Imperfect Desires

When Xiu went back to Darren's side, he was standing alone. Zhou Xichen wasn't with him which made Xiu look at Darren with an inquisitive look. As if he understood her meaning, he replied, "He went over to talk with his friends." Xiu nodded her head and didn't say anything.

Her silence made it even worse for Darren to bring it up. He really had to ask her why she was so indifferent? He needed to know whether she knew about his father or not? And if she did, then how? Because at this point, the only culprit in his mind was Dylan. But when he thought again, he denied his own idea, Dylan would rather lose his head than open his mouth. 

But if it wasn't Dylan than how did his Sweets learn about it all?

"Sweets, about my dad..."

Xiu stared into his eyes and his words got stuck in his throat. He really didn't know what to say or how to say it. Xiu extended her hand towards him. And as he looked at her stretching out a palm, he was even more confused.

"Give me your room key card," she curled up her fingers urging him to hurry up.

"Paige has it," he replied plainly.

She nodded her head and turned to leave. But stopped after a couple of steps and said, "We'll talk about your dad later. For now, pay attention to your work."

Darren followed her up saying, "I can talk right now."

Xiu placed her hand on his chest and stopped him. "Stay here and do what you're supposed to. I'm not running anywhere. I'm just tired." She tip-toed to leave a chaste kiss at the corner of his jaw before adding, "So, hurry up with your work because I'll be waiting in the room for you."

Leaving him there, Xiu left the hall and found Gigi who was still waiting for her. That wasn't unexpected though. Unexpected was the fact that Paige and Gigi were still locked in a staring competition. Paige hadn't moved and neither had Gigi. It almost felt stifling to Xiu who thought these ladies seemed like they were arguing with their eyes. Strange!

Shaking off this weird feeling, she started, "Paige, give me the key card for Regan's room."

Paige finally turned her attention to Xiu and smiled slightly, "I'll take you there myself. Follow me."

And since Xiu was following Paige then Gigi had to follow Xiu as well with their luggage. Even inside the elevator, Xiu could feel the tense atmosphere since nobody was talking. However, Gigi's eyes on Paige's face was way too eye-catching for Xiu who loved noticing even the smaller details. So, how could she not see that Paige seemed like she was avoiding Gigi's gaze?

A possibility suddenly popped up in her mind and the way she looked at both the ladies around here changed dramatically. However, she decided to just stay silent. No matter how curious she was, she was gonna stay out of it. She had to!

"Here you go," Paige opened the door of Darren's suite and led Xiu inside. After making sure that Xiu didn't need anything, she was about to leave when Xiu stopped her.

"Paige, get a room for her as well. It's better if it's close by."

Paige looked at Gigi again and nodded to Xiu without any question. Seeing both of them leaving, Xiu finally breathed. Both of them together was really putting some pressure on her poor soul. Gigi's personality was rather stand-offish, lofty, and a bit cold. While Paige was like a typical domineering, cunning, and sharp corporate woman. 

Since both Gigi and Paige had strong auras, it left Xiu feeling a bit stuffy between them.

Outside of the suite, Paige was about to go to the lobby to settle the room for Gigi when she held her wrist and stopped her. Paige first looked at her rough hands didn't seem like a woman's before lifting her eyes to face Gigi with an unfazed expression.

"How long are you gonna keep this up?" asked Gigi in a detached voice while her eyes bore into Paige's soul.

Paige gave her most professional smile as she answered, "I don't understand what you're intending to say."

Gigi sneered as her voice darkened, "You owe me an apology!" 

Paige used her other hand to uncurl Gigi's fingers from her wrist as she replied plainly, "I don't think so."

Gigi's hands curled up into fists as she glared at Paige hatefully and yet a bit helplessly. Her anger was palpable on her face. It was hard not to notice how slowly she was losing her temper along with her patience and Paige's words weren't really helping it either. In fact, her words were adding fuel to the fire now.

"So you think what you did wasn't wrong?" Gigi tried to sound monotone but she couldn't remove the tinge of darkness from escaping through her tone.

Paige shrugged her shoulders, "Absolutely not."

With that, she walked away leaving Gigi standing right there. Seeing her leave, Gigi ended up punching the wall beside her and heard a yelp. She turned her bloodshot eyes and looked at Xiu who was staring at her with wide eyes.

"Pretend like I can't see," stated Xiu hurriedly. She didn't know why she said it but somehow, right now, Gigi looked really dangerous. And Xiu was startled by her expressions.

Taking a deep breath, Gigi got back her professional look as she asked, "Do you need anything, Ms. Bai?"

"Not really," answered Xiu before nodding with some hesitation. "Actually I was wondering if you could get me a couple of things."

"Team Leader said I'm supposed to follow your instructions. So whatever you say, I'll do it."

"That's good..." Xiu smiled to herself before passing a note to Gigi. "I need these as fast as possible."

Gigi took the note and unfolded it to look at the content written inside. Even her stone face couldn't help twitching as she read the things written on the note. She lifted her eyes to look at Xiu for confirmation. "Are you sure about this?"

Xiu nodded her head, "Sometimes it's necessary."

Gigi didn't question further as she said, "Okay. I'll be right back then."