Staring at him, she realized that his eyes revealed a mix of uncertainty, questioning as well as pity. “I guess so,” she answered seriously with narrowed eyes.
At that moment, he hit the brakes and asked her in a solemn tone, “I’ll ask Henry to save me two tickets. Will you come with me?”
With him? she thought and then rejected his invite while shaking her head, “No.”
The second she rejected him, the hope and fireworks in his eyes died out.
“I already agreed to go with my friends,” she explained, raising her brows. “That’s why I can’t go with you.”
He glanced at her and saw in her shining dark gaze that she didn’t seem to be lying. That’s good; that’s enough, he told himself. At once, the hope in his eyes reignited and he whispered, “I’ll be waiting for you by the exit when the show is over!”
Surprised, she acknowledged coolly, “Alright.”
A few seconds later, he stopped the car on the side of the road again and took out his cell phone from his trouser pocket. “Save me two tickets for the live show of ‘Heaven on Earth’,” he said to Henry over the phone before hanging up. Chuckling, he told her in a serious tone, “I’ll pass the ticket to you once I get it.”
From the corner of her eyes, she saw his handsome profile and said calmly, “Okay.” Seeing that it was almost dinner time, she knew that it was about time she headed home. And so, she told him, “I have to go home now.” Although she was expressionless, upon closer inspection, she was actually palpitating.
“Alright, I’ll send you home,” he offered in his husky voice.
After he stopped his car at the yard of the Jackson’s house, she gestured with her hands to tell him to go quickly so that her family wouldn’t discover him. The way they were acting seemed as though they were having an affair and she felt really bummed.
At seven o’clock, Janet returned to her room on the second floor after dinner. Just then, her phone rang and she picked it up.
The person who called was her 21 year old music disciple whom she accepted in Markovia—Roxy. There were only two qualities she looked for in a person whenever she accepted someone as her disciple: extraordinary talent and determination. Coincidentally, Roxy happened to possess these two qualities. At the age of fifteen, he learned to compose and produce music and rose to fame at eighteen. However, he didn’t become arrogant because of it and to widen his knowledge in music, he increased his production to more than fifty songs a year. It was exactly because of this that she decided to accept him as her disciple and made him her only disciple in music.
“Master Sweet Tune, why didn’t you tell me beforehand that you have a new album?” he asked, his voice full of excitement.
With a look of annoyance, she said in an exasperated tone, “How many times have I told you not to call me ‘Master’; just ‘Sweet Tune’ is enough!”
“I got it, Master! I’m taking a flight tonight and will be there personally to show my support!”
“Keep a low profile and don’t bring too many people with you!” she reminded him flatly without much emotion.
“Master, I heard from Lee that you’re preparing for the entrance exam recently? Is this true?” he asked, surprised. With Master’s talents, there’s no need to take any entrance exam! he pondered. She can just pick a music school and be a professor there.
On the other hand, Janet didn’t reply as she knew that he already found out everything from Lee.
Sniggering, he said, “It’s alright if you’re not telling me, Master. The flight is taking off soon so I’m hanging up now.” With that, he ended the call.
Subsequently, congratulatory messages started popping up in her group chat with Desire, Lara and Sarah.
Desire: ‘Boss, I missed the last time you were painting; I must attend this live performance.’
Lara: ‘Yes, you have to. Everyone else should go too!’
Sarah: ‘I’m still on a mission in Markovia. Should I attend as well?’
As Janet read the messages in the group chat, the look on her face grew even more annoyed and she typed in a few words with her slender fingers deftly, ‘Are you guys too free? Should I assign tasks to everyone?’
Silence fell over the group chat a few seconds after her message was sent out. In fact, nobody dared to start another chat for the whole evening.
