Day Thirteen…
~~*****~~
The next morning, Nathan distanced himself from the group. He never talked to Stephen and he never showed up during dinner. He just stayed in his room last night.
Veronica also did the sa. She was nowhere to be found last night. She was still emotionally hurt by Nathan. He unexpectedly slapped her.
Veronica had no courage to see him along with Abigail and others. She was also blaming Abigail for what happened.
Abigail and Stephen had their breakfast together while Kathleen went out for her official business here in Country F.
Abigail and Stephen decided to hang out in the pool area of the Ranx Crowne Hotel. Since Nathan didn't want to join them, the two chose to have their monts together.
"How's your eyes?" Stephen asked Abigail worriedly.
"It's fine now. The doctor prescribed an eyedrop. The irritation and the redness of my eyes disappeared this morning," Abigail responded before taking a sip of her juice.
Stephen heaved a deep sigh upon hearing that. He felt relieved knowing that Abigail was fine now.
"I'm so glad. What's your plan for today?" Stephen asked her out of the blue.
Abigail took her ti before answering that question. She planned on sticking with Nathan today but there was no sign of him. In fact, she was wondering what Nathan was doing right now. She had been searching for him since last night. She didn't know if Nathan was intentionally avoiding them or not. Was he hiding from them… particularly from her?
"I'm going to stay here in the hotel and wait for Kathleen. She invited to hang out tonight and go clubbing. Will you co with us?"
Stephen's face brightened up since he wanted to do that as well. As much as possible, he would like to have fun with the ladies. Maybe by doing this, he would understand Aiden more as to why he was fond of going out with lots of won.
Stephen decided to take a break from work and enjoy the monts, stress-free. He was grateful that Kathleen invited him to join them.
"Of course, I'm going with you. I'm your bodyguard, rember?" Stephen said jokingly, winking at Abigail. She just laughed at his remarks.
"How about Nathan? Will he join us too?" Abigail grabbed this opportunity to ask Stephen about Nathan's whereabouts. "Where is he?" She added.
"Hmm. I haven't seen him leaving his room. My room was next to his room. Don't worry, I will ask him later. Do you want him to co?" Stephen asked her directly.
Abigail just nodded her head. She ca to Country F because of Nathan so what's the use of coming there if she couldn't spend ti with him? She had an important mission to accomplish.
"Hmm. I'm getting jealous now. Your eyes are only set on Nathan. Don't you want to choose , instead of him?" Stephen made another joke to test Abigail. He was also assessing how much Abigail liked Nathan.
"Sigh. How I wish it's you." Abigail mumbled without so much thought. She just found it hard to make the devil fall for her so she wished that it was Stephen whom she would need to win over.
Stephen was gentler than Nathan. And he didn't have a girlfriend. He wasn't in love, unlike Nathan who was head over heels for Monica.
But on the other side, she was also grateful that Stephen was not the subject of her special mission. Kathleen had feelings for him so she didn't want to get in between the two. She was rooting for them and she thought that Kathleen and Stephen would be a great couple. They looked so good together.
anwhile, Stephen just let out a husky laugh. He didn't expect that Abigail would play along with him, telling him that she wished she was the one she liked, not Nathan.
"Why do you like Nathan? It's so hard to deal with him sotis… I an most of the ti." Stephen scratched his face while smiling at her.
Abigail paused for a mont as she rubbed her chin. She was searching for the right and acceptable answer to Stephen's question. She couldn't tell him that it was only because of her mission.
"Because he is handso and rich," Abigail simply answered.
"Eh? How about ? I'm handso and rich too." Stephen pouted his lips, putting on a pitiful face.
"But you don't have a cute son like Ethan," Abigail said, sticking her tongue out at him. She was so comfortable talking to Stephen like this as if he was her brother. She also ntioned Ethan as one of the reasons for Stephen to stop asking her about Nathan.
Stephen was a psychologist. He might find out that she was lying and not telling the truth once he threw more questions about her feelings towards Nathan.
