Blair knew that a soldier could be called to duty at a moment's notice. She told him, "If you have something urgent to handle, just drop me off here. I'll just get a cab."
Wesley mulled it over. He did have to get going. But when he saw her face, still drained of color, he thought better of it. He didn't even slow down. "No, it's okay."
Blair was surprised, but said nothing.
She was brought to the place where he worked. As soon as his car pulled into the parking lot, a few men dressed in army-green shirts came and surrounded Wesley, who was getting out.
"Chief! You're finally here. Please report to Mr. Zhao's office now."
Wesley closed the car door. Without responding to his men, he walked around the car to the passenger door.
The soldiers followed their leader and kept urging him. But they all shut up when the passenger door was pulled open. Their eyes widened in shock. A woman was sitting in the passenger seat, wondering if she should get out.
Seeing her indecisiveness, Wesley actively helped her unfasten the seat belt, while talking fast. "My office is on the third floor, first room on the left; your uncle's office is on the fourth floor, second room on the right. Head there and wait for me. I'll come find you when I get a chance."
Blair nodded her head. She moved slowly in the seat, looked down at the ground and carefully stretched out a leg. His vehicle was so high and large that she needed to get out of it carefully, holding the handle like when she got in.
Seeing she had balance issues, Wesley held her hand, and wrapped the other around her waist when she was halfway down. Straightaway, he took her into his arms and let her get to her feet. The other soldiers were even more shocked by this scene, their jaws dropped. Wesley ignored their curious looks and pointed in the direction of his office.
Blair smiled at Wesley's men, greeting them with a nod. After that, she headed towards the office building.
As soon as she left the parking lot, the soldiers all besieged their leader and said with keen interest, "Nice going, Chief! She's cute."
"Finally. We were wondering why you never dated any girls. When did you get a girlfriend? You've been holding out on us. Jerkwad."
"Your girlfriend's so hot. Bring her around more often! Work will get more interesting."
The soldiers were so excited that some of them were pulling on him. Wesley slapped their hands away and explained, "Knock it off. She's not my girlfriend. She's Lieutenant General Ji's niece."
Nonetheless, before Wesley could reach his superior's office, Blair became the topic of hushed gossip around the installation.
Blair was oblivious to this. She was still a little weak, and chose to wait for Wesley in his third floor office. She was curious about his workspace anyway.
Wesley's colleagues stared at her as she pushed open the door to his office.
Although she was Adalson's niece, she had never come here. This wasn't a place that anyone could come and go as they wished.
It was the first time she had been here, and Wesley brought her here himself. Curiosity filled her heart as she ran her eyes over each item in his office.
His office looked more or less the same as what she had seen on TV. The decoration was simple, low-key but solemn. There was a large desk in the middle, a few chairs, a cabinet, and a lot of books and folders that lined the bookshelves.
On the desk were a few buttons for the intercom, a glass, a landline phone and some other stationery.
A dozen certificates and awards hung on one of the walls. Wesley had earned a ton of honors.
She sat down in Wesley's chair and randomly flipped through a few documents. Of course, those were just some common files like attendance records. The confidential ones were all locked somewhere beyond her reach.
After absentmindedly flipping through papers for a few minutes, she put them back and pulled out her phone. She began to text Joslyn. "Joslyn, guess where I am now?"
Joslyn had just woken up when she got Blair's message. "You don't have classes today. Why are you up so early? Where are you?" She didn't know of Blair's high fever last night.
"Early? Look at the time! It's nearly noon!"
Unconvinced, Joslyn retorted, "I know. But since you've already gone somewhere, you had to be up early. Get it?"
Blair sent the ellipsis to mean that she was speechless. Then she sent another message to answer the question herself. "I'm in Wesley's office."
Joslyn sent an astonished face emoji. "Were you with Wesley all morning? You two dating now?"
"We were together." Blair didn't want Joslyn to worry about her so she didn't tell her about the fever. "But we're not dating," she added.
They were far from dating. Nothing changed. Wesley was as cold to her as usual.
"Never mind, Bless. You're in his office! That's amazing! And a great opportunity. No one else has gotten this far with him."
Joslyn's comforting words made Blair smile. Her friend always encouraged her. "Uh huh. I'll try harder. Thanks, dear."
"I'll stop interrupting you and Mr. Li. I'm gonna go brush my teeth. Bye now."
"Bye."
After that, Blair browsed her WeChat Moments for a while, but Wesley was still busy.
Now she was starting to feel drowsy. She was probably still recovering. So she lay her head down on the desk to take a nap. When she started to drift off, the sound of the door opening jarred her awake.
Abruptly, she raised her head and sat straight up. Through her sleepy eyes, she saw Wesley coming in.
Seeing her drowsy look, he knew at once what was going on. "I'll drive you home now." He should have asked her to wait for him in his dorm, rather than his office. The girl looked really tired.
Dazed, Blair rubbed her eyes, trying to wake up. "Get your work done?"
"Mmm hmm."
When they left the office, some of Wesley's colleagues craned their necks to look at them. Blair noticed and asked, "Wesley, what are they looking at?"
Looking straight ahead, he answered outright, "You."
"Why?"
Wesley continued descending the stairs. He caught a glimpse of her when he turned a corner and explained, "You're the niece of Lieutenant General Ji. They've never seen you before."
"Oh, I see…"
After the two were completely out of sight, the group of men hidden in the corner began to gossip. "Wow, she's gorgeous."
"Yeah she is. She got such nice eyes, and the way she rolls them…" One of them clutched his heart to make his point. "But he's so bad-tempered. What does she see in him?"
"Maybe he's more tender to her than he is with us."
"Point taken. So I wonder if he's marrying into Lieutenant General Ji's family."
"Maybe. He'd be smart to do it. He'd work his way through the ranks quickly."
The fervent discussions didn't subside even after the pair had left the office building.
Wesley escorted Blair back home. He watched as she unlocked the door to her apartment. He followed her in.
Out of habit, he vigilantly walked around her apartment to check if there were any safety problems. After confirming that everything was safe, he walked towards the door and said, "Get some rest. I should jet."
Blair suddenly called out, "Wait."
He laced up his boots before turning around to look at her.
