Meanwhile, at Ocean Restaurant, Larry continued to drink with the seniors.
When he noticed that Roxanne hadn’t returned after a long time, he started to worry. Using the excuse of going to the washroom, he went out and gave Roxanne a call.
Roxanne was finally about to fall asleep after overthinking for some time, but the sudden noise of her ringtone woke her up.
She opened her eyes and took a while to process what was happening. Without even looking at the caller ID, she answered the call. “Hello? Who is this?”
Larry was bewildered by her question. “It’s me.”
Hearing his voice, Roxanne finally came back to reality. She felt that she had forgotten something very important.
“Where are you? Why aren’t you back yet?” Larry asked worriedly, unaware of what had happened to her.
Only then did Roxanne remember that she was supposed to be at the post conference dinner.
Earlier, she had thought that she would be able to return to the restaurant after buying Lucian coffee, so she had left without telling her seniors. Unexpectedly, she had been brought back to the hotel afterward, and the dinner had totally slipped off her mind.
Upon remembering that, Roxanne apologized to Larry. “I’m sorry, Larry. I’m not feeling well, so I left first. I forgot to let you know. Please apologize to them on my behalf.”
Larry heaved a sigh of relief. “I see. I thought something bad happened to you. It’s good to hear that you’re fine. Since you’re not feeling well, you should rest up. I’ll tell the seniors.”
After exchanging a few pleasantries with Roxanne, Larry hung up the phone.
When he returned to the private room, everyone turned their attention to him. “Where did Dr. Jarvis go? You’re already
back, yet she’s still nowhere to be seen.”
Larry poured himself some wine and raised the glass. “Dr. Jarvis is feeling unwell, so she left first and asked me to apologize to everyone on her behalf. Here, let me give a toast to everyone to thank you for your kind understanding.”
Bringing the glass to his lips, he downed the drink in one shot.
Gerald and the others all reassured Larry that it was fine although they found it a pity that they weren’t able to spend more time with Roxanne.
Nevertheless, Roxanne’s absence prompted everyone to check the time. It was getting late, and many of them were already drunk.
Gerald stood up, announcing, “I guess it’s time to go. Let us gather again soon!”
Everyone then bade their farewells and left one after another.
As the most junior one among them, Larry saw everyone off and was the last one to leave.
Exiting the restaurant, he hailed a taxi. and headed straight back to the hotel..
Although it was already late, he decided to knock on Roxanne’s door just in case.
I’m the one who brought her here, but I’m not even aware that she’s feeling sick.
Larry couldn’t help but feel uneasy about that.
He knocked a few more times, but he got no response at all.
From the recollection of Roxanne’s drowsy voice on the phone earlier, he figured that she had fallen asleep. Thus, he stopped knocking and returned to his room, which was right beside hers.
Since he had drunk a lot that night, he felt lightheaded somehow.
When he opened the door to his room, he heard the sound of a door closing and
instinctively turned his head. A familiar figure flashed by, and following that, the door on the left of Roxanne’s room was closed.
However, everything happened too fast, so Larry didn’t see it clearly. He quickly tossed the matter out of his mind.
Upon returning to his room, he called the reception and asked for some hangover medicine. Then he washed up and got into bed, thinking that he should check on Roxanne after he woke up.
