His Contractual Mistress

Chapter 40:We Are Not A Couple

Inside the car, Hailey was nervous. She freaked out for a moment after she told Vince she was blushing. What would he think of her now?

Ah. That was embarrassing, Hailey! She could not stop scolding herself.

Anyway, who will go to the hospital just because she was flushing red? That was hilarious, you know. But it touched her how Vince being concerned about her. And she didn't want to put a meaning on it.

'Stop thinking too much, Hailey.' She reminded herself.

Hailey froze when the driver's seat opened, and Vince slid inside. She's thinking hard about how she can ignore his presence and avoid having a conversation with him.

She is thinking to play on her phone or pretending she is browsing on her phone, but she needed the mobile internet. And if she turned on her mobile data, her phone won't stop ringing and making noises with her incoming messages.

Hailey felt relieved when Vince drove his car quietly. But heavy traffic took place when they were entering the central city from West Bay. The cars didn't move at all.

Vince is tuning in on the radio, but he didn't find any good songs. He is hesitant to play his playlist, might Hailey would not like it.

"I rarely used this car, so I haven't downloaded any songs yet." Later, he explained.

Hailey turned her head and smiled at Vince. It seemed like she was not the only one who's nervous. Vince is uneasy too, and he is trying to distract himself.

"It's alright. I could listen to my phone." After saying this, Hailey takes out her ear pod and browses the playlists of her favorite songs. Her phone is always ready to connect to her car to play her playlists while she was driving. It was the same here in Metro City when she was always stuck in the traffic.

Meanwhile, Vince seemed gloomy. Now that Hailey wearing an ear pod how could he start a conversation? He should open up something else like about her class or if her mind change to be his date on his Class Reunion.

Hailey seriously ignoring his presence. It was a long one-hour drive back to his penthouse when it could only take less than thirty minutes without traffic.

Hailey hit the pause button on her phone to stop the song, then took off her ear pods when they were reaching the parking lot.

She gets out of the car in silence and waits for Vince to get the ice bucket from the trunk of his car.

Headed to the elevator, she noticed an old lady. Hailey rushes to her side and helps her carry the grocery bags.

"Good evening, Mrs. Flores."

"Oh, dear! Hello!"

"Let me help you carry them."

"Ah. Thank you. How sweet of you."

Hailey matches the old lady's pace. Mrs. Flores is a widow who prefers to live in a penthouse than purchase a house in the exclusive villages outside the central city.

"Good evening, Mrs. Flores." Vince politely greeted his tenant.

"Good evening, Mr. Shen." Mrs. Flores smiled warmly upon seeing him.

Vince was already in the elevator and holding the door, waiting for both Hailey and the lady. After the two ladies got in, he pressed the 20th button where Mrs. Flores' lives.

"Why are you shopping alone, ma'am?" Hailey asked afterward, she lowered her gaze at the shopping bags she was holding. They are heavy.

Meanwhile, Mrs. Flores shifted her gaze between Hailey and Vince. She was scanning them from the head down to their shoes. Their outfit, telling her they were from a party or a date. But in Vince's hands is an ice bucket, and she could guess what was inside.

After she finished checking them out, she fixed her attention to Hailey and began chatting with her.

"I see. Are you going to cook your son's favorite dishes, ma'am?" Hailey notices the ingredients of the shopping bags she was carrying.

"Yes! He said he missed the dishes I made. I would love to live with him in the States, but I'm not so fond of their weather. I still like our tropical climate here."

The old lady continued chatting with Hailey, Mrs. Flores glanced at Vince then whispered to her.

"When you find a man who doesn't mind carrying an ice bucket of fish. Don't let him get away but marry him."

Hailey dropped her mouth. She was sure Vince heard that as he coughs suddenly. Now, her neck stiffened not to glance in his direction. She didn't see when Vince curled a smile across his handsome face.

However, it made her daze. Hailey was pondering what is the relevance of carrying an ice bucket of fish to marriage?

As Mrs. Flores sees the confusion on her face, the old lady explains, "When you meet a man who is willing to accompany you shopping in the fish market. He values your marriage."

Hailey even became confused. These facts are vague to her. She doesn't understand because she never had a boyfriend, nor in a marriage, except for the fake relationship she has with Vince.

Hailey looked at Mrs. Flores, who smiled warmly. She mused that maybe the old lady is referring to businessmen, who are wearing expensive suits that would never dare to step into a public fish market.

But her male friends also wore those designer suits but then went fishing on weekends and vacations.

Maybe that is the reason she always heard women saying, 'They were men of every girl's dream!'

Still, she could not figure out the relation to that. Her friends who were in their 30s still single and rare for them to go on dates.

Not to mention they also went shopping at fish markets or visiting fish ports. And they had huge ice buckets and coolers kept in their fishing boats.

So, how does it become relevant to marriage, especially to her and Vince?

Seeing a man wearing expensive suits doesn't intimidate her at all. She grew up living with a man that had countless expensive suits in his wardrobe. Her dad.

And even Andre, Bryan, Geoffrey, James, Leo, and everyone in her circle of friends have different brands of designer suits.

But she would be honest that Vince is different among them all. He possessed something that she wanted to discover herself, the reason she could not distance herself from him.

Ah, why she's thinking about it too much? Hailey comes back to her senses. She gathered her thoughts in one place the moment the lift opens.

Vince let the two ladies step out first. He noticed how Hailey had been confused by Mrs. Flores's statement. So then, he leaned over to her and whispered.

"This is my first time to shop in the fish market. And the first time I carried an ice bucket."

Hailey rendered speechlessly. She tried to process everything, but she only has one conclusion.

'We are not a couple!'

Fish, ice bucket, marriage? There is no relevance at all! She needs to be enlightened.

Any man does not mind going to the fish market and shop, right? Hailey mused, popping big question marks on her head.