Chapter 109: Injured Vance Wyatt
In the movie theater’s underground parking garage.
When Vivian Lowell arrived, the theater’s manager was already waiting.
"President Faulkner, you can park right here. I’ll take you and this young lady into the theater to find the kittens."
The manager, dressed in a suit, respectfully greeted Julian Faulkner.
?
Vivian Lowell was shocked.
Just then, after parking the car, Vance Wyatt quietly came over to help Vivian Lowell with her things and whispered, "This movie theater is actually one of the Faulkner Group’s properties."
"They weren’t doing well, so the Faulkner Group acquired them. Now they’ve been brought back from the brink and have been profitable for several months."
"..."
Vivian Lowell was silent for a moment.
’No wonder,’ she thought. ’So that’s why the theater manager came to greet Julian Faulkner. He’s the owner here!’
After taking the elevator to the fifth floor of the mall, Vivian Lowell and Julian Faulkner entered the theater through the employee entrance. Behind the screen in one of the auditoriums, they spotted a litter of kittens, just barely visible on the edge of a shelf.
The kittens were still very small, two months old at most. They were relatively clean, just a bit frail.
On the floor was a bowl containing some leftover food. This must be the rice and pork liver mix that the front desk staff had told Vivian Lowell they were feeding them.
Cats can eat rice mixed with pork liver.
It’s just...
It had to be boiled pork liver, with no oil. A cat’s digestive system is different from a human’s; they should avoid high-fat, high-salt foods as much as possible, otherwise it’s bad for their health.
"Julian, give me the cage."
Vivian Lowell took the cage from Julian Faulkner, squeezed a cat treat stick inside, and placed the cage on the edge of the shelf where the kittens could easily reach it.
However, as Vivian Lowell got closer, she bumped the shelf. The loud noise startled the kittens, and they immediately scurried into the deepest part of the shelving.
Vivian Lowell had encountered this situation many times before. There was no good way to handle it, other than to leave for a while, let the kittens feel safe again, and then see if they would come out and enter the trap.
This was only the second time Vance Wyatt had seen a "professional team" come to catch cats, so he watched from the side with great interest.
Seeing Vivian Lowell back away, Vance Wyatt asked in confusion, "Ma’am, what do we do now? When will the kittens come out?"
Vivian Lowell patted Vance Wyatt’s shoulder and said, "Catching cats is all about letting things happen naturally. There’s a saying, Vance, have you heard it? ’Jiang Taigong went fishing, and only those who were willing took the bait.’"
Vance Wyatt was taken aback.
Huh?
’So we’re supposed to just wait for the cats to go into the cage themselves?’
’And I thought there was some special technique involved!’
"I’ve heard of it." Vance Wyatt sounded a bit dejected. "So, do we just have to wait here? Isn’t that kind of a waste of time?"
"It’s a waste of time, but we don’t have a choice."
Vivian Lowell sighed in resignation. Just then, she heard the sounds of a movie coming from a nearby auditorium and suggested, "How about we go see a movie?"
"We can just ask one of the cleaning staff to check in every once in a while. If a kitten gets caught in the trap, they can come and let us know."
Vance Wyatt nodded at the suggestion.
’Sounds great to me.’
’Getting paid to watch a movie without having to do any work? What’s not to love?’
Just as Vivian Lowell was calling the theater manager over to ask when the next movie was starting, Julian Faulkner suddenly looked at Vance Wyatt.
"Vance Wyatt."
Julian Faulkner’s tone was flat, his face devoid of expression.
Vance Wyatt, who had been in a good mood, felt a sudden sense of foreboding. Nevertheless, he forced a smile and walked over to Julian Faulkner.
"President Faulkner."
Vance Wyatt asked with a smile, "Is something wrong?"
"Nothing major. I need you to head back to the office and keep an eye on Rachel Faulkner for me. Also, since I’m not there, you’ll need to handle any meetings or business collaborations that come up."
"..."
Vance Wyatt didn’t want to agree.
’For some reason, he had a sneaking suspicion that President Faulkner was suddenly trying to "get rid of him" just so he could enjoy some private movie time alone with the lady!’
But Vance Wyatt couldn’t refuse.
Julian Faulkner’s stern expression... was a little intimidating.
"Okay." Vance Wyatt forced an awkward smile, shot a reluctant glance in the direction of the cat trap, and turned to leave.
Just then, Julian Faulkner’s voice came from behind him. "When we catch a cat," he said softly, "I might take a picture for you."
!?
Vance Wyatt turned back and looked at Julian Faulkner in disbelief.
’President Faulkner, talk about twisting the knife!’
Nearby, Vivian Lowell had learned the showtimes from the manager and seen which seats had already been sold. She was just turning back to Julian Faulkner.
"Julian, surprisingly, the three middle seats in the eighth row are open. Should we sit there? Huh? Where’s Vance Wyatt? Where’d he go?"
Vivian Lowell looked left and right but couldn’t see any sign of him.
Hearing this, Julian Faulkner replied with a perfectly straight face, "He said he had some things at the office he wanted to go back and take care of. That eighth row you mentioned sounds good."
"Besides, there’s not much difference between two people and three, is there?"
Vivian Lowell supposed that was true and said regretfully, "Well, that’s a shame. I didn’t realize Vance Wyatt was such a hard worker!"
"I actually really like this movie. It’s a romance, and I know you guys sometimes find those a little boring, but I still want to see it. Julian, do you want to?"
"If you don’t, there’s also another..."
Before she could even finish, Julian Faulkner had already nodded and asked, "That’s fine. I’ll watch anything. When does this romance start? Which auditorium is it in?"
At that very moment, having just reached the ground floor of the building, Vance Wyatt let out a series of sneezes.
ACHOO, ACHOO!
After he finished sneezing, Vance Wyatt sniffled, looked around, and muttered, "What’s going on? It’s only March, there shouldn’t be any willow fluff yet."
"Don’t tell me someone’s talking bad about me? That can’t be right! I’m already heading back to the office like President Faulkner told me to. Why would he still be cursing me out...?"
Vance Wyatt felt rather wronged. After he finished muttering, he sneezed again.
It was a good thing he had a habit of carrying tissues on him, otherwise, this would have been a mess.
「Fifteen minutes later.」
When Vivian Lowell and Julian Faulkner entered the auditorium, Vivian was surprised to find that the handful of scattered seats she had seen marked as "sold" on the seating chart were completely empty!
"Isn’t it about to start?"
Vivian Lowell glanced at the ticket the manager had given her, checked the time again, and then, puzzled, pulled Julian Faulkner down into his seat.
A corner of Julian Faulkner’s mouth lifted, but he said nothing. Just then, his phone buzzed.
It was a message from the theater manager.
"President Faulkner, I have moved the other customers who bought tickets for this showing to a different auditorium. You and Miss Lowell can now have the theater to yourselves."