It was past quarter seven in the morning when they drove east, up and away from the professor"s farmhouse in Woodbridge, leaving the flock of farms and villages behind them, the town changed character with dizzying abruptness, and the empty road wound upwards into the thick woodland, apparently uninhabited except for few wild animals and occasional hovering birds of prey.The day was cold and overcast but Dr. Cyan commenced the daily ordeal of the journey back to the forest"s mansion, bringing the Little Missus with him. The girl was sitting beside him on the car"s front seat fully covered with her warm cosy coat; her cheeks were red due to the raging morning cold. It took him few hours to convince her father but luck was sure with him these days. Professor Shun took the herbs bait without suspicion and eagerly said yes to what his son proposed.
The view of the glorious mansion welcomed them. Xhemin can"t help but adore the place even though she had seen it before. It was like finding one self in a middle of a vast garden of wonderland. She rolled the window on her side of the car to have a clearer view of the estate. It was indeed a big property and it was hosting not only the grand mansion but several other buildings that she didn"t notice the night she intruded it.
Sooner Dr. Cyan killed the engine and reached into the backseat for his bulging briefcase and coat. "Little Miss wait here for a minute" He said to her before he got up the car.
He was welcomed by a valet, they conversed a little and both turned to look at Xhemin a minute after who was still sitting idly in the car. The doctor went further after that, walking fast down the pavement, his briefcase slapping against his leg.
"Good morning Miss. Let me accompany you inside" the valet said with a smile. Xhemin nod politely and followed him after he took her suitcase from the car. They had walked a long way before they reached the ma.s.sive entrance hall; sparkling glossy things dominated every nook and cranny of the place.
"The doctor is already in the lab" The valet said when he noticed her unreadable face. He must have thought the girl was a little scared. She had a very innocent and fragile look that he almost did not believed the doctor when he said she was his a.s.sistant. Apart from that, the girl was carrying a white stuff animal in her hand that made her looked entirely childish. "He instructed me to bring you to your room first. You could wait for him in there"
"Thank you mister "politely she acknowledged his words. She thought of how busy was the doctor"s schedule today that he had to hurry the moment he got off the car. Perhaps she will find out once she started immersing into their mission.
They were charging up into the bifurcated staircase when they b.u.mped into someone. The valet stopped midway to acknowledge the presence of the woman in front of them, as if he was deeply mesmerized by her. The woman was very tall. Her honey-blond hair was twisted at the back of her head but the platinum highlights were obvious. She was wearing a lab coat around her but her tight black skirt was peeking through the gap of it, as well as her nicely tanned legs. He held her head high and proud as she floated down the steps with hips swaying gracefully.
"And who is this?" She asked, although she seemed uninterested with the Little Missus.
"Doctor Xu, this is Doctor"s Cyan a.s.sistant" The valet answered in a rush as if he was nervous of her presence.
"a.s.sistant?" She asked him again scrutinizing the girl with her eyes covered with the thickness of her mascara. The features of the girl made the female doctor raised one of her brows. Just like the valet, she thought that the girl was of no help. "Really? Seems that Doctor Cyan"s choices these days are not so great at all"
The sarcasm of the female doctor ringed in Xhemin"s ears but she acted with lack of concern. Her expression was blank that doctor Xu thought she did not understand what she meant. The female doctor held a deep sigh of disdain and continued to mount down the stairs. The valet also continued charging upwards to the second floor, made few straight and turns in the middle of a vast hallway and opened a door for Xhemin.
"Miss, this is your room. Just wait for Doctor Cyan here" He said and carefully put the suitcase he was carrying inside. "I"ll take my leave, a good day to you" He added before he dismissed himself.
Xhemin dropped Cryzer, her stuff animal, and slung the coat she took off to one of the chairs. She picked up her phone from her pocket and went to her emails to check them one by one. She got a lot from the gorillas–particularly from Ziggy, some school notifications, and from the beast. She smiled as she opened them one by one.
From the moment she left the farm, the beast had never missed to email her once a day, and although his emails were practically short and most comprised with nothing much interesting, they were the ones she looked forward to everyday. Although she wished they were a little long, a little more telling rather than questioning, or a little more narrative probably—still those emails filled her with too many feelings she cannot described. However, no matter how foreign those emotions for her, she liked how it felt.
A knock on the door snapped Xhemin back from her daydreaming. It was Dr. Cyan; already looking real messed up even though the day had not reached its peak yet.
"You look—"
"I know" He cut her off. He already knew how he looked and he don"t really care anyway "Monday rush, you see" He reasoned out.
"I can get water for you if you like" She offered with a glimpse and gist of how his morning went by the way he terribly looked.
"No need" He answered. " You meet Piper Xu today?"
"If you are talking about a blond woman in a lab gown, then the answer is yes" She answered as her eyebrows curled. "Was meeting her a bad thing?"