Take My Breath Away

When she heard what Wesley said, Blair secretly heaved a sigh of relief. She used to wonder if he was gay. Now she was sure he wasn't.

Her cheeks burning red, Blair turned around and broke into a brisk trot to hide her shyness. "What are you talking about? Sounds like you've given this a lot of thought. Like you'd worry about me no matter what."

"You're right." Wesley didn't deny it. He would worry about her if she lived alone or even if she lived with a female colleague.

'He just admitted it! He didn't try to lie or play it off!' Blair thought. "If Hartwell says anything, don't tell him we live together," she said.

"That depends,"

Wesley said with a shrug.

The two drove to a nearby shopping mall. They proceeded to the food court, and at Blair's suggestion, they went in on a three-sauce simmer pot—a shareable hot pot with herbs and juices from 10 different types of vegetables, seasoned with rice wine, sesame oil, and soy sauce. They got to choose the meats that went into it, and his selection was beef with enoki mushrooms, while she wanted frog legs. It all smelled so delicious they couldn't eat it fast enough. After that, they went to the department store to buy pans, dishes, scrubbies, detergent, lamps etc., to set up the apartment.

On their way home, Blair got a call from Cecelia. She touched down safely in her home country and Baldwin picked her up from the airport. "You must be tired now, Aunt Cecelia. Get some sleep," Blair said in a soft voice.

"Sure. Hey Blair, are you with Wesley now? Can you tell him I got home alright?"

Blair was at a loss for words for a bit, and didn't know whether she should tell her the truth or not. Then she looked at Wesley and answered honestly, "Yeah, we just had supper. I'll let him know."

"Thanks, Blair. Get him to take you back home. You need to go to bed early too. I'll call Niles and ask him to check on you tomorrow."

"No need for that, Aunt Cecelia. I'll call him myself," Blair said hurriedly. 'Maybe I should ask Niles to tell his mom the truth.'

"All right. Goodbye, Blair."

"Bye, Aunt Cecelia."

After hanging up, Blair called Niles. "Hi Niles!" she said.

Upon hearing that, Wesley cast a meaningful look at her.

"Hey sis-in-law. What's up?" Niles' cheerful voice came from the other end of the line.

"What? No, I'm not— Never mind. I'm calling to tell you that your mom probably needs to be straightened out on our relationship. I told her a couple times, but she didn't listen." Blair felt rather helpless.

"It's not a big deal. We don't need to tell her right now," Niles said nonchalantly. 'If Mom knows that Blair isn't my girlfriend, then Grandpa will find out. He won't buy me the house then!' he thought.

"Wait! What?" Blair couldn't believe her ears.

Niles tried to recover from his fumble. "Oh, I mean...I'm really busy now. I'll call her when I'm done working. Okay?"

"Okay. Niles, your mom is so awesome. You better find a girlfriend soon so that she won't pair me off with you."

After some consideration, Niles said, "The easiest way is for you to get together with Wesley. Then we'll both be happy. What do you think?" 'Oops, I was wrong. It's not that Blair doesn't want to be with Wesley, but the other way round, ' he thought.

Blair cast a casual glance at Wesley and answered, "No, no. I'm not your brother's type. He's trying to foist me on you."

Wesley stopped walking and stared at her with a frown.

"On me? You're kidding! Know what? My brother may be all serious on the outside, but he's really passionate and gentle. Don't give up! I believe in you. Keep at it, and you can really be my sister-in-law," Niles answered.

'Passionate and gentle?' "Bwahaha!" Niles' words made Blair laugh out loud. But as soon as she saw Wesley's deadpan face, she stopped laughing and made a face. "You know him well."

"Of course! You have to know this! You remember I told you he stroked your hand—"

"Niles Li!" The angry roar made Niles shiver. He wondered why he heard Wesley's voice on the other end.

"Blair, am I hearing things?" Niles asked with the utmost care.

Wesley took away Blair's phone and told Niles, "No, you're not hearing things. Keep talking. What were you going to say?" So now a private conversation couldn't be private, not where Wesley was concerned.

"Wesley... Um...you're a handsome guy. You and Blair are a perfect match. You're meant to be together. Uh...ha-ha... I still have work to do. Bye!" Before Wesley could say another word, Niles hung up the phone.

Wesley stared at Blair's phone and recalled what Niles said. 'So he saw me stroking her hand at the hospital?'

He was about to give the phone back to Blair when he met her teasing eyes. Now he was sure that Niles said something about that.

His tanned face seemed to have blushed. Blair widened her eyes and tried to see if she was seeing things. Wesley gave her phone back and walked forward quickly. "Niles always makes up stories. Just ignore him," he said, trying to hide his shyness.

Blair tittered under her breath. Judging from Wesley's reaction, she was sure that what Niles said was true. She wondered when that happened, when Wesley stroked her hand.

"Okay," she said, just to make him happy. She resolved to pump Niles for information later.

When they went back to the apartment, Wesley didn't walk in. "I'll go to my dorm to fetch my stuff."

"Moving in so quickly?" Blair asked in disbelief. She couldn't believe her ears.

"Mmm hmm." Since Wesley had made up his mind, he would move in as soon as he could.

"All right..."

Wesley left, and Blair began to unpack her stuff. When she took her clothes out of the suitcase, she found a particular shade of lipstick and a bottle of perfume. She didn't remember buying these. How had they gotten there?

The lipstick was of the same brand as the one Cecelia had bought. The perfume's brand was Jo Malone London.

'These aren't mine. Maybe Cecelia forgot them?'

Cecelia was one of Blair's WeChat friends. Blair took a picture of the lipstick and perfume and sent it to her along with a voice message asking, "Did you forget to pack these, Aunt Cecelia?"

Cecelia was playing on her phone. Seeing the message, she replied immediately, "No. They're not mine. I didn't forget a thing. And I never use that fragrance."

'Not hers?' Blair grew even more puzzled.

Cecelia, on the other hand, took a closer look at the picture and told her husband, "Blair found some lipstick and a bottle of perfume. She asked if they were mine."

"How come? Did you buy those for her?" Baldwin asked casually.

Cecelia shook her head. "I offered to buy her lipstick, but she turned me down. We didn't go to any perfume store."

After a pause, Baldwin asked, "You and Blair went shopping with Wesley?"

"Yeah. He could give us advice and carry our bags for us. By the way, I never knew my son was so generous. He paid for everything I bought. I got her clothes, shoes and bags, but he insisted on paying for them. My son is so considerate and caring. He treats me so well," Cecelia said cheerfully.

Baldwin almost chuckled when he saw his wife's happy face.

'That's funny. He bought them for Blair, ' he said in his mind. "What else did you buy?"