Cristelle wasn’t happy about this statement, “What’s wrong with being like Candace? Do you really think your daughter’s fat? I’m gonna tell Candace this when I get home so she will know your true face.”
Linford chuckled before he leaned forward and pressed his lips against Cristelle’s.
Cristelle tried to pull away, but the space in the car was pretty limited.
The kiss was long and gentle. Linford didn’t let her go until she couldn’t even breathe anymore.
She was still feeling dizzy from that kiss as she felt Linford’s hand on the back of her neck as he pulled away. He pressed his forehead against hers as he tried to steady his breath, “For me, chubby Cristelle is also sexy as hell.”
Cristelle went red and pushed him away, “Liar.”
“Oh, you’re saying I’m the liar?” Linford laughed, “I promise that I’m telling the truth.”
Cristelle looked away, “We’ve arrived. Let’s get out of the car.”
Linford got out of the car and tried to hold the door open for Cristelle. But Cristelle had already slammed the door behind her after leaving the car.
Leaning against the shiny car, she sighed, “To be honest, I feel extremely guilty right now.”
Linford asked, “Why?”
“It will break Cody’s heart if he gets to know that we’re together now,” Cristelle couldn’t recall the day when Cody cried after seeing her with Linford.
She didn’t want her son to cry anymore. The boy had already shouldered too much compared with other young boys of his age.
Linford held her in, brushing his lips against her ear, “We can still not let him know.”
Cristelle smacked his bicep gently, “I’m not doing secret dating. If you did better before Cody and let him accept you, we wouldn’t face a future problem like this.”
With that, she turned around and walked into the elevator.
He didn’t do well?
Linford caught up, “Hey, Mrs. Bradley, it’s not my problem. Your son is just hard to impress.”
“Why can’t you learn from Enzo, then? Cody absolutely adores that man.”
Linford snorted, “Why should I learn from that slab of rock? He only knows his job. Only your son would love a weirdo like that.”
Cristelle rolled her eyes, “Is this how you talk about your big brother? Besides, Cody’s obviously inherited your attitude, and you talk like Cody wasn’t your son at all, Mr. Bradley.”
“It’s not what I mean.” Linford explained, “Gosh, can you at least wait for me?”
In the corner nearby the elevator, Lana was standing there with her fists clenched for a while. Her eyes were filled with tears as she looked at the number of Linford’s exclusive jumps up. Jealousy ate her mind. She can’t accept the truth that Linford is madly in love with Cristelle. And then, taking in a deep breath, the girl walked toward the employee elevator near it.
****
Fritzi, Donny, and Mickey came to welcome Cristelle the moment she stepped into the office of the Design Department.
“Gosh! Cristelle! You’re finally here! You’re my savior! I begged Alfred to help me, but that motherfucker said he was on vacation, and he refused to do anything for the company. I felt devastated when hearing his answer,” Fritzi pointed at the pile of files on Cristelle’s desk, “Could you please do those for me first? I really need your hand now.”
Cristelle took a deep breath as she looked at those files on the desk, “I’ll try my best to help you.”
Cristelle barely moved the whole morning. She didn’t even have the time to go to the bathroom.
Linford wasn’t in a good mood. He called Lana and told her to go to Fritzi’s department.
Lana felt weird, “Why do you want me to go there, Linford?”
“Check out how the project is going right now. I need your feedback in five minutes,” Linford explained, regretting firing Alfred already.
“Oh, okay.” Lana went to the design department.
She came back pretty soon, “They’re still working. I don’t see much progress. But all of them seemed stressed out.”
Linford nodded and finally asked the problem he cared about the most, “How is Cristelle now? What is she doing?”
Lana bit on her bottom lip to contain her anger, “She’s been working. She’s got a lot of files to handle. They were discussing lunch just now. Fritzi said she had ordered food.”
“Okay. Thank you. You can leave now,” Linford casually sent her out as he returned to his laptop.
“Linford, do you want to eat something? I can order some food for you if you’re hun-”
“You really don’t have to, Lana,” Linford cut her off, “Go do your job now.”
Lana stomped her feet and clocked out of Linford’s office.
Linford grabbed his phone the moment the girl left and ordered Cristelle’s favorite food.
And then, he called Cristelle’s number. “Yes, Boss,” Cristelle answered the phone lazily.
The noise of the keyboard on the other side of the line made Linford smile.
“Tired now?” Linford asked, his voice deep and soothing.
Cristelle changed the phone to the other ear as she opened a folder, “Not that tired. Why?”
“Would you join me for lunch in the roof garden? I ordered your favorite food.”
“Is this how you’re gonna pay for me after I worked like cattle for your company all day?” Cristelle huffed.
“Why? Isn’t this enough? How about we get married, so you own half of the company?” Linford laughed.
Cristelle stopped, “You’re not gonna propose again, are you?”
“What? You’re gonna jump off the building if I do?” Linford teased her.
Cristelle didn’t say anything. The silence made Linford sigh, “I know I was being too impulsive that day. I was just… too glad that I didn’t lose you. I won’t do that all of a sudden again until you make up your mind. I promise.”
Cristelle shrugged, “That’s very sweet of you.”
“Now, Miss Friesley, can I have the honor to enjoy lunch with you in the roof garden?” Linford asked gently. “I promise you that I won’t adorn the place with red roses.”
“Sounds not romantic at all,” Cristelle smiled, “See you in a minute.”