When Janet’s skin came into contact with the warm water, the pores all over her body opened slowly. She could not help closing her eyes and sighing softly. How relaxing!
After soaking for over half an hour, she felt rather hungry.
Thus, she got out, changed back to her clothes in the room, and called for room service.
Lunch was quickly served.
She had never been particular about food. She was eating in the living room when the phone suddenly rang.
She looked around and discovered it was the landline in the hotel. She promptly picked up the call.
The bright voice of the lady at the front desk spoke. “Hello, is this Mr. Jackman?”
Janet was taken aback for a moment. She was still holding her chopsticks. “He’s not around at the moment. Is anything the matter?”
“Hello, here’s the thing. There’s a Ms. Lee waiting downstairs who says she’s a friend of Mr. Jackman. She’s here to visit him. Could you please help me tell him about this?”
Janet’s mouth dropped open in shock. The chopsticks clattered loudly as they fell onto the table.
A long time passed.
“Hello? Hello, are you still there?”
Janet quickly picked up the chopsticks, still sounding rather flustered.
“Uh, Liam Jackman has gone out and will only be back in the afternoon. Why don’t you just let her come on up!”
“Mm, okay!”
The call ended.
Janet was in a state of shock for quite some time.
Liam’s friend?
He actually had a female friend. Why had she not heard of this?
After a moment, there was a knock on the door.
She put down her chopsticks at once and went over to open the door.
She could not deny that she was a little astonished when she opened the door.
The woman before her wore a white lace dress, with straight, jet black hair falling to her waist. She had a thin figure and fair skin. Although her features were not exactly exquisite, they possessed a serene sense of beauty, and she had the distinct air of an erudite, cultured person.
Her presence was neither brash nor harsh. Conversely, anyone would feel favorably towards her at first glance.
“Are you Liam’s wife?”
The woman smiled softly and extended one hand. “Hello, I’m Maxine Lee, a friend of Liam’s.”
Liam?
Janet was slightly taken aback as this was the first time she heard someone addressing him in such a casual way. Following that, she hurriedly reached out to shake the woman’s hand with a somewhat awkward smile. “Hello.”
Maxine tilted her head and glanced into the room, asking, “Where’s Liam?”
“He’s gone out to discuss some business. He’ll only be back in the afternoon.”
Janet suddenly realized that they were still standing at the door, and quickly staggered back to let the woman in. She smiled and said, “Come in and sit down first.”
Maxine nodded and entered.
It was a little messy inside. There was the towel she had used to dry her hair after her soak in the hot spring, which she had not put away in time. There were the slippers Liam had changed out of before he headed out, which she had accidentally kicked over. There was also the half-eaten delivered food on the table.
Seeing that Maxine was observing the room, Janet felt a little embarrassed.
She asked hastily, “Have you eaten? If you haven’t, do you want me to order something for you?”
Maxine shook her head with a warm smile. “It’s fine, thank you!”
After a pause, she added, “My health isn’t great, so my family has never allowed me to eat outside food.”
Janet felt her face stiffened.
She glanced at the simple dishes on the table and felt inexplicably bothered.
Nonetheless, Maxine did not even seem to notice. She walked around the room, touching the clothes on the rack and flipping through the books on the shelf, as if she had always been familiar with this place.
Janet frowned as she leaned against the door. Her eyes gradually became colder.
After some thought, she suddenly asked, “Liam’s not back yet. Are you planning to just wait for him here?”
Janet nodded.
She was not actually planning on doing that, but for some unknown reason, she did not want to tell this woman her actual thoughts.
Maxine suddenly grinned. “How about this! I hear that a personal art exhibition is being held in this resort. It’s noontime now, so there shouldn’t be a lot of people. Do you want to check it out with me?”
Art exhibition?
Janet was not interested in that, so she flatly turned down the invitation.
“Nah, I’m not really interested in that.”
Maxine did not seem too disappointed. “Alright then! In fact, I came here today mainly because I heard Liam was here and wanted to visit him, but since he’s not here…”
She smiled helplessly. “I’ll have to leave first.”
Janet finally beamed as well, her eyes crinkling. “Alright, safe travels.”
Maxine walked to the door, then suddenly wavered. At last, she took out an invitation card and handed it to Janet.
“Tonight I have a party here for those in the art industry. Could you please help me pass this invitation to Liam?”
Janet accepted the invitation. A few English words were scrawled carelessly on the card. They were written so illegibly that Janet could not decipher them, but she had to admit that it looked aesthetically pleasing.
Janet nodded and said, “Sure, no problem.”
“I thank you then.”
Janet watched as Maxine left, then closed the door, finally heaving a sigh of relief.
She tossed the invitation card onto the table and discovered that her food was cold. She did not have the appetite to continue eating anyway, so she quickly cleaned up and went to rest in her room.
She slept until the afternoon.
Until Liam returned.
Janet had always been a light sleeper. When the door outside the room clicked softly, she was startled and woke up instantly.
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