BROWNIE POINTS
BROWNIE POINTS
She raised her finger and beckoned him to come closer. Vincent stood beside her nervously while everyone looked at him.
"This is Jillyanna, my eldest sister. This is Travis, her husband and our brother-in-law. This is Shein, my sister's boyfriend and a very close friend. You know Lucian already so I don't need to introduce him." Jackie introduced everyone to him. "This is Vincent, my friend."
"Nice to meet you." Shein greeted the man who was standing beside Jackie.
"It's been a long time. It's good to see that you're doing well." Jillyanna remarked with a smile. Travis just nodded at him while Lucian was grinning from ear to ear.
Vincent was just about to relax himself amidst this crowd when someone came in.
"Diamond-hearted-Jackie, how are you?" It was none other than Valkyrie. No one called her that name aside from her.
Brown and Winter was lagging behind him with same worried expression. "How did you even end up in this mess?" Brown asked her while checking her bruises.
"Sorry if I worried you." Jackie mumbled while giving Shein the flowers that Vincent brought for her. At the same time, Shein was getting a headache with all the people coming to visit her.
As part of his job, he knew the people from the military as well since they would sometimes send people in regional city jail. Recently, the personnel who handled the Summer case was Brown and Valkyrie. Winter, was the famous Lieutenant Colonel, in the military camp. Therefore, he knew all of them. In fact, he knew that two other people were missing.
"So, you knew them too?" Vincent asked Jackie while keeping his expression cool and compose. Deep inside, he was already trembling. His heart was giving away already.
Jackie looked at him and nodded her head. "They're my friends and family."
This simple answer shook his body from the tip of his hair down to his toes. He knew that Jackie wasn't simple but he didn't know it would be to this extent.
"I'm glad to see that you're doing okay now. I asked the school to file a leave for your while the investigation is ongoing and while you recuperate." Vincent stated with a faint smile this time. "I'm sorry to implicate you in my personal matter."
"No worries." Jackie waved her hand to dismissed such topic.
Her room was getting crowded as they visited them. While they talk to each other, Valkyrie suddenly raised his eyebrow while keeping an eye with Vincent.
"Why are you looking at him?!" Brown elbowed him with furious expression. "Don't you dare cheat on me!" he whispered with gritted teeth beside him.
Valkyrie kissed Brown's temple when no one was watching them. "He is not my type. What I'm looking at isn't really him but his necktie. Look at the clip." He urged Brown to look towards the necktie as if they discovered something that should be kept as secret.
Jackie noticed their secret gazes and realized what was wrong. She threw a deathly glare towards Vincent which surprised the latter. He didn't even know why she was glaring at him.
"Did I do something wrong?" Vincent asked her in worry. "Did I say something offensive?"
"You didn't say anything wrong but your outfit is..is..your necktie.."
"Oh this?" Vincent cut her off and held on to his necktie. "Don't even think of getting this back, it's my keepsake."
Now that he mentioned it, everyone turned their gazes on his necktie. Their eyes flickered with mischief and tease. This time, Jackie was the one who thought of digging a hole to hide herself.
He just make things complicated. When she left her hair clip, she didn't think of the possibilities that everyone would misunderstand her because of it. Now, she wanted to turn back time and take her hair clip back.
"Looks like we are invading someone's nest. We'll leave for now to give you two some time." Jillyanna commented, without waiting for Jackie's response, they left.
"We'll be leaving tonight for Pantar. Take care of yourself while we are not around." Winter mentioned in passing since she was the last to go out.
Jackie watched everyone go out of her room, leaving her and Vincent alone. "Aren't you leaving, too?" she asked without batting an eyelid. She didn't care if he'd stay or leave, it didn't matter to her.
Vincent sat on the chair next to her bed where Shein sat earlier. "I'll be leaving in awhile. Can't I spend a little more time with you?"
"Can't."
"So heartless. I even went out my way to capture your enemy."
"Who's fault is it that I got caught in this mess?" Jackie retorted back at him. "You should keep your women away from me. They're annoying me like flies."
"Hn. I'll swat this flies for you."
For some reason, she felt her cheeks became hotter with his answer. Her heart skipped a beat and then it accelerated like she was hyperventilating.
"Uhhmm..Thanks for visiting me, anyway." Jackie uttered with flush face. "Thank you for helping Lucian as well."
"Am I earning some brownie points now?" Vincent teased her even though he knew that Jackie wasn't ready to be in a relationship. Time wasn't an issue to him, he can wait until she's ready to be in love with him.
Unexpectedly, Jackie nodded her head in hesitation before shaking it vigorously. "You got all your points deducted with my hair clip." she whispered in her soft voice without looking at him.
Vincent laughed cheerfully from her statement. After all the anxiety he went through just few minutes ago, her answer was like a cold, refreshing water that quenched his thirst.
"I'll work harder to gain more points from you." Vincent smiled sweetly. "I'll wait for you." he added in the gentlest way possible.
Since she didn't know what to say, Jackie could only nod her head in response.