Hayden smiled resignedly. Aware of Debbie's stubborn personality, he had to back out gracefully. "My assistant booked it for me. I don't know the price of a first-class ticket. How about this? When we return to Y City, you can buy me a meal or something. Then we'll be even-steven."
Debbie hesitated. After a moment, she nodded, "Okay." Then, she put her phone in Airplane Mode and put on the headset, ignoring the man next to her.
Hayden was true to his word. They'd been on the plane for hours, but he hadn't bugged her once.
It had been a sleepless night for Debbie last night thanks to her fight with Carlos. She couldn't fall asleep until the wee hours and then she woke up quite early this morning to catch her flight. She tried watching a movie to pass the time, but she was soon overtaken by drowsiness, her eyelids drooping. She turned off the video and rested her head on the seat back to take a nap.
She fell sound asleep at once. Seeing that, Hayden pressed the button to call in a stewardess, asking her to fetch a blanket. He carefully covered Debbie with the blanket, and tried not to wake her.
For a moment, he kept staring at her sleeping face, eyes glimmering with affection. He wished that time would freeze this moment forever. As the affection in his eyes grew, he couldn't help but plant a kiss on her forehead.
The sleeping Debbie was disturbed, her forehead itchy. She frowned. But the itchy feeling was gone soon, and she drifted off to dreamland again.
She had been asleep for only a few moments before it was dinnertime.
As the stewardess began to deliver the food, Hayden woke her up and asked her what she would like for dinner.
The stewardess had been waiting at one side. In a haze, Debbie mumbled, "What do we have?"
Her sleepy look and mumbling amused Hayden very much. With no choice, he repeated what he had said. "Fruit salad, fish and rice, Australian steak… Which one do you want?"
Debbie lowered her head to look at the blanket in confusion. Absent-minded, she casually answered, "Fish and rice, baked chicken wings, seafood, spaghetti… and a glass of orange juice and a Haagen-Dazs. Thank you."
The stewardess was taken aback by the amount of food she had ordered. Yet, with professionalism, she managed not to show the surprise on her face and replied politely, "Yes, please wait for a moment." Hayden, of course, was absolutely stunned. He knew she could eat a lot and liked to, and her metabolism somehow managed to let her burn all those calories and there wasn't a trace of fat on her, not even a belly. How she did this was a mystery. Hayden was also secretly delighted, because it was one new thing he didn't know about this goddess before. And he loved finding out new things about her.
As a man, he had only ordered a garden variety steak. No wonder the stewardess was so shocked to hear Debbie's order.
Debbie was well aware of her own large appetite, and she didn't think it was necessary to hide it from Hayden. She didn't care what he thought. After placing the order, she went to the ladies' room.
At night, Debbie came to realize that their seats were actually for couples. There was a small curtain around their compartment. If they pulled it closed, it would separate them from the others, giving them privacy and independent space. She could join the mile-high club if she wanted. But she wasn't that type of girl, even though Hayden found himself wishing that she was.
But that wasn't something she really wanted to do with Hayden. So, she kept the curtain open, adjusted her seat and closed her eyes again.
As she closed her eyes, Carlos' face came to mind. She suddenly felt resentful. That bad man hadn't called her once after knowing she took a flight alone.
Was he having a good time with Megan on his private plane?
Debbie suddenly felt sorry for her impulsive decision. She shouldn't have given them the chance to stay together.
Thinking of it, she patted her own forehead, feeling annoyed.
Hayden noticed her gesture and turned to ask with concern, "What's up? Are you okay?"
Debbie hid her emotion and said, "I'm okay. Just a little bit dizzy. Maybe I'm too sleepy."
Hayden slightly pulled the corner of her blanket as he said, "Then get some sleep now. The plane will arrive at Y City early tomorrow morning."
"Hmm. Thanks." Debbie turned to one side with her back against Hayden and fell silent.
Hayden stared blankly at her back for a long while until he could hear her light and steady breathing. Knowing that she'd been sound asleep, he pulled the curtain closed, separating them from the outside world.
