The alarm on her bedside table went off at dawn.
Despite the annoying buzzing, Janessa didn't open her eyes until ten minutes later.
She turned it off, closed her eyes, and laid in bed until she finally felt more awake.
She was not as energetic as usual, especially after the late night.
She put her long hair into a messy bun and went into the living room to see how Alana was doing.
But, when she walked in she was surprised to find that her friend had already left.
Did Alana hate Janessa for what had happened? Why had she left without even saying goodbye?
Janessa tried to call Alana, but got no response.
"The number you dialed cannot be connected.Please try again later."
She hung up the phone.
Janessa sat on the sofa and stared at the neatly folded blanket left behind.
Alana’s sad and disappointed eyes from the night before kept flashing in her head.
They had been best friends for more than ten years.
Was all that really going to come to an end because of a guy? How could she face her or Eric again?
Janessa didn't know what to do.
Maybe she just needed to give Alana the time and space to figure things out.
There was not much time left for Janessa to get ready for work.
She had to get to the Gu Group to negotiate with the staff today.
For the time being, she put aside the matter of Alana and ran into the bathroom to wash up.
When she just was nearly finished getting ready, the doorbell rang.
Who was at her apartment this early in the morning? Puzzled, she rushed to open the door and found a
paper bag of breakfast waiting for her.
"Surprise!"
Eric handed the bag over to her, his cute face grinning.
He stepped closer to Janessa and waited for her to say something.
Janessa was shocked.
Last night, she had been so confused by Alana's accusation, but now she understood why her friend
was so angry.
"Hey! What's wrong? Has my generosity shocked you into silence?"
Eric took the paper bag from Janessa’'s hands and walked inside as if he owned the place.
He went straight into the kitchen He had specially prepared soy milk and deep fried dough sticks, as
well as some pickles for Janessa.
Eric carefully plated the breakfast and served it to her.
"Well, come on.Eat up while it's still hot."
"What are you doing here? Your place is all the way across town."
Janessa asked while she ate.
When she looked up at Eric, all she could see was Alana's sad face.
She wanted to ask him outright whether or not he liked her, but she was too afraid to ask.
What was she to Eric? How could she ask him something like that? "Alana told me that you always skip
breakfast.You shouldn't do that.It is the most important meal of the day.Since I work in a cafe not far
from here, I can bring you breakfast whenever you'd like,"
Eric explained.
As he did, he bent over the table and looked directly into her eyes, showing he was serious.
His sincere look and words immediately calmed Janessa down.
She could see that he was just being a good brother and wanted to take care of her.
After having a few more bites, Janessa put down her chopsticks.
She looked at Eric and said, "You don't have to bring me breakfast.I've just been so busy with work
lately, I haven't had time to eat.You should just focus on taking care of yourself and your father."
‘And Alana, ' Janessa thought, but didn't dare say this out loud.
"No, it's not a problem, Janessa.I can bring you your breakfast and help out around the house.I may be
younger than you, but I'm still a man.I can do the heavy lifting around here,"
Eric said, raising his eyebrows.
Janessa thought it sounded as if he was talking to a girlfriend.
Though she didn't know whether this was Alana's influence or not.
She thought that maybe the expression in Eric's eyes was a little different today than it had been
before.
"You don't need to do that either.I can just ask the property management office for help.But...I do have
a question for you."
"What?"
Janessa wanted to know what kind of girls Eric liked.
Maybe Alana had guessed wrong.With this thought, Janessa secretly turned the recorder of her phone
on and asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?"
Eric choked on his glass of water.
"Oh jeez, I didn't mean to shock you."
"No, no.You just caught me by surprise."
Eric coughed, wiping his mouth and cleaning the table with a napkin.
"Well, do you?"
"No, I don't have a girlfriend.I'm just trying to earn a living right now.I don't have the time to think about
anything else."
"Oh, well, is there anyone you like right now?"
Eric's hands were holding his glass of water so tight they began to turn pale.He looked at Janessa with
a gleam in his eyes and said, "I...Maybe? Yes?"
What kind of answer was that? Janessa didn't get it.
"So is that a yes or a no?"
Anxiety grew within Janessa.
Why was Eric being so ambiguous? No wonder he couldn't get a girlfriend.
He couldn't even form a coherent sentence.
"Yes.What's wrong? Why are you asking me this?" Eric asked.
"Who is she? Will you ask her to be your girlfriend?"
"She doesn't know that I like her yet.Besides, she is older than me.I'm afraid that she will think that I'm
too young,"
Eric said, resting his chin on his hand.
He peeked at Janessa from the corner of his eyes.
What could she possibly say if he told her he liked her? Janessa suddenly felt like this was too big of a
problem to deal with right now.
Based on what he was saying about liking an older girl, maybe Alana was right.
Eric liked Janessa.
Lowering her head, Janessa was lost in thought and didn't know what to say.
"Janessa, what's wrong? Did I say something?"
Looking at Janessa’s reddening face, Eric reached out to touch her forehead.
She stopped his hand away.
"I'm fine.A girl in my office asked if I could introduce her to someone.You are the only person I know
who is about the same age as her.So that's why I was asking.
At this, Eric took a deep breath and said,
"Yeah, no, I'm not interested.I want to wait for the girl I like.So don't try to set me up or anything in the
future.I'm not going to change my mind.I'm going to tell her how I really feel one day."
This made Janessa grow even redder with embarrassment.
Things had just become a whole lot more complicated.
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