Chapter 68

"I... am almost done with my work." Melissa carefully observed the moving shadows from the floor above, paranoid that someone might walk down randomly and catch their conversation, "Murphy, it's two o'clock in the midnight. Why aren't you sleeping yet?" "I've been awake for two nights straight. When I closed my eyes, I could only think about Nancy…I have been anxiously waiting for you for two days and two nights. I don’t want to wait anymore." Murphy seemed a bit agitated. He hated this prolonged wait. He wanted to kill the man who had bullied Nancy. Feeling Murphy's state to be frantically extreme, Melissa feared that he might lose control and disrupt their plan ahead of time. "Murphy, wait a bit more, I'll call you as soon as I finish my arrangements..." Melissa softly advised him, covering the lower part of her phone's microphone with her hand. She felt like there were movements upstairs. She wasn’t sure if it's just her imagination spurred by her excessive nervousness. Thinking that the hallway was too open and easy for anyone to discover them, Melissa moved to the dining room. Luckily, there weren't any echoes here. "I can't wait anymore! I must see Nancy once!” Murphy also lowered his voice, squeezing it out between his teeth. Melissa was constantly telling him to wait. He began to feel Melissa didn't take his matter seriously. "Calm down, Murphy. I'll arrange for you to see Nancy as soon as possible. But you must promise me, you can only watch from a distance, you cannot go up and talk to Nancy. It's not good for her. If you can do this, I'll take you there. As for other things, we can make long-term plans.” Melissa quietly pacified Murphy's excited emotions on the phone. It seemed that without letting him see Nancy once, he couldn't hold back. From the other end of the phone came the excited gasp of Murphy. "You're serious? I promise you!” “Okay, if you mess up because you can't control yourself, I will never help you again.” Melissa felt that when it came to working with someone like Murphy, the ugly truth must always be told upfront, otherwise, no one could hold him back. "So when are we going to see Nancy?" Upon hearing that Melissa agreed to take him to see Nancy, Murphy was even more excited, and hurriedly asked. Melissa pondered for a moment, thinking it would undoubtedly be better to meet sooner rather than later. Considering Murphy's character, he would constantly call her. Once she could reassure him with a plan, everything could start rolling quickly afterwards. "Let's meet tomorrow then, at four o'clock in the afternoon. Rent a van in advance and wait for me under the footbridge on Longman Street" Melissa said, rushing her instructions as the sound of approaching footsteps grew louder. "Okay, but my driving license has been suspended, I may not be able to rent a car..." Murphy suddenly recalled that after his sentencing, quite a few of his political rights had been deprived. As he was serving time in prison, he had no time to renew his driver’s license, which was probably invalid by now. The footsteps had already made their way to the dining room. Melissa saw the figure of Joseph, who also happened to see Melissa on the phone. Ending the call now would look suspicious, as if she had something to hide. "There are places where you don't need a license to rent a car! Someone's coming..." Melissa hastily whispered, then immediately switched to a saccharine tone. "Darling, I can't come see you recently. The old lady and that damned bat keep a tight watch on me, not letting me out of the house." As she said this, Melissa could barely suppress her laughter. She had spontaneously nicknamed Joseph as the "big bat" since he was always sulking and frequently wore a classic black t-shirt. Joseph wandered over to Melissa, snatched her phone, glanced at the screen, and mockingly quipped "Scavenger?" Give it back! Through lip movements, Melissa told Joseph to return the phone. She grabbed it back and continued speaking in a coquettish tone. "It's too late now, darling. I'll chat with you tomorrow. Goodnight, mwah!" Finally, Melissa ended the call, hoping that Murphy would understand her precarious situation and not call back. Looking up, Melissa defiantly retorted. "Yes, he's a 'scavenger.' So what? He's cool, extraordinary, and outrageous!" Joseph merely shook his head disdainfully, his gaze still on Melissa. At this moment, Melissa was only wearing a dark red camisole dress, her long hair softly draped over her collarbone. She couldn't help but shiver in the darkness. "Hey, what are you doing down here so late?" Melissa took the initiative to ask. "I'm thirsty, I came down for a lemon soda." Joseph responded casually, he opened the refrigerator door, taking out a bottle of lemon soda. He unhurriedly unscrewed the cap, took a sip, and then looked at Melissa with interest. "So, aren't you going upstairs, or do you want to sit down and have a drink?" "I... of course, I'm going upstairs!" Melissa retorted, picking up her nightdress she scampered up the stairs. Observing the touch of dark red scurrying up the stairs, Joseph could not help but smirk "No need to see you off." ........ The next afternoon, Melissa took a leave of absence on the excuse of accompanying Amy, from Grandma Julia. She drove the car Grandma Julia had given her, arriving fifteen minutes in advance to the pedestrian overpass at Longman Street. Not far from here was the landmark building of Humphrey Group. Melissa parked her car in a nearby parking lot. She wouldn't be foolish enough to drive a car from Clarkson's family to the foot of Humphrey Group's building. She also couldn't allow Murphy to see her in a valuable car; Murphy's radical character could possibly extort her one day! Therefore, Melissa thought, renting a van wouldn't attract attention and would serve as a good control for Murphy to dutifully stay in the van, so as not to take reckless actions. After Melissa locked the car and barely put the car keys into her bag, her cellphone ringtone sounded. "Hello." "Where are you? Have you arrived?" A low and hoarse voice came from Murphy on the other end of the phone, his tone obviously not as downhearted as the night before. "I'm here already, where are you?" Melissa crossed a road, the wind today was a little cold. The chilling north wind stirred, raising an uncanny feeling in Melissa's heart. She hoped she was just being very thoughtful. "I'm at the foot of the overpass, it's a yellow van." Murphy reported lethargically over the phone. He positioned his legs on the steering wheel, leaning back on the seat while smoking. He left a small crack open at the car window, gaze impatiently trailing the passing crowd, casually flicking the cigarette ash out of the window. "Alright, I've crossed the road... I see you!" Barely crossing to the other side of the road, Melissa spotted a conspicuous yellow van. She had suggested Murphy rent a van to remain inconspicuous, to avoid being noticed. However, this yellow van was additionally spray-painted with black English graffiti letters and vibrant designs, making it hard not to draw attention. Murphy lowered the car window, waving his hand at Melissa. He leaned his head back, exhaling a puff of white smoke, his eyes scattered and hazy.