Chapter 10
Chapter Ten
I held my breath, waiting for Neil’s answer.
He shook his head. “I’m afraid that’s not possible.”
“Why not?” I shot back. “After all this, can’t you make an exception just this once?”
“It’s like you said. Anyone would have done the same.”
You bastard. Using my own words against me.
My blood boiled, and I teetered between wanting to yell and wanting to cry. The only thing stopping me was the other people in the room. All of them seemed to be watching us or pretending not to. I didn’t want to cause even more of a scene. “Okay. I’m leaving.” I was about to storm off, but at the last second I added, “At least let me know how Christine gets on,” which somewhat ruined the impact.
Neil answered with a terse nod.
I stepped away from him.
“Wait,” he said.
“What?” I asked without turning back.
“I’ll get Winston to give you a ride.”
I shook my head. “Don’t bother. I can walk home from here.”
“Correct me if I’m wrong, but all your belongings are still at work, are they not?”
Shit. He had me there. My keys, wallet, HOP card—all of them were in my bag, which I had left under my desk at work. I couldn’t go home without them.
Neil took his phone out of his pocket and called someone. “Winston, bring the car to the door. Amelia needs a ride back to work and then her home.”
He ended the call as I stood there dumbly.
“Go,” he said.
I had no comeback. All I could do was obey.
Damn that smug bastard.
I walked off with my hands clenched into fists, following the exit signs until I wound up outside the building, gasping the fresh air free from the pervasive chemical tang.
Winston rolled up to the curb. He got out and opened the back door for me.
“Thanks. Actually, could I sit in the front, please?”
I didn’t want to treat him like a taxi driver, even if, in a way, that’s what he was.
“Of course.” He closed the back door and walked around to open the front passenger door.
I settled on the seat and pulled the belt on. The AC blew a light current of cool air in my direction. I breathed a heavy sigh.
“Back to the office?” Winston asked, pulling out.
“Yes, thank you. I have to get the stuff I left there.”
We exited the carpark and entered the stream of city-bound traffic. Troubled thoughts plagued my mind as we drove. I had lost my job. What was I going to do if I ran out of money before I could line up another one? Where would I go? How could I avoid a second visit to rock bottom?
I felt Winston side-eying me with concern.
“You did a great thing helping Christine today,” he said.
“Thanks, but it was nothing, really.”
“Nonsense. You’re a hero.”
I couldn’t help but scoff a little.
“Did you know that Mrs. Liu and Mr. Kingston have worked together for ten years?” Winston asked. “She came with him from Singapore. She brought her husband here too. Same thing happened during Mr. Kingston’s stint in Germany. She packed up her life to follow him. Those two are inseparable.”
“No. I didn’t know that.”
“They have a close relationship. More like friends than colleagues.”
I flashed back to Neil holding Christine’s hand in the back of the car, and I could believe what Winston was telling me, even though it didn’t compute with the version of Neil I knew.
“I hope Christine’s going to be okay,” I said.
“Me too. He might not have told you, but I’m sure Mr. Kingston is very grateful for what you did.”
I touched my shoulder where Neil had grabbed me. His “thank you” may have been sincere, but so were his reprimands.
“Did he tell you he fired me today?” I asked.
Winston’s mouth dropped. “No. What reason could he have to do that?”
I hesitated. “It’s a long story.”
“Hmm. I’ll have to have a word to him about it.”
I shook my head. “That’s okay. You don’t have to say anything.”
The thought of Winston learning what I had done was too much. I’d rather just leave it be.
“You know, Mr. Kingston’s not a bad guy,” Winston said. “I’ve seen his kindness.”
“Kindness? Really?”
“Yep. I was in a desperate situation when he gave me this job. It was a lifeline. I’ll be forever grateful to him.”
I wanted to ask him to tell me more, but I sensed it was a personal subject, so I left it alone. Besides, what did it matter? I was never going to see Neil again, anyway.