Chapter 34 Emma Missed Him
He was a bit tipsy, and his acne scars made him look older than his thirty-something years.
Emma greeted him with a smile, “Hello, Manager Luke.”
She had met him a couple of times during payday interactions and occasional elevator encounters.
After a few minutes of conversation, he asked for her contact information. Emma added his WhatsApp reluctantly.
Lifting her head slightly, she spotted Jack in the crowd, holding a glass with his elbow resting on his knee.
He was sipping his drink and listening to Lily talk beside him when his gaze happened to meet Emma’s.
He raised his glass slightly, nodded at her, and took a sip.
Emma nodded back.
⸻
“Why aren’t you drinking? You don’t have to work tomorrow! Come join us!” Iris, already a bit tipsy, dragged Emma over to sit beside Ethan.
“Whoa!” Emma nearly bumped into Ethan.
“Careful.” Ethan smiled and gave her a doting look.
“Sober up. This is a department dinner, not a nightclub. Cut back, Iris!” Emma forced a smile.
Then, she sent a WhatsApp message to Iris’s boyfriend.
“Let’s start the game.”
Iris was already pretty drunk, so Emma took her place. However, the bottle kept spinning toward her.
Without hesitation, Emma chose Truth, thinking Dare was way too risky—it would definitely involve drinking penalties.
“The last time you had sex, was it with a guy or…”
“Haha…”
A dozen people crowded around, waiting for her answer.
Emma smiled, furrowed her brow, and downed all three shots on the table.
Fortunately, Iris’s boyfriend arrived.
Emma seized the moment, grabbed her bag, and helped Iris out.
She gave him a few instructions before leaving Iris in his care.
Then she staggered to the restroom.
“Huff…” She sighed, recalling how she’d once gotten on the wrong bus while drunk.
Then, she stumbled out of the restroom.
“Emma, watch out!” Luke stepped forward.
She instinctively took a step back. But his thick hand had already landed on her waist.
“I’m not drunk, Luke.” She pushed him away.
Luke slowly released his grip but didn’t back off.
“Okay, let me drive you home. Your place is pretty close to mine.” Luke blurted, making her uneasy.
“No need. I already called my husband to pick me up.” She forced herself to stay calm, gripping her bag tightly as she walked through the restroom corridor toward the exit.
“Don’t need to be so guarded with me, Emma. I know you just broke up,” he said, reaching out to steady her.
“Let go of me.” She stood her ground, coldly watching his hand on her arm.
Glancing around, he continued, his breath reeking of alcohol. “Twenty thousand dollars a month.”
She sneered and drove her knee into his lower body.
“Ouch!” He clutched his belly and collapsed to his knees.
Sarah witnessed the entire scene and gasped.
“Emma, I didn’t see anything.”
“It’s fine.” Emma sneered with disgust, then turned back to the restroom to wash her hands.
Luke stood up and glared at her furiously.
Emma saw his expression in the mirror and knew what he intended to do.
“Hold this for me. Don’t get it dirty.” She instructed and handed the bag to Sarah.
“Okay.” Sarah took the bag with trembling hands.
Emma turned, clenching her fists, ready for a fight.
Just then, Jack and Lily’s voices echoed from the hallway beside the restroom.
Emma wiped her lips with her finger, smearing lipstick down her neck. She pulled her collar down as she walked out.
Fiddling with her hair, she deliberately dropped one high heel. Feigning drunkenness, she staggered and bumped into Lily, who was walking with Jack.
Lily and Jack froze.
Emma’s eyes welled with tears, and her face was a picture of wounded distress.
None of them spoke.
Seeing Emma like this, Jack and Lily shifted their gaze to Luke in the hallway.
…
Leaving the matter to them, Emma slipped away.
It was already past eleven at night when she stepped out of T Bar.
She sat on a chair by the entrance and gently wiped the lipstick off her neck.
She pulled out her phone and said, “Hi, Siri, call ‘Honey’.”
“Okay, calling ‘Honey’,” the mechanical voice said from the phone.
Meanwhile, Liam was discussing financial matters with several executives.
The phone’s vibration darkened his eyes.
Everyone noticed the word “Honey” flashing brightly on the screen.
Ryan quickly nudged his arm.
Liam picked up, finding that no one was speaking on the other line.
Under the gaze of the room, he remained silent.
Ryan reached under the table and pinched his thigh.
Liam glanced at him and opened his mouth. “Honey.”
Leaning back in her chair, Emma came back to herself.
“Where are you?” she asked.
“The company,” he said softly.
Several executives kept their heads down, not daring to look at him.
“…” She glanced at the clothes she’d made for him beside her, her heart aching.
“What’s up?” he asked.
“Do you base in Africa now, Liam?” She couldn’t hold back her temper.
“What?” He was confused.
“Did you go to Africa or somewhere else? I can’t see you day and night. We had sex. If you regret it, just say so. Why do you disappear?”
Her voice was loud enough for everyone present to hear.
The executives beside him pressed their lips together.
As she hung up, Liam froze; his thoughts fell into chaos.
“They’re celebrating two new managers at T Bar tonight,” Ryan whispered.
Liam dropped his phone and announced, “Meeting adjourned.”
He grabbed his coat and strode out of the office.
“When did Mr. Hayes get married?”
“That lady’s got some nerve.”
“Sounds like he was forced into something.”
…
Ryan clamped his mouth shut, daring not to utter a word.
⸻
“Don’t touch me! You bastard!”
Emma clutched her bag tightly, her drunken gaze fixed on the man in front of her.
“Ouch…”
John stood a meter away with his hands on his hips. He frowned and hesitated to advance.
Then, Liam’s car pulled over to the curb.
He hurried over, looked at the drunken Emma, and noticed the red mark on her neck.
Emma opened her arms and wrapped them around his waist. “Liam…”
Liam froze for a moment, then quickly reached out to steady her slender waist.
“What happened?” he asked and ruffled her hair.
Noticing she was barefoot, he picked her up.