“He has more than two wives! He has four wives in total, and two of them have already divorced!” Roman shrugged, his expression and eyes seeming to disagree. “One of them is even my cousin.”
Ranita suddenly heard gossip and felt a bit embarrassed.
“So you did the right thing by refusing! You can’t let that womanizer get his way!” Roman snorted, suddenly smiling at Ranita. “We’ll consider the proposal you brought up and give you an answer by tonight at the latest!”
Ranita told Chris about it, but he didn’t show any extra expression and just politely said goodbye to Roman.
The meeting ended, and Ranita smiled as she shared the gossip with Chris. “I didn’t expect there to be this kind of relationship here. It’s just that Roman is quite close with Mr. Bassett…”
“Men’s friendship,” Chris said softly as he looked at her.
In the hallway, they ran into Brendon and Caleb who had also come out from the huge conference room.
“Brendon? What a coincidence?” Chris greeted him first while Brendon made a sound of agreement before looking at Ranita. “It is quite coincidental.”
“Lunch together?”
Chris looked at Ranita. “What do you think?”
“I’m fine with it.” Even divorced couples could still have lunch together like mature adults, so she thought calmly while looking at Brendon before pursing her lips. “Are you here for a meeting?”
“Mm…” Brendon replied indifferently before hastening his steps forward.
Ranita caught whiff of familiar cedar scent from him which made her feel half conflicted half pleased inside. Everything was just messy.
Brendon chose a local restaurant for lunch which Caleb had reserved seats for beforehand.
“Caleb, why don’t you stay too?”
Caleb reluctantly stayed for his boss’ sake.
The private room was spacious but only had four people in it, making things awkward especially since Ranita sat next to Chris on one side.
“Um… Miss Bowman… The air conditioning over there seems stronger; would you like to move closer?” Caleb fretted over his boss.
“It does seem colder over here,” Ranita agreed as she stood up but then Chris handed her his suit jacket instead saying, “Wear this if it’s cold.”
“Thank you!” She took it gratefully then turned towards Caleb again, “Thanks anyway Caleb; I’ll sit here.”
Caleb glanced at Brendon and silently lowered his head to drink water.
Brendon remained expressionless, while Chris continued to speak gently. In the middle of it, Brendon’s phone rang.
“If you don’t mind, I’ll take a video call,” Brendon said, and Shannon’s voice came through, “Brendon, have you had lunch?”
“Yeah, I’m eating,” Brendon replied casually, but his gaze shifted towards Ranita.
Ranita was earnestly eating her food with lowered eyes, but her hand paused for a moment. It was a subtle movement, yet Brendon happened to notice it. For some reason, he felt a slight sense of joy.
“Are you at a restaurant…? I just finished eating and plan to take a nap later. Even when you’re not home, I still eat properly! So, don’t worry about me!” Shannon’s voice sounded sweet and playful.
Chris, who was drinking water, choked on it. Ranita handed him a tissue, asking, “Are you okay?”
“I’m fine,” Chris thought to himself. Shannon had a habit of being cute before, and considering her as a younger sister, they didn’t mind. However, now that she was a bit older, her behavior seemed a bit…
Chris subconsciously looked at Ranita, and their eyes met. In that moment, they each understood a certain emotion in the other’s eyes.
They couldn’t help but exchange a knowing smile.