Chapter 10: Who's The Fool?
1157 Words
Joanna didn't know how she felt about Brian being at the hospital.
The doctor looked at Brian and said, "You need to take better care of your girlfriend. Otherwise, her injury will get worse."
Joanna frown but said nothing. It seemed like too much work to try to explain that Brian was not her boyfriend.
Once the doctor was gone, Brian looked at Catherine with concern and asked, "How did you fall?"
Joanna sighed as she thought about her answer. She was not confident that her lie was convincing. After all, the doctor had been skeptical, so she was hesitant to repeat it. Unfortunately, it was the only explanation she had, so she nodded her head awkwardly and said, "Yes."
Brian: "How did you fall?"
Joanna looked away and said, "I fell while I was walking." Her face turned red as the lie passed through her lips.
Brian looked at Joanna's flushed face, and he was reminded of how she'd nearly fallen twice while at the bar. He smiled and said, "You fell while walking? You are such a foolish girl!"
Joanna glared at him and said, "I dare you to say that again?"
Brian: "Why shouldn't I say that? After all, you are a foolish girl!"
"I am not!" Joanna hissed. She couldn't count the number of things that she'd learned while she was overseas, and her teachers had all agreed that she was the smartest person in their classes. This was the first time that she had been called a fool, and she resented it. "You are the fool!"
Joanna rolled her eyes and walked away. She had only taken two steps, though, when a thought occurred to her. She turned around and asked, "What are you doing here? Did you get hurt last night?"
Brian laughed and said, "Do I look like the kind of person who easily gets hurt?"
Joanna looked at Brian and saw that there he wore no bandages. She was relieved, but she didn't appreciate his c**k-sure attitude. She said, you can't judge a book by its cover, so who knows?"
Brian smirked and said, "There are many fantastic things in this world. For instance, someone can be as stupid as a goose." He toucher Joanna's lip playfully, and then he walked away. And it wasn't until he was gone that the implications of his words sunk in, and she realized that he'd called her a fool again, only with different words this time.
Janna's face turned red from anger, and she chased after Brian, shouting, "Brian! Stop!"
Brian heard her yelling, and he began to laugh, and when she was closer, he stopped and turned around to wait for her to catch up.
When Joanna reached Brian, she suddenly realized that she didn't know what she wanted to say. She opened her mouth, but nothing came out. Her mind was a complete blank. Finally, all she could think to say was, "You are a stupid and foolish boy!" And she regretted the statement almost immediately, realizing that by pursuing a childish game of "I-Know-You-Are-But-What-Am-I," she had actually proven his point. Am I really this immature? - she wondered.
Joanna felt embarrassed suddenly, so she turned around and began to walk away.
Brian smiled as Joanna walked away. He enjoyed the view. After a moment, though, he remembered that she was married, and any pleasure he had taken from the sight of her ass was taken from him. Brian frowned, and he left the hospital.
Once Brian was in his car, his driver, Danny Smith, said, "Mr. Jones, Allan was not able to find any information about the Gross family."
Brian: "Wasn't Allan hurt by the Gross family?"
Danny: "Yes."
Brian scowled and said, "Then have fun with the Gross family."
Danny had some doubts. "Weren't the bodyguards from last night Gross family employees?
Brian: "No."
Danny: "Then why do we have to teach them a lesson?"
Brian's phone began to ring, which distracted him from his conversation with Danny. He pulled it out of his phone and checked the Caller ID – and pressed decline. It had been no one of consequence.
"Did you hear my question?" Danny asked impatiently. "Why do we have to teach them a lesson?"
Brian scowled. "Just do as your told," he replied curtly.
Danny understood that it was not part of his job to ask questions, and he apologized for sticking his nose where it didn't belong.
Danny noticed then that his boss was watching a woman that was coming out of the hospital. She was gorgeous and had gauze wrapped around her wrist. After a moment, Danny realized that he'd never seen anyone so special looking in his life. He didn't even know he was staring until Brian interrupted him. "Have you gotten a good enough look?" Brian asked.
Danny was frightened, and all he could say was, "Ah…"
After a minute, Brian said, "Take me to the company.
Danny smiled and said, "Your wish is my command."
***
After leaving the hospital, Joanna called Robin, but before Joanna could get a word in, Robin shouted, "Joanna, I can't believe how vicious you are! You hit your sister, and now she is in the hospital! What do you have to say for yourself?"
Joanna smiled. Her Father's words had no effect on her whatsoever, and this realization gave her a joyous sense of freedom. "You think I'm vicious?" she asked. "Well, of course, I am, but I thought you already knew that. After all, I was raised to be vicious. By you! So why are you playing these pointless games?"
Robin feigned indignation. He said, "I would have thought you would have learned some common courtesy while you were overseas, but apparently I was wrong. I definitely didn't expect that you would come back worse than you were!"
Joanna chuckled. "But Dad… I love this version of myself.
Robin: "Whatever. Get to the point. "Why are you calling? You are acting like a spoiled, immature, brat!"
Joanna: "That will would be enough out of you! I didn't call to hear you scold me. Let's get on with our business."
Robin: "What business do we have?"
Joanna: "I want to be the vice general manager of Devine's."
Mike was the current general manager. Joanna knew that if she asked for the position of the general manager, Robin would refuse her, so she asked to be the vice general manager instead, leaving room for negotiation.
Robin couldn't believe his ears and repeated what Joanna has said: "You want to be the vice general manager of Devine's? Where did your sudden courage come from?"
Joanna sneered and said, "Dad, you are very ill now. You need to start settling your affairs. You only have so much time left before you die, you know."
Robin sneered back at her, and he began to talk to his daughter as if she were his enemy.
- Writer
