Bryan was in no position to fight back, so he ended up having to acquiesce, albeit begrudgingly. "Make sure those kids sing praises of me to my grandfather," he said. If the kids did a good job of it, he might just get his pocket money back.
Vania nodded. "I will." She turned to the waiter and cheerily added, "And I'll take another one of this to go, but hold the chili for me. Thanks."
She was pointing to Hanson's favorite dish.
Bryan knew at once it was Hanson's favorite as well, and the smile slipped off his face entirely. That's not fair! I'm already paying for her meal. Why do I have to pay for Hanson's, too?
After ordering, Vania assessed the pained look on Bryan's face with amusement. "Shall I thank you on behalf of Hanson and the kids?"
"You don't have to," Bryan said with a dry laugh. He had already done the math in his head; the meal today would cost him the fees for one endorsement deal, which was admittedly ludicrous.
The three of them chatted while the kitchen was preparing Vania's takeout. When the waiter brought the containers to their table, she took the carrier bag and waved goodbye to Bryan and Jennifer, then quipped, "I'm going to see Hanson now. Bye!"
Bryan managed a mechanical wave, but he just couldn't seem to get the 'bye' out without choking. He was sure that Vania had not come here today to bait Yvonne, but to burn a hole through his wallet. And what a huge hole it is, he thought miserably.
Meanwhile, Vania happily made her way over to Luke Corporation with the carrier bag in tow. It was almost lunchtime, and she liked being able to bring her husband his lunch.
The receptionist at the front desk beamed when she saw Vania. She stood up and greeted, "Mrs. Luke." Then, she quickly pressed the button for the elevator.
"Take it easy," Vania said as she walked into the elevator. She was in good spirits today. She hadn't called Hanson before coming over, and the thought of surprising him made her giddy for some reason.
Ding! The moment the elevator doors slid open at the top floor, Vania was greeted by none other than a despondent, sighing Larry.
Larry didn't think Vania would show up now. His eyes lit up like he just saw his savior. Evidently overwhelmed, he looked as if he might cry as he exclaimed, "Mrs. Luke! I'm so glad to see you!"
He gazed at her like she was the light at the end of the tunnel.
"What happened? Did the sky fall or something?" Vania asked in bewilderment.
Larry looked pained, but he could only sigh to convey his agony. He wished the sky was falling, but whatever the company was going through right now was far worse than the apocalypse. The president of Luke Corporation might be able to stave off the disastrous effects of the sky falling on them, but he was apoplectic now, and Larry was the one who had to suffer his wrath.
The poor assistant couldn't count the times Hanson had lashed out at him this morning.
For starters, the executive report he handed in was apparently done wrongly, from the information all the way down to the color of the paper. But unfortunately for Larry, all the papers meant for office use were white, so he wasn't sure what Hanson thought he could do about that.
Another sigh escaped him as he remembered the paper conundrum.
Vania, on the other hand, was admittedly alarmed by the number of times Larry had sighed since she saw him. "What in the world is going on?" she asked, wondering what could be so terrible as to make him look so defeated.
Then, a horrifying thought crossed her mind as she demanded urgently, "Please tell me Luke Corporation isn't facing a crisis!" This was followed by swift denial. "No, surely that can't be it."
Luke Corporation was the biggest global conglomerate there was. A couple of hamlets might die off in this fast-paced world, but there was no way an entity like Luke Corporation would go bankrupt and crumble.
Larry stared at Vania speechlessly. What is she thinking?As if Luke Corporation could ever face a crisis! Does she have such little faith in President Luke?
He was suddenly seized with the urge to lecture her on how almighty the corporation was, but now was not the time. As such, he sighed once more and said to Vania, "Mrs. Luke, please go and talk to President Luke before he blows the ceiling."
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Her Seven Little Bodyguards
Love this novel, when are you going to update it been waiting for a while. Is there anyway to get the whole thing. Or somewhere else I can finish reading it? Please HELP!!!!!...