Take My Breath Away

The moment she was done speaking, Blair hurled herself around without hesitation and began to leave. However, her departure was cut short within just a few steps by the unexpected sighting of a car.

Not far away from them, a familiar black Hummer was parked on the roadside in front of the company building. That wasn't the only familiar or unexpected sight! Blair could also see a man dressed in a green military uniform and black combat boots leaning against the car door; he was smoking a cigarette leisurely, and staring in her direction. For all his magnificence, he still wore an expressionless face.

'Wesley? When did he get here? How long has he been standing there? Damn! Wesley understands English; so did he hear what Orion and I were talking about?' Blair wondered inwardly.

Orion saw the man too. Like an elephant seeing an old foe, he immediately recognized him as the person who had all but carried Blair away from the pub last time. He took a couple of steps towards Blair and asked under his breath, "Is that him? Is he that 'one' person in your heart?"

Without turning her head around, she nodded and replied in a confident and decisive tone, "Yes, that's him. I'll be his girlfriend sooner or later, Orion."

Orion fell silent upon hearing that powerful tone.

Blair herself seemed uninterested in him now. Holding the bouquet of lilies, she walked up to Wesley. "You finished your work?"

Wesley put out the cigarette and threw a fleeting glance at the flowers she was holding in her hands. "Mmm hmm. Get in the car." He was his usual tacit self, wasting no words and conveying everything shortly.

"Yes." They walked towards the passenger door. Orion clearly saw it with his own eyes that without seemingly any effort at all, Wesley naturally carried her into the passenger seat and fastened her seat belt. Then, the soldier walked around the front of the vehicle at a crisp trot and got into the driver's seat. The next moment, the car rolled into the traffic.

Once they were safely clear of the building, Blair glanced at the lilies, lost in some thought. A moment later, she told Wesley tentatively, "Orion is pursuing me."

"I can see that," Wesley responded calmly, though his eyes fluttered towards the flower for just a second.

She continued, "I mean we were good friends. But suddenly, he started giving me flowers, and today, he gave me a car! He told me that he will give me everything I want. I'm a bit moved."

'Moved?'

His Adam's apple bobbed. "Hmm." The tone remained flat.

Blair began asking his opinion after that. "Wesley, do you think I should accept his love? Should I marry him and settle down in England with him? I mean, he treats me well, and we sometimes have fun. His mom treats me well too. They helped me a lot when I was in England..." Her voice trailed off. It dawned on her that she was especially popular with the elders. It was amusing to think that someone as young as her was stealing the hearts of older people.

Wesley, being the careful driver he was, didn't choose to answer her question until they had stopped at a traffic light. Glancing at the flowers in her arms, he then said slowly, "A criminal psychology teacher once told me: the more enthusiastically a boy pursues a girl, the more aggressively he will hurt her at the time of the breakup. So..." He paused meaningfully and looked her straight in the eye. "I can't make your decisions for you. I can only tell you that you shouldn't lose your head or yourself. Never put your guard down. And always be cautious." This was perhaps the longest he had spoken to her at a stretch recently, and each of his words was specially stressed on.

Blair didn't know how to respond to this outpour. Surely, he was exaggerating, wasn't he?

The car fell silent once again. When they stopped at the next intersection, Wesley broke the silence once more. "You turned down the job I recommended you for. I think now I know why. Am I correct in thinking that you had a backup plan from the very beginning? Was his company your backup job opportunity?"

He sounded calm, refraining from betraying any emotions like he always did. She shook her head. "No. When I resigned from the Jin Group, I had no idea that Orion had opened a branch of his company here. It surprised me too."

This was the last intersection. Wesley said nothing in response and pretty soon, the car pulled up in the underground parking lot of their apartment complex.

After turning off the engine, he didn't seem to be in a hurry to get out of the car. Blair sat still too.

The fragrance of the lilies was filling the air of the car, reaching his nose. Perhaps that was what made him annoyed and threw him into action. Out of the blue, he grabbed the bouquet from her hands, opened the door, and got out. The next moment, he had angrily thrown it into a garbage can.

As he helped Blair get out of his vehicle, he reminded her in a cautious tone, "Since you haven't yet agreed to be his girlfriend, don't accept flowers from him again. It sends the wrong message."

"No, it's not like that. In fact, I didn't even know why Orion was giving me these flowers at first. When I said he didn't have to, he just told me that one of his friends overseas had sent these flowers to his girlfriend by air. For some unknown reason, there was always an extra bouquet of flowers in the bunch, and Orion told me that he was giving that extra bouquet to me..." Blair explained. That was the truth. Besides, it was only a bouquet of lilies, not roses. So Blair hadn't thought too much about it and had just accepted the flowers every time.

