Chapter 38: Surprising Development

When the elevator opened, Emma and Haoran quickly entered as there were several people behind them. And since Haoran was the closest to the elevator's floor button, Haoran asked the people behind him which floor they were headed to.

"12th floor, please," answered a fat man who kept looking at his watch. He was carrying a large suitcase, probably containing documents. He gave a nod to Haoran with a grateful expression. His head was a little sweaty, and it was clear he was eager to arrive at his destination as soon as possible.

"The restaurant on the 20th floor, please. Thank you," said the beautiful girl with brown hair tied in a ponytail and a pair of sunglasses that hid her eyes. She didn't wear any makeup, and they could see her freckled cheeks, but she looked naturally stunning. She wore a washed out jeans with a white shirt and a thin gray scarf.

"17th floor, please. Thank you, young man." A pair of a middle-aged man and woman and their teenage daughter nodded to him gratefully. The daughter seemed to steal glances toward Haoran several times.

"25th floor. Thank you." A woman in her 30s who looked like a supermodel in a sexy dress nodded toward Haoran. Her face was layered with thin makeup and a sweet smile. She was so elegant and graceful.

Haoran then pressed all the requested floor buttons and turned to Emma. "What about you?"

"The 10th floor," Emma said, indicating she chose to go to Haoran's suite directly. Haoran pressed the button for the 10th floor. Emma then remembered something and asked Haoran, "Do we have an update from Goose?"

Haoran shook his head. "Not yet. Maybe she's swamped with work. But you can check later, who knows maybe she sent something this morning."

"All right. The 10th floor, then," Emma said. She felt no need to stop by her room since she didn't need to do anything there. She had already finished packing last night, and now she just wanted to relax.

A couple of minutes went by, the elevator stopped on the 10th floor and both of them got out. They walked side by side to the door of 1012. Haoran opened the door to his suite, inviting Emma to go inside first before closing the door behind him.

"I'll lie down for a while. Make yourself at home. Make tea or whatever," Haoran said, pointing to the kitchenette and living room.

Emma nodded.

"I can open your laptop, right?" asked Emma after plopping herself on the sofa.

Haoran nodded. "You know the password."

"Thank you." Emma grabbed Haoran's laptop from the desk and put it on her lap. She opened the screen with the password Haoran had given her. And seeing at the flashing notification, Emma became excited because there was a new message from Goose. "Looks like Goose sent you a message. It arrived before we had breakfast."

"Oh, really? What does it say?" Haoran sat beside Emma and prepared to listen as she opened the message from Goose. Haoran laid back on the sofa with his eyes closed. "You know, this is the first time she took a long time to accomplish something. Given the specific location and time you've provided, she should have been able to find the answers we're looking for."

"She said she was having a personal matter," Emma said before proceeding to read the contents from Goose.

[Sorry for the delay. In the last few days, I had to take care of a problem. I've got a few pictures I think you'd want to see. Unfortunately, there wasn't much, but hopefully, they could still be helpful.]

Haoran looked at the images with Emma and immediately, Emma's chest tightened. She recognized the blurred-images of her father and mother. They were always standing side by side or walking together, but both their faces were smudged as if they were reflecting light, so they weren't captured by the camera.

Emma recognized several locations where the pictures had been taken. The Arc de Triomphe, Pont Alexander, and a metro (subway) station. She sighed.

"Wait a minute, there's something strange here," Haoran said. He checked a few photos and inspected them with a frown. "Look, at some of these photos, it's not just your parents whose faces are blurred. There, on the corner! Two people are also blurred out. They seem to be following your parents from Pont Alexander to the metro station!"

"Gosh!" Emma's eyes went round in surprise. She realized Haoran was right. She had only focused her attention on her parents and didn't notice anything suspicious around them.

Emma's heart pounded against the wall of her chest when she saw the last picture. Aside from her parents and two mysterious people, there were two more figures sitting leisurely on a park bench across the street from the metro station! Their faces also seemed to reflect light so the camera couldn't capture them.

"D-Do you think they're following your parents?" Haoran asked Emma in a trembling voice. This discovery made both of them nervous. "In the last photo, the number of people with blurred faces increased.��

Before Emma could answer, a new incoming message flashed on the screen.

BEEP

Haoran opened the message and found it was sent by Goose. Why was Goose sending a message again? Did she find additional information?

[Kids, please don't mention my name in public places. Walls have ears. Sorry, I can't help much this time. Good luck to you, guys!]

Both looked at each other in surprise.

"Wha-what did Goose mean?" Haoran asked in confusion. "When did we say her name in public?"

"This is crazy! She even knew we talked about her in a public place," Emma said. She frowned, trying to remember where she and Haoran had talked about Goose. "Let's see, we've talked about her several times. Maybe in Versailles? Or was it in the elevator just now?"

Both stared at each other in puzzlement.

"Do you think she's one of the people who entered the elevator with us?" Emma voiced her suspicion. Suddenly, she regretted not reading people's minds whenever they were in public. Well, it was mentally taxing, so she had been used to not using it.

CREATORS' THOUGHTS
Missrealitybites

This story actually shares the same universe with my other novel "The Alchemists". I just love giving some easter eggs from time to time for readers who happen to read both. If you have read "The Alchemists" in Volume 3, you might have heard about Goose, and if later you read Volume 4, you will know why Goose suddenly ends up in the same hotel as Haoran and Emma. (That's why she knew they were talking about her).

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No worries, if you don't read the other novel. Goose story doesn't have anything to do with Haoran and Emma's.

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But if you're curious, and wanted to find a new book to read during this quarantine time, feel free to check it out. The story is light-hearted and relaxing :).

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