He stood with her at the airport while going over the things they had previously discussed about his works, inspirations and all other things that pertains to his work and profile. The flight to Paris boarding announcement blasted through the speakers and she left for her flight after he wished her good luck and thanked her for helping him out.
****
Since there was no much work at the company, thanks to Amber who got everything sorted out before she traveled, he went home early and saw the series of dishes his mother had prepared. He settled on the chair and blurt out “Why are there so many dishes? Are we having a guest?” in confusion and before his mother could reply, Chairman Holland and Joseph appeared at the table.
He raised his brow at his younger brother’s presence at the table and questioned “I thought you said you won’t be eating at home anymore? What are you doing here?” but Joseph only scoffed before settling down.
“I don’t think I have to answer that question” Joseph slammed and Anita placed his food in front of him. It dawned on Tom that his mother had prepared so much food because Joseph was eating at home and she wanted to satisfy him with many choices. He only let out a tired sigh and murmured “You are really trying hard” before he began to consume the food in front of him.
The table was filled with only sounds of cutleries clashing against the plates when Chairman Holland’s voice suddenly intruded the peace of the table. “Give the textile company to Joseph!” he ordered and the sounds of cutleries stopped immediately at the declaration.
“What do you mean by that, father?” he asked in confusion but he was met with a sharp “It’s just like you have heard” and the sound of him slamming his spoon on the table angrily followed.
“Shellhouse mall has its biggest profit share from clothes and its accessories, we have a high percent of the sales in Chicago thanks to our reliable textile company that manufactures our fabrics for our use and even to others, that is why it fell under my management but you want me to give it to Joseph who is managing Holland Chemicals? To do what exactly?” he fumed and their father hit his hand on the table to cut him shut.
“Do you think I didn’t know about that before I told you to give him? How dare you try to lecture me?” Chairman Holland growled but Tom was not moved a bit. He only wiped the corner of his mouth to get rid of the soup stain before firmly telling his father, “He will have to take the Shellhouse Mall first before he can touch the textile company” and continued eating.
The determination in his words was enough to make everyone speechless for a couple of minutes and the eating resumed after the tension died down. Their father turned to Joseph who only focused on his food as if he was not mentioned in the talks and told him “You will be getting engaged to the daughter of ITM Construction so get ready”.
The announcement threw another round of shock the second time but Joseph didn’t react, he only dropped his spoon, wiped his mouth and replied, “Yes father” before standing up to excuse himself from the table.
*****
The fuzz and buzz at the art gallery was making Elaine go crazy with her name being called here and there, everybody wanted her attention and for her to check things out. The day was already busy enough and Phoebe, her direct supervisor at work had to call in sick. The terrible feeling of having to do the work alone was making her mad from within but who will she complain to? Lawrence was out meeting the other art directors that would be attending the exhibition.
“Miss Elaine, we need to move the canvas now” she heard one of the workers said and she sighed before gritting her teeth tight in frustration. Nevertheless, her turning to respond was with a smile as she motioned “Let’s go” with a tired breath.
She was halfway into the supervision of canvas moving when another worker came to notify her that Amber had landed at the airport. She had to take an excuse from them and called the designated driver that was supposed to pick her up but he was not picking no matter how many times she called.
An angry mutter of “Fuck!” escaped her mouth as she walked angrily back to the office to grab her car keys only to bump into Lawrence who just came back from his meeting.
“Any problem?” he asked noticing her wrinkled face and she sighed before ranting, “I have to pick up Artist Umbra at the airport because the designated driver wouldn’t pick up his call and I cannot delay her any longer” she complained and Lawrence motioned for her to calm down.
“I’ll pick her up, you can continue with what you were doing” He told her and her face’s muscles relaxed for a bit, “I would be glad if you could do that sir, thank you” she stated and ran back to the exhibition floor.
“You are really working hard” he complimented with a small smile and heads out to pick Amber.
****
After waiting for close to forty-five minutes, a car finally pulled up in front of her and she recognized Lawrence right away, thanks to the constant communication that had occurred between them. She got to see his full attire of the tight ripped jean pants and strip tree love Flannel shirt he was putting on, he was a bit taller than her boss, Tom. He was stylish yet classy, Paris fashion was really screaming on his body.
“It must have been a tiring flight” he said to her with a broad smile, breaking her from her world of checking him out and she quickly nodded in response, “It was tiring but fun”.
She got into the car with him and they head to her hotel that has been reserved for her with her eyes closed to avoid any form of communications since this was their first time meeting each other and it was still slightly awkward for her even though they had spoken a few times over the phone.
Noticing her sleep mode, he reached out to the car’s radio to turn down the music oozing out from it but her favorite song came on at that exact moment. Her eyes flew open at the sudden interruption and she didn’t need to tell him that he made a bad decision before he quickly reached the volume button and turned it on again.
He chuckled at her reaction and funny expression, “I didn’t know you love the song, I almost made a grave mistake” he stated and she laughed. “I was about singing along to it when it got turned off, you must have been startled at my reaction” she responded and they both chuckled when he admitted that he indeed was startled.
Thanks to the song on the radio, they talked more by exchanging their views on the song, the other songs sung by the artist and other similar ones. The perfect match in taste was a positive for them both as the tension they felt earlier disappeared into the thin air. They arrived at the hotel in no time and he helped her check in, made sure she found her room before leaving for the company to assist Elaine who was already bloated with anger.