The morning sunlight pierced through the clouds spreading its warm rays all over A City. The crystal snowflakes dazzled, reflecting the light from the sun. The snow on the tree branches was blown down by a gust of wind, dancing leisurely in the first rays of the morning sun.
Molly was still in bed lost in deep sleep. The faint smile at the corners of her mouth indicated that she might have been in a sweet dream. Having noticed that, Brian, who had just woken up, stood by the side of the bed with a satisfied smile on his lips. Careful not to disturb her sleep, he leaned down to give her a soft kiss on the forehead and then tip-toed out of the bedroom as quietly as he could.
"Mr. Brian Long." Tony walked to him as soon as he saw him come downstairs. "We have a problem over there."
Having heard the bad news, Brian glanced at Tony with furrowed eyebrows, and walked out as he put on his windbreaker. "Notify everyone about a video conference in a bit," he ordered.
"Yes," Tony answered, following Brian out of the villa in a hurry.
Later that morning, stronger rays of sunlight fell slanting through the windowpanes, casting squares onto the glossy stone floor. With an almost inaudible mumble, Molly woke up for her slumber.
Slowly glancing over to the other side of the bed with drowsy eyes, she found that her partner wasn't there. Touching his pillow with her hand, the absence of warmth told her that Brian had been gone for at least quite a while.
She sat up, leaning against the headboard and looked at the time. "It's half past nine o'clock..." she mumbled to herself, feeling a little disappointed. Perhaps because of what had happened last night, its actuality felt like an incredible fairy tale, giving rise to more suspicions that she must have been dreaming since she couldn't find Brian by her side the moment she opened her eyes.
Disappointed, Molly frowned and breathed a deep sigh. Suddenly, a melodious violin solo, her cellphone ringtone, interrupted her sad thoughts...
Looking at the number and name displayed on the screen of her cellphone, her eyes lit up all of a sudden. Hastily, she picked up the phone, "Bri?"
"Sorry to interrupt your sleep," Brian's voice came through the other side of the phone.
"No, it's okay," Molly smiled, "I just woke up."
"Why don't you sleep some more? You got to bed so late last night," Brian said in a soft and affectionate voice.
"I didn't see you when I opened my eyes, so I assumed that last night was just a dream," Molly mumbled in a mischievous tone. "So, I couldn't fall asleep again."
"I'm sorry,"
he apologized, sounding guilty over the phone. Sensing his remorse, Molly felt her heart twitch and she quickly explained, "I was just kidding..."
"Mol," Brian interrupted her, "Something important came up at work today. Looks like I'm going to be very busy. I'm afraid I won't be able to make for lunch. Please don't forget to eat something, okay?"
"Hmm," Molly answered, "You go ahead with your business. Don't worry, I will have a good lunch and take good care of myself."
Brian smiled from ear to ear, relieved by her supportive attitude. After a few minutes on the phone, Brian hung up.
After Brian got off the phone, Tony handed him a stack of documents. "Sir, these are the documents you asked for," he said.
Taking them over, Brian began flipping through the pages. It took him several hours to skim through such a big stack of documents from beginning to end. He didn't finish reading them until it was already noon.
"Tell Shane to take a trip to QY Island," Brian ordered, throwing the documents in his hands aside. "And, tell Harrow and Hanson to go to Las Vegas. Inform everybody else that I will hold a video conference in one hour."
"Yes," Tony answered. Then he turned around and left the office.
Brian took his cellphone out of his pocket and made a call to Aaron. "I want to know to what extent you are controlling QY Island," he said, coming straight to the point.
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