Hanging up, Summer turned to Jessica. “Leonardo needs me to deliver a document to his office.”
“I’m free. I can give you a ride to your house and then to Tip Top.” Jessica waved her car keys in her hand.
After sending Summer to get the document from her house, they headed straight to Tip Top Entertainment. Jessica drove into the parking lot, and Summer took the private elevator straight up to Leonardo’s office.
…
When she arrived, Leonardo was standing in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, his back to her as if deep in thought.
“I’ve brought what you want.” He turned around. “I haven’t shown you around Tip Top.”
“What?” What did he mean?
He continued, “I’ll ask someone to show you around, okay?”
Why did he need to show her around Tip Top?
“I’ll ask Carl.” He suddenly changed his mind. “Never mind, I better find Jessica.”
Summer was not interested in taking the tour. Pointing at the file on the desk, she asked, “Don’t you want to look at the document?”
“It’s not that important.” Leonardo did not look at her. He just took out his mobile phone and called Carl.
What the heck? If it was not important, why did he ask her to bring it to him?
Carl came over in no time, appearing with a pair of massive dark circles around his eyes.
“What is it?” he asked.
“Could you show Summer around the company?” Leonardo looked at him.
Carl was surprised, but considering that Leonardo had been working very hard recently, he agreed.
“Let’s go. I’m going to give you a tour of your husband’s company.”
Getting teased, Summer felt a little embarrassed. Just then, Leonardo’s voice came from behind them.
“Ask Jessica to show her around.”
Carl raised his hand. “Jessica just joined us not long ago. She’s still not that familiar with the company.”
Once they were out of the room, Summer asked, “Why does he want me to take a tour of Tip Top?”
She finally seemed to get it. Asking her to deliver the document was just an excuse, but she still had not figured out what he was up to.
Carl thought for a moment, asking, “You just quit your job, didn’t you?”
Summer nodded.
“He…” Carl sounded unsure. “He could be thinking of inviting you to work in Tip Top but just can’t bring himself to ask. So, he wants you to take a look at Tip Top before seducing you into working for him, I guess.” Even Carl seemed to think the idea was a little crazy.
“What?” Summer did not think what he said was true. “He can always tell me.”
“He opened a back door for you last time, but you declined and said that you were not interested in working in Tip Top, right?”
“How did you know he opened a back door for me and I said I wasn’t interested?” Summer looked at him suspiciously.
By then, he realized he had a slip of a tongue. “Err… let me show you around first…” He could not have possibly told her he overheard her conversation with Leonardo last time.
…
In the end, it was Jessica who showed Summer around the company. In a sense, Carl was also a boss. It would not be out of place for him to bring Summer on a tour around the company. But if it was Jessica who did it, people would not give them another thought. They would just think that she was bringing a friend.
Summer got to meet many A-list artists, famous editors, and directors. Even Jessica had to greet them, addressing them as teachers and seniors. The Tip Top building was massive. After a while, they were up on the rooftop terrace.
Jessica rested her hands on the railing, screaming at the top of her lungs, “One day, I want everyone to call me their teacher and senior!”
“I know you’ll make it one day!” Standing behind her, Summer was emotional.
As if something occurred to her, Jessica looked back at Summer. “Haven’t you quit already? Why don’t you come to Tip Top? Then we can become colleagues!”
Summer recalled what Carl said. Although it sounded crazy, with her understanding of Leonardo, he could really be thinking of it. A smart man like Leonardo was doing such a thing? Summer could not help but smile.
“Maybe…” she answered.
“What do you mean ‘maybe’? You just need to say it and Big Boss will give you everything you want; famous directors, A-list artists, top screenwriters, and all. I’m getting envious already.” Jessica looked excited.
“Carl will surely be more than willing to do that for you.” Summer poured cold water on her.
Jessica glared at her. “I’m not talking to you today!”
“Okay, then. Goodbye.” Summer suddenly received a message from Leonardo.
Jessica ran up to her. “Sweetie, it’s my bad…”
“Leonardo just sent me a message. I have to go,” Summer explained with a smile.
…
Leonardo was alone in his office. He was sitting in front of the tea table with his head low, looking princely and distant.
Summer walked up to him and sat down on the opposite. “You know the tea ceremony?”
Leonardo poured out a cup of tea and placed it in front of her. “I learned it from Grandpa. What do you think of Tip Top?”
“It’s great. Tip Top is the top dog of the entertainment industry, the star factory,” Summer opined. In recent years, most of the A-list artists who appeared on the silver screen came from Tip Top Entertainment.
She observed Leonardo’s expression. Still looking down, he poured himself a cup of tea and absentmindedly said, “Do you want to work in Tip Top?”
Summer was sipping a mouthful of tea while he was speaking. She nearly spurted all of it out. So, Carl was right. She was sitting across the tea table from him, but some of the tea that spurted out from her mouth still splattered on his face. He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh. He appeared angry, or perhaps helpless.
Summer quickly took a towel to clean his face. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it.” What surprised her was that she and Carl had been right about their conjecture. Leonardo was beating around the bush, and it was out of character. Should he not be coming up to her and ordering her to do this and that? He was being diplomatic this time.
With his eyes still closed, Leonardo allowed her to clean the tea from his face. After that, Summer gave him a kiss; it was just survival instincts at this point.
“It’s done,” she said.
He opened his eyes and sighed again, returning to the usual business-like sales pitch. “With your qualifications and experience, you will not find a company better than Tip Top.”
She suddenly suspected that his tact from earlier was just an illusion.