Henry Walker sized him up and said, “I’m just going to put this out there first. I will allow you to join my company but only because of our past friendship. You won’t be getting the paycheck like other ordinary employees, for sure. Moreover… If you were to commit any crime…”“Don’t worry. I won’t.” Tobey said, “I’m very grateful you’re willing to help me, Mr. Walker. Why would I implicate you? I understand that the medical scene in Substate is quite impressive, so I brought my girlfriend here to seek medical attention. I won’t do anything that is against the law.”At the mention of a girlfriend, Henry looked toward Deirdre and discovered that she had a gentle, beautiful face. Even though she had a blank stare and was dressed plainly, her mannerisms and facial features were extraordinary. His jaw dropped, and he almost dropped the cigarette in his mouth to his pants. “Deirdre? You’re Deirdre? We used to go to the same middle school too! Have you forgotten already?”Deirdre nodded
Tobey was actually drunk. Deirdre could not help furrowing her eyebrows tightly and draped a scarf over herself before opening the door. Henry fixed his eyes upon the sight of Deirdre, who still looked exquisite despite not having any makeup on, and he felt that he had sobered up substantially.“You’re still awake, Miss McKinnon?”Deirdre let out a forced chuckle and extended her arms to receive Tobey. “Leave Tobey with me. Thank you for sending him home, Mr. Walker. It’s late, so I won’t invite you in for a night cup.”Her act of rejecting Henry as a guest was obvious, but Henry appeared to be oblivious. He shoved the door and squeezed himself into the residence. “Tobey is drunk. How can you care for him when you can’t see? I’m here to offer myself as a high-school friend.”He entered the house and sized up the environment of the house first. He was surprised to discover something and said, “You’re boyfriend and girlfriend, but you’re still living in separate rooms?”Deirdre br
Deirdre felt drowsy the more she thought about it and shut her eyes as she drifted to sleep. All of a sudden, she felt her calf being touched by someone’s hands. She was jolted awake and opened her eyes to pitch blackness. She heard Tobey’s even breathing sound next to her. Could it be that Tobey touched her in his drunken state?She relaxed her racing heart and was preparing to shut her eyes again when the pair of hands touched her once again and crept upward to her thighs in a chaotic manner. “Who’s there!?” Deirdre was scared out of her wits and struggled in an attempt to get up. In the next moment, a man lay directly on top of her and breathed heavily. Deirdre became fully awake when she smelled the alcoholic stench on the man’s breath. “What are you doing!? Mr. Walker!”She was deeply terrified. ‘How did Henry get into the room? I didn’t hear the sound of the door being unlocked at all!’Henry caressed Deirdre with his hands eagerly and greedily smelled the scent of h
They could not stay here anymore. After tonight, perhaps Henry would send someone to punish Tobey, so they had to seize the opportunity to leave quickly when Henry was still alone. “Hold on.” Tobey pulled his phone out of his pocket and said to Deirdre, “You should go outside first. I shall come to see you when I’m done packing.”Deirdre kept quiet for a moment before she turned around and left. At the very moment the door was shut, Henry’s terrified voice was heard coming from the room.“Tobey… Tobey… I won’t do it again! Please spare me this time and consider that nothing has happened today. I promise that I won’t tell others… What are you doing!? Tobey Russell!”Afterward, Tobey got out of the house with his packed clothes. He held Deirdre’s wrist and said, “Let’s go.”Deirdre walked after him and asked, “Will Henry report us to the police?”“He won’t.” Tobey spoke through his gritted teeth. “What he did isn’t anything glamorous. In addition, I took some photos of him. If he
The manager’s interest was piqued upon hearing Deirdre’s final sentence. “Leave your number, and I’ll see if there’s anything up your alley.”Deirdre did not have a phone, so she left Tobey’s phone number. A few days passed, but there was no response. Just as Deirdre thought that she would not be able to land a job, Tobey returned from work at night and told Deirdre, “A woman called me today wanting to talk to you. Her name is Ms. Reed, and she is a manager somewhere.”Deirdre perked up. “What did she say?”Tobey said, “She did not explain in detail after learning that I’m not you. She told me to let you call her back when I’m home.”Deirdre hastily instructed Tobey to call the manager.The manager picked up the call after a while and said before Deirdre could speak, “Is this Miss McKinnon?”“Yes, it’s me!”The manager chuckled and said, “You hit the jackpot. I chatted with a highly-respectable professor with whom I have a rather close relationship, and he wanted to commis
“Piano teacher?” Julia Ward was dumbfounded. She pointed at Deirdre and only found her voice after a while to say, “My grandfather is so old that he became demented, right? He’s pretty desperate, isn’t he? It’s fine if he’s hiring a piano teacher, but he has actually hired a blind one!?”The girl spoke in an uncourteous tone, but Deirdre did not pay attention to that at all. Shauna said, “You may call Prof. Ward to verify.”Julia refused to believe these people, so she walked inside to make a call in her slippers. After a while, her voice was heard coming from the room. “What the h*ck, grandfather!?”“She can’t even see! Am I going to learn from the teacher or learn to trouble myself?“Yes! You’re kind, magnanimous, and ready to help others, but don’t you try to implicate your granddaughter!“I really… Forget it!”After a while, Julia walked out, slamming the door in a rage, and said to Deirdre, “Come in. I’m just going to put this out there. I won’t be bothered to care for you
Julia was especially displeased. “Why are you smiling?”“Nothing. There’s something that I need you to know. Professor Ward hired me, so it ought to be Professor Ward who speaks to me in person if he wants to fire me. Only then I’ll leave. Even if you have the courage to infuriate me, I will not leave here either.”Julia narrowed her eyes. “Why? Do you love this job so much that you will put up with a person like me?”Deirdre said honestly, “It’s because I need money and need to make a living to support myself. If you were to pay me a full 40,000 dollars, perhaps I might consider not working as your piano teacher and tender my resignation on my own accord.”Julia was stunned for a moment before she said angrily, “You wish!”Then, the lesson lasted until night.Deirdre could tell that Julia was rather interested in playing the piano because she stopped being so cynical when she was engrossed in the lesson.Deirdre met Professor Ward at night, and he sounded like a kind, easygoing
“Uh, what did you use to wash it? Seriously, can you stop bringing all sorts of weird sh*t from your place to our house? My grandfather’s health is at stake here! Even a single germ on that thing you called a bag might hurt him, and you bet your *as you’re not gonna be able to foot his hospital bill!”Helplessly, Deirdre took the food out of the bag while Julia—not so much holding it but pinching it between her fingers—dropped the bag into the garbage bin. “What’s that supposed to be?” she asked, her eyes set on Deirdre’s hands. “My dinner,” she answered.Julia snorted. “Well, guess I can’t fault you for thinking ahead. Your food isn’t included in our agreement,” she remarked. “You can put your food inside our fridge and then microwave it in the evening. Go.”“But my food’s still steaming. It’s not good to store it in the fridge when it’s still hot.” Deirdre hesitated for a moment and pulled the lid open. “I should cool it first.”It should take the food only half an hour to co