Beyond Duties

Chapter 7

It was becoming a real challenge for Vee to change her attitude whenever she sees Jordan. Guy and Lenka pointed out that her default facial expression when Jordan is around would always be grumpy, and her treatment of him was worse than how she would usually deal with an annoying individual. She never really noticed it, but she was always frowning whenever she talks to Jordan either in person or over the phone, and it was becoming exhausting. 

"You need a break," Lenka suggested. "And it's best to go with Jordan." She started laughing hysterically when Vee looked at her with disgruntled eyes. "You two need to bond. Besides, you will get married soon, and you must start learning how to like him..." She pinched Guy's arm in excitement, and earned a growl from the latter. "Oh, c'mon. You have to admit - the youngest Gallagher is a hottie. It's not that impossible to like him..."

Vee privately agreed, but there was something inexplicable which hinders her from acting nicely, and she knew that she would need to fix it. Taking a vacation seemed a good idea, and she hoped that Jordan would agree.

"Sure. When are we going?"

It still came as a surprise when Jordan agreed with Vee. She had a feeling that he wouldn't agree with the idea when he sounded unenthusiastic over the phone earlier when she invited him for lunch. She paused from biting on her steak and looked at Jordan's face to see if he was genuinely interested. A strong blush crept on her cheeks when she looked up and saw him staring at her with twinkling eyes. Those were the same eyes which she remembered seeing while they were surrounded by reporters back when their "engagement" was announced. She had already shoved the memory of those eyes at the back of her mind since she found it disturbing, and seeing his bright blues again made her lost for words.

"Uh..." she drank her wine to evade Jordan's stares. "Do I have anything on my face?" She snapped, when he refused to look away. She could feel her cheeks going red and warm, and she didn't like the developing smirk on Jordan's lips. Mustering all her strength to give him a frown, she placed her elbows on the table and glared into his eyes. "Why are you staring at me like that?"

Jordan chuckled as Vee's face quickly shifted from blushing to frowning, and he secretly congratulated himself for sucessfully making her reveal her softer side. He had always wondered how to make her yield and be friendlier to him, and he didn't expect that his usual get-the-girl actions would work. Ladies had always complimented his eyes, and acting wisely, he had always used them to his advantage. He also noticed that Vee always evaded his stares and it made him realize that she was trying not to fall in his trap. That alone, he confidently told himself, would lure Vee into staring right back at him - and it worked. For a few seconds.

"I was just listening intently," he replied, smiling as he enjoyed the sight of Vee's frown. "I've always wanted to go on vacation, and this would be the first time I'm going with my fiancee." He couldn't help but grin all the more as the Yates princess pouted at him in pure annoyance. He watched as she resumed eating, visciously slicing her steak like it were his face. "Careful, sweetheart, you might break the plate." He laughed heartily as he earned another deadly glare. 

Going on a vacation would help Jordan decide where to start with his own investigation of the Yates-Gallagher accident. He needed more information but doesn't know where to start looking without the help of a Yates. After seeing how aloof Vee could get when asked by reporters about her family, he felt that she was trying to hide something important. He knew that she would have to be comfortable with him and to trust him enough to share her thoughts, just like the way she trusts Conan. It was the same advice he got from Alannah, but he didn't expect that it would be that difficult. So far, his research revealed that Vee's personality varies with the people around her and although interesting, those information were not that helpful. In the fashion industry, she was well-known as someone who works closely with designers who donate to charities; she also earned the nickname "Snapdragon" coined by displeased paparazzi whom she had given the dirty finger back when she turned eighteen because they crashed a solemn gathering with her college friends; there were also rumors of her catching an ex-boyfriend whom she found banging another girl right in her own hotel suite and throwing him out the room butt-naked. Looking at how Vee was described by the media people, someone like Jordan who doesn't know her personally would think she could be bipolar. He chuckled at the thought.