Summer looked at Tim with a half-smile. She neither said anything nor took the invitation card from him.
Of course, Tim had no doubts that Summer knew it was Leonardo behind the idea.
He bowed his head slightly and bit the bullet.”You and Mr. Bates are friends, Mrs. Emerson. He will surely agree to attend if you invite him.”
She quirked her eyebrow.”As if he won’t come to the banquet for sure if you guys invited him instead. He isn’t a petty man.”
There was no love lost between Stanley and Leonardo, but Stanley was magnanimous. As long as they sent him an invitation, he would surely attend.
Tim had a headache.
When he was courting his wife, previously his girlfriend, he thought that it was the most arduous task in the world. But now, that did not even seem close.
The most difficult thing to him was an eccentric superior and said superior’s wife, who was unpredictable.
Since Summer was so frank with him, Tim no longer needed to beat around the bush.”It is indeed the young master’s idea.”He let out a subtle sigh.
Summer did not want to make his life any more difficult since he had decided to tell the truth.”Why does he want me to deliver the invitation card?”She creased her brows slightly.
Following Leonardo’s thinking, he should have stopped her from seeing Stanley. Now, he wanted her to deliver an invitation card to him instead.
“I’m not sure.”Leonardo had only told him what to do and never explained why. Obviously, Tim would never dare to ask.
“I got it.”Summer took the invitation card.”I’ll deliver it personally. You can go now.”
Summer then took Rosie into her car. Tim stood by the road and waited for her to drive away before he returned to the Emerson Group building.
He took the elevator straight up to Leonardo’s office.
The office door was not closed. Tim approached the doorway and gave it two knocks.
Leonardo said nothing and just looked up, motioning him to enter.
“I’ve passed the invitation card to Mrs. Emerson,”Tim said without waiting for Leonardo to ask.
“What did she say?”Leonardo looked down as he browsed through some files. He sounded nonchalant, as though he did not really care.
But Tim found a hint of abnormality in his voice.
“Mrs. Emerson said that she would deliver it to Mr. Bates personally,”he told him what Summer said, word for word, after some deliberation.
Leonardo stopped what he was doing and looked up slightly. His pupils were so black that it seemed like ink was going to drip out of them.
“Say that again.”His voice was clear and cold. He spoke unhurriedly, but every word was as sharp as an icicle.
Tim was hesitant but still quickly repeated the sentence.”Mrs. Emerson said that she would deliver it to Mr. Bates personally.”
There was a moment of silence in the room. Tim did not have to look at Leonardo to know how bad his face looked right then.
“Leave me now,”Leonardo said only after a few seconds.
Tim looked up and began to turn around to leave.
Just then, he inadvertently saw something:Leonardo had crumpled a document page in one of his hands as he clenched his fist.
Tim peered at him with bated breath but dared not say anything. He turned around and left.
Once he went out and closed the door behind him, he heard what sounded like someone smashing things inside the room.
Tim stood outside the room with his hands crossed and listened. It was not until he heard no more sound inside that he let out a sigh and returned to his office.
By then, he realized that Leonardo did not really want Summer to deliver the invitation card to Stanley even though he asked him to pass it to her.
He did not want her to deliver it.
However, Summer had insisted on delivering it personally.
…
Summer knew the location of Stanley’s psychiatric clinic like the back of her hand.
She brought the invitation card and Rosie along with her.
Additionally, she stopped on the way and bought some fruits as a gift.
When she arrived and brought Rosie inside, the receptionist instantly recognized her.”Ms. Jarrett, are you here to see our Dr. Bates?”the receptionist asked without waiting for her to speak.
“Yeah. Is he busy?”Summer asked with a smile.
“Not really. There are few patients today.”The receptionist was very excited.”Let me bring you in.”
The receptionist kept talking to Summer while she walked them to Stanley’s office.
Summer thought the receptionist was just being polite. Little did she expect that Stanley would really be free.
When she entered the room with Rosie, Stanley was sitting behind his desk, reading a magazine. It looked like he was having leisure time.
“Look who’s here, Dr. Bates!”The receptionist was in front. The moment Stanley looked up from his magazine, she stepped aside. Once he saw the person standing behind the receptionist, he was taken aback for a second.”Summer?”
“Are you free today?”Summer walked over and placed the bag of fruits on his desk.”I’m here to see you, and I’ve also brought you some fruits.”
“You shouldn’t have. I’m already happy just seeing you here.”He still accepted it, though.
“I knew you wouldn’t mind, but I couldn’t come empty-handed.”While Summer spoke, she sat down across him.
There were two chairs in front of Stanley’s working desk, so after Summer sat down, she lifted Rosie onto the other one.”Please greet Mr. Bates, Rosie.”
Rosie placed her hands on the edge of the desk as her big round eyes darted around and landed on Stanley at last.”Hi, Mr. Bates.”
She and Stanley had met a few times before, but he was still not familiar to her. Rosie would become quiet in front of strangers.
“Hi, Rosie. You’re here too!”
Rosie was short, and Stanley did not notice her from where he sat when they came in.
“Yeah, Rosie is here to have fun.”Rosie looked up at Stanley with some effort.
Stanley was happy to see her. He opened a drawer and took out a lollipop.”Would you like this?”He handed it to her.
Rosie moved her fingers and eyes toward the lollipop. But alas, she reluctantly looked away and at Summer, seeking her consent.”Mommy?”
“You like that?”Summer asked, chuckling.
Rosie nodded quickly. She loved candy the most, but she remembered that her mom used to tell her not to accept things from strangers.
Summer affectionately patted her on the head.”You can take it from Mr. Bates if you want. You haven’t eaten any candy for the past few days, so you can eat one today.”
With Summer’s consent, Rosie quickly held out her hand to take the lollipop.”Thank you, Mr. Bates,”she said with a sweet voice.