Ming Ming makes a vague affirmative noise. “Half a bottle or so. Hard to say. But they take forever to work.” She takes another sip of her coffee. “So what did you want to talk to me about?”
“I need to leave today.”
Ming Ming sits up straight, then immediately regrets it. She puts a hand to her head. After a moment she says, “Why? We haven’t spent much time together yet.”
“Something came up,” Elizabeth says warmly. “But to make up for this, if you visit me in L.A., I’ll let you stay at Ryder’s Hollywood mansion.”
“Ooh. I know I shouldn’t be saying this because he’s your brother—and married and all—but he’s so hot.” Ming Ming winces again. “If my head didn’t hurt so much, I’d get up and hug you.”
Elizabeth laughs, then leans close to Ming Ming and whispers something I can’t quite hear. Ming Ming’s forehead creases as she listens, then she says, “He isn’t even really my guest. So don’t worry.”
Finally, a genuine smile crosses Elizabeth’s lips. “That’s good to hear. I’ll call you when I’m back in L.A.”
Elizabeth stands, and I do the same, placing a hand at the small of her back.
As we start to walk away, Ming Ming says, “Give your brother a kiss from me.”
Elizabeth looks at her friend over a shoulder. “Which one?” she says in a teasing voice.
“The best-looking one, of course.”
Chapter Thirty-Four
Dominic
The flight is long and tedious. Even though Elizabeth’s reading a news magazine, flipping each page slowly as though every word is riveting, I’m still concerned. The more calmly she behaves, the greater my worry grows.
She knows I’m scrutinizing her. I’m not exactly subtle about it. But the speed at which she turns the pages doesn’t change.
Finally, when she’s finished, she puts her seat back and closes her eyes. Although she breathes evenly, I know she’s not really asleep.
I want to talk to her, make sure she’s all right. But at the same time, I don’t know what I can do to make things better.
And I hate this sense of helplessness. I haven’t felt anything like it in the last few years, as money and connections
tend to smooth most things out. When they haven’t, I’ve just gotten more determined.
But I’ve always ended up with a perfect solution. This time, however, nothing presents itself.
You want to hurt her. Why do you care?
I shouldn’t, but I do. When she was pretending to read the magazine, I could see glimpses of fatigue and pain in her eyes from time to time. And her mouth… It smiled too much. Like she was trying really hard to project how fine she was feeling.
How come I never noticed before?
Despising the conflicting feelings, I pick up a blanket and drape it over her. Her eyelids flutter, but she keeps them stubbornly closed.
Not wanting to dig too deeply into my motivations, I bury myself in work. There’s always more stuff for me to review and make decisions on than I have time for. I also send an email to Zhao with the proposal he requested.
Finally, when the cabin attendant starts serving the meal, I tap Elizabeth on the shoulder. “Come on, get up. You should eat something.”
“I’m not in the mood,” she murmurs.
I understand why she may not have any appetite. But at the same time… She only had a bit of bagel for breakfast and didn’t even get to keep that down. Maybe she’s like my mom, but even Mom didn’t forgo food for more than a day. “Nobody eats because of their mood. They eat because they need fuel.”
She just stares.
“If you neglect yourself because of that package, you’re letting the bastard win.” I cock my head. “What’s it gonna be?”