. She's here," he answered. It sounded like he was trying to shake the grogginess.
"She stayed the night at your place?" Evelyn asked. "Yes. We were food prepping," he answered.
"What do you mean food prepping? I thought the restaurant was taking care of it," Evelyn said.
"She and I will do the cooking. We'll be there later today, bye Evelyn," he said. He hung up before she could ask anything else.
Evelyn stared at the phone. "What?" she said clearly confused. Before she did anything else that she may regret, she made a pot of coffee.
She was taking a sip from her cup when Jinhai joined her in the kitchen. He had on a pair of sweatpants that hung loosely on his hips and a white t-shirt. His hair was wet and hung in front of his eyes.
"She's with Zain," Evelyn told him. He nodded and gave her a kiss on the head before going to make his own cup of coffee.
"Do you think she's mad at me?" Evelyn asked. "No," he answered.
"She was probably upset that you snapped at her. But she understands you have a lot going on," Jinhai clarified. "Besides, she's with Zain. There might be other things on her mind," he said. That made sense, she supposed.
"Did Zain tell you what had happened between them?" Evelyn asked. "No, he never told me the full story," Jinhai answered. He came to join her by the kitchen island. He took the seat next to her.
"I just knew that he loved her, and something had happened to them when they were in the states. They avoided each other after that," Jinhai said.
"He loved her?" Evelyn turned to him. Her coffee forgotten in front of her. "Is it not obvious?" Jinhai asked as he took a sip of his coffee.
"I never noticed anything special between them," Evelyn frowned. "They seemed like the best of friends"
"Isn't that how we were?" Jinhai asked. "The best of friends." Evelyn picked up her coffee and sighed into it.
"I guess I'm not as observant as I thought I was," she replied. "You are. You just trust that the people around you will tell you things," Jinhai said. She appreciated his attempt to make her feel better.
He pulled her to him and gave her a kiss on the forehead. Evelyn leaned forward and buried her face against him. Remorse washed over her.
Jinhai set his coffee down on the table and wrapped his arms around her. He gently picked her up and placed her sideways so that she sat across his lap. She allowed him to comfort her.
He smelled amazing. The perfume from the body wash and his shampoo mixed together to become a scent that knew as uniquely his. She inhaled deeply as she wrapped her arms around his waist. He placed a hand over the back of her head and used the other to rub against her upper back.
The warmth of his hand spread through her. It was unexplainably comforting. "It's going to be okay," he said softly.
She nodded against him. She didn't quite believe him but she was willing to try. They stayed like that for a while. Evelyn quietly absorbed his strength using it to recharge herself.
Last night's revelation took a lot out of her. To find out what had truly happened nearly destroyed her inside. Part of her had a hard time accepting that Shawn would do something so cruel. But she told herself, she didn't really know him after all.
She knew that the worst was yet to come. There would be many battles left ahead and she needed to grow thicker skin. She had to deal with the divorce, the proposal in a few days, starting the ground work on her dream, her father-in-law, and Shawn. She would be ready.
They were interrupted when her phone rang with the sound of a text message. Chloe told her that Ben, Mingxi, and herself would be there shortly with breakfast and to help decorate.
She stayed in Jinhai's lap as she read the messages. She typed a quick acknowledgement and looked back at Jinhai.
He was gazing at her and she felt a little braver. She leaned in and softly pressed her lips to his.
"What was that for?" Jinhai asked. "Because I'm really glad that I have you here with me. Your presence has always made me feel calmer. And I'm really glad you're in my life again," she answered.
He smiled and kissed her back. His hands tangled in her hair and held her against him. They stayed that way in a passionate kiss for a moment. As heated as it was, it still managed to convey their mutual gratitude and attraction for each other.
"I am too. I'm happy that you're giving us a chance," he said when he finally pulled away for air. Evelyn hugged him tightly. Then went back to sit in her own chair. They both had more of their coffee before the doorbell rang.
Coffee began to bark at the door. Evelyn petted his head and then went to open the door. The trio walked in and gave her a brief greeting. Ben set the bag of food on the counter and went to wash up. The girls followed suit and they all converged in the dining room.
Ben pulled out various popular dim sum dishes and Jinhai grabbed plates and chopsticks for everyone.
"How are you Jie Jie," Chloe asked. "I'm fine," Evelyn answered. Evelyn ate normally, she felt better than she had that morning.
Jinhai sat to her left and put her favorite things on Evelyn's plate. An action didn't escape the attention of the other three.
"So are you two together now?" Ben asked. Evelyn's face heated at his directness. Jinhai continued to eat and let Evelyn handle things.
"Yes," Evelyn answered. Jinhai smirked at her response. "There's no reason to keep it from you," she said. Mingxi, Ben, and Chloe offered their congratulations.
"Finally," Ben said. Evelyn gave him a questioning glance. "I always preferred Jinhai to Shawn. I figured it was bound to happen when you showed up to the celebration dinner with Jinhai," Ben clarified. They finished breakfast and Jinhai cleared the table.
Chloe, Ben, and Mingxi began organizing the work to decorate the apartment. There were banners, garlands, balloons, and other things that had to be set up. No one allowed Evelyn to help with the manual labor as she was still recovering from her injury.
So Evelyn went to her study to call her Uncle Wai.
"Xiaoli," he greeted her. "Uncle Wai," she responded. She had written an email to him during the week to invite him to the housewarming.
"When do you plan on coming?" she asked him. "The invitation said 4 o'clock," he answered. She had forgotten that he was usually very punctual. Never early but never late.
"There's been a new development that I wanted to show you," she said. "I see. I'll be there at 2 then," he said. It was about three hours away. They hung up and Evelyn stared at her phone. She contemplated calling Phoenix to apologize for last night.
As much as Evelyn was going through, so was Phoenix. She opted to text her friend instead.
- - - - -
[Phoenix's Point-of-View]
Phoenix woke up to the sound of a text alert.
Evelyn: I'm so sorry about snapping at you last night. I was wrong. Are you okay?
Phoenix rubbed the sleep out of her eyes before she sitting up in the bed.
She saw that she was in Zain's shirt and in his guest bedroom.
Phoenix: Don't worry about it. I know you didn't mean it. I'm at Zain's we were up late prepping the food. I'm fine.
After she sent the text she went to go wash her face and brush her teeth. She put her hair in a long French braid that hung down one side of her head. She brushed her side bangs to the right side of her face.
She took out her emergency underwear from her purse and put it on , then glanced at her reflection in the mirror.
The shirt was long enough that it hung down to her mid thigh. She put on the slippers and went to the kitchen.
Zain was no where to be seen. So Phoenix helped herself to his kitchen. She boiled water and looked for his cups and tea.
She found it and had to stand on the tips of her toes to grab the cup she wanted. She then rummaged through his refrigerator to find the ingredients for beef chow fun. Something that she knew was one of Zain's favorites.
She was just pouring the food from the wok onto a plate when she heard Zain's door open. She placed the wok in the sink and turned the faucet on before she turned to him.
His hair was wet from a shower and he looked incredible.
"The food smells amazing," he said to her. He walked up to her and took the sponge from her. "I'll wash," he said.
Phoenix took the food to the table and brought over plates and chopsticks. She made her morning cup of tea and offered to make him a cup as well.
They sat down together to enjoy breakfast together.
"Thank you for letting me stay last night," she said. "Any time. My door is always open," he said to her.
Her heart twisted. He didn't look up at her and spoke nonchalantly. She knew that he was trying to give her as much space as he could without letting her go. She didn't know how to process it.
They finished their late breakfast and cleared the dishes together. They changed and then began to make their way over to the apartment. They would do the cooking when they got there.