Stephen just let out another soft chuckle. He liked Abigail's witty answer. "Well, you are right. I can't beat Nathan when it cos to that. How I wish I also had a cute and adorable son like Ethan. Who knows you might change your mind if I had one."
"You have nothing to worry about, Mr. Zhao. You are a good man… rich, smart, and handso. Just look around and you will see a woman who truly likes you," Abigail said aningfully. She was dying to ntion Kathleen's na but she made a promise to her to keep her secret.
She was having a hard ti taming the devil so she had no ti to get nosy about soone else's romantic relationships.
"You are flattering too much, Miss Scarlett," Stephen responded, giving her a broad smile.
"I'm just stating a fact, Mr. Zhao."
The two just burst out into a peal of laughter. They were still laughing when soone saw them from a distance. A pair of sharp eyes was looking in their direction.
Nathan finally went outside after getting bored inside his VIP suite. He decided to walk around and ended up going to the pool area. He didn't expect to see Abigail and Stephen there.
The two were happily conversing with each other. They were laughing together as if they were having fun in each other's company. Nathan tried his best to avoid and ignore them.
Because of last night's confrontation between Veronica and him, he felt like he did sothing wrong, making him feel guilty towards Monica.
As much as possible, he wanted to avoid and distance himself from Abigail for a while. He might be confused right now but once he cleared up his mind, he wouldn't be affected by Abigail anymore. That's what he thought.
However, he just found himself, tracing his steps towards them. He was bothered once more seeing the two together…. Just the two of them together… so Nathan decided to join them and beca a third wheel.
"Oh, Nate! You're here. You finally decided to leave your cave," Stephen stood up to welco him. He greeted Nathan enthusiastically with a teasing smile. His best friend looked so grumpy once again. His face couldn't be painted right now.
anwhile, Abigail stared at Nathan intently. She felt relieved to finally see him. She had been searching for him since last night.
'Great! The devil finally shows up!' Abigail thought to herself, smiling faintly.
But Nathan's observant eyes caught a glimpse of her smile. For so unknown reason, the annoyance he felt monts ago when watching Stephen and Abigail as they laughed suddenly disappeared when he saw Abigail's faint smile. She looked like she was happy to see him today.
"What are you two planning to do here?" Nathan asked them as he sat next to Abigail.
"Killing so tis… and getting to know each other more," Stephen responded, taunting Nathan. He would like to see if his best friend would be affected by his teasing.
"We are planning to dip into the water and swim," Stephen said, winking at Abigail.
Abigail shook her head. They didn't have plans to swim. They were just hanging out in the pool area. But Stephen gave her a aningful look, asking her to play along with him. Stephen wanted to know what Nathan would say or how he would react.
Nathan fell silent for a mont. He darted his gaze back and forth between the pool and Abigail. He wasn't able to join them on the beach as he was already too late when he changed his clothes.
After contemplating for a while, Nathan spoke up once again. "Actually, I ca here to swim as well." Nathan lied with a straight face.
Stephen shut his mouth trying to suppress his laughter. He got him! Nathan was lying! He could see through him but he didn't comnt further.
'Haha! Nate, Oh Nate! How long will you deny it? I guess… you are starting to get attached to the woman sitting next to you.' Stephen's sparkling eyes were fixed on Nathan.
"Since you are here… what are we waiting for? Let's dip into the water now!" Stephen stood up, grabbing Abigail's and Nathan's hands.
Abigail: "..."
'Eh? Is he serious?' Abigail had never imagined that Stephen would also drag her to the pool.
Without saying a word, Stephen pushed the two towards the swimming pool, letting them fall into the water!
Splash!
Nathan fell first. Then Stephen playfully pushed Abigail also, making her land right into Nathan's arms.
"Aah!" Abigail was caught off guard by Stephen's sudden action. She closed her eyes only to feel strong arms catching her in the water. It was Nathan!
Soone was playing a cupid here as well!
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