Chapter 402 - 382: How Long Are You Going to Hide From Me? 1

Nancy figured he had a point, so she joined him in the long line.

After a half-hour wait, the two of them finally got a table. They had just ordered when Liam Sheffield, sitting across from her, answered his phone.

Nancy took a sip of warm water to soothe her throat. She overheard Liam’s smug voice on the phone. "Cousin! What can I do for you?"

Liam’s cousin... that meant Dylan Heston!

The mental shock made her choke on the water she had just swallowed, and she burst into a fit of coughs.

Liam handed her a napkin. "Nancy, are you okay?"

She took the napkin and waved her hand dismissively. "I’m fine."

These days, any mention of Dylan Heston made her as skittish as a frightened bird.

"I’m having lunch with Nancy. Where am I?" Liam glanced out the window. "I don’t know the exact address, but I’m at a small restaurant near Sharon’s company."

Nancy lowered her head, cupping her water glass and quietly listening to Liam’s conversation with Dylan.

"Oh, you’re in the area? Great, come on over!" Liam gave him the restaurant’s name and then hung up.

"Nancy, my cousin is going to stop by. He’s the one you saw at the hospital last time, remember him?"

’Remember? How could I possibly forget!’

’Just the night before last, that man cooked a meal for me.’

’If I told Liam about that, would he even believe me?’

"He’s coming over?"

"Yep, my cousin just happened to be running an errand nearby!"

"Oh." She lowered her head again, murmuring a soft reply.

’This won’t do. I have to find an excuse to leave before Dylan gets here.’

Setting down her glass, she lifted her wrist to check her watch and feigned a look of surprise. "Oh, I just remembered I still have an important PowerPoint to finish. It’s due at the meeting later, so I really have to get back!"

"Go back? But the food hasn’t even arrived yet!" Liam exclaimed in surprise.

Nancy stood up, her expression full of apology. "But I’m really running out of time, I have to go. How about this, I’ll treat you next time!"

"But Nancy, hey..."

Nancy was already hurrying out the door, giving Liam no chance to object.

She would have been perfectly happy to have lunch with just Liam.

Nancy walked quickly, terrified she might run into Dylan on the way, and practically bolted back to the office.

When Dylan Heston arrived, he found only Liam Sheffield at the table.

"Why are you by yourself?" He sat down in the seat Nancy had just vacated.

Liam slumped onto the table. "She said she suddenly remembered she had something to do, so she left," he said dejectedly.

Liam was pretty hurt. He’d finally managed to ask a girl out to lunch, and she’d even shown up, but they hadn’t even gotten to eat.

Liam was the kind of guy who looked like a playboy but was actually an innocent who had never really dated anyone. He’d finally found a girl he liked but had no idea how to even approach her.

That was why in the past, whenever he saw Nancy at school, he never dared to just go up and say hello.

Later, when he heard she’d left for an internship, he felt a pang of disappointment. No wonder he hadn’t seen her around school for so long.

"Hey, man," Liam asked, "do you think Nancy figured out I’m trying to ask her out? Is that why she wouldn’t even have lunch with me?"

"Probably."

Hearing that only made Liam more miserable. "Come on, man, can’t you say something to comfort me?"

"You want me to lie to you?"

"..." Liam rolled his eyes. ’As expected, talking to my cousin is a waste of time.’

This wasn’t looking for comfort; it was asking for abuse.

"When did she leave?" Dylan Heston gazed out the window.

He hadn’t seen any sign of Nancy on his way over.

"Just a minute ago. Right after I hung up with you, she said she had to go."

Dylan let out a cold, knowing smirk. "Is that so?"

"Yeah, it is!"

Nancy rushed back to the office. Luckily, she still had two bread rolls in her drawer, which she took out and gnawed on to stave off her hunger.

There was, in fact, a meeting that afternoon, but there was no PowerPoint presentation due.

That was just an excuse she’d made up to get away from Liam—and to avoid Dylan.

Having snuck away like that left her completely distracted during the meeting. Her mind was filled with thoughts of Dylan Heston.

During the meeting, her team leader noticed she was spacing out and called on her to present a planning point. Nancy, lost in her thoughts, didn’t hear him at all.

The colleague next to her secretly tugged her sleeve under the table. "Quick, the team leader’s calling on you!"

That snapped Nancy back to reality. She shot up from her chair and stared blankly at the projector, having no idea what to say.

The team leader was furious. "I want a complete proposal on my desk tomorrow morning. Meeting adjourned!"

Nancy wanted to cry but had no tears. ’Great, now I really do have to write a proposal.’

The rest of the afternoon was a flurry of research and creating diagrams. The moment quitting time arrived, she hastily packed her things and rushed out of the office.

Lately, Nancy was always the first one out the door after work. She had to hurry to the art studio.

Her session at the art studio lasted for three hours. By the time she got home, she was so exhausted she collapsed onto the sofa.

Blue hopped from the floor onto her back, meowing for food, but Nancy was too exhausted to move a muscle.

She reached out to stroke the cat, which was now nuzzling her face. "You already finished what I put out for you this morning?"

