Zack smiled. “Mr. Bucham and I have worked together for a long time. We became good friends over time. I didn’t intentionally try to gain anything through him.
“They’ll become friends even if they don’t feel attracted to each other.”
“Yeah.” Serena stopped worrying about her best friend’s love life.
Everybody had a different approach toward love.
She and Zack set them up for a date, but the success of a relationship lay on
Josh and Jasmine’s shoulders.
A few hours later, Serena and Zack made it back to Wiltspoon, and their first stop was York Corporation. Zack told Serena to wait for him at the VIP lounge on the first floor while he reported on work to his superior. They would go home thereafter.
“Go on. I’ll wait for you here.”
Serena took a seat on the sofa in the lounge, gesturing to Zack to carry on with his work.
It was still early in the day, so she was fine to wait.
Zack got someone to bring Serena snacks. He whispered a few words with the two receptionists before hurrying upstairs.
“Ms. Hunt, let us know if you need anything. We’ll be outside.”
One of the receptionists poured Serena a glass of water.
Rising to her feet, Serena took the glass from the receptionist and answered with a smile, “Thank you.”
“Don’t mention it, Ms. Hunt.”
The receptionist gleefully responded, finding the CEO’s wife rather friendly.
Serena’s identity was no secret within York Corporation. Since Zack had not completely gone public about his marriage, everybody continued to address Serena by her maiden name.
“I’ll wait for Zack here. Don’t let me keep you. Don’t mind me.”
The receptionist replied with a grin, “I’ll get back to work then. Just call me if you need anything, Ms. Hunt.”
Serena nodded and expressed her thanks.
Once the receptionist was gone, Serena sent a text message to her sister. Since her sister was not responding, she texted her best friend instead.
[I’m back, Jasmine. I’m waiting for my husband to give an update about his work progress at York Corporation. The company is giving me good vibes, and now I’m tempted to apply for a job at the company. I could use some experience in a professional setting.”
Ever since the start of the school’s winter holidays, Jasmine had been holing up at home. Her daily routine consisted of eating, sleeping, and reading romance novels on her phone.
Her brother would get the occasional phone call from Josh to dine out, and Jasmine. would invite herself to the get–together in case her brother might sell her out behind her back.
Now that Jasmine received a message from Serena that the latter was back, Jasmine quickly replied with a voice message.
“How about Italian tonight? Mr. Bucham took my brother to an Italian place, and the food was great. I’ve been waiting for you to come back so we can try out the place. You have no idea. I couldn’t binge when dining with my brother and Mr. Bucham because I’d eat more than them.”
Serena responded to her with a smile, “I can’t tonight. I just got back with Mr. York. We’re going to have a slow night. How about tomorrow night? Get my sister and Elisa to join us.”
“We don’t have to include Elisa since she eats like a lady. She’s not a foodie like you and I. We’re complete opposites when it comes to food. Your sister is trying to lose weight and is on a strict diet right now. She goes running three times a day. She’d probably end up watching us eat if we asked her to come along. I don’t think we’d be able to eat in peace.
“Seren, your sister’s weight loss is starting to show. I guess you haven’t seen your sister since you just got back. She lost ten pounds in a week. She’s really pushing herself and sticking to her guns. I wouldn’t be able to hold out and stay away from food if it were me.”
It would be tough for a foodie to follow through with a strict diet.
“Your sister lost twenty pounds since the talk about the divorce. She’ll achieve her weight goal if she carries on a little longer.”
News that her sister dropped ten pounds in a week concerned Serena. She asked, ” Is my sister not eating at all?”
She was not in Wiltspoon to check on her sister’s daily living.
Her sister often said all was good when Serena called. Serena was told to focus on nursing Zack back to health.
Jasmine replied, “Nah. Your sister has been working out a lot. I mean, she runs three times a day and cuts down on fats and sweets. Plus, she’s busy with the renovation of her shop. No one wants to work during the holidays, so she took it upon herself to order the materials and get around. I’d be surprised if she didn’t lose any weight.
“She’s taking her three meals. She doesn’t finish her plate, but enough for her calorie count.”
It put Serena’s mind at ease.
“I’ll see you tomorrow night then. Let’s go to the Italian place you talked about. Just the two of us.”
Since Zack just got better from the flu, Serena did not intend to bring him along.
“Sure, I’ll wait for your call.”
The pair chatted for a while through voice messages until Zack came down the stairs. Serena said to her best friend, “My husband is done checking in with work. We’re going home now.”
“Go on. I need to go get groceries with Mom at the market. She wants me to come along with her every time. She said all I do is hang around the house. She would nag at me every time I held my phone up to read romance stories. She has an audiobook on during dinner anyway.”
Serena could imagine Mrs. Lowe badgering Jasmine.
Jasmine would whine about it, but Serena was jealous that Jasmine had a mother by her side. Serena wished her mom would yell at her. Alas, her mom was no more.
Zack walked in to find a smile on his wife’s face. There was also a sense of longingness in her expression.
“Seren.”
He approached her and tenderly called her name, drawing her back from her thoughts.
Snapping out of her wandering mind, Serena turned to him and asked, “Are you done with work?”
“I’m all good now. My business trip was for ten days, but I was in the hospital for seven days. Callum followed up after me, so I didn’t have much to report on.”
He took Serena’s hand and led her out of there. “Let’s go home.”
Serena walked with him.
“Brothers working in the same company come in handy sometimes.”
Callum would take over his brother’s work when Zack was sick. At least, one’s family would not grumble about doing another family member’s job.
Zack smiled.
He brought Serena to the parking lot and drove the national MPV parked among luxury sedans.
Zack would usually take his Rolls Royce, but the chauffeur drove the sedan back to the old residence and was on standby during his business trip.
“Your company’s parking lot is like a car show. You can see an array of cars here.”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.