Arrogant Man VS Unyielding Woman

Noticing the terrible anger in Jean's voice, Zed was extremely sad and gave her a sorrowful stare. It was evident from her angry look that she was mad at him. Clearly, he had misinterpreted her feelings a few moments ago. Immediately, an apologetic look clouded his face as he reached over a hand and tried to tidy her dress. "I'm sorry, Jean. Please forgive me for that," he apologized in a sad tone.

"I......" Jean wanted to say something but she ended up merely biting her lips sheepishly. When she saw the stoic expression on his face, there was no way she could bear blaming him anymore.

She knew very clearly just how much Zed had been accusing and repressing himself because of their indifference in the past few days.

And clearly for a man, this must have been something really difficult to go through, especially for a man like Zed. Also, it was totally normal for men in that age to feel energetic and excited fast.

"Look, I am going to be worried if you go and see Joy alone anyway. So I'll take you there," Zed told her. He took several deep breaths before picking up his car keys, and waited a few steps away for Jean to get up.

The guilt she felt in her heart was now becoming even stronger by the second. She looked at Zed and began to say in a low voice, "Or before that, we can......"

She didn't quite finish her words, as if she was in a sea of shyness that sprayed its redness all over her cheeks like an apple colored by a tree.

And no matter what, she knew Zed would understand what she was saying anyway.

All of a sudden, his face was covered by an expression of intense amazement and he couldn't help smiling. "Jean, I am really happy to hear you say that. Now, I am sure that you do care about my feelings. But you are right! There is something you need to deal with first. And it is a matter of someone's life or death. We should not try and end up coveting the pleasures of life in such a hurry...... The two of us still have a long way to go together," Zed replied in a gentle tone, looking Jean in the eyes.

Jean felt really touched at his words and she held his hand involuntarily. "I'm so glad you feel that way and said the same. All right, we'll go deal with the other thing right now!" Jean dragged him outside.

On the other side, there was disappointment written on Zed's face in a quiet manner. But he did not want to upset Jean by letting her see his sad and disappointed expressions, so he wipe it off his face soon. The words he had just said a moment ago were meant to comfort Jean and of course, for the sake of the situation they were in at that moment.

But in his heart, he was still hoping that Jean would put him in the first place and think of him whenever and wherever possible.

'Oh Zed Qi, are you kidding yourself? I can't believe you can be such a childish person.

Jean is a human being, not a robot or a computer!

How can you force her to have you as the only one in her heart, you moron? And that too just to take care of all your emotions?

You are so selfish!' Zed threw away his feelings and rebuked himself.

Just as he was about to kick himself in his mind too, Jean suddenly stood on tiptoes which was the only way she could reach his cheeks and gave him a quick kiss over there.

The whole thing happened so fast that he could hardly react. But as soon as he woke up from the big surprise he had received, he could only put a hand where she had kissed him, trying to make sure that he hadn't had an illusion of some sort. His face became full of surprise and love a second later as he smiled at Jean.

"I'll make it up to you when we come back......" she told him coyly. As she was speaking, she blushed in embarrassment and her cheeks became red like a roasted shrimp.

Zed's heart was filled with joy suddenly, and he fixed his eyes on her in surprise.

She was still not meeting his eyes in shyness, trying to avoid his gaze which was full of a naughty excitement.

His face had lit up with a big, happy smile, which had totally wiped the gloom present on his face a few moments ago.

Jean felt so sweet in her heart, seeing him smile so happily like a child who had received his favorite toy.

It was the life she wanted, living with the one she loved for as long as she wished. And what she was feeling right now seemed to be giving her some sort of hope for a beautiful future.

Along the way, Jean leaned on Zed's shoulder just like a little bird resting that had landed on the man. She was looking at his handsome profile, with a big smile on her face.

"Jean!" Zed whispered, "I might not be in the mood or condition to drive you down there if you keep looking at me like that," he winked and said sheepishly in a naughty tone. He was trying so hard to suppress his feelings beneath his calm look.

Jean was kind of startled by his words but she then sat straight on her seat quickly, again avoiding his gaze, but her cheeks were still quite red.

As he gave her a quick glance and noticed her shyness, Zed could do nothing but shake his head with a helpless smile on his face.

'What a silly little wife do I have now? Did she really think that I meant it when I said that?' Zed thought in his mind.

