I Haven't Eaten for a Very Long Time

At this, the woman noticed that the man next to her was blatantly staring at her intently. She only adjusted her butterfly shades as if hiding her eyes. However, her action only attracted Ainsley's eyes to her face. She had a very evident blackeye at the one closer to Ainsley.

"Miss, are you alright?" Ainsley couldn't help but ask. It looked like the woman had been beaten up, and her breathing was obviously quick. She was catching her breath.

"I'm fine." She didn't take a look at Ainsley. However, her eyes moved to the elevator screen, which displayed '23' as if the elevator was moving down slowly. It wasn't an express elevator, after all.

Ainsley wanted to say something, but Stuart cleared his throat as if catching Ainsley's action. The employee only pouted a little before turning away from the woman who seemed to be in trouble. He wanted to help, but he was being declined.

However, the elevator suddenly skidded until the safety brakes engaged. Stuart, Ainsley, and the woman all wobbled where they stood; the woman even falling down because of her weakened knees. Ainsley caught her by the arm, but she only tried to gently pry his hand off of her.

"Should we call the police on you? Who are you running away from?" Sinclair narrowed his eyes at the woman who struggled to get on her own feet. She heard his voice and subtly turned to him as if only checking who he was talking to. However, his cold, piercing eyes descended on her totality. "Do I need to repeat that?"

"…I am not… I didn't hurt anyone…" The woman only stared at those eyes as if they were the only things she could see. Even if she was wearing shades, she could see the sting in his eyes.

"Hey, Sinco, you're scaring her. Can't you see she's already hurt?" Ainsley didn't know why the elevator suddenly stopped, but he decided to deal with the matter at hand. "Miss, sorry, you're just acting very suspicious. Are you sure you're not running away from anything?"

The woman only sighed before hooking her hair behind her ear. "I am running away, but it's because my client chased me out. I don't want to be here for any second longer." She attended to her bruised hand. "We should call on the staff to help us—"

Before she could continue talking, the elevator moved down again. She only took a look at the number panel as it continued to descend as if nothing happened. Her eyes then crawled to the man who was called Sinco by the other man. However, he was only leaning against the car's wall, and he had his eyes closed.

"Did your client beat you up?" Ainsley didn't feel good for this woman. She was beaten up? He didn't care about the client matter, but if someone did this to someone else, shouldn't they involve the police instead?

"It's normal. I'm used to this. He was just shocked to find me with him." The woman only chuckled as if talking with him was the only way to not attract the ire of that other man. She then gave another look at the CEO who had his eyes closed… only to feel like it was somewhat familiar.

Ainsley then held down the close button and the first-floor button. The numbers started to decrease faster as if the elevator was not letting anyone call for it. Ainsley then spoke, "The next floors will be filled with people from the deluxe rooms. Sinco doesn't like other people in the elevator with him. I have to do this…"

The woman turned to the man called Sinco again. She was beginning to recognize him, but the elevator had already reached the first floor. The woman was on her stop, and she only moved out when the elevator opened its doors. Like dismissing her other thoughts, she hurried away as if she had not met strange people in the elevator.

Ainsley watched her until the elevator's doors closed. They then reached the parking lot, and Stuart and Ainsley walked on ahead to locate the car fast. Sinclair only walked around the elevator pillar to get to the restroom. When he entered the place, he was followed in by three more men.

He opened the faucet and ran his hand under the water, while one of the three men closed the door behind them. Sinclair didn't even take a look at them. "Someone asked you to harm me? Was it the money or the blood?"

"Shut up. That's a very awful line for your last words." The leader huffed and readied his gun. "We'll just take both."

"That's great." Sinclair only chuckled before he eyed the three. His slit dragon eyes showed, and his third eyelid blinked. His features began to change as well. "I haven't eaten for a very long time."

…

Knocking soon came to the door of the restroom. Ainsley knew that Sinclair suddenly had the urge to go, but they already had the car ready. He then opened the door and looked inside. "Sinco, are you still there?"

For some reason, it felt like the place was filthy. However, it was a clean place. He blinked before walking inside. He could hear the lid of the toilet tank clinking as if someone was fiddling with it. "Sinco? Did you destroy the toilet?"

The sound of flushing echoed, and the door opened. Sinclair only glared at him. "No, the plumbing broke. Let's go." He walked out of the cubicle and went to wash his hand at the sink.

Ainsley then turned inside the cubicle as if trying to smell anything. However, he seemed to see something hanging out from the side of the tank. It looked like some kind of cloth. Before he could walk inside and inspect the matter, he felt hands grab his shoulders.

With a grunt, Sinclair moved the friend in front of another cubicle. "Use something else. Did you suddenly feel the urge to go, too?"

"Not really. Let's go, let's go!" Ainsley laughed and grabbed Sinclair's moist hand. However, he seemed to have seen reddish residue under his nail. "Did you break your nail, Sinco? That looks like blood. Are you hurt?"

"Yeah, from the damn toilet tank." Sinclair, however, went to pocket the said hand and walked Ainsley out of the restroom. "Let's go."