The cab ride to the hotel was quiet at first, as Jamal sat in the car with Stefan. Jamal leaned back against the seat, watching the streets of Westend blur past, his mind still on the mute girl.
"I noticed you got quite cozy with the girl on the plane," Stefan said suddenly, his tone light but laced with curiosity.
Jamal barely turned his head. "I was," he admitted, his voice even. Then, before Stefan could add anything else, he added, "And you don’t need to say anything more on the subject. I don’t want to talk about it."
Stefan nodded. "Okay."
A moment passed. Then another. And Jamal waited quietly, knowing that Stefan was not done yet.
"Did you get her number?" Stefan asked.
Jamal sighed but didn’t bother hiding the small smirk that tugged at the corner of his lips. "I did."
Stefan exhaled in relief. "Good."
Jamal raised a brow, turning his head slightly to glance at Stefan. "What’s good about it? And why do you look so relieved?"
"This time you won’t be trying to find her as much as you tried to find the last one. You can easily reach her," Stefan said, and Jamal didn’t bother to ask what Stefan meant by that.
He knew better than to encourage him. Instead, he shifted his focus back to the cityscape outside the window.
His thoughts drifted back to the mute girl. He hated that he had to think of her as the mute girl.
Why hadn’t she told him her name directly? Why did she want to wait until they met again to tell him that, when he had told her his name so easily?
He had thought he would figure out her name through her social media page, but to his surprise it was just as anonymous as his own.
No name, no real identity, just a blank profile with cryptic posts.
He could understand his reason for living anonymously but he couldn’t understand hers.
What was she hiding? Why was she pretending to be mute when she could talk? Who had she been hiding from at the airport that made her ask him not to talk to her?
The whole secrecy intrigued him more than it should.
Before he could think too deeply about it, his phone buzzed with a WhatsApp video call and he grinned when he saw it was Emily and Mari.
He received the call immediately after connecting it to his AirPod, "Have you seen her yet?" Mari was the first to ask, her voice vibrating with excitement.
"How was your flight? Are you in Westend now?" Emily asked, and Mari rolled her eyes.
"You’re determined to make me look like the mannerless one, aren’t you?" Mari asked Emily, and both Jamal and Emily laughed.
"I don’t need to make you look like anything. You do a good job of it yourself," Emily said, and Mari scowled at her playfully before returning her attention to Jamal.
"Hello, Jamal. How was your flight? Are you in Westend now?" She asked, parroting Emily.
Jamal laughed, "Yes, I just got to Westend now. I’m on my way to the hotel. I’ll stop by her office after I freshen up. You both didn’t tell anyone, did you?"
"Me neither." They both assured him.
"So... how is Cal?" Emily asked, and Jamal raised a brow.
"Why didn’t you ask me that while I was with him? Why are you asking me that now because I’m no longer there?" Jamal asked, amused by the dynamics of Emily’s relationship with Callan.
"Because if she had done that you’d have told Cal that she asked, and she doesn’t want you to tell him. Isn’t that obvious?" Mari asked, and Emily winced at the bluntness of Mari’s words while Jamal shook his head.
"Cal is fine," he said, simply.
"That’s good to know. I overheard Uncle Hunter saying that Cal would be returning to Ludus soon to start learning how to handle things at Quinn Enterprise..."
Jamal looked up when the cab pulled up in front of the hotel, "I’ll have to call you two very beautiful ladies back. I just got to the hotel. I’ll let you know after I see her. Don’t forget to keep it a secret," he warned before hanging up.
Jamal and Stefan stepped out with their backpacks, retrieved their luggage, and checked in at the front desk.
"I need a moment to freshen up before I leave," Jamal told Stefan as they took their keycards. "I’ll take a quick shower. Then I’ll head to Dawn’s office."
Stefan nodded. "I’ll do the same."
They went to their respective rooms, and as soon as Jamal stepped inside, he tossed his stuff onto the chair and loosened his shirt. A cold shower washed away the exhaustion from the flight, and when he emerged, he pulled on a simple black T-shirt and dark trousers.
He ruffled his damp curls with a towel before heading to Stefan’s room to let him know he was leaving.
Just as he opened his bedroom door, he was surprised to see Stefan standing there in a crisp charcoal-gray suit, a tie perfectly knotted at his neck.
Jamal stepped back, taken aback by Stefan’s appearance. "Why are you dressed like that?"
Stefan raised a brow. "Why are you dressed like that?" They asked simultaneously.
Jamal glanced down at himself, then back up. "Because I’m going to see a childhood friend, I’m not attending a business meeting."
Stefan smirked. "And I’m accompanying you. I’m still on office hours so I have to look the part."
Jamal narrowed his eyes. "You don’t have to."
Stefan leaned against the doorframe. "First, because I’m curious to meet the girl who still has you running back to Westend after all these years. And second, because I’m your assistant, and since it’s your first time here in a long while, I’d rather go with you. Don’t forget I’m the one who has been in touch with her this whole time."
Jamal stared at him for a long moment, debating whether to argue. But he knew Stefan wouldn’t back down and for some reason he felt more comfortable with Stefan accompanying him, so he exhaled and nodded. "Fine. Just make sure you don’t say anything unless I ask you to."
Stefan grinned. "Of course."
With that they left the hotel and took a cab to HM