Chapter 513 – Beginning with a Daring Encounter

“Miss Delgado, are you in there?” The man called out even if he knew he would likely not hear her if she responded.

Curious to know who was at the door, Jade slowly tried to move her hand and her leg until she was able to sit up. Despite the air conditioner in the bedroom sweat trickled down her back and forehead and she managed to stand up.

She quickly headed for the door while wondering who was at the door. Thanks to the person’s disturbance with the doorbell she had managed to overcome the sleep paralysis.

Once she opened the door, she raised a brow when she saw the manager, “Is there a problem?” She asked with a slight frown.

“I’m not sure,” the manager said with an apologetic smile when he noticed how she looked. He could tell she had been sleeping.

“Mr. Jonas sent me,” he said as he raised his phone.

“Harry?” Jade asked as she looked at the phone curiously and then took it from him.

“Uncle Harry?” She asked, and Harry let out the breath he hadn’t realized he was holding when he heard her voice.

“What were you doing? Are you okay? I’ve been trying to reach you but you were not receiving my call,” Harry said, and Jade’s lips twitched in amusement.

“Were you worried about me?” She asked, and then when she noticed the way the manager stood there staring at her she cleared her throat.

“I’m giving his phone back to him now. I will call you back with mine,” Jade said and before Harry could respond she returned the phone to the manager.

“Thank you,” she said with a polite smile before shutting the door.

She quickly hurried to where her phone was and picked it up. She smiled when she saw the five missed calls notification on her screen and they were all from Harry. She had heard the sound of her phone’s vibration but she had been unable to reach for it because of sleep paralysis.

She dialed Harry’s line and received the call immediately, “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah. I couldn’t sleep for most of last night, so I was having a nap. And then I couldn’t wake up because I was having sleep paralysis. Thanks to the persistent sound of the doorbell I was able to stay awake long enough to snap out of it,” Jade explained with a yawn, and Harry sighed.

“Sleep paralysis? Are you okay now?” He asked with concern.

“Yes, I am. Sleep paralysis is not a stranger to me,” she assured him, and Harry made a mental note to read on it later and find out how serious it was.

“Is Candace not with you? She could have answered the door. Perhaps you should send me her number so I can reach her when next I’m unable to reach you,” Harry said, and once again the resemblance between Harry’s mom and Candace flashed through her mind.

She contemplated whether or not she should tell Harry about it, and sighed when she remembered how upset Aaron had been over the phone, “She is not here right now, but I will text her number to you after the call,” Jade said, thinking that it wouldn’t be a bad idea of Harry to know Candace.

“Where is she? Is she okay?” Harry asked, feeling weirdly concerned about her.

“She is fine. Jero is hospitalized so she’s taking care of him,” Jade said, reminding him that she was yet to fill him in on the arrest details.

“Hospitalized? What happened? How did the arrest go? You didn’t call back after you heard from them,” Harry reminded her.

“Oh, sorry about that! It must have slipped my mind,” Jade said, making Harry’s brows pull together.

Wasn’t she the same person who had promised she was going to call him every day? How could returning his call have slipped her mind, especially considering what they had been discussing before she hung up?

“Slipped your mind?” Harry asked, and Jade bobbed her head as though he could see her.

“Maybe not. I remember I was going to call at first, but then I thought about it and changed my mind when I decided it was a bad idea,” she said honestly.

“A bad idea? Why?” Harry asked in confusion.

“Well, I didn’t think I should be talking to someone else’s boyfriend so often. You know how jealous ladies can be,” Jade said, and Harry’s frown deepened, and he glanced at his phone’s screen when he received an awaiting call notification. It was Philip. Why was Philip calling him?

What was she talking about? “Someone else’s boyfriend?” He asked, and this time Jade rolled her eyes.

“Why do you keep parroting everything I say?” She asked, and Harry sighed as he massaged his temple.

“What are you talking about, esquire?” Harry asked, thinking that between Benne and Jade he didn’t know who was stressing him more at the moment.

Here he was, trying to figure out what Benne was hiding from him, and Jade was also at the side playing games with him. Between dealing with his father’s secret, Benne’s secret, and Jade’s games, he was feeling mentally exhausted.

“Well, I received your message from Aurora. She sounded so jolly that she could be mistaken for a newlywed bride. So I figured since you’re in a relationship now, I should keep my distance. I would hate to be the cause of any misunderstanding in your relationship,” Jade said with a shrug even though her heart ached as she said the words.

Harry sighed as he rubbed a hand over his face. Seriously? This was the best she could do.

“Listen, esquire. I’m tired of the back-and-forth games. Are you interested in…” His words trailed off when his office door was suddenly pushed open and Benne walked in.

He hung up without finishing his sentence.

“Did I interrupt something? I thought you were on the phone?” Benne asked when he noticed the way Harry abruptly stopped speaking and pocketed his phone.

“It’s not important. Are you ready to leave?” Harry asked, choosing to take Benne’s interruption as a sign that he shouldn’t proceed with that yet. Perhaps he still needed to tread with caution.

It seemed like every time they were close to making a breakthrough in their communication someone always interrupted. First, it had been his father who barged into the guest bedroom just when Jade was telling him how she wanted to live rent-free in his head. Next, it had been the important call that entered her phone just when he was about to ask her what she had meant the last time, and now it was Benne interrupting just when he was about to ask her out. This had to be a sign.

“Yes. Are you not?” Benne asked as he glanced at Harry’s desk where his laptop was still lying open.

“I am. Let’s leave,” Harry said as he shut down his laptop and placed it in his laptop bag before heading for the door with the bag.

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