Standing not far off from her, Joel was dressed casually in a shirt, looking like he was out on a break. Even without his uniform, he still looked sharp like a sword which was placed in a scabbard and the military temperament he had was impossible to hide.
Joel grinned, not expecting to run into her today. Unlike that day during the competition when she wore an eye-catching red dress, she was now wearing a casual white-colored top with wide sleeves paired with jeans and canvas sneakers. On her delicate face, she had very light makeup on and overall, she looked very clean and refreshing.
The sight of her made his heart skip.
During the tournament, Sophia had seen Joel from afar and knew that he was the one in charge of security for that day. However, that day was too rushed, and she had left with the others to a party right after, so she didn’t make it in time to greet him. Furthermore, the fact that Michael disliked him also made her a little wary about going over to say hi that day.
Without his military uniform, Joel maintained his usual smart aura, but his smile seemed more gentle as the edges of his lips curled upward slightly and he replied, “I have a gathering with my comrades in the afternoon.” Then, he recalled the day of the competition and added, “You did well that day!”
Since he was in charge of security, he had to stay outside of the venue to take care of various situations and couldn’t watch Sophia on the spot, but he had watched the livestream.
The scene was unforgettable; a lady in red calmly controlling a virtual character in golden armor to defeat the foreign team until they had to make a run for it. The atmosphere was so thrilling that even Joel, who was outside, could feel it simply by watching the broadcast.
The world of the young is burning with life! he had thought.
When he first met Sophia, she was a young girl who wasn’t very striking. If he hadn’t heard that she was bought by Michael, he probably wouldn’t have taken a second look at her.
Back then, he didn’t understand why a person like Michael would need to resort to buying a woman, but looking at her now, it was probably because Michael was a better judge of a person than he was.
Hearing the general’s compliment, Sophia was so embarrassed that she scratched her head and grinned. “I just got lucky. It was mainly because Stanley is a capable leader. I was just an errand runner who could hit a few enemies.”
She had just finished speaking when Joel smiled again. The genes of the Fletchers were indeed top of the class. There was the elegant idol like Michael, the young punk like Stanley and also Joel, who was oozing with righteousness and military persona.
Usually, he wouldn’t smile, but when he did, he was very good-looking and completely different from the way Michael smiled.
“How’s the company?” he asked.
Sophia was not expecting him to ask about the company, but it occurred to her that Irene had also invested in it, so she hurriedly replied, “The company is doing well and I’m planning to drop by later to take a look. Everyone is working overtime recently and even Stanley has shifted his home to the office.”
“Yeah, do your best but don’t give yourself too much pressure. You’re still young, so you’ll run into some failures before you can mature,” he said. Suddenly, his phone rang and he answered the caller, “I’ll be right there.”
After hanging up, he turned to Sophia and asked, “It’s Army Day today and we have a day off. Your drill instructor will also be at the gathering with my comrades. Would you like to join?”
My drill instructor? she repeated in her head.
The mention of military training reminded her of Commander Ford. After the training, they never kept in contact, and that seemed like a rule in their military camp.
When she heard that Joel would be having a gathering with Commander Ford, she was tempted to join, but the thought that Michael didn’t like Joel held her back. If Michael had gone out with a woman she didn’t like, she would definitely be unhappy about it as well.
Still, she contemplated it because the memories of her military training were etched into her mind and Commander Ford had taught her many things besides taking good care of her company. When the training ended, everyone had cried and was reluctant to leave.
That day, she even specially went to look for Commander Ford to bid farewell, but she couldn’t find him. When training was finished and they had to leave the barracks, they were all crying like babies, but their instructors were not allowed to send them off lest it made everyone sad.
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