Chapter 426 Doesn't Understand the Young Man's Thoughts
Although Maya was a servant of the Blake family, Jeffery knew nothing about Donovan's family matters. Maya had been with the Blake family for so many years, and Jeffery only recently learned Donovan's name when Donovan delivered shoes to him. Maya wasn't particularly curious about her employer's affairs, and as a guy, Jeffery wasn't interested in such things either.
Then, Jeffery left.
Charles went to the kitchen to cook, and Donovan sat on the sofa, intending to read a book.
Francis brought over a discarded drawing from somewhere and showed it to Donovan.
"Dad, look at what Jeffery drew."
"What?"
"I don't know. Jeffery didn't want it anymore."
Donovan glanced at it; it seemed to be a woman's hair.
Donovan chuckled, realizing it was probably a portrait of Jeffery's crush. The young man's heart was clearly elsewhere.
The matters of a young man's thoughts were something he didn't quite understand.
Donovan found himself envying Jeffery's youthful infatuation. He had never experienced the thrill of a slow-burning romance, having always jumped straight into bed with his partners. The idea of savoring the ambiguity and tension of a flirtatious relationship appealed to him.
The next day was Wednesday, and the last class was Chloe's accounting class.
Jeffery had been shopping all morning and eventually bought two cat plush toys from the mall, one big and one small.
Initially, he only planned to give one to Francis, but when he saw the bigger one, he suddenly thought of Chloe. The plush toy was just like her, adorably cute.
When he hurried back to school, Chloe's class was about to start. Jeffery placed the big plush toy on the podium and wrote a note.
The class bell rang. When Chloe got on the podium, the first thing she saw was the big cat plush toy, which was of good quality.
She was about to ask, "Whose is this?" when she saw the note under the plush toy: [I bought this with my hard-earned money, keep it!] Chloe knew who had bought the plush toy. She didn't make a fuss and started the class.
After class, she called Jeffery to the podium.
She had planned to speak with Isabel and Saoirse Wright, her new graduate students, about her upcoming research project, but Jeffery's gesture had temporarily derailed her plans.
So it looked like she would have to call them to her office tomorrow morning.
"Come here!" Chloe said to Jeffery.
Jeffery walked to the podium while slinging his backpack over his shoulder. By this time, the classroom was empty.
"I can't accept this. Take it back," Chloe said sternly.
"Once a gift is given, there's no reason to take it back. If you don't want it, just throw it away," Jeffery added.
Chloe raised the cat plush toy in her hand, about to throw it into the trash can behind her.
Jeffery's voice was tinged with frustration as he said, "This plushie cost me 200 dollars. I worked my ass off at the library and played ball just to save up for it. And now you want to just toss it?!" With that, he stormed out, leaving Chloe standing there, clutching the plushie, unable to bring herself to throw it away.
As a teacher, Chloe valued her students' efforts too much to discard something so meaningful. Jeffery glanced back, seeing Chloe's hesitation, and smirked. "Since you don't want to part with it, you can keep it. I'm off now."
With a casual wave, Jeffery slung his backpack over his shoulder, basketball in hand, and walked away.
Chloe was left alone, unable to throw away the plush toy in her hand. She was a teacher and respected her students' hard work.
Frustration simmered within Chloe. She quickly grabbed a bite at the cafeteria before heading home. The plushie found a spot in her study as she rushed to prepare for the afternoon's welcome event.
She had stayed up late to finish a paper the night before and wanted to take a nap at noon. Otherwise, she wouldn't be in good spirits in the afternoon.
Unexpectedly, she overslept, and even the alarm clock didn't wake her up.
By the time she woke up, it was too late. The entire school would know she was running late for the welcome event.
Chloe didn't relish the idea of being the day's gossip, so she grabbed her speech and hurried toward the school's grand auditorium. Willow Grove Estates was on the far side of town from the school—at least a fifteen-minute walk.
As Chloe hurried along, a bicycle stopped beside her.
"Ms. Baker," a voice said leisurely in her ear.
Chloe turned her head to see Jeffery riding a mountain bike, slowly catching up from behind.
He seemed quite happy to see Chloe almost late.
"Do you need a ride?" he asked.
"No need!" Chloe didn't slow down at all, and sweat started to bead on her forehead again.
"No need?" Jeffery's bike suddenly blocked Chloe's path.
Chloe was forced to stop. At this moment, Chloe really wanted to curse him, but her identity as a teacher prevented her.
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