Noah kept all the prizes inside his car booth and then turned around to face his daughter and Jasmine, who had an envelope in her hand and looked everywhere but in Noah's direction.
“Let's go now, Aurora,” he notified while stealing a glance at Jasmine's face.
Aurora, who had a gleam flashing across her face all the time, looked up at Jasmine and held out her little arm for her to take, “Come on, Jasmine, let's go,”
Smiling awkwardly, Jasmine removed her gaze from Aurora's little face and peeked a glance at Noah, but he had quickly tilted his head in another direction, not liking her to catch him staring at her.
Jasmine extended the envelope to Aurora with a gentle smile staying on her cherry-like lips, “Here, Aurora. Don't worry, I'll take a cab, I'm glad I could win the competition. Have a nice time in Paris, okay?”
Aurora's small face wrinkled, her features twisted comically as she reacted, “What do you mean, Jasmine? You, me, and Daddy are all going to Paris,”
Jasmine chuckled lightly, “But it's only two tickets, Aurora,” she reminded in her usual calm and soft voice.
“Then Daddy is going to get his own ticket. You won this for me, Jasmine, so only I can decide who will come with me. Moreover, how about the matching dresses and shoes we were given as prizes, didn't the judge say we should wear them while in Paris?”
All this time, Noah was only staring at Jasmine, thinking inside his heart that, was she trying to avoid him now?
No, he wouldn't even allow that. Was she stupid enough not to have sensed that he has forgiven her already? Or was it that she and her ex-boyfriend were now on good terms?
Sulking at the thought of this prospect, Noah felt as if all the blood was draining from his body as he clutched his fists harder.
“Let's go, Aurora. If she doesn't want to come with you, then it's fine” Persistence and pride were revealed in an unspeakable way when he spoke.
After his words, he went into the car and loses his tie in a fit of annoyance.
How could she go back to her ex-boyfriend after everything he did to her? Why is she so dumb?
Shortly, the back seat door opened. Jasmine helped Aurora get inside, and she then followed after her. Aurora had succeeded in convincing her to come along.
Immediately after the vehicle drove out of the school property, the little grinning Aurora moved more closer to Jasmine and rested her elbows on Jasmine's thighs.
“Jasmine, we're leaving for Paris on Friday, right?” she beamed with her dazzling white teeth on Jasmine's face.
Jasmine stared at her face, “I'll have to come up with an excuse at my work, Aurora. It's not that easy,” she explained to her with an exhausted sigh.
Noah didn't react to their conversation as he kept stealing a glimpse at Jasmine from the rearview mirror.
In his heart, he thought that even Jasmine wasn't aware of her own charming beauty. He couldn't hear what they were both conversing about anymore, he had lost his mind to her mesmerizing look.
As she smiled, Noah took a note of her teeth. They were perfectly white, not pearl or off-white. Her palm-sized face, her ponytail, her delicate nose, and her lips… every bit of her looked delicate.
Some minutes later, the car rolled to a stop in front of Jasmine's place.
Aurora became sad immediately, she didn't want her to leave.
“Please, Jasmine. Make it possible. I want the three of us to visit Paris together,” she requested in a crying tone, and Jasmine became thrilled.
She pulled her cheeks gently and grinned at her, “Don't worry, dear. I'll try my possible best,” she assured her, and a veil of hope descended on Aurora immediately.
She reached out and hugged her, “Thanks, Jasmine,”
Jasmine smoothed her hair and pressed her lips against her forehead briefly and then turned her attention to Noah, who had reflexly shifted his gaze to the steering wheel, pretending to be absentmindedly of the whole thing.
“Thank you for the ride, sir,”
Noah still pretended to be angered and ignored her, compelling Aurora to glare at her father.
“I'll keep all the prizes with me, Jasmine,” Aurora let out when Jasmine was ready to set her foot out.
