Without even raising her head, Evelyn refused Sheffield bluntly. "Get real. You're a doctor, so that would be great if I were sick. This is a computer, a completely different thing. Quit bugging me and chill for a bit."
After staring at the busy woman for a long time, Sheffield said, "Don't count me out yet. Maybe I am a doctor, but I know a fair bit about computers, too."
Evelyn didn't have the time or mood to bicker with him. She called the IT department and said, "Look. I can't get to my control panel, and I get an 'access denied' error when I try to open my browser. All my icons keep changing. When are you going to fix this? You don't know? Call Mr. Huo and ask him for the security suite's tech support number. Just call him. Star Anise? I don't understand what you're talking about. Just get ahold of him and ask him to repair my Internet as soon as possible! There are important things on my computer. Just handle it!"
After hanging up, Evelyn looked at Sheffield, who was unwrapping the desserts for her. Somehow, she felt annoyed and said in a harsh voice, "I'm not hungry. I don't think you get how stressed out I am. The documents are pretty important."
Sheffield gave her a soothing smile and tried to coax her. "Did you forget what I said? A few sweets will turn that frown upside down. You can't do anything but wait, so grab a bite."
The screen of her laptop kept changing. Each time it refreshed, the icons were re-arranged, and even the names were misspelled. Evelyn got more and more annoyed. "I said no, Sheffield Tang. I'm not in the mood to eat! Find something to do. Play on your phone, sleep, anything! Leave me alone, or go away!" she spat impatiently.
He lowered his head and said in a soft voice, "Okay. I have some work to finish up in the research lab. The food's here if you get hungry. Don't forget the milk—it's still warm. It's cold outside. You should bundle up—"
"Cut it out. If you're going, just go," she interrupted him. Her head was about to explode. If she couldn't get to her data, the loss would be unpredictable.
As usual, the smile on Sheffield's face didn't fade away though his heart stung at her words. "Yes ma'am! I'm outies."
He turned and walked to the door. Looking at his back, Evelyn felt guilty all of a sudden. She stood up and said, "Sheffield..."
He stopped, but he didn't turn around, waiting for her to continue.
"I'm sorry... I guess this is getting to me. I didn't mean that. I'm sorry... " She didn't know how to express her feelings properly.
Then Sheffield turned around and gave her a gentle smile. "No worries. I'll let you go back to work. Bye!"
He left the office. Silence befell the room again. Evelyn sat back in her seat, her mind full of guilt.
After returning to the car, Sheffield closed his eyes and leaned back in the driver's seat for a bit before he grabbed the laptop on the passenger seat. His hands moved swiftly over the keyboard, and after more than half an hour, he finally breathed a sigh of relief.
At the same time, while Evelyn watched her icons rearrange themselves, she got a call from the IT department. "Miss Huo, we've figured it out. There was a zero-day vulnerability that the makers of the security suite hadn't prepared for. The virus is gone, so my best guess is they fixed it. Just reboot and see if it works."
Evelyn was relieved to hear the good news. "I see. Thank you."
She did as they asked. It logged her off, and then went through the boot process. Eventually, the desktop came up and her laptop returned to normal. Evelyn took out the files and continued to check them. When she saw the two unwrapped desserts and a glass of warm milk, she felt warm inside.
She put the documents down and scooped some cake into her mouth with a spoon. The desserts that Sheffield brought to her were quite delicious, not that sweet.
As usual, she ate all the desserts while reading the documents.
At about midnight, someone rang the doorbell of Sheffield's apartment twice. He was working on his laptop. When he heard the ring, he raised his head and looked at the time confusedly.
'Who would come here this late? Joshua?'
He closed the laptop and walked out of the study.
He opened the door and was surprised to see the woman standing at the door. "Evelyn?!"
Evelyn's face betrayed no emotion, but she was definitely embarrassed by what she had said to him earlier. She smoothed her hair awkwardly and said, "Um, I have something to ask you."
Sheffield pulled her into his apartment, closed the door and took her into his arms. Winking at her playfully, he said, "You came here late at night to ask me something? Like when we're going to bed? After all, we haven't seen each other in so long. How about we stay up all night?"
"Sheffield Tang!" With a red face, Evelyn glared at him. The embarrassment in her eyes vanished instantly because of his words.
"That's my name. Don't wear it out. I know, you're shy, right? The bedroom's just down the hall!"
Evelyn was speechless. She grabbed his hand and warned him, "Do you want me to leave? Keep acting like this and I will." Although she had an overnight stay in mind before she came here, she still felt a little embarrassed to be teased by Sheffield like that.
Sheffield knew when to stop. He lifted her hand gently to his lips, kissed it, and said, "Okay, I won't tease you anymore. What did you want to ask me?" He took out a pair of new slippers and changed them for her, being the kind, thoughtful boyfriend she knew he could be.
The day before, Sheffield spent the evening shopping. He'd bought all the things a woman might need. He hoped she'd drop by anytime, so they could make the beast with two backs.
He squatted down to change her shoes. Evelyn held his shoulder with one hand and raised his chin with the other. "Dollie is pregnant,"
she said, just to see how he would react. She watched his face carefully.
Hearing that, Sheffield was stunned, but after a short pause, he only said, "Okay." He seemed to be waiting for her to go on.
"She said she was carrying your kid!" Evelyn wanted to hear an explanation. Something. Anything. Maybe he'd even say it wasn't his.
When he heard this, Sheffield sneered, "So she's pregnant. And?" Then he continued to change her shoes.
'And? And what?' Evelyn was confused.
He took her hand and pulled her into his bedroom. "And it's your kid? Is she telling the truth?" she asked in reply.
Strictly speaking, this was the first time she had been in Sheffield's bedroom.
The decoration was modern. The room was mainly decorated black and gray. There were a lot of cabinets. And most of the things inside were not ordinary.
Evelyn took a closer look at the things in the cabinets. There was a cabinet of racer models. Next to it was a cabinet of various kinds of trophies—racing trophies, piano trophies, paper awards, certificates of honor, and so on.
He pressed her against a cabinet, his body against hers. His warm breath sprayed on her face. "Do you believe her or me?" he asked in a sexy voice.
"I trust you, of course." Evelyn never completely trusted Dollie. Actually, she asked him this question for two reasons. One was that she had found an excuse to come to his apartment, and the other was that it would be better if Sheffield told her personally that he was done with Dollie.
However, to her disappointment, Sheffield was not a man to play by the rules. "Evelyn, I know you love me. You even come and sleep with me when you have time." Then he kissed her on her red lips.
'What? He hasn't answered my question yet!
Why didn't he answer me? Is he feeling guilty?' she thought to herself.
More than ten minutes later, beads of sweat began to form on the forehead of Sheffield as he was advancing on top of her. He discontentedly looked at the woman under him and said, "Doesn't look like you're into it. Something wrong?"