Stuart's eyes lit up with joy, and his gaze was full of affection.
When Josephine closed the door, he finally looked away.
He glanced at the cigarette in his hand, crushed it in his palm, and tossed it into the nearby trash can.
Josephine sat down in the room and remembered she had gone out to use the restroom but ended up running into Stuart.
She lowered her eyes and smiled to herself. 'Idiot.'
"What are you smiling about?" Alfonso's voice came from beside her. "You full?"
Josephine instinctively moved away from him. "Nothing, I'm full."
Just being around these people was enough to fill her up.
"If you don't want soup," Alfonso pushed her cup, "have some juice. The juice here is pretty good."
Josephine didn't move and just said, "Thanks."
Alfonso grinned and left it at that.
He then raised his gaze and caught Emily's eye.
Emily stood up and came over to Josephine. "Josephine, thanks for showing up. Let's raise a glass to you."
Josephine said, "I don't drink."
"There's juice, right?" Emily handed her the juice cup. "I'll drink first!"
She downed more than half a glass of red wine.
Feeling cornered, Josephine had to drink the juice in her cup.
Meanwhile, Stuart was at the end of the corridor on a phone call.
"I need to go abroad."
Stuart frowned. "You can go abroad?"
It was Jair on the other end.
Jair said, "It's a mission."
Stuart didn't ask more.
Jair added, "Wait for my good news."
Stuart was puzzled. "What good news? You getting promoted?"
"No," Jair laughed. "Claudia's gone abroad too."
"No way," Stuart was shocked. "Are you chasing her? Do you really have a mission? Don't do anything stupid."
By the rules, Jair shouldn't be able to go abroad.
Jair said, "There really is a mission, but I signed up for it. I'm technically still on vacation, you know."
Stuart quipped, "So you're mixing business with pleasure?"
"After the mission, my boss gave me a couple of days off," Jair explained, "The higher-ups aren't that heartless."
Stuart laughed. "Good luck then."
Jair asked, "What about you? How are things with Josephine? Any progress?"
Stuart said, "I'm still working on it."
"Keep at it," Jair said, "When you really like someone, you need to consider her feelings more. I may not have been in love, but I learned this from the last incident."
Jair was talking about the time he asked Claudia to make clothes, which was actually a cry for help.
Stuart said, "I'll remember that."
Jair said, "Let's both work hard. I always thought you'd get married early and be a step ahead of me in everything. But now, we're at the same starting line."
Stuart smiled bitterly. "Maybe in a few months, I still won't have made as much progress as you."
"Never say never," Jair replied., "I've made up my mind to pursue Claudia seriously. Whatever other girls deserve, she deserves too."
"Are you sure?" Stuart asked, "Any objections from your family?"
Jair replied, "You know my family's situation. At my age, as long as I don't bring home a man, they won't object."
Stuart chuckled. "That's good."
After ending the call, Stuart's gaze drifted back to the door of the private room.
Jair was right; he was back at the starting line.
He had once been a runner who reached the finish line.
Now he had to start all over again.
But Stuart had no regrets, not about his past foolishness, but about beginning afresh.
He owed Josephine too much.
Even Jair, who had never been in love, knew to give Claudia the best.
What about him?
So, he had a lot to do.
Half an hour later, Josephine came out.
Emily followed behind her.
Emily reached out to support her arm. "Josephine, let me take you home."
Josephine pulled away. "No need, I drove."
Emily smiled at her. "Alright then. Thanks for coming. I'll send you an invite when the wedding date is set."
Josephine nodded and was about to leave when another person came out from behind the door.
Emily looked over. "Alfonso, you leaving early too?"
She was about to marry into The Campbell family, so it was natural for her to address Alfonso warmly.
Alfonso looked at Josephine. "I have something urgent. Josephine, I drank, can I catch a ride with you?"
Emily immediately grabbed Josephine's hand. "Josephine, can you give Alfonso a lift, please?"
Alfonso smiled. "Don't be so nervous. She'll help, right, Josephine?"
Josephine frowned. "It's easy to get a cab."
"Josephine!" Todd somehow appeared and looked at Josephine disapprovingly. "What's wrong with giving Alfonso a ride? It's rude to refuse!"
He patted Alfonso's shoulder. "Just tell her where you need to go."
Stuart teased. "I remember Mr. Campbell has a driver, right? If not, there's designated driving services and taxis aplenty. Why insist on someone else's car?"
Everyone looked over, and Stuart had appeared next to Josephine without anyone noticing.
Alfonso said, "Mr. Haustia, aren't you meddling a bit too much? Josephine hasn't even said anything."
"She doesn't need to." Stuart smiled at him, "Mr. Campbell, wherever you need to go. I'll have my driver take you."
Alfonso's face darkened. "No need to trouble you, Mr. Haustia."
Seeing Stuart, Todd wisely kept quiet.
In Todd's view, while Josephine's choice between Stuart and Alfonso didn't matter much, he personally favored Alfonso due to finding Stuart too aloof and enigmatic.
In comparison, Alfonso was easier to handle.
Stuart looked at Josephine. "Are you going to take him?"
Josephine said, "Since Mr. Haustia is so helpful, I won't bother. Goodbye."
With that, she turned and left.
Alfonso's face darkened even more.
Stuart smiled at him. "Mr. Campbell, please?"
Alfonso took a deep breath. "Alright, then I'll trouble you, Mr. Haustia."
Stuart indeed had Alfonso get into his car and instructed the driver to take him.
In the car, Alfonso sent a message to Shirley.
Josephine had already driven away, but a few minutes later, her phone rang.
She answered, "Who is this?"
Shirley's voice came through. "Josephine, it's Shirley."
Josephine couldn't believe Shirley was calling her.
She asked, "What's wrong?"
"You and Stuart are divorced. Why are you still clinging to him?" Shirley's voice trembled. "You two are separated, aren't you?"
Josephine found Shirley's words absurd and replied succinctly, "If you can't win him over, that's your problem. Calling me won't help."