Jasmine nodded with a soft smile and finally slid out of the car, “Take care of yourself, dear” she shut the car door thereafter, and it then zoomed off at once.
Standing in that spot all the time, her face turned deathly pale as she continued to watch the car that had left.
Sighing, she ambled into the house. The expression on her face seemed as if she was fighting with herself in her head, and a thin layer of mist flashed across her eyes.
Just as she was climbing the small staircase to her apartment, “Hey, Jasmine,” the person called out from behind her. However, she didn't stop until she ascended the last stair.
She stopped and turned around to meet the eyes of the only person she dreaded and in her opinion, if she was granted the chance to murder this person in the next estate, she would just do it immediately without any resistance on his doorstep as though the next estate would be too far.
Having no interest in seeing this person, Jasmine proceeded to the door like a puppet without a soul, lonely and helpless.
“Just wait for a second, Jasmine,” Xavier rushed up to where she was standing, his face filled with genuine smiles.
“Let's have lunch together, Jasmine, before we start preparing for our night duty,” he said in a good nature mood, still grinning from ear to ear.
Jasmine immediately got goosebumps as her brows knitted tightly, giving off the impression of irritation.
“Which of your ears is having difficulty, Xavier? Why do you keep pestering me? What exactly is your problem?” Jasmine's eyes had turned a bright shade of red as she reacted and shouted to his face.
“You're no longer my boyfriend, get that straight into your skull” she spelled out word by word, her eyes shooting daggers at him. It felt like a typhoon had swept over her.
“Let this be the last time you'll bother me again, Xavier. The next time you repeat this, trust me, I won't hesitate to have you reported to the hospital authority,” she threatened with a ferocious look and then turned into her flat at once.
Xavier stood planted in that spot, gazing at the closed door. He never knew Jasmine could be this tongue-lashing and to think that she kept rejecting him, he unconsciously touched his handsome face before awkwardly removing his hand.
He was confident in his own attractive appearance, so he wholeheartedly believed that her reason for leaving him was to find herself a new boyfriend.
Thinking of that, the image of Noah popped up in his head and he fumed while gnashing his teeth.
“I'll have to teach him a bitter lesson,” he muttered resolutely to himself.
In the evening.
Jasmine was heading into the hospital building, but soon spotted Doctor Sam in the parking lot. Her mood lit up instantly and scurried to the place without a moment's hesitation.
“Good evening, Doctor Sam,” she greeted warmly just when the man was about to open his vehicle door.
Doctor Sam tilted his head in Jasmine's direction, and his lips curled up to a delicate smile as he let go of the car handle.
“How are you, Nurse Jasmine?” he asked politely while adjusting his eyeglasses over his nose bridge.
“I'm fine, sir, hmm… sir… I…” Jasmine sputtered, scratching her hair and looking at him bit by bit. She didn't know how to broach her reason for coming to him.
“What's it, Nurse Jasmine? Actually, It's a good thing we met now. Don't worry, your appeal would be granted tomorrow. I've made the process,”
Hearing this, Jasmine's mouth fell agape immediately. Is this man a mind reader? She thought inside her heart.
“But sir, I haven't…”
She was halfway through her sentence when Doctor Sam chimed in calmly,
“Don't worry about anything, Nurse Jasmine. Mr. Cooper had never requested anything from this hospital in the past. So, this is the least we could grant him,"
Jasmine's brows furrowed even deeper as she repeated in surprise, “Mr. Cooper?”
Doctor Sam just smiled, opened his car door, and then dived in the driver's seat.
Even after the car had long gone, Jasmine was still standing in that spot, looking so confused as to how Mr. Cooper had related to this matter.
In the end, she shrugged off her shoulders and evacuated the parking lot. She was glad this went well beyond her expectations.
Unexpectedly, she dug on her heels and ran for some time with a beam glimmering across her face.
'I'm going to Paris' she screamed inwardly.
Later, she stopped running and looked up at the sky, “Here I come, Paris!”