I instinctively stood up. Our eyes met, and I realized he was incredibly handsome—the kind of guy who'd turn heads on the street.
"Lorraine Stevenson?" he called my name.
"Yes," I replied, taking in his face. He looked even better up close.
He also scanned me from head to toe before saying, "Take a seat."
After I sat down, he continued, "I'm Edward Austen. Your desk is by the floor-to-ceiling window, number eleven. No need to rush into work today. Take your time to get familiar with the company..."
At first, I'd hoped he might be Gilbert. But clearly, he wasn't, which left me feeling oddly disappointed.
As I left the office and headed to my desk, my phone chimed with a new message on WhatsApp. It was from Gilbert.
I glanced back at Edward in his office, who was focused on his computer.
I couldn't help but smile to myself. "Why did I even think it could be him?"
After much hesitation, I finally decided to text Gilbert Baker back: [Sorry, my phone broke, and I didn't receive your message.]
Gilbert replied quickly: [Baby, I want to see you. Where are you?]
I stared at the screen for a long time before responding: [I'm in Strohull.]
Gilbert seemed a bit excited and immediately tried to video call me.
Startled, I quickly ended the call, causing some noise that made my nearby colleague look at me in confusion.
"Sorry," I quickly apologized.
Just as I was wondering how to respond to Gilbert, a woman walked up to me holding some documents.
"Hi, I'm the Director of the Design Department. These are the recent property addresses and floor plans from our collaboration. Please familiarize yourself with them. Also, here's an assessment for new designers, which will last for a week." She placed the files on my desk and walked away in her Valentino heels, leaving me with a pile of work. Suddenly, an idea struck me, and I took a photo of the documents and sent it to Gilbert: [I'm working. Let's chat later. We'll meet when we both have time!]
After sending the message, I breathed a sigh of relief and began reviewing the documents.
Knowing that I was now working in his city, Gilbert became even more eager, bombarding me with messages.
Soon, my chat window was flooded with over a hundred notifications.
When I still didn't respond, he sent me a money transfer of Fifty thousand dollars.
I picked up my phone, and my eyes widened in shock.