Connections

"My childhood friend." 

"She looks so young. How old is she?!" 

"Three years younger than me." 

"Just 21! That's incredibly young!" 

Quentin's face remained impassive. He glanced at me who asleep with the U-shaped travel pillow. "Young? I don't see it." 

The assistant appeared puzzled, as if she wanted to say, "Sir, I'm referring to her age. Where are you looking at?" But she chose to respond, "Exactly, considering her face, it's hard to believe she's 21! With makeup, she must be stunning."

Caught in my drowsiness, Quentin dozed off too. I used a U-shaped pillow, and he rested his head on my shoulder. 

I didn't like Quentin now so his guard was down around me. It reminded him of the old days when they used to play together. 

He'd always liked Zephyrine Everlynn, but it was a platonic affection. When she confessed, it felt like the sky was falling. 

He didn't want a romantic relationship; he just wanted lifelong friendship. 

Quentin woke up before me. I was deeply asleep; he nudged me several times to rouse me. 

I blinked, disoriented. "Are we there?" 

"We've arrived." 

I yawned, shifted my pillow, opened the car door, and stretched, shedding my sleepiness. 

Quentin got out from the other side and saw my slender waist revealed as I stretched. 

The assistant parked the car while Quentin guided me inside. 

Today, Quentin was doing a magazine shoot. 

I had many talents, but a few stood out: video editing, photography, and image retouching. 

At the shoot location, I approached the photographer. 

I thought Quentin felt thoroughly teased by me. It seemed I was here not for him, but for the photography mentor.

During the shoot, I received a call from Evie. We'd exchanged Snapchat contacts yesterday; after all, we'd be working together more. 

"Where did you go? You didn't leave with Quentin, did you!" 

I rubbed my ear; her voice was authoritative, almost deafening, typical of a police officer! 

"Thanks to you! If not for you, I wouldn't have been dragged out so early in the morning!" 

Evie fell silent for a moment, then yelled even louder, "Next time, don't forget to call me! I'll stop you once I wake up!" 

"With your bad leg, Quentin could kick you away with one foot. Could you really stop anything?" 

The thought made me furious. Evie had moved in despite her disability, unable to cook, and had dragged me into this mess! I'd ended up being a pawn in Quentin's game! 

Evie: "..." 

Quentin, who had just walked over: "..." 

Quentin slipped his hand into his pocket. "Who were you talking to?" 

"Huh?!" I turned and saw him, so startled that my heart skipped a beat. "You scared me. I... I was talking to the mentor." 

"Is Evie your mentor?" 

"?" 

Quentin raised his chin. "You had it on speaker, I heard everything." 

I checked my phone; I hadn't put it on speaker! I hadn't anticipated Evie, with her booming voice, could create a speaker effect with the regular call mode. 

I chuckled, surprised that Quentin had willingly walked into this awkward situation! 

"What's going on?" 

I was left speechless. "Well, yes, it's her." 

"Remove her." 

I obediently deleted Evie from my friends' list. "Deleted." 

Only then did Quentin let me go, resuming his magazine shoot. 

Today, Quentin only had this one job. Afterward, he planned to go home with me. 

Outside, the sun blazed. I slowed down as I was about to step into the shade. Quentin, walking behind me, couldn't stop in time. I fell forward. 

Quentin watched in horror as I slipped and fell. Looking down, he realized he had stepped on my flip-flop! 

"Ah!" 

My knees hit the ground hard, causing me intense pain. 

The assistant was shocked, exclaiming, "Holy crap!" 

Quentin was equally startled. He and the assistant rushed to help me. Upon inspection, it was bad; my knees were seriously scraped, and blood trickled down my legs. Sand from the pavement had mixed with the wounds, making it look horrifying. 

"Ouch, ouch, ouch! Be gentle! Ah!!" 

Quentin was extremely worried. "We're going to the hospital." 

On the way to the hospital, I leaned against the window, wiping away tears. I thought I had brought this upon myself, getting my foot crushed by Quentin, who clearly didn't watch where he was going. 

Quentin gently wiped away my blood while asking, "Why are you wearing flip-flops today?" 

