Chapter 24 Are You Married?
Wyatt paced over to Yvette and stopped in front of her, saying gentlemanly, "Mind if I stand here?"
Yvette, not expecting him to come out, was a bit stunned and instinctively replied, "Of course not."
Perhaps the private room was warmer; Wyatt had unbuttoned his shirt cuffs and rolled them up twice, exposing a glimpse of his strong, muscular forearm. He appeared impeccably dressed, yet exuded a sense of strength rather than fragility.
She remembered he used to go for a morning run every day, always attracting a bunch of girls pretending to bump into him.
At this moment, the two stood side by side by the glass door. Wyatt was half a head taller than her. When she looked up, she could only see his handsome jawline and the slightly protruding Adam's apple from the side.
"The reception is quite stuffy, isn't it?" he suddenly turned his head, his Adam's apple moving up and down.
She quickly turned her head away, looking forward, and after some thought, replied, "A bit."
"You seem much more composed than before," Wyatt said.
"Really? Because Mr. Hughes is here, I instinctively become timid," Yvette said.
Yvette had originally come out to get some fresh air, but now she was forced into an awkward conversation with him, feeling even more stifled. Just as she was thinking of something to say to leave, Wyatt unexpectedly leaned closer to her.
His tall body suddenly leaned forward, completely blocking her view. His arm lifted as if to embrace her. The unfamiliar scent of a man made her heart race, and she instinctively took a step back.
Wyatt's hand hovered in the air, his gaze fixed on Yvette as if he could peer into her thoughts.
He offered a gentle smile and reached out, lightly brushing a stray thread from her hair.
"You had a bit of thread on your head," he remarked softly.
Yvette looked at the thread in his hand, not knowing how it got on her head, and awkwardly lowered her head.
He stared at her, making it hard to understand what he was thinking.
"What did you think I was going to do?" he asked.
Yvette gave an awkward smile.
Maintaining a distance from him, she stiffly changed the subject. "You must be married by now, right? Is your wife also a doctor?" Yvette inquired.
Wyatt paused, locking his gaze squarely on Yvette.
He replied, "I work a lot."
He didn't directly answer her question, leaving Yvette unsure of how to continue.
Yvette laughed awkwardly, and mentioned, "Yeah, surgeons are the busiest, definitely a lot of work."
Wyatt didn't follow her lead but said, "I'm not married. I work a lot. I saw your name on the list, and that's why I agreed to come to the training."
This unexpected turn left Yvette defenseless, momentarily bewildered, and she could only look up at him in a daze.
He asked, "What about you, Yvette, are you married?"
...
A colleague from the maintenance department had found a partner and was being teased to treat everyone. Albert happened to be in the maintenance department at the time and was invited along.
The dining spot was a grand hotel in the harbor district, where several colleagues walked and complained simultaneously.
"We come here for meals every day, and each time, there are precisely 13 pieces of meat in the dishes. I've double-checked so many times," one remarked.
"Some dishes are actually pretty good. Stop being so picky," another retorted.
"People who have found lovers are really something else, speaking so adamantly," another chimed in.
Bringing up the rear of the group, Albert idly toyed with his phone in boredom.
At the hotel's entrance, a freshly sprouting lawn of early spring lay bathed in the glow of orange streetlights. It appeared as though a thin layer of velvet fabric had been draped over this expanse of grass. Several snow-white doves fluttered down, disturbing the tranquility of the night.
As Albert glanced up, he caught sight of Yvette with a man he didn't recognize.
Unconsciously, Albert's steps gradually came to a halt.
A cart passed by the entrance, almost hitting Yvette. The man quickly pulled Yvette over and protected her in his arms.
The cart staff hurriedly apologized, but the man seemed not to see him, only frowning and checking if Yvette was hurt.
His hand tightly gripped Yvette's arm, and Yvette... didn't push him away.
Albert's hanging hand gradually clenched, becoming increasingly displeased.
A colleague, seeing Albert hadn't followed, called out to him a few times without response and had to walk back to get him.
Albert stood still, looking ahead, not noticing the colleague had come up beside him.
The colleague asked, "What are you looking at? A beauty? So focused?"
Albert finally noticed the colleague, withdrew his gaze, cleared his throat, and denied, "Nothing."
The colleague looked in the direction Albert had been staring in and immediately saw the young couple who hadn't left.
The girl seemed a bit frightened, looking panicked, while the tall man protected her in his arms, his face full of undisguised concern and tension. They seemed very close.
"Indeed, a beauty to behold. She is truly stunning, even though she already has a boyfriend. Look at how caring he is towards her," a colleague patted Albert on the back and said, "Let's go, let's go!"
At a men's dinner, the topics inevitably included alcohol and women.
The maintenance guys loved drinking, and the beer was quickly finished.
As they drank, they teased the colleague who had found a girlfriend, all were very envious.
One commended, "Our maintenance department is the hardest place to find a girlfriend. You're amazing, and your girlfriend is a flight attendant."
Someone added, "Yeah, we're different from others. Like Albert and the other pilots, wearing uniforms attracts many girls. We're miserable, dirty every day, only facing oil and parts."
Another colleague immediately chimed in, disagreeing, "We also have uniforms. Why can't we attract girls?"
Somebody remarked, teasingly, "Let it go; our uniforms are just like those of the air conditioning installers—girls don't fancy that!"
One urged, "Hahaha! Enough of that; it's bittersweet; just drink, just drink!"
The men urged each other to drink, the atmosphere lively.
"That's not entirely true." A colleague shifted the topic to Albert, and remarked, "Albert doesn't have a girlfriend either. Even though he wears a uniform, he hasn't attracted any girls."
"With Albert's looks and build, if he wanted to attract women, it would be very easy. You think he's like you, looking like a virgin who's never dated," another man said.
Albert hadn't been paying attention to the conversation. From the moment he sat down, he seemed distracted.
He had only taken a few sips of the beer in front of him.
He clearly recalled the scene he had just witnessed.
'Who is that man?' he wondered.
Although there were many pilots at North Airlines, he had seen most of them and had an impression of them. Since that man was completely unfamiliar to Albert, he probably wasn't a pilot.
'Could he be from the Center? He was wearing a white shirt, looking clean, with a calm demeanor, definitely like a doctor,' he thought.
If he were a doctor accompanying Yvette, they would likely have many topics to discuss.
...They also make a great fit.
With this in mind, Albert unconsciously furrowed his brow, picked up the beer in front of him, and drank it all in one go.
