Iris could hear Long Hui panting after his outburst. She waited for him to calm down. It seemed that the man wasn't so cold and indifferent after all.
"I don't even know why I'm telling you all of these," Long Hui finally said. "You must be thinking that I'm being ridiculous."
"Yes."
"You…" He was speechless for a few moments. "You could've just denied it, you know."
"Why?"
"To make me feel better and not embarrass me."
"But I don't care if you feel better or embarrassed."
"You! I'm your elder brother, you know!"
"I know. But I still don't care."
He didn't know how to respond to her nonchalant, brutal honesty. Afterwards, he sighed deeply. "Forget it. I shouldn't have even called you. If you're not interested in helping me, just say so."
Iris chuckled. Teasing this man was proving to be quite enjoyable. "I didn't say that I'm not interested. Actually, I'm very interested."
"Really?"
"Yes. By the way, how old is your child?"
"My son is one-year old." His tone noticeably became gentler.
"Only one. So young. Why is the mother already in a hurry to work?"
"She refuses to take my offer of child support," he said, sighing.
"Oh."
"She's not from an affluent family like us. She needs to work in order to survive. She was able to last this long without working because I gave her quite a big sum of money when she left my employment."
"Why won't she take child support from you? Does she hate you?"
"You ask too many questions," he grumbled.
"Of course I'm going to ask questions. I'm a potential employer of this woman you're recommending to me."
"Fair enough." He thought for a few seconds. "I don't know if she hates me or not. Although she's refusing financial help from me, at least she's allowing me to see our son. I want to give my son the best of everything but I don't want to take him away from her. She won't marry me either. So I can only think of this."
"Will she even agree to work as my bodyguard?" she asked.
"She will."
"How can you be so sure?"
"Because she has no choice. Unless she lies about being a mother, nobody will hire a bodyguard with such a young child."
"Don't children that age need constant attention? Will she even be able to work properly?"
"Don't give her long hours! One or two days per week max."
Iris blinked. "Elder brother, I need a permanent bodyguard."
"Just hire her, Little Sister. Even if it's only in name. I'll even pay her salary if you want. Just don't tell her. You can always hire another one who will be your actual female bodyguard if you really want a permanent one."
She was impressed at the great lengths Long Hui was going through for this woman. She must be really important to him, in addition to her being the mother of his child.
"Fine," she said. "I'll have my assistant invite her for an interview."
"Really? Thanks."
"Don't thank me yet. If she doesn't want to work for me, I can't do anything about that. Similarly, if I don't like her, I won't hire her no matter how much you beg me. I'm not running a charity, Elder Brother."
A long sigh. "Fair enough. But can you let me know whatever your decision is after meeting her?"
"Sure."
After the phone call, Long Hui sent her the woman's contact information. Iris forwarded it to Dom, instructing him to schedule an interview.
It seemed that Dom immediately took action even though it was already very late at night because within half an hour, Iris' phone received a text message from him saying that the interview was scheduled tomorrow morning before they leave for a magazine photo shoot at around noon. Unfortunately, she was already deeply asleep when he sent it so she only read his text when she woke up the next day.
###
It was raining heavily outside. The sun couldn't be seen behind the thick clouds in the grey sky. The temperature was also a bit chilly and damp.
In short, it wasn't the greatest start for an important day. Jiang Ying Yue was headed for a job interview. She was feeling a little nervous because she hadn't worked in the past two years. Her one-year old son was still sleeping when she left him in the care of her kind neighbour who was a housewife taking care of her own child.
Jiang Ying Yue wore her usual bodyguard uniform which was a three-piece suit with a simple necktie and comfortable black shoes. It now felt a little tight because of the bit of weight she gained after her pregnancy.
Her pant legs were immediately soaked by the rain even with an umbrella. She walked alongside students and corporate workers who were hurrying for school and work to the subway station. Finally, she was able to squeeze into a jam-packed train. She thought about what happened last night.
A young man called her before midnight inviting her for a job interview. It was for a bodyguard position for a celebrity.
"May I ask which celebrity?" she asked.
"Of course. It's Boss―I mean Miss Iris Long."
Jiang Ying Yue immediately knew that Long Hui must have recommended her for this job. After all, Iris Long was his sister. Then she wondered if the siblings somehow improved their relationship. Why would the bratty Iris Long help her older brother?
"Hello? Are you still there? Do you want to come for an interview?"
She thought of rejecting the offer. She didn't want to have any more connections with Long Hui if she could help it. However, she really needed a job right now but potential employers would immediately reject her application once they learned that she was a mother of a baby. She could always lie but decided against it. She loved her son and would never deny his existence.
Her agency also wasn't too enthusiastic of her job prospects, prioritizing the young new recruits instead of helping someone like her to find an employer.
Rejection after rejection. Failure after failure.
The money Long Hui gave her when she quit being his bodyguard was dwindling quickly. She thought about abandoning the idea of working as a bodyguard to work at any available jobs, but her heart resisted. This was her passion, to serve and protect her designated charge.
She took a deep breath. "Yes, I would like to come for an interview."
Back to the present.
It was finally Jiang Ying Yue's stop. She squeezed through the packed crowd of bodies, almost falling on the railway platform outside the train doors.
She followed the directions given to her last night by the young man on the phone. She needed to take a taxi to reach the place. After about twenty minutes, she finally reached her destination. She paid the taxi driver, feeling the pinch to her wallet.
It was a high-rise building located at a rather wealthy area. She walked to the entrance and read the sign.
"Gold Heights Condominium."
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