However, after receiving them every day for a whole week, Blair had finally realized that something was up; he had a purpose behind this, an ulterior motive of some sorts. And then, he had confessed his love for her.

Wesley said nothing and just strode towards the elevator. But Blair could feel that he was oozing with anger. Was he unsatisfied with Orion? She ran and hurriedly caught up to him. "Wesley, if you don't want me to accept Orion's love, I won't accept his love. I haven't said anything to him till now."

She was expecting a response in affirmative. However, Wesley changed his mind all of a sudden. After pressing the up button, he turned around and told her in a calm voice, "No. If you like him, then you should go out with him. Sure he isn't strong enough to protect you all the time, but he's certainly wealthy enough to hire top-notch bodyguards for you. So, I guess he's more or less qualified to be your boyfriend."

One might have thought Wesley was venturing guesses based on the fact that Orion had a company. But the truth was, the night that Orion had called Blair to the pub, Wesley had conducted a thorough investigation on his background. The man hailed from a wealthy family abroad. Unlike several famous sons of rich families, he wasn't a playboy who would fool around with women. Instead, he had led a healthy and decent life.

"But didn't you just tell me... The more enthusiastically a boy pursues a girl, the more aggressively he will hurt her?" Blair questioned. She was confused. What did Wesley want? Obviously, he had said all that only because he didn't want her to date Orion. What criminal psychologist would study break-ups after all? So why did he change his opinion now?

"Then don't break up with him." Wesley proposed a simple solution as he walked into the elevator.

The response threw Blair into a virtual frenzy, since she was unable to understand what he was thinking.

It had been almost a whole week since he had come back to the apartment. She was really happy to see him here but right now, they were quarrelling once again.

As soon as they entered the apartment and Blair threw a light-switch, Wesley told her at once, "Listen. I came back because I needed to tell you something. I am going for a mission two days from now, and it's a long one. I won't be back for quite a while. If you need help, contact Curtis. I remember giving you his number. Have you kept it?"

"Yes..."

Before she could say anything further, she was cut off. "Good. Fix yourself something to eat. I need to leave right now." With that, he turned around and was almost through the door when...

"Wesley!" Blair called out.

He stopped and turned around to look at her. There was something strange about her voice this time.

"What kind of mission?" she asked. She was wondering why he had come back home just to tell her this. Generally, he never told her that he even had a mission, let alone coming back home just for that sole purpose. Was this different from the other missions he had gone on before? Was it a more dangerous one? Or was it going to take a longer time for him to fulfill this one? So many questions popped up in her mind at once that she didn't even know what to ask. There was an ominous feeling in her heart this time.

Wesley was silent for a minute, then he replied casually, "Just a common mission. Don't worry about it. Anything else?" He wasn't going to talk much about his mission like usual.

Blair shook her head helplessly. She couldn't make him talk.

He opened the door again, and Blair called out again too, "Wesley."

He turned around and look at her once more.

Without saying a word, Blair mustered up her courage and ran up towards him. She threw herself into his arms, stood on tiptoe and played a kiss on his lips. For some reason, she didn't feel like holding back this time.

Wesley wrapped his right arm around her slim waist. Blair stopped kissing him before he could react further, but she held onto his waist and cautioned, "Please take care. I won't date Orion. I'll wait for you to come back and continue to protect me like you always do, until I find a real boyfriend that I love very much."

Without a word, Wesley tightened his arm on her waist and lowered his head to kiss her. It was completely in contrast to the small peck she had given him. Wesley kissed her deeply and affectionately.

Blair didn't sleep well that night. She dreamt of him; sometimes he was cold, sometimes he was considerate; sometimes he refused her, but then he cared for her too...

A few days later, she was working in the office when she received a call from an unknown number. "Hello?"

"Hello Blair, it's me, Megan." the girl on the other end of the line told her with a sob.

"What's up?" Blair's voice became cold when she heard who was calling.

"Blair, how are you feeling now? I'm really sad..."

Blair rolled her eyes impatiently. "What do you mean? And don't cry in front of me. I'm not Wesley. Your tears won't work on me. You can cry your heart out and I won't feel a thing!"

Megan stopped crying at once. The transformation was remarkable! She asked, "Uncle Wesley went on a mission. Do you know that?"

"Yes, of course I know that!" Blair was a little proud when replied in affirmative to the question. Luckily, Welsey had told her about this. Otherwise, she would be super-embarrased if she had to say no when Megan asked her about Welsey's whereabouts.

"Welsey and Carlos risked their lives for me. I feel really sorry." Megan sounded smug. There was not a single hint of sadness in her voice.