"Hold on, just let me rest for a minute, then I’ll get you some more food."

She closed her eyes, took a deep breath, and mentally counted down from ten.

With a sudden jolt, she sat up from the sofa. "Alright, alright, I’m getting up! I’ll go get you some food!"

After feeding the cat, she casually prepared a bowl of instant ramen for herself.

This was the same instant ramen that Dylan Heston had thrown in the trash. After he left, she had fished it back out.

’This is my ramen, who gave him the right to just throw it away?’

The steaming ramen tasted heavenly. The first bite brought a wonderful sense of satisfaction to her growling stomach.

She happily finished the entire bowl, her energy restored. Now, it was time to get back to work.

She had no idea where to even start with the proposal. She was completely stumped.

Just as she opened her laptop, she heard a knock at the door.

’That’s strange. Who could be knocking at this hour?’

She put down her laptop and walked to the door. When she looked through the peephole and saw who it was, she jumped back in fright.

’I just dodged him this afternoon, and now he’s found me tonight?’

’What should I do? Do I open the door, or pretend I’m not home?’

She paced back and forth hesitantly, her footsteps growing lighter. The doorbell rang intermittently.

She glanced at the door. ’Why isn’t Dylan leaving?’

In truth, Dylan Heston was not a patient man.

He knew Nancy had to be home. The reason she wasn’t opening the door was undoubtedly the same as it was at lunchtime.

To be precise, she was avoiding him.

Just as Nancy was wondering why he hadn’t left yet, the man outside suddenly spoke. "Open the door. I know you’re in there."

"What do I do, what do I do, what do I do," Nancy muttered to herself. ’Should I open the door or not?’

She took two steps forward. The silence from the doorway was sudden. ’Could he have left?’

But the very next second, the phone in her pocket rang, making her jump. She fumbled to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Now you can open the door."

Nancy was one hundred percent certain she did not have Dylan Heston’s phone number.

And she would swear, one hundred percent, that she had no idea this number belonged to him.

The contact was saved simply as "him." It was the number of the person who had accidentally texted her on New Year’s Eve.

She had thought it was some other lonely soul, just like her. She never imagined it could be Dylan Heston.

She felt as if she’d been struck by lightning. Her already hoarse voice failed her completely.

’How could this be? It’s impossible!’

Nancy slowly opened the door. "Hello, Mr. Heston."

Dylan Heston shot her a look, grabbed her by the wrist, and pulled her into his embrace.

With a forceful tug on her arm, her world spun as she crashed into a hard, broad chest. A familiar masculine scent flooded her senses.

It seeped deep into her lungs, reaching the very core of her being.

She looked up in a panic, her gaze landing on his chin. "You..."

Dylan immediately lowered his head, cupping her chin with one hand and pressing his lips unerringly against hers.

"Nancy Hughes, how long do you plan on avoiding me?"

’I’m not even that pretty. We’ve only met a few times, and our personalities are completely different. We don’t even have anything to talk about when we’re together.’

’It’s absolutely impossible.’

’So... he must be drunk?’

’I think I smelled alcohol on him. Yes, that’s it. He must be drunk.’

She turned it over and over in her mind, tossing and turning until three or four in the morning before finally falling asleep.

The next morning, she was almost late for work again.

The moment she stepped into the office, her team leader pulled her aside.

He glanced at the proposal she’d written and slammed it down on the desk. "What is this garbage?!"

Nancy felt helpless. It wasn’t what she’d wanted, either.

She wasn’t good at writing proposals to begin with, and what’s more, she had been a complete mess last night because of Dylan.

"I’m sorry, sir. I promise I won’t let my mind wander again."

The team leader waved her away angrily. "Just remember, don’t let me catch you doing this a second time!"

"Yes, sir!" Nancy gave a deep bow.

"Alright, get out of here."

Nancy returned to her desk and breathed a sigh of relief.

Gwen Gunn was on the phone with her daughter. "I don’t have time this weekend. You should ask Dylan Heston!"

Hearing Dylan’s name, Nancy immediately perked up her ears to eavesdrop.

’Dylan will definitely go out with Hannah Gunn. Last time at the art museum, I realized he’s completely unable to refuse any of her requests.’

Slumped over her desk, she listlessly pulled out her phone and opened her contacts.

Her thumb hovered hesitantly over the screen. After a moment’s thought, she deleted his number.

’Last night was a complete accident.’

’It never should have happened.’

As she deleted the phone number, she tried to delete all memory of Dylan Heston along with it.

With Dylan gone from her life, it felt like things were back to normal. At least now she had one less thing to worry about.

’I need to work hard and make money.’

On Friday, for a rare change of pace, she wasn’t working. Ms. Chandler from the art studio was treating everyone to a meal.

Nancy couldn’t refuse, so she went along.

The gathering was at a small restaurant near the studio.

She had just sat down when her phone rang.

Nancy froze, staring at her phone in a daze.

Ms. Chandler nudged her. "What’s wrong? Is that your boyfriend calling?"