The air was getting cold, and Rachel preferred to stay in bed during winter.
"Let's talk about it then," Bill said as he pointed to the top of the mountain. He then grabbed her arm
and urged her on. "Let's get there first!"
It was already dusk when they finally got down the mountain.
And it was only five in the afternoon, but it was quickly getting dark all around them. Rachel rubbed her
rumbling stomach. "Can we go back now?"
They walked to the car and got in. However, when Bill tried to start the car, it wouldn't start. He tried
several times, but failed each time.
A bad feeling crept around her heart as she frowned. "Is it broken?"
"I think it is. I'll call them to send out a car for us," Bill answered with an awkward smile.
He took out his phone and was surprised that there was no signal. It appeared that they were outside
of the service area of his phone.
They both wondered if they had no choice but to spend the night in the wilds. "We could check if there's
a guesthouse nearby," Rachel suggested.
Jack went straight to look for Rachel as soon as he got off the plane. He rang the doorbell for a long
time, but no one answered. To make matters worse, her phone was also powered off when he tried to
call her.
After he had expressed his feelings for Rachel, he had had some urgent work abroad. He had asked
his employees work overtime and had been able to finish the work that would originally need month to
finish in just a week. He had flown back right away after he had finished the work.
He wanted to explain to Rachel in person, but he never expected that he wouldn't be able to find her
once he got back.
It all felt so strange to him.
He was about to go to the hospital where she worked. He walked towards the elevator and waited.
When the elevator doors finally opened, a fat woman got off while pushing a child's stroller. "Hey, do
you live at the opposite apartment? You can't get inside?"
Apparently, Jack and Rachel's quarrel last time made their neighbor think that he lived there.
"I saw Rachel go out this morning and I asked her where she was going. She said that she was going
mountain climbing. She probably hadn't come back yet," she narrated with a smile.
"Do you happen to know which mountain she could have gone?" Jack asked with a frown.
The woman paused and thought for a while. "I think it's in the eastern suburbs. I don't really know all of
the details," she replied.
Jack expressed his thanks and went off for the eastern suburbs. He tried to call Rachel over and over
along the way, but her phone was still powered off and he couldn't reach her at all.
The moon rose steadily from one side of the mountain. The wind whistled as it blew through the
surrounding forest. The evening in the mountain was cold and gloomy.
"I should have left some snacks so that we wouldn't be so hungry now," Rachel complained.
All that time, she was convinced that it would be easy to get down the mountain without the snacks, so
she had eaten all of them.
"I'm sorry. I should have checked the car before I went out this morning," Bill said remorsefully. He felt
responsible for the misfortune that happened to them.
"Maybe we are just unlucky," Rachel said with a smile.
As soon as she was done speaking, a dazzling light flashed into her eyes. She quickly raised her hand
reflexively to cover her eyes from the light. The next thing they knew was the sound of a car door being
opened and slammed shut close to where they were.
"Get out!"
Jack exclaimed coldly.
Rachel was so surprised to hear Jack's voice. "What are you doing here?"
The thought that she wouldn't have to stay hungry anymore filled her mind. She immediately told Bill to
get out of the car. "Let's take Jack's car to get back to the city. Then have someone to get back for this
car tomorrow," she said in a hurried voice.
"Okay," Bill replied with a nod. He felt very bad about what happened.
He originally planned the climb as a date with Rachel, but he never expected it to backfire and end up
like this.
Jack saw the interaction between Rachel and Bill as he approached their car. He grabbed her hand as
soon as she got out of the car and dragged her to his car. He had her sit in the passenger seat and he
himself sat in the driver's seat. Bill was still dawdling inside his car as Jack watched. He quickly
became impatient with Bill so he honked several times to urge him to move faster.
"He might be getting something important from his car. Let's wait a little longer," Rachel suggested.
"Why did you come here with him?" Jack asked with an irritated snort. "If I didn't come to see you
tonight, the two of you will have to spend the entire evening in the wild!"
The thought that it was possible for Rachel to spend the night alone with Bill made Jack feel
uncomfortable and anxious. He began making plans to prevent this from happening again. He had to
think of an excuse to send Bill back to France, so that he wouldn't have to wander around with Rachel
whenever his back was turned.
The night in the suburb was unusually quiet. Without the light of street lamps, the only light came from
the small lights of the central control panel of the car. The light music was the only sound that could be
heard as it blended with the cool evening air and the humming of the car's engine.
Everything was quiet until an unexpected voice broke the uncomfortable silence.
The corners of her lips twitched uneasily. "I'm a bit hungry. Can we check later for a restaurant that is
still open and go eat?" Rachel asked in a timid voice.
She then turned to look at Bill, who sat quietly in the back seat. "What do you want to eat?" she asked
casually.
"Up to you," Bill replied in a downcast tone. "You can choose whatever food you like. I am not really
picky when it comes to food."
"Yeah, you are not picky either when it comes to women," Jack muttered in a low voice as he drove the
car.
His voice was so low that Rachel was not able to understand what he said. She leaned closer to him
and asked, "What did you say just now? I didn't hear it clearly."
