Knowing all this, I decided to give John a call. After that conversation with Hannah, I did not expect my call to go through. To my surprise, he answered.
“How rare is this? I thought you were having so much fun, you’ve forgotten about me.”
I chuckled at his childish remark. “I was busy with a few things. Hannah called. She told me about Uncle Louis. Are you all right?”
“Why’d she call you? There’s no need to meddle in Uncle Louis’ affair.” His voice was evidently annoyed.
“I understand. But did something happen between you and Hannah?” I could tell it was beyond a regular lovers’ quarrel.
“What else? It’s just the usual problem. Are you free tonight? Let’s go grab dinner together. I’ve been so bored by myself recently, I need someone to talk to.”
Beneath his playfulness, I could detect some weariness in his voice. “All right. Let’s have dinner together.”
“Great! I’ll text you the address.” With that, he hung up the call.
I turned to Anthony, smiling. “Shall we eat out tonight?”
“You promised him?”
I nodded.
He remained silent, which I presumed was a yes.
Right then, someone knocked on the office door. Anthony responded, “Come in!” Meanwhile, I went to his private restroom to pick a jacket for later.
“Mr. Featherstone, we’ve just received some documents from Mr. Campbell. There are a few that require your endorsement. I’ll mail it back to him first thing tomorrow.”
“All right.”
After some moments of silence, I thought the secretary had left the room. To my surprise, she spoke again, “Mr. Featherstone, here is an employee promotion name list compiled by the HR department. They need your approval for this. If there are any issues, you can leave a note on it.”
“Ok.” Like before, Anthony was curt with his reply.
I waited for her to leave before exiting the private restroom. While holding on to my jacket, I looked at Anthony working fast on his documents. “Do you have to finish all these by today?”
He nodded. “It’s not a lot. We’ll meet John for dinner once I’m done.”
Noticing how thick the folders were, I almost suggested going by myself, but I swallowed my words back. Then I went over to his side and picked up the name list on his desk. Seeing the few thousand over names left me speechless.
“So much for being the chairperson. How are you going to look through so many names?”
He took a glance at the list before saying, “Help me look through and circle those who have worked with us for less than three years. As for the rest, check and see whether they’ve met the promotion criteria.”
“Isn’t this a bit too careless? Although some of them haven’t worked long in Featherstone Corporation, they’ve displayed exemplary performance. Shouldn’t we give those people special consideration?”
“I’ll leave it to you!”
“I…”
“After settling these, do you think I’ll still have energy left to go through every single name on the list?” It was obvious he was counting on me for this.
I pursed my lips, unable to deny his words. In the first place, I did agree to help him out. Now that he needed my assistance, there was no reason for me to reject.
A request for promotion lay among the stack of promotion documents. I opened it and read Stella’s name written boldly on it. Stella wrote in a sincere, flowing manner, carefully detailing her experience at the Featherstone Corporation as well as the expectations that had been placed on her. I noticed that Stella had occupied her position for barely more than a year. However, in all her time at Featherstone Corporation, she had not produced any particularly outstanding work. After careful consideration, I set Stella’s request aside.
After a while, Anthony turned to me once he’d completed all his tasks on hand. He glanced at the pile of promotion letters with interest, then picked up Stella’s cast aside one and gave it a casual once-over. Anthony then commented, “There’s no need to take this so seriously. We’ve had no lack of remarkable employees. It’s not even in the criteria for promotion anymore.’
I nodded, then looked at him curiously. “Have you been very busy lately?”
Anthony arched an eyebrow and declared, “Yes!”
I sighed, “These matters used to be managed by the respective heads of department. Everything’s on you now, so it’ll be a miracle if you weren’t busy. You should be supervising the work and contributions of a few directors at most, not the entire company.”
“There’s a name list that’s already been vetted. You can take a look,” Anthony advised. I flipped through the stack accordingly and located the document. Scanning through the list, nearly all of its names had been nominated by the respective directors and senior management.
Was my meticulous analysis of each individual completely unnecessary then? I felt slightly ridiculous and laughed sheepishly. “If I told you that I didn’t see it, would you believe me?”
