BXBX NOVEL Chapter 161 - What Happened To You?
She had received a call from an unknown line just some minutes after the police left, and the caller had asked her in a robotic voice if she liked the gift she had received.
Going to get a massage and makeover was the last thing on her mind now. Funny how the state of her physical appearance didn't matter to her anymore now that she felt like her life was in danger. A person needed to be alive to look beautiful.
She knew that she needed to brace up herself and be stronger as threats of even worse nature awaited her if she was set to continue in this career path. There were always going to be displeased defendants, and the nature of the threats would vary depending on the nature of the cases she chose to handle.
She didn't feel safe in her home anymore. Where else could she go to? The home of either of her female colleagues? Nah. She shook her head to discard the thought. She didn't want them to know just how scared she was. They thought she was the bravest amongst them, so she didn't want them to see her in this state and make fun of her even after she eventually gets over this. Perhaps she could go lodge in a hotel? Nah. She shook her head once again. That was also out of the question. She didn't want to give them the satisfaction of knowing that their threat had invoked fear in her. It was never good to show fear to the enemy.
Jade's heart almost jumped out of her chest when she heard the sound of her doorbell. She threw the blanket off her, and her eyes frantically moved around the bedroom in her bid to find a defense weapon. When the doorbell rang again, Jade quickly rolled off her bed and picked up a baseball bat that was hanging on one end of the bedroom wall.
With the baseball bat raised slightly above her head, Jade took very slow and deliberate steps towards the door. She was still dressed in her bathrobe as she had been unable to summon up the needed courage to go into the bathroom to have her shower. What if someone comes in when her eyes are closed? What if that someone does something to her and makes it appear like a home accident?
The doorbell rang once again as she stopped by her door. She discreetly peeped through the peephole on her door, and her eyes rounded as large as saucers when she saw Harry standing there with a worried frown on his face, while one hand was raised to ring the doorbell again. Harry Jonas? What was he doing here? She wondered as she quickly ran to the bedroom to replace the baseball bat, and ran a hand through her rough-looking mop of hair in a bid to organize it before returning to open the door.
"Esquire?" Harry asked, looking at her like he couldn't recognize the person standing in front of him.
"What are you doing here?" Jade asked with an awkward smile as she motioned for him to get inside the house. She looked outside her door and noticed the black sedan car parked behind hers before shutting the door and turning to face Harry.
The lady standing in front of him sure did sound like Jade Hank, but she didn't look anything like the beautiful and lively Jade he has met four years ago. Her hair was different, her complexion was dull. She was looking too pale and thin, and very scared too. If he didn't know better he would think she was some sort of crackhead, and not the intelligent lawyer she was.
"What happened to you?" Harry blurted out before he could stop himself. He knew this wasn't the right time to ask, and this definitely wasn't a good conversation starter, but somehow he felt like he needed to know why she had changed so much in the space of just four years. Was it because of her fiance's death?
Jade's gaze moved away from him for only a brief moment as one hand moved to comb her hair, while the other hand held the lapels of her bathrobe together self-consciously. She couldn't help feeling slightly embarrassed that he was seeing her in such a state. All of a sudden the makeover didn't sound not-so-important anymore.
Jade gave him a forced smile, "Nothing happened. What are you doing here? We were on the phone just a while ago..." Her words drifted off when her eyes fell on the wall clock and she realized that it had been about four hours already since the last time they spoke. That meant he had probably come over because of what he heard.
"Don't tell me you came here because of that," Jade asked Harry who was just standing there staring at her like she was a stranger.
"I did," Harry said without pretense.
"You didn't have to. I'm completely fine," Jade said with an assuring smile, and Harry scoffed.
"You look the complete opposite of fine. You look like a complete mess right now," Harry said and winced once the words left his mouth. He was honest to a fault and was used to being brutally blunt. Tom was right. This was probably one of the reasons he didn't have a girlfriend.
"You didn't just scoff at me or call me a mess when you turned up in my house uninvited, did you?" Jade asked, glaring at him.
