Chapter 201 I Am Her Bodyguard
After driving for more than thirty kilometers, they finally arrived at Eldham Town. Courtney sat in the passenger seat. She had fallen into a deep sleep with dried tears still staining the corners of her eyes.
Although Alexander couldn’t bear to wake her up, he knew that they were pressed for time. They needed to finish things here as quickly as possible. Therefore, he shook her by the shoulder to wake her up after parking the car. “Courtney, we’ve arrived.”
In response, she opened her eyes and stared at him drowsily for a long while before looking out the window dazedly as if she was still dreaming.
The sun outside was so strong that it could almost burn one’s skin. She had only taken several steps after getting out of the car when she felt a cool shade above her head. Lifting her head, she saw him holding a black umbrella next to her. He candidly asked her, “Where are we going?”
She pulled her focus back to the present and pointed to the grocery store in front of them. “There. Cameron told me to contact the owner of the grocery store. This store is the only place in this town that has a public phone.”
Lisboa was never a prosperous land due to its topography, and Eldham Town was all the more so. It was a place so poor that even the birds did not visit it; it seemed to retain the economic development situation and living standards from the last century. Fishermen squatting by the door basking in the sun and smoking homemade cigarettes could be seen everywhere.
Courtney introduced herself to the owner of the grocery store, Mr. McCullough. After her introduction, Mr. McCullough quickly recalled that she was the woman he had spoken to on the phone before. Thus, he asked his wife to watch the store while he led Courtney and Alexander to look for Bill Dawson. “Bill lives by the seaside. He’s a strange fellow; he doesn’t interact much with people in town.”
“Really? How is he strange?” Courtney followed behind the owner and curiously inquired about the designer, Bill Dawson.
“He doesn’t want to live a good life in the city. Instead, he returned to this poor place to suffer. Doesn’t that make him strange?”
Upon hearing those words, she smiled. “Mr. McCullough, there are many people like that. The city is too noisy. I’m sure there are perks to coming back to the countryside to live.”
“I don’t know about that, but Bill is much weirder than that. Two years ago, the mayor took the lead to develop a resort town by the seaside. However, Bill shocked everybody by ruining everything.”
“Huh? Why?”
“He claimed that too many people coming here would disturb his peace. He also mentioned something about pollution.”
“Couldn’t the mayor do anything to him?”
“Bill is knowledgeable. He is the only talented person in our town that has ever gone abroad. Therefore, almost everybody in town listens to whatever he says. We didn’t understand what was wrong with the development, so we just left him alone.”
Eldham Town was relatively remote and highly isolated from the outside world. Hence, somebody like Bill, who had left the country and seen the world, was no different from an authoritative figure in this town. Even the mayor respected him.
On the other hand, Courtney frowned. Isn’t Bill hindering the people of this town from improving their lives just for his own selfish interests? If the tourism industry flourishes, the entire town will be born anew. Its stunted development will improve at an astounding speed.
After walking for nearly two hours, Courtney’s calf was trembling from tiredness when she finally heard Mr. McCullough speak.
“We’re here.” Mr. McCullough pointed to a wooden house by the sea that was painted blue and white. “Bill lives there. I won’t be going with you. If you want to find a place to stay for tonight, you will need to return to the town. If you can’t find the way back, you can call my store. I will ask my daughter to come and lead the way.”
“Okay, thank you so much.” After saying their thanks, Courtney and Alexander walked toward the lonely house by the sea.
The coastal area around here had never been developed before as there were no soft, sandy beaches nearby. Moreover, the scenery in the vicinity was not that great, and the wind had a fishy smell to it. The blue and white wooden house was surrounded by a white fence. Three rows of wooden frames stood inside with salted fish and some men’s clothing hanging from them. A shirtless, dark-skinned man was boiling water in the yard. He was using a pot hanging from a frame over an open fire to carry out the simplest distillation method. It was certainly very primitive.
Courtney and Alexander exchanged glances and shared a knowing smile.
“Excuse me, are you Bill Dawson?” Courtney stood at the gate of the fence and politely directed a question at the figure.
The man turned around and glared at her. His gaze was cold and vigilant. “Who are you?”
“I am a friend of Cameron Miller. She told me to come here and meet you. I heard that you and Cameron were schoolmates at St. York University, and you were her senior there.”
“Cameron Miller?” The man stood up and wiped his hands before walking toward the gate. “Are you the boss Cameron mentioned the other day? The one with the surname ‘Hunter’?”
She hurriedly nodded, took out her name card, and handed it over. Meanwhile, the man did not reach out to take her name card. His expression remained cold and distant. His tanned face was so dark that it was practically glowing. After studying Courtney for a while, he looked at Alexander. “Then, who is he?”
“I am her bodyguard.” Before Courtney could say anything, Alexander replied to the question softly. Unfortunately, his words were utterly outrageous. She glared at him fiercely. “What do you mean by bodyguard? Aren’t you—I’m sorry; this is my assistant.”
Why would anybody bring a bodyguard along when inviting somebody to return to society? Doesn’t that imply that we don’t trust him?! She suddenly felt as if he was merely here to cause trouble for her.
The man swept a glance over Alexander and pulled open the gate. “Come in.”
Courtney heaved a sigh of relief at the sight of the man’s tanned shoulders before following him into the yard. “Mr. Dawson, I know you have lived here alone for quite some time. It’s such a waste to let your designing talent rot here. So, I hope that you can consider returning to society.”
Bill didn’t even bother to look at her. He ignored her and sat down in front of his simple distillation device, his face glowing from the fire. Then, she heard his voice through the crackling flames, “I live here alone, so there is no place to sit. Make yourselves comfortable.” After that, he said nothing more.
Then, she secretly groaned. Cameron was not lying when she said that Bill is a strange person. I think it will require a lot of effort to hire him. She did not leave even though he was completely ignoring her. Rather, she simply stood there awkwardly without moving. We can’t just stand here all day, can we?
While she was considering her options, Alexander stepped forward. His deep voice rang out in the courtyard. “Mr. Dawson, in my opinion, it’s not hard to make somebody do something as long as the other party has something that they want. However, this process requires communication between both parties. It’s meaningless if you don’t tell us what you want and leave us hanging here.”
Courtney hurriedly tugged at his arm. Unfortunately, the damage was done—what had been said could not be taken back again.
In response, Bill turned around and glared at Alexander.
“I’m sorry…” Courtney hurriedly apologized.
He turned away again, showing his back to the two. “Your assistant is right. Everything starts from the negotiation of terms and conditions. But, there’s nothing I need.”
“Then, why did you make me come here?” Courtney became slightly angry.
“I made you come?” Bill glanced at her, continuing to tinker with the things inside the pot. “I believe what I told Cameron was: Don’t come looking for me. Even if you do, I won’t go back.”
