Chloe shifted down from the bed. Her body was still completely bare, without a single thread on it, as she approached. Getting closer to Edward, who was in the middle of tying his tie, she hugged him tightly from behind, enjoying the moment. One could only wonder what she was thinking or planning this time.
The sharp scent of black musk mixed with citrus pierced her senses. Among Edward’s vast collection of perfumes, for some reason, this one was her favorite when her husband wore it.
Edward, done with his tie, turned around. He was a bit puzzled by his wife’s unusual behavior this morning. As their eyes met, Chloe wrapped her arms around him, tiptoed, and planted a deep kiss on Edward’s lips.
“Quick, take a shower,” he whispered after she broke the kiss. “You might catch a cold if you keep wandering around naked like this.”
Chloe tilted her head and shook it slightly. She tightened the embrace, acting even more affectionate. She continued to peck Edward’s lips playfully, leaving him quite puzzled. He wondered what was going on with her this morning. Was she falling in love with him all over again?
“Hey… what’s up with you?” Edward asked between the continuous kisses Chloe was giving him.
“Me?” Chloe replied, “What’s wrong with me?”
“It’s just that you’re acting really strange this morning.”
Chloe chuckled softly. Still hugging Edward, she replied, “I’m perfectly fine. Completely sober and not even slightly drunk. Besides, isn’t this the way you want me to behave?”
Edward joined in the laughter. Truth be told, he did hope for a warm Chloe like this in the mornings, rather than her usual cold and distant self.
“Whatever you do, I’ll always like you,” Edward teased with a mischievous glint in his eye. “I’ve told you, I’m truly in love with you.”
“You’re such a smooth talker,” Chloe retorted, playfully pinching Edward’s cheeks.
“I have to leave for work now.” Edward tried to loosen Chloe’s embrace. He was almost running late this morning. “We’ll continue this later.”
Instead of complying, Chloe shook her head and hugged him even tighter than before.
“Darling…” Edward sighed softly. On one hand, he was still puzzled by Chloe’s behavior, and on the other, it seemed difficult to persuade her to let him go this morning. “If it weren’t for an important meeting today, I might choose to take you back to bed. Who wouldn’t be tempted seeing you like this?”
Chloe gazed deeply into Edward’s eyes. Still completely bare, she continued to kiss his cheeks and lips alternately.
“Is your meeting really that important?”
Edward nodded firmly. “Of course. Today’s meeting is crucial as I have to present my work ideas for the building construction that’s been in progress for the past few weeks.”
Slowly but surely, Chloe released her hug, allowing Edward to grab his briefcase from the table and leave for work.
“See you later. I promise to tire you out tonight.”
Chloe smiled genuinely. Edward could even feel that her expression was truly different from usual.
“I’ll hold you to that promise tonight,” she said, then kissed her husband’s cheek one last time before he disappeared from view.
****
“Nic, are all the meeting attendees gathered?”
Nicholas, standing at the lobby entrance, immediately welcomed Edward as he arrived. Taking his boss’s briefcase, he followed closely as Edward made his way to the meeting room.
“Yes, Mister. The representatives from Emaar Properties have already arrived and are waiting in the meeting room. Only the Vinci Construction team hasn’t been seen yet.”
Edward paused for a moment, looking at Nicholas as he issued an order.
“Alright then, take my briefcase directly to the meeting room and prepare everything. I’ll contact Matthew to find out his whereabouts.”
Nicholas followed Edward’s instructions. The tall and slender man quickly headed to the meeting room, while Edward stayed in one corner of the Quantum building’s corridor, attempting to reach his colleague who was rumored to be late.
Before he could make the call, the person he was looking for walked into the building. He approached Edward and invited him to enter the meeting room together.
“Good morning, everyone.”
Edward began the important meeting of the day, welcoming all the participants. Shortly after, he allowed the Vinci and Mace Construction teams to present their work plans.
All attendees listened intently, some even taking notes on the important points being discussed. Then, it was Edward’s turn to step forward and present what he had been working on for the past week.
“Considering the project that has been running for several weeks, we, at Quantum, have carefully calculated the construction process. The final designs for several segments have already been implemented.”
All participants were enthusiastic as they listened to Edward’s explanation, including the representatives from Emaar Properties, who were the esteemed guests of the morning.
“For the visualization of the interior and the detailed designs, we have checked them repeatedly. To make it clearer, you can see the slides I will show shortly.”
Before Edward could finish explaining, his laptop suddenly shut down for no apparent reason. He tried to remain as composed as possible while attempting to resolve the issue, while the other meeting attendees watched silently.
Nicholas, who was standing nearby, immediately rushed to help check the problem.
“Mister…” Nicholas whispered softly, “It seems like your laptop is experiencing a boot loop.”
Edward tried to keep a calm demeanor, briefly glancing at the meeting attendees before whispering back.
“What do you mean? What’s wrong with my laptop?”
Nicholas approached and answered Edward’s question in a hushed tone.
“Your laptop went through the booting process but suddenly shut down on its own, then it restarted again. It keeps repeating the cycle. It can’t be used at the moment. It needs to be checked by the IT staff.”
Edward took a deep breath, trying to remain composed in front of the audience.
“So, what now? You have a copy of the project data, right?”
Nicholas glanced back at him.
“I have a backup of the raw project data. But for the final result, didn’t you keep everything on your personal laptop?”
Edward sighed heavily, thinking quickly about how to handle this panic-inducing situation. On one hand, he couldn’t afford to appear unprofessional in front of such a significant client, as it would damage his pride and work credibility. On the other hand, this incident would undoubtedly have significant consequences in the future.