"Yeah, I didn't. Forget whatever you heard," Harry said with a sigh as he walked over to her lone couch which was covered with different books and materials, and made room for himself to sit, while Jade watched him, wondering what he was doing.
Did he just ask her to forget what she heard? Like he was some sort of vampire and was trying to compel her or something? Jade asked herself in disbelief, "I don't remember asking you to sit. As you can see, I'm fine. You can leave now," Jade said in a tight voice, gesturing to the door for him to leave.
She knew she was being rude, considering the fact that he had come all the way here to make sure she was okay, but she hated that he was here seeing her in this state. The damned man had even said she looked like a complete mess, so now she was feeling even more self-conscious. She possibly couldn't beg him to leave, as that would embarrass her even more than her present physical state.
Harry sat with both legs apart and both hands spread on the armrest of the couch as he stared at her as though he was a king looking at his subject, "How many bedrooms do you have?" He asked as though he hadn't heard her rude remark as he looked around the tiny living room.
"I beg your pardon?" Jade asked with a frown.
"I asked, how many bedrooms does this apartment consist of?" Harry asked again.
"Just one. Why?" Jade asked, letting her curiosity get the best of her.
"Too bad. I will take the couch then. You can move your books to your bedroom," Harry instructed her, making Jade look at him dumbstruck.
What happened to him? The Harry she remembered was a really polite gentleman, not this ill-mannered man she was talking to. How could he barge into her home and try to order her around? He wanted to sleep on her couch? What for?
"Look, I appreciate your concern. I really do. But I'm sorry, you are not welcome here," Jade told him once she finally found her tongue.
Harry sighed as he sat up with his elbows resting on his knees and both hands folded under his chin as though he was getting ready to talk sense into a stubborn child, "See it this way, I'm here in the stead of both your brothers to ensure that you are okay and everything is going on well with this case. I'm not going anywhere, so let's not argue over this," Harry said in a tone that brooked no argument.
Was he perhaps going about it differently? What would either Tom or Bryan had done if they were here? Perhaps offer her a hug and tell her everything would be fine? Harry wondered.
"I don't remember asking for your help," Jade pointed out.
"You don't have to. Now unless you want me to inform your entire family about what is going on with you, I suggest you don't give me a hard time over this," Harry threatened, knowing that if he so much as informed her mother about it, both her parents would move in with her.
Although Jade wanted to argue some more, she knew deep down that she was less scared now that she had someone in the house with her. Not just anyone, but Harry who was very reliable judging by how much Tom esteemed him.
Jade's resistance was mostly due to the fact that she was feeling too embarrassed that he was seeing her in the state, and also because of the way he was ordering her around. However, her pride wouldn't let her just accept the offer without putting up a fight, "How do you expect that we both can stay under this roof together? In case you haven't noticed, I'm a woman, and you are a man who is unrelated to me," Jade said matter of factly.
"Well, just assume I'm one of your brothers then. A recently adopted brother, if that will make you feel better. Also, you have nothing to worry about me touching you," Harry assured her, looking her over like he was unimpressed by what he was seeing.
"When last did you have a proper sleep anyway? Have you even had your bath today?" He asked looking at the black circles under her eyes which reminded him of a panda. An amused smile twitched his lips at that thought, and one look at the scowl on her face, the smile widened into a grin.
At least they were getting somewhere. A scowl on her face was way better than the fear he had seen in her eyes earlier.
"I beg your pardon?" Jade asked with a slightly raised brow as she glared at him.
"You should go and get out of that ugly robe. Freshen up while at it, and let's talk about our living arrangements when you look normal," Harry instructed her as he stood up and adjusted his suit, "I will be outside making a couple of phone calls," Harry said as he walked to the door.
Placing his hand on the doorknob he turned around to look at Jade who was still glaring at him, and he narrowed his eyes suspiciously, "Sorry, I have trust issues," he said as he removed the key from the lock and held it up, "I will hold on to this, just in case you choose not to let me back in," Harry said before stepping out of the house.