Take My Breath Away

"Get out of here," Talbot said in a teasing tone. "I'm used to working my magic alone." He flashed Blair a disarming smile.

"Okay. I'll leave you alone. Call me if you need me," Blair offered.

"Sure."

After leaving the kitchen, Blair returned to her bedroom and began to clean. She straightened the furniture, dusted around the trim, and smoothed out the covers on her bed.

By the time she was done, Wesley still hadn't arrived. She sat on the sofa, watching TV to kill time. After a while, the doorbell rang.

She sprang up from the sofa and made her way to the door. Wesley had just had a shower and looked quite fresh. Blair pouted and complained, "I thought you were going to cook for me."

Casting a casual glance at Talbot, who was busy cooking in the kitchen, Wesley said indifferently, "You get fed either way. What's the difference?"

'I want to taste your cooking. That's the difference, ' Blair thought to herself.

Noticing a dash of disappointment flashing through her eyes, Wesley explained, "I'm so bad I can burn water. Talbot's a top-flight cook. He won first place in a competition last year." What he said was true. Although he knew how to cook, the food he cooked could only be described as edible, far from delicious.

Blair was still recovering from a fever. Talbot had learned how to cook ideal meals for patients and people getting over illnesses. He had done it for his father more than a few times.

That was why Wesley had asked him to cook for Blair.

"Got it," Blair nodded, but her expression showed that she was not convinced. 'He didn't want to cook for me, and even found a lame excuse.'

Wesley could tell that she didn't buy his explanation, but decided not to push the issue. He went to the kitchen to see if he could help Talbot, but the cook drove him out too.

Seeing that Blair was watching TV, Wesley came over and sat next to her, pulling out his phone to play a game.

Within two minutes, his phone started ringing. Blair couldn't help but turn her head to look at him, wondering, 'It's late. I wonder who that is. A coworker or a friend?'

Wesley stood up and walked toward the balcony, phone to his ear. Blair heard him say, "Hi, Megan."

'Megan? Who? Sounds like a girl's name. Is that his girlfriend?

Is she the girl I met at his apartment the other night? Hmmm... I wonder...'

Thinking of this, Blair put on her slippers and ran toward the kitchen to get some answers. In the kitchen, Talbot had already finished prep, and was about to start cooking in earnest.

"Talbot!" Blair said cheerfully.

"Hi, Miss Jing. Dinner's not ready yet." Talbot turned to look at her and saw that she closed the door to the kitchen.

"Don't call me Miss Jing. It's just Blair."

"All right, Blair!" Talbot gave her a shy smile.

"So...um...who's Megan?" Afraid that Wesley would hear her, Blair whispered it in his ear.

"Just a girl. Why do you ask?" Talbot shrugged.

"Nothing. I'm just curious." Blair tried her best to make herself sound indifferent.

While cooking, Talbot answered honestly, "She's a foster kid. Mr. Huo and our chief are her guardians. They've been really nice to her. Almost everyone in the city knows that much. Didn't you?"

"No." Blair shook her head; she knew nothing about the upper-class world.

Wesley said something about Carlos the other day. After she had come back, she had searched for Carlos' information online, but found nothing. It was her classmate who told her who Carlos was.

"She's in high school and pretty cute. Our chief and Mr. Huo adore her."

"Hmm." 'So they're not related. She's in high school. I think I met her, then, ' Blair thought to herself.

'Wesley adores her.' Blair was green with envy.

Talbot picked up a slice of stewed beef and reached out his hand. "Try it. I found this at a delicatessen."

Blair took it from him and put it in her mouth. After finishing it, she smiled from ear to ear and praised, "That is so good!"

"And easy to digest." Talbot turned on the gas burner and the fans under the range hood, and began to cook.

Outside the kitchen, after Wesley hung up the phone and went back to the living room, he found Blair was not there. He looked all around until his gaze fell on the kitchen. He happened to see Talbot handing Blair a piece of beef. They were eating and chatting cheerfully.

Standing there, he fixed his eyes on the man and woman, wondering, 'He kicked me out. Why not her?'

The more he thought about it, the more agitated he became. He went out to the balcony again, lit a cigarette and decided to stay out there to cool down.

Eventually Talbot shooed Blair out too. She stared at the balcony and saw Wesley out there, smoking. 'So he's off the phone now. What did they talk about?'

She plopped down on the sofa and played on her phone.

After he finished his cigarette, Wesley entered the living room and walked past Blair. Smelling the tobacco, she called out, "Wesley!"

Wesley looked at her and then sat beside her.

"Do you..." She wanted to ask, "Do you have feelings for anyone?" But on second thought, she decided not to ask. She didn't really want to know, especially if the answer was "yes."

She sighed and changed the subject. "Do you use WeChat?" she asked.

Wesley knew that wasn't what she was going to ask, but he decided not to worry about it. "I almost never use it."

'Seriously? Everyone uses WeChat!' she thought. "Then how do you talk to your friends?" she asked.

"Texting or calling," he answered honestly.

"Then do you have a WeChat account?"

"Yes. But I'm hardly on there."

Blair rolled her eyes. "May I friend you?" They had known each other for a while, but she didn't have his number.

Wesley didn't turn her down this time. He fished out his cell phone and tossed it to her. "Knock yourself out."

Blair picked his phone up. It was old, the OS was at least two years out of date. She swiped the screen, and it asked her for a PIN. "Password?"

"1104."

"Sounds like a birthday," she said casually.

"Yeah. Megan's." He didn't feel the need to hide it from her. Megan had changed his password.

Blair froze for a moment. 'Megan again! She has him on a short leash.'

Suddenly, she lost the desire to friend him.

She threw his phone back to him. "Forget it," she spat.

Wesley caught his phone. 'What's her problem?' he thought.

Under his confused look, Blair said in a sad voice, "I quit. You don't care for me. I know you feel it's your responsibility to help me. I'm sorry I came on to you."

She sounded like a girl who had been hurt by her boyfriend.

Wesley figured out what she was doing. He looked at his phone and asked, "You playing cat and mouse? Hoping I'll feel sorry for you?"

'Seriously? Why does he know everything? Oh God! How embarrassing!'

Blair forced a smile and stammered, "You...you're imagining things."

Wesley sneered. He raised his phone and asked, "Sure you don't want to friend me?"

Being a proud girl, Blair answered firmly, "No, I don't."