I got home, took a bath, and had dinner.
I sat down next to Alexander.
I finally gathered my courage.
“Alexander, someone is pursuing me.”
“Oh?” He lifted his eyes to look at me.
“Aren’t you surprised?” I was disappointed by his calm reaction.
“Alright. I’m shocked.” His voice was flat.
I had been nervous at first. Now I just let out a dry laugh. “No one reacts that coldly.”
“I’m thinking about who would dare to make a move on you. They must have some nerve.” He stared at me.
“That’s more like it.” I took his arm and smiled.
“Don’t think you can brush this off. You haven’t told me who it is yet.”
“Maybe he’s just joking with me.” I told him everything about Caleb Hayes.
“You mean Caleb Hayes is pursuing you?” He almost thought he misheard.
“Maybe he’s just messing with me.” I hesitated.
He touched his nose. “Caleb is my sister-in-law’s nephew. He just came back from abroad this year.”
“What?” I stared at him in shock.
“Caleb’s father is Julian Hayes. My sister-in-law’s older brother.” He explained.
I felt dizzy. How did it circle back to someone connected to my own family?
“It can’t be the same person. Caleb has blue eyes.”
“His mother is French.”
“No wonder.” I muttered.
“I’ll handle this. You act like nothing happened.” He comforted me.
“Okay.” I nodded. After a moment, I asked, “Don’t you need to write that review?”
“That’s to write, or not to write?” I asked hesitantly.
He just looked at me.
“I’d better write it.” I muttered, getting up to head to the study.
“Don’t write too much. Just a thousand words.” He called after me.
I nearly collapsed on the floor.
I only wanted to write a hundred or two hundred words. Not that many.
Later, Emily asked me once who my great-aunt was.
At first, I didn’t react. Then I understood. I just smiled and said I didn’t know.
It wasn’t easy to tell her it was Caleb Hayes, the general manager of Starlight Holdings, or that Alexander’s sister-in-law’s nephew was pursuing me.
Well, maybe he wasn’t really pursuing me. Maybe he just thought it was fun to tease me.
After that, I couldn’t face the name Caleb Hayes without thinking of his aunt.
Later, Caleb must have confirmed I was Mrs. Sterling. He stopped sending flowers and blocking my way. I thought life was beautiful. Everything was beautiful.
Once, when we had a chance to chat alone, I asked him why he used the initials MC in his signature.
He said his father taught him that since he was a child. If he thought his name had too many strokes in the future, he should just sign the first letter of his name directly.
So unless he needed a formal signature, he only signed MC.
I asked him, “Don’t you know what those two letters stand for?”
He asked, “What do they stand for?”
After that, there was no after. I heard that from then on, he signed not just Caleb Hayes, but also the full name.
That day, on the way home from work, Alexander told me to prepare for a business trip with him on Friday.
“Business trip? I’m going with you?” I thought about going home for the weekend. I looked at him in surprise.
Before this, I thought he only made that excuse to get rid of his mother.
“Is there a problem?” He asked.
“But I have work on Friday.” I said.
“Take a day off. If there’s no problem, we’ll be back Sunday night.”
“Okay.” I answered.
“Don’t you want to go on a business trip with me?” He smiled at me.
“No. I just don’t know what I can do when I go with you.” I looked at him.
“You don’t have to do anything. Just have fun.”
I looked at him, puzzled.
“You’ll like the scenery and snacks there. I usually don’t have time to take you on a special trip. I’ll take this chance to bring you out for a walk.”
“Okay.” I nodded.
I didn’t really like going out that much. But because it was arranged by him, there was always a reason.
All I had to do was listen to him.
“I’ll ask Secretary Harper for leave tomorrow. But what reason should I give?” I muttered to myself.
Even when I was sick, I never asked for leave easily.
Once, I had a high fever and fainted in the classroom. It made Charlotte scream. I was sent straight to the hospital.
So now, asking for leave to go on a business trip with Alexander felt strange. I didn’t know what excuse to use.
“Say there’s something at home.”
“That reason isn’t very good.” I looked at him. It felt unlucky.
“Then tell the truth.”
“That’s even worse. If I ask for leave to play instead of working, it shows I have a bad work attitude.”
“It’s not as serious as you think. If you say you have something to do and want a day off, Secretary Harper won’t make it hard for you. If you really can’t, just say there’s something wrong at school.” He smiled.
“Alright.” I nodded.
The next day, I hesitated before telling Secretary Harper I wanted a day off on Friday. I said something came up.
She smiled. “Okay. Remember to enter it in the system.”
I thanked her and went back to my desk to submit the leave request.
Secretary Parker asked, “Evelyn, are you taking leave tomorrow?”
“Just one day.” I answered.
“I can’t tell what you’re doing tomorrow.”
“I have something at school. I’ll be back to work on Monday as usual.” I answered guiltily.
“You’re about to graduate. There must be things at school.” She smiled.
I could only nod and smile. I didn’t dare say anything more.
I was afraid that if I said too much, I’d slip up.
After getting the leave approved, I felt relieved.
Before that, I was worried about how to tell Secretary Harper. I always stammer when I lie. I was afraid she’d ask more questions and I wouldn’t know what to say.
Luckily, she agreed without asking anything.
Leave was approved. I went home from work and packed for the trip. Tomorrow, I could go on a business trip with Alexander.
When I thought about it being my first business trip with him, I couldn’t help feeling a little excited.
Well, as long as I was with him, no matter what I was doing, I was happy.