After a brief hesitation, he pulled up his sleeve to reveal a bandage over his shoulder and proceeded to pull it off. One look at the wound and Arielle instantly recognized it as a knife wound. The wound was deep as if the knife had cut to the bone. Because of the stitches, the wound looked like a big, red, and angry centipede. Due to the force of ripping the bandage off, the wound had reopened, and Arielle gasped as blood started seeping out of it.
It was at that moment that Arielle suddenly recalled an incident. Back when she was living overseas, there was one night when she walked past a street after dinner. To her horror, a group of men with machetes was beating up another man. Incidents like those weren’t an uncommon sight, and Arielle’s initial thought was to walk away. However, when she saw the attackers start to slash the man with their machetes, she hurriedly ran over and fought them off.
No matter how good she was at fighting, she was still one lone woman up against a group of men. In the end, she escaped with the injured man in tow. They ran for almost ten blocks before they managed to shake his attackers off. Once the coast was clear, she gave the man some money and even got a car to send him to the hospital. The man’s knife wound, if she recalled correctly, was right on his shoulder blade, just like the man in front of her now.
In that instant, everything came flooding back as she finally recognized the man. “It’s you?” Arielle asked in disbelief. The man let out a deep sigh of relief despite his wound still bleeding. “I’ve looked for you everywhere overseas, but when one of my friends got missing, I had no choice but to come back here. Even then, I kept sending people to look for you, and just when I thought I had finally found you, I lost the lead again…”
Arielle suddenly recalled the phone call she had with Ashley. “What’s your name?” “Harvey! I’m Harvey Jupiter!” Everything became clear in that instant, and Arielle’s earlier concerns were gone. She gazed deep into Harvey’s eyes and smiled. “Who knew I’d accidentally save the CEO of Jayhawk Group. How are you doing now?” Harvey nodded excitedly. “I’m good. Everything’s good.” “I’m glad to hear that.” Arielle pointed at this shoulder and added, “Your wound’s bleeding again.
You might want to get it checked out at the hospital. I should be going home now too.” “No problem!” Harvey replied confidently. “Don’t worry about a small wound like this. What about you? Where are you living now? C-Can I get your contact number? I want to repay you.” Arielle groaned silently, feeling somewhat helpless.
Why does everyone like to repay others? She smiled faintly and shook her head. “I’m doing very well, thank you. And you don’t have to repay me. I’m just happy that you’re well and good. Right then, I should leave now. Bye!” With a wave of her hand, Arielle turned and walked away.
A few feet in, Arielle realized Harvey was still following behind. She turned around and looked at him quizzically. “Is there anything else?” “No… There’s nothing else,” Harvey mumbled while scratching his head. “It’s late, and I’m worried to let you walk these streets alone. Can I walk you home? Don’t worry. I promise not to bother you.”