After a long drive, they arrived outside the cafe. Zed opened the door for Jean in a gentlemanly manner, and she responded with a happy, delighted smile. They then walked into the cafe, hand in hand which had become crowded in the tired evening of a busy town. As soon as they entered inside the cafe, they heard Joy's surprised voice, "Zed, Jean, this way..."

Jean followed the direction of the sound to where Joy was standing. It was a table near the big French windows and she was waving at them excitedly through the soft light that was streaming through.

Jean walked over holding Zed's arm and sat down besides him.

"What would you like to drink?" Joy looked at the two of them and then asked ingratiatingly.

"Two cups of blue mountain coffee, please," Jean addressed the waitress. She did not answer Joy and didn't even look at her. It was as if she had totally forgotten that Joy was present there too. "Sure, please wait for a moment," the waitress replied and left politely with a nod, walking briskly towards the kitchen.

Finally, Jean looked up at Joy who was sitting across her. She looked haggard, with thick dark circles under her eyes. It was almost like this Joy had grown ten years older than the glamorous personality that everyone was used to.

It seemed like she had become really anxious after Shirley's kidnapping and was totally at her wit's end. It would have been a really desperate situation for her to ask for help from Jean.

However, Jean did not nag her for the details in a hurry. She took her time to patiently enjoy Joy's anxious expressions and her problems.

Whatever her plan was, it seemed to be working as Joy was getting more and more uneasy by the second under their silence. It had been quite a while since they had sat down and there seemed to be no way of breaking the ice between them.

Joy tried to move her lips a few times to speak, but stopped almost instantaneously because she did not want to offend them by appearing over-eager to them.

All she could do was try to calm herself down internally, which wasn't working too successfully. She even forced herself to smile at Jean when she saw Jean looking at her, which took more energy and willpower than she had imagined it would.

After a while, the waitress came back with the coffee Jean had ordered earlier. After a graceful sip of the delicious coffee which was her favorite, Jean eventually started to speak. However, she was addressing Zed instead of Joy,"Honey! the blue mountain coffee here tastes the best. Why don't you give it a try?" She told him, without even noticing the embarrassment Joy had on her face.

Zed merely kept on observing everything coolly. When he saw that Jean was refusing to pay any kind of attention to Joy and felt that Joy was on the verge of breaking down, he kind of could not bear his wife's indifference, especially with the anxious looks that Joy was flashing every second.

However, he did not want to upset Jean either. So he nodded and took a sip of the coffee, after which he agreed, "Well, you're right. It does taste good."

"But don't drink too much Honey! Or you won't be able to sleep at night." Jean gave him a chuckle.

"Yes my lady!" Zed replied with a grin at his wife.

It was after quite a long while that Jean turned slowly to look at Joy after she had completely finished testing her patience. Gradually Jean's smile faded away. Jean stirred the coffee with a spoon and asked in a dry tone, "Have the kidnappers gotten in touch with you?"

Joy had been telling herself to calm down.

Since Shirley's accident, she had been begging for help from all sides around her, on the watch for anyone who would offer her any sort of help.

'Finally, Jean came to see me, I must not screw it up,' she told herself in her mind.

She had thought that Jean would take this opportunity to humiliate her heartily. After all, she had been so bad to her some days before.

'She just refuses to look at me right now, but I'm okay with that, especially if it gets Shirley back!' Joy comforted herself internally.

For a second, she did not know how to respond when she heard Jean's sudden question.

Meanwhile, Jean picked up the coffee cup in front of her and took a sip patiently, as if she was not really eager for a reply.

"Yes, they called me. Sometime around noon," Joy hastily replied. She had suddenly come back to reality.

"And how long ago was Shirley kidnapped?" Jean enquired further.

It had happened fast. Just this morning, Shirley had been visiting Henry at the hospital, after which, she had been kidnapped at some point of time. And the criminals had called Joy at around noon. Really fast!

"We stepped out from the gate of the hopital together, and then Shirley left for somewhere. I did not ask where she was going. Nor did I pay much attention to that," Joy murmured. She tried to explain but the way she was speaking sounded like she was hiding something from them.

Hearing Joy's words, Jean suddenly let out a sigh of relief internally. The fact that the kidnappers had achieved their feat in broad daylight clearly illustrated one thing. Either that they were so bold that they did not care about the public at all, or, just like Jean had thought the first time she had heard the news, Shirley had known them in the first place and had followed them obediently without the least resistance.

Otherwise, it would have been impossible for any number of men, no matter how armed, to do it so quietly without drawing anyone's attention. After all, anyone being kidnapped would have made a lot of noise if it was real kidnapping! ☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