Chapter 66: Building Trust

Chapter 66: Building Trust Jamal watched Abigail, wondering if it was Genevieve who had told her that the Panda’s name was Lucy since Genevieve had regained her memory. "I named her. I assumed you left her for me as some sort of souvenir," Abigail said, slightly embarrassed that she seemed to have taken his stuffed animal when he had not exactly left it to her. "You named her Lucy? Why Lucy?" Jamal asked, confused. Abigail frowned, wondering why he was asking her that when they obviously had more important things to talk about. "Is that even important right now? We do not have the luxury of time and what you care about is why I named your stuffed animal?" She asked with disbelief. "Yes. It is important to me to know why you named her Lucy. Does Genevieve know about the panda?" He asked, and she froze, wondering why he was bringing Genevieve into their conversation. Was he going to be like all the others that approached her because of Genevieve too? "Are you here because of Genevieve?" She asked, watching him closely. She noticed the flicker of something in his eyes and how he hesitated to respond, and her heart broke a little. "Let me guess, you are interested in Genevieve?" She asked, and Jamal sighed. "It’s complicated. Let’s not get into any of that right now. Why are you pretending to not be able to talk? And what happened to your face?" He asked, changing the subject. "I’m not answering your questions until you answer mine. I do not trust you," she stated flatly, annoyed that he was interested in Genevieve. Jamal gazed at her for a moment, and then ran his fingers through his hair, "What do I have to do to make you trust me?" "You can start by telling me how you got us here. Why would all your plans work so smoothly if you’re not working for them?" "You know I’m not working for them, Abigail. If you really didn’t trust me as you claim you won’t be in here with me right now or talking to me when you don’t even know whether or not I’m recording out," he pointed out. "Are you recording me?" She asked, her brows pulling together when she realized that he was right and she was being careless. "No, I’m not. I’m only stating a fact. I have no reason to work for them," he said and then she shook her head. "Yet you are Genevieve’s driver. Yet you speak to Ryan directly and easily get his permission. I’m going to ask you once again, Jamal, who are you? And what are you doing? If you can’t tell me this, then we can’t talk about anything else," Abigail said firmly, and Jamal sighed softly. "You know who I am. I’m Jamal. Jamal Jonas," he said, and she raised a brow. "Is there a way to prove your identity?" She asked, and he gazed at her for a moment and then headed for the closet where his backpack was still in tact since he had not been there to move it after he got employed by Genevieve the previous day and got himself new clothes. He took out his wallet and pulled out his ID card handing it to her. Abigail looked at it and then her eyes widened, "CEO of HAJ studios? You’re that Jamal?" She asked, since she knew of HAJ studios. Jamal raised a brow. "I see you’ve heard of me," he said, and she frowned. "Why are you here?" She asked again, feeling even more confused now. "Why don’t we sit down?" He suggested. "I have no problem sitting down as long as you’re talking. Do not waste my time," she said pointedly. Jamal gave her a mock bow. "Yes, ma’am." She scowled at him, but he smiled, gesturing to her to take her seat, and then he sat on the edge of the bed as he looked at her. "Why don’t we do it like we did it in the plane?" He suggested. "Do what?" "The question and answer thing? I don’t think I have the patience to tell you everything first when there’s so much I want to ask you too. So how about you answer one of my questions now that I’ve answered yours? And then we can keep it up? That way we can build trust. I promise to be honest with you as long as you do not lie to me," he said, and she scoffed. "Like you’re going to know if I lie to you," she said, and he smirked. "My intuition doesn’t lie," he said, and she rolled her eyes. Abigail gazed at him for a moment before giving him a nod. "Fine. Go on and ask." "Why did you name the stuffed panda Lucy?" He asked, and her jaw dropped in disbelief. Of all the questions he could ask, he was stuck on the name she gave to his stuffed panda? "Just answer the question. Don’t try to understand why I’m asking," he said, and she shut her mouth and sighed irritably. "It just made sense to call it Lucy. It just fit. Isn’t that how people name things? There’s no special reason," she said with a shrug. It wasn’t her business if he decided to use his opportunity to ask her meaningless questions. "Did Genevieve not have anything to..." "I don’t want to talk about Genevieve with you," she hissed at him, upset that he kept bringing Genevieve up, "and you already asked your question so it’s my turn." Jamal’s brow pulled together as he wondered why she got upset each time he mentioned Genevieve. He then paused when he remembered what she had told him five years ago about Genevieve having seducing her boyfriend and being mean to her. "Are you interested in Genevieve? Is that why you approached me?" Abigail asked, deciding that if his response was positive and he was interested in Genevieve as she suspected, then she was not going to waste her time further on him. "I didn’t approach you. You approached me and whatever happened between us was initiated by you," he reminded her, and she scowled when she remembered that he was right. "That doesn’t answer my question. Are you interested in Genevieve?" She asked and Jamal raised a brow. "Didn’t you say you didn’t want to talk about Genevieve with me?" He asked, and she glared at him. "I don’t want to, and that’s why I need to know if you’re interested in her. That will help me make up my mind whether to keep talking to you or not," she said and Jamal sighed, wondering why she seemed so hard and distrustful now unlike in the past. She kept complicating their conversation when he was trying so hard to keep it simple. "I’m interested in her but not in the way you think," he admitted, and she raised a brow. "What do you mean?" "It’s my turn not yours," he said and she glared at him, making him chuckle. "Glaring at me won’t change the rule of our conversation. What happened to your face? Why do you look different?" He asked, and raised a brow. "That’s two questions." "It’s one. Why do you look different?" He asked, and she said nothing for a moment as she looked at him. She wasn’t sure if what she was about to do was smart or if it was okay to trust him the way she did, but for some reason she trusted him and had a feeling that he was going to be on her side. She needed him to be on her side. He was her first love and Josh’s father, and she didn’t want him to be interested in Genevieve. She hesitated for a moment, and then she took off her mask. What better way to answer his question?