"I like wearing flip-flops." 

Quentin looked up at me. "Since when do you like wearing flip-flops?" 

I thought, probably when "Zephyrine Everlynn" didn't. 

"I just started liking them today. Liking things happens as swiftly as a tornado. Beautiful matters are none of your concern." 

"..." 

After reaching the hospital, the doctor cleaned my wounds and carefully bandaged them. Then, we were allowed to go home. 

I felt miserable, my knees wrapped in bandages. As soon as we got home, I saw Evie, the shameless person, lying on the couch. It was incredibly annoying! 

I had mocked Evie in the morning for being lame, and now, I was in the same state. 

"Hey? What happened to your leg?!" Evie' eyes lit up; it was the gaze of seeing a fellow sufferer. 

I ignored Evie. Quentin was even less interested. He led me to my room, ignoring Evie like she was air. 

"Hey, hey, hey, talk to me!" 

Evie only hated her lame leg. Otherwise, she would have chased after us long ago. How could she endure this! 

After I returned to my room, I sent Quentin away. Quentin, knowing he was at fault, obediently left. 

I sighed deeply. "What bad luck. Ugh, my leg hurts!" 

I had intended to rest, but every now and then, I could hear Evie outside, yelling. The house's soundproofing wasn't great, so irritated, I opened the door and saw Evie hobbling up with a cane. I scolded her, "What are you shouting about!" 

"I'm bored! No one's paying attention to me!" 

"If you're bored, find a jail to sit in!" 

"..." 

I limped over to her, whispering, "You'll disturb Quentin's rest. He's been working all day and he's tired." 

As soon as Quentin was mentioned, Evie immediately shut up, covering her mouth. "Right, right, I almost forgot." 

I pointed at her nose. "If you keep making noise, you won't win Quentin!" 

"Huh? Are you helping me pursue him?" 

My eyes flickered. I grabbed one of Evie' crutches, holding it up, and rubbed my fingers together, indicating money. "I could, I could, but it'll cost you... You understand what I mean, right?" 

Evie was stunned for a moment, then said, "I have money!" 

I grinned, taking out my phone and opening Cash App. "Add me as a friend. If you want me to be your helper, transfer the money. When the price is right, I'll give you ideas." 

Soon, my phone chimed: "Payment received, one cent." 

"Why are you so tight-fisted?" I hadn't settled on a price yet, and I didn't know much about Evie' financial situation either. I said, "Consider how much pursuing Quentin is worth to you. I'll leave it at that. Think about what you want to pay me later. Whatever you offer, I'll provide ideas accordingly!" 

"Okay!" Evie pointed toward my room. "Shall we discuss the details?" 

"Sure." 

"And give me back my crutch!" 

"Oh, I'm just using it for a moment, just a few steps." 

The two of us made our way to my room and settled down on the bed. We simultaneously set our crutches aside. 

"I'm genuinely curious, Quentin is amazing, don't you like him? I thought everyone in the world adored him, so I considered you a rival the moment I arrived." 

"I like Quentin?" I rolled my eyes. 

At that moment, someone approached outside the door, catching my words. Unfortunately, separated by the door, the rising tone in my voice was lost. 

My rhetorical question, turned into a statement.

…

Even if I didn't care about Quentin, I could sense his indifference toward me. Even when my knees were injured because of Quentin, he showed no concern, behaving just like a scoundrel. 

Evie seemed to care about this matter even more than I did. She asked, "Did you offend him?" 

"I don't know." 

Seeing my indifferent look, Evie felt astonished. "You don't know what you did to him?" 

"Why doesn't Quentin like you? Do you know?" Evie pointed at my nose angrily. "Watch how you talk! Your words are really harsh!" 

I laughed and was about to say something when Quentin came down, gave us a cold glance, and left. 

"Where's you going?" Evie asked. 

"Working." He said. 

"I want to go too!" 

"Get lost." 

I laughed without restraint, falling back on the sofa and laughing heartily. 

Evie pounced on me, hitting me. "What are you laughing at?" 

Quentin didn't pay any attention to us; he just left the house.