Anthony gave me a hand, then pulled me up. “Sure. Leave it. I’ll come back to sign these afterward.”
I had a sneaking suspicion that Anthony had been delaying me on purpose.
When we entered the elevator, Anthony pressed me against the wall. In a low, hoarse whisper, he demanded, “Aren’t you going to reward me a little?”
I blinked at him, baffled. “What kind of reward do you want?” I queried.
Looking at my bewildered expression, Anthony frowned. His handsome face looked almost petulant at the moment. He flung my hand aside and retreated to another corner of the elevator to sulk.
I was used to his pettiness, however, and leaned towards him flirtatiously. Tiptoeing, I planted a kiss on his lips, then teased, “If we don’t manage to do it here, I’ll compensate you tonight, OK?”
Childish as he was, Anthony was easily won over. The man warmed to my proposal instantly and grinned. “Now that’s an idea.”
I couldn’t resist smiling back at him. Just then, I recalled the matter with Sally and inquired curiously, “Anthony, Mom said that she ran into Aunt Sally at the hospital. She sounds like she’s seeing someone now. Have you been in touch with her recently?”
Anthony shook his head. “I’ve been busy lately and haven’t been to see her. She’s getting on in years, and it must be lonely for her, living on her own. It would be good for her to have someone keep her company.”
I nodded, approving. Sally had lived in the White residence for years. She’d spent her days fighting with Sharon when she wasn’t caring for Benjamin, then had been greatly troubled by Marcus. All these years, Sally had never had the chance to do anything for herself. If Sally had indeed managed to find someone to enjoy the rest of her days with, that would be ideal.
When the elevator doors opened, Anthony hauled me out of it. Streams of employees getting off work flowed ceaselessly through the lobby. Many lingered leisurely around the front counter, chatting idly.
I glanced at their faces inquisitively. In the middle of the crowd, a man in his twenties was clutching a bouquet to his chest. With one knee on the ground, both his posture and face were brimming with ardor.
Curious, I pulled Anthony over to take a closer look. The man was in the middle of a proposal, and further examination revealed the object of his affections to be Stella. I was a firm believer in the magic of youth, and it was no wonder that Stella had the man before her looking so absolutely smitten.
Bashful, Stella’s entire face was suffused with red. She looked rather awkward, perhaps due to the large crowd that had gathered around them in eager anticipation of her reply. She gazed helplessly at the man who was still kneeling hopefully before her, then said in a low voice, “Justin, can we discuss this back at home? Let’s go back first.”
Sally reached out and tugged at him, but Justin seemed resolute on seeing his proposal through. He gazed at her adoringly and declared, “Stella, I really do love you! Say yes, and I promise I’ll take care of you for the rest of your life.”
The crowd was hollering and cheering. In just a split second, a chant picked up, “Say yes, say yes…”
The smile that had frozen on Stella’s face faltered. It was evident now that she hadn’t been shy. She was merely embarrassed at having been placed in this difficult spot. While surveying her surroundings, Stella’s eyes fell upon me. She gulped, then turned back to Justin, stating, “Justin, I don’t understand why you would propose to me. You know that I don’t love you and naturally won’t agree. Why are you fooling yourself? I’ve told you this more than once already. Please leave, and don’t ever use this sort of romantic proposal to harass me ever again, OK?”
Nobody present had imagined that that heartfelt and moving proposal would end so tragically. A hush fell over the crowd, and quite a number crept off tactfully.
Still kneeling, Justin’s face had turned crimson with shame.
“You didn’t say that the last time,” Justin finally managed uncertainly. He looked immensely vulnerable, his heart having been promptly ripped to shreds before an entire crowd.
Stella looked at him coldly. “What else did you want me to say, then? I thought I’d refused you obviously enough. Couldn’t you tell?”
At that, Justin hung his head, deflated. Even the vibrant bouquet he’d brandished confidently before now hung crumpled before him. Justin had bitterly wrung it in his despair. “Why? Is it because I’m not rich enough? Or that I…”
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.
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