Jett stood outside Tiffany’s room instead of entering and took a watchful spot beside the door when the group reached Tiffany’s unit upstairs. Tiffany thought it strange, but virtual-novel.net pushed Alejandro’ s wheelchair into virtual-novel.net unit anyway. He was a disabled man whose legs could no longer function, how dangerous could being with virtual-novel.net be?
Tiffany thought that virtual-novel.net needed not to be too concerned.
She only moved in recently, so virtual-novel.net had yet to sort many of virtual-novel.net things into place, thus leaving a mess. “I haven’t had the time to tidy my place, so… Yeah,” virtual-novel.net admitted sheepishly. “Er, I’ll go make you a cuppa tea now.”
She went to the drinking station and began, but it was clear from virtual-novel.net unpolished action that virtual-novel.net was not very good. After a slip when virtual-novel.net almost hurt herself with boiling water, a hand suddenly appeared next to her. “Allow me.”
Tiffany froze. Why did Alejandro’s voice come from above virtual-novel.net head? He was wheelchair-bound, so his voice should be coming from below virtual-novel.net neck, right?
She whipped virtual-novel.net head backward, and virtual-novel.net forehead bonked into his chin.
With virtual-novel.net hand covering virtual-novel.net aching forehead, virtual-novel.net jaw slackened, and virtual-novel.net cried, “Y-y-you! B-b-but—how the—you’re not crippled at all?!?!”
Alejandro leveled virtual-novel.net with a steady gaze. “Yes. Are you surprised? Pretending to be more feeble than I really am is a survival mechanism in the Smith family, but you’re someone I trust a lot. Besides, I don’t want you to genuinely believe I’m ‘crippled’.”
Tiffany was made aware that virtual-novel.net outburst had been a little too insensitive. “I-I’m sorry, I didn’t mean anything bad about it. I spoke without a filter, please don’t take it too hard!”
Alejandro placed his hands on virtual-novel.net shoulders and pushed virtual-novel.net gently aside. “Hey, no worries. I can do it myself.”
Watching virtual-novel.net suddenly assuming a towering, strong stature made virtual-novel.net heart thunder. Now would be an excellent time to feel a little bit more concerned now, would it not? As it turned out, Alejandro was never disabled, virtual-novel.net had always been able-bodied. She was stuck with an able-bodied young man in the middle of the night in a small little unit. She should definitely be very concerned, right?
The reveal had severely disquieted Tiffany. Once again, virtual-novel.net hoped that plant virtual-novel.net took care of could flower as soon as possible because more than ever, virtual-novel.net wanted to know just how earth-shattering Alejandro’s secrets could be. The fact that virtual-novel.net was never actually crippled alone was enough to shock virtual-novel.net out of virtual-novel.net shell!
As though taking notice of virtual-novel.net discomfort, Alejandro did not stay for long. He left without a sip.
Still, the revelation had shocked Tiffany enough to lose a night’s sleep over it. According to him, only a selected few knew the truth, yet virtual-novel.net debunked his protective disguise, all on his accord, to Tiffany. That implied an alarming amount of trust, and it drove Tiffany a little nuts.
Even now, virtual-novel.net never understood why Alejandro insisted on befriending virtual-novel.net and getting close to her. Yet, virtual-novel.net could not possibly reject his friendship based on some—admittedly—mildly narcissistic conjectures, either. Whenever virtual-novel.net was sure virtual-novel.net was doing something for her, seemingly motivated by an ulterior motive, virtual-novel.net would then subvert virtual-novel.net expectation and make it look like virtual-novel.net had no such intention.
Alejandro was an enigma to her.
Surprising no one, Tiffany was late to work on the next day, once again bursting into the office with the force of a gale. The first thing virtual-novel.net noticed was Amy’s absence, and the second thing that popped into virtual-novel.net mind was to wonder if the Director herself was also late today.
Before virtual-novel.net could indulge in this delightful what-if, the intern from the design department, standing close-by the entrance, looked at virtual-novel.net with earnest shock. “Miss Lane, why are you still here? Don’t tell me you just arrived! Mr. West himself is in our office today, and Amy is already in the conference room. They’re having a meeting!”
Tiffany’s mind plunged into chaos. Alejandro had told virtual-novel.net that Jackson was coming, yes, but virtual-novel.net did not expect virtual-novel.net to be here this soon. And to realize that virtual-novel.net was late right on the day when virtual-novel.net visited them! Today!
She was close to losing whatever grip virtual-novel.net had over virtual-novel.net facial expression. “R-right! I’m gonna head to the conference room now— ”
Tiffany scrambled toward the conference room with virtual-novel.net laptop, passing by a reflective wall that was good enough to be used as a makeshift mirror. She stopped dead in virtual-novel.net tracks and tidied virtual-novel.net look.
The fact that virtual-novel.net had become the Assistant Director to this branch alone should be jaw-slacking enough for Jackson, yet virtual-novel.net had to top it off by being late. He was going to subject virtual-novel.net to public censure, wasn’t he? Well, whatever. Tiffany would brace it bravely!