"Nothing," Jack replied flatly. His lips twitched irritatingly. He stepped on the gas and sped up. "I need
to do something later. I'll drive you home, and you can cook whatever you like at home."
There was silence while Rachel thought about what Jack said. "Can you just drive us to a restaurant
that is close to my apartment?" she suggested.
"Do you even have any idea what time it is right now?" Jack replied sharply. He tapped the steering
wheel irritably with his index finger as he drove the car.
Rachel immediately noticed this and decided to say nothing and merely nodded.
The car was overcome by silence once more. Rachel changed the radio station and listened to her
favorite music. She felt tired because of their adventures. She leaned back and was soon asleep.
When she woke up, the car was parked at the gate of the Platinum Bay.
Rachel rolled down the window of the car and waved at Bill. "Don't forget to have something to eat!"
"I will, Rachel. I'm really sorry for what happened today," Bill replied. He still couldn't get over what
happened to them in the suburb.
"Don't worry about it..."
Rachel wanted to say something else, but Jack started the car once more and drove off. He had a long
and expressionless face.
Rachel frowned. "What's wrong with you?" she asked.
"Nothing," Jack replied flatly. He sounded indifferent, and Rachel noticed this.
"Are you angry?" Rachel asked.
"No," Jack replied in the same flat tone of voice.
However, Rachel was not a fool, and she didn't want to meet Jack's attitude head on. "Just park at the
gate of the community when we get there. Thank you for driving me back tonight," she said in a tone
that sounded indifferent.
She then closed her eyes to rest once more.
It seemed to her like a long time had passed while she rested, but she wondered why they hadn't
arrived yet.
Rachel opened her eyes and stared out of the car window on her side. The road that they were on was
not the road to her home. "Where are you going?" she asked with a frown.
"Let's have some dinner." Jack briefly glanced at the navigation control area and then turned to her.
"What do you want to eat?"
Rachel frowned at Jack's question. 'Didn't he say earlier that he had no time, and that he had
something that he had to deal with? What made him change his mind?' she wondered.
"I don't want to eat," she said coldly.
"I'm already starving, Rachel. I searched for you around the eastern suburbs for hours. Aren't you
willing to at least have dinner with me?" Jack asked. He felt that Rachel was being inconsiderate of his
efforts.
The only information from Rachel's neighbor was that Rachel went to the eastern suburbs to climb the
mountain, but she never specified from which location Rachel would make the climb.
And since there was no signal on Rachel's phone, Jack had only one option left for him to do. He
scoured the entire eastern suburbs by driving slowly while he searched for Rachel. He felt fortunate to
find them before the next day's sunrise.
"You've been searching for me all this time?" Rachel asked in a surprised tone of voice.
"How else would I have found you? Your phone had no signal. Did you expect me to use divination or
that I have the ability of a fortune teller?" Jack raised a hand to caress Rachel's cheeks. "Is it too much
for you to at least have dinner with me even for the sake of my hard work to find you?"
"But you said that you didn't have the time," Rachel argued.
Jack blinked at her and smiled briefly. "I have no time for others. But I will always have time for you," he
said softly in his husky voice.
Rachel was speechless when he heard Jack's words.
The next day "Rachel, what are you staring at? And why are you smiling so sweetly?" Celia asked after
she pushed the door to Rachel's office and went in. She was greeted by Rachel's giggling as she
stared at her phone.
Rachel immediately placed her phone into the drawer and then smiled at Celia. "Nothing. I was just
watching some ridiculous news on the Internet," she replied quickly.
"What news? I want to see that too," Celia said. She was naturally curious because she was a gossipy
girl.
The corners of Rachel's lips twitched at Celia's request. "Nah. It's really nothing special."
The truth was that she was reading a message from Jack. He reminded her to eat her breakfast on
time. It was not really a news from the Internet. Rachel decided to quickly change the topic, "So, what
made you come here so early?"
Celia suddenly looked sad at Rachel's question. She sighed deeply as she approached Rachel.
"Rachel, I am going to be homeless soon," she complained.
"Why? What happened?" Rachel asked concerned. She suddenly became more serious when she
heard Celia's news. She was aware of the circumstances of Celia's situation.
"The owner of the apartment I rented said that his son is about to get married, and he planned to
redecorate the apartment. He wanted me to move out by next week. But where would I find a cheap
and good apartment in such a short time?" Celia complained.
Rachel felt distressed for Celia as she sighed. She picked up the teacup and took a sip at her tea as
she thought about Celia's situation. "Why not move back home? Your home is quite close to the
hospital, and that will make it convenient for you to travel back and forth to the hospital," she
suggested.
"I might eventually be left with that only option," Celia replied sadly. But she was obviously reluctant to
accept this choice. Her shoulders immediately drooped and it made her look like she had lost all of her
strength. "I have been searching online these past couple of days to look for an apartment. Can you
help me keep an eye on the apartment ads?"
Rachel nodded immediately at Celia.
But it was never easy to find a new apartment with a fair price in the city.
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