Content, he smiled happily. He really cherished this precious moment when he and Debbie were the only people in this private little space.
After the plane landed in the airport of Y City, Hayden and his assistant followed Debbie out of the plane. A few moments later, he pointed in a direction and told her, "The luggage claim area is over there."
Debbie nodded, "Thank you."
They proceeded to get their luggage together. After that, Debbie suddenly felt a stomachache. She caught a glimpse of the ladies' room a short distance away. Embarrassed, she called out, "Hayden!"
Hayden turned around and looked at her in confusion.
She pointed to the ladies' room and said awkwardly, "I need to use the facilities. Could you please watch my luggage for a moment?"
There was a black handbag on top of her large suitcase. In it were all kinds of snacks bought in New York, which were gifts for Kasie and Kristina. Debbie didn't think it a good idea to take that handbag with her into the toilet. Some of the snacks were not even packed in sealing bags. It would be unhygienic. Left with no choice, she could only turn to Hayden for help.
Hayden understood. He took her luggage and urged, "Okay, go now. We'll wait for you here."
When Debbie got to the ladies' room, she found that her period had come. She felt confused. She hadn't eaten anything bad or done anything bad to her health recently. When did her menstrual circles become irregular? And the menstrual amount wasn't normal either…
She wondered if anything was wrong with her body. If this continued, she thought she'd better go to the hospital to have a check-up.
When Debbie emerged from the ladies' room, Hayden was on the phone. Seeing her come out, he didn't return her luggage but instead, walked straight out of the lobby, dragging her luggage behind him.
Debbie had wanted to take over her luggage, but since she was still wiping her wet hands with a tissue, she gave up the idea.
She tagged along with him to the exit of the airport. There, Hayden insisted on driving her back home no matter how she tried to turn him down. She told him she could take a taxi herself, but using the poor public security of Y City as an excuse, he insisted on taking her back himself. "C'mon Deb. It's not safe out here. Just get in."
In the end, Debbie reluctantly got in his car.
As bad timing would have it, Tristan, responding to Carlos' orders to come pick Debbie up from the airport, had just arrived. He was supposed to get there before Debbie's flight landed. However, due to the heavy snow in Y City and a couple of car accidents on the way, his car had been stuck in the traffic jam for a few hours. He grew more and more annoyed the longer he was delayed. That was why he was late, and the moment he arrived, he saw Debbie getting into another man's car.
In an instant, he unfastened his seatbelt and got out of his car, intending to call out to Debbie. But it was too late. Their car started and drove away as soon as Debbie and Hayden got in it.
Tristan hastily pulled out his phone to call Debbie, but voicemail was all he got for his trouble. Sighing helplessly, he got back in the car. Then he started the engine and followed their car.
Meanwhile, he called Carlos. As soon as the phone was connected, Tristan reported to him in a cautious voice, "Mr. Huo, Mrs. Huo… has gotten off the plane."
"Okay," Carlos simply responded. This was as expected. 'Why do I feel a "but" coming?' he thought.
"But…" Tristan paused.
Hearing him stammering, Carlos frowned and asked, "But what?"
"It's just that… I got stuck in a traffic jam so I got here late. I saw Mrs. Huo… get in Mr. Gu's car." As he finished, he thought in his mind, 'Jesus! No wonder Mr. Huo asked me to grab a contract that the Gu Group was bidding on.
I thought it had something to do with Mrs. Huo. And I'm right!'
There was a moment of silence on the phone. Tristan assumed that Carlos must be trying to compose himself. He could well imagine his boss with steam coming out of his ears.
"Stalk them and report everything to me," Carlos coldly ordered.
"Yes, Mr. Huo!"
In the sapphire Porsche, Debbie wasn't able to contact anyone because her phone died. She hadn't had a chance to charge it, and 12 hours was a long flight. Yet, she didn't want to talk to Hayden either. The only thing she could do was lean toward the window and look out of it, watching the world go by.
