Jade let out a sigh and sat back. "Why did I even think he was going to be here with me, or that we would travel in the same car or take the same plane?" These questions rang endlessly in Jade's mind, and she felt a little ashamed for even asking them. After all, she was nothing but the chef he had bought and nothing else.
The ride to the airport took thirty minutes. Jade never really bothered about how she would make it past the airport protocols because she knew that as long as Van was involved, she had nothing to fear, and she was right about it. Arriving at the airport, Jade did not pass a single protocol. She was taken through a pathway toward an open field at the far end of the airport.
There, a private jet was waiting, not just for her, but for the six of them. She sat next to the window and waited. As soon as everything was loaded and everyone was on board, the plane took off into the air. This was the first time Jade sat in an airplane without knowing where she was headed. The pilot did not say a single word while they were in the air, the guards did not speak to her, and the only interaction she had was with a hostess who asked if she would like a snack, to which she said, "No."
The show on the screen in front of her kept her entertained for the rest of the flight. The hostess only returned to announce that they would be landing soon, and Jade quickly fastened her belt. Then she looked out the window only to realize that the ground beneath them was covered in white. She could barely even see the rooftops since they blended so well with everything else.
"Snow?" she uttered, amazed. "No one told me it would be cold out there." She panicked. Jade was not fond of cold weather, and given how she had dressed for the flight, she would be dead the second she stepped out of the plane. She noticed that even the guards were not dressed for the weather, just their usual black suits, so perhaps they knew something that she did not.
The plane landed at a location far from where other planes did. A car arrived to pick them up, so Jade only had to endure the cold for less than a minute. As they drove through town to wherever the destination was, she tried to read the road signs in hopes that she might see what country or state she was in, but the signs only had street names on them, and others were covered in snow along with the streets.
This time, Jade paid attention to the path because they were headed up a mountain. The entire region was fenced and had its own entrance protocols. It was estate land, so it seemed Van was not the only one who owned a mansion there. They made it past the protocols easily. The men in charge only had to see John's face to let them pass, and it infuriated Jade for some reason.
Eventually, after driving for what felt like eternity, they arrived at Van's mansion, at least that was what she thought it was. The design was similar to what she had left before, his own fence stretching farther than the eye could see, and the tall bushes he had in the compound for who knows what reason. Although now everything was covered in snow, so they all looked like walls.
The car parked in the garage, and Jade was the last to step out. John had gone ahead of them, while the new bodyguard rolled her box as she followed along behind him.
"What is your name?" she was tempted to ask, but she kept quiet. Now was not the time, and perhaps Van might tell her.
The second Jade made it past the front door, she let out a sigh of relief. The warmth of the apartment seemed to melt away the cold she had felt for less than thirty seconds. The mansion might have looked the same on the outside, but the inside was entirely different. It looked less like a house and more like an office building, with numerous small offices with name tags on the nearly transparent doors.
Worse, there were too many people in the building. She had seen a lot of cars outside and thought they all belonged to Van, but it turned out she was wrong. They belonged to these people.
"Hurry up, Jade." The guard called her attention back after she got lost staring at the random people going about their daily lives, there was even an entire supermarket in there. "This couldn't be his home." She refused to believe it.
The guard led her to an elevator. Once inside, she asked him, "Does he live here?"
"No," replied the guard. "But you will."
Jade was perplexed. "I'm sorry?"
"He only visits. Work related."
Jade nodded, not like she understood anything, and she did not bother trying to. They stopped at the fourth floor and stepped out. Now that looked more homely. The button on the elevator that took you to the fourth floor could only be pushed after you swiped a card on a small panel right next to it. It was the only floor reserved for Van in the entire building.
Outside, Jade first gazed at the ceiling. "LED." She scoffed. It was no longer as exciting as the first time. The guard showed her to her room and helped her drop the box inside, but before Jade could settle in, he said,
"He wants his breakfast in the next hour. He wants something light."
"But I just got here," Jade argued. Maybe she was right, perhaps he only brought her along because he wanted food, her food. "I don't even know where…"
"I will show you where the kitchen is if you follow me."
"I…" Jade was short of words. "Can I at least change into something more…"
"We don't have that time." The guard cut her off, cold and unapologetic. "Let's go."