Chapter 96 I Want to Stay with You
“It’s Lawrence Gilbert, a producer from Starlight Media.”
Josh stood still with a straight back in front of Alexander’s office table as he was slightly nervous.
“The recent reality show jointly launched by Sunhill Hotel and Starlight Media has just released a video trailer. In a short time, it is already on the trending page, especially Shay and Tina’s team. The fans love the interaction between them, so Starlight Media has the intention of grooming Tina as a young celebrity and signing a contract with her.”
“Is that so?” Alexander merely frowned and no one could tell whether he was happy or angry about it.
“Yes, the reason why Lawrence came is to discuss the plan of a complete show with this series as the basis. He’s planning to discuss this with the finance department. Apart from that, he would like to hire Miss Hunter at their company after he saw her capabilities. After all, this show was mooted by her.”
When Alexander heard it, he tightened his grip on the pen and raised his head from the contract. “Has she agreed?”
“I’m not too sure about this.”
Josh sounded slightly worried. Recently, it’s been arduous to tell what the boss is thinking from his unstable mood.
Alexander remained silent for a while before Josh carefully reminded, “President Duncan, the meeting is about to start. A few representatives from the different branches have arrived.”
Sunhill Hotel had a plan to develop a series of youth hostels under their umbrella, allowing them to be listed under the same category as the travel agency. Hence, Alexander had summoned all of the branch representatives from the Sunhill Hotel in Melrose City.
As a result, Courtney was also there.
He put his pen down and said in a low voice, “Let’s go.”
The conference room was full of people and because she was the youngest, she sat in the corner.
“Initially, Sunhill Enterprise only focused on high-end hotels, so we have no experience in commonly priced products. Now that we have plans to develop a youth hotel franchise, we need to do a market research.”
After someone pointed that out, Alexander, who had been quiet, started to speak. “Of course, it’s necessary to do market research, but the credibility of a market research company isn’t excellent. Hence, I think it’s unnecessary to hand this task to a market consulting company. Every branch of the hotel should send a representative to personally carry out the market research.”
As Courtney’s focus was on taking notes, she was completely oblivious that his gaze had fallen upon her.
“After the centennial celebration, your schedule seems to be free, Miss Hunter. Why don’t you take charge of this?”
As soon as she heard that, Courtney’s expression changed as she lifted her head. “Me? Market research?” One look at Alexander’s serious gaze was enough to provide her with a definitive answer. “Isn’t there anyone else who can do this?” I still have to take care of Tina and send her to school on a daily basis. How can I be on a business trip for such a long time?
Alexander merely looked at her coldly, even though he knew about her difficulties. “Why? Do you have any problem with that, Miss Hunter? Don’t you want to do this?”
Ever since they returned from Maldives, she knew that her attitude toward him was terrible when they crossed paths a couple of times. I’m afraid I have offended him. No matter how important my reason is, it will only give him an excuse to mock me. Hence, she gritted her teeth and agreed. “No problem. I can do it.”
After glancing at her, he saw how troubled she was and regretted his actions.
Everyone left one after another when the meeting ended. Even though Courtney had left in a haste, she never expected to run into Alexander’s butler, who held Jordan’s hands, immediately after she walked out of the door.
Jordan’s face brightened as soon as he saw Courtney. He released his butler’s hand and immediately pounced on her.
After being stunned for a while, she quickly crouched. “Jordan, why aren’t you at the kindergarten today?”
He merely hugged her without speaking another word and his silence was making her feel sorry for him.
The butler then explained, “Jordan hasn’t been feeling well for the past two days. He has been coughing non-stop, so Mr. Duncan asked him to rest at home. Since he is feeling much better today, he can’t stand being at home anymore and has been throwing tantrums about being outdoors.
“You have a cough?” Courtney touched his forehead instinctively. Feeling relieved that he was not running a temperature, she asked again. “Are you still feeling unwell?”
Jordan shook his head, but he looked upset, as if he was about to burst into tears in the next second.
“What’s wrong? Who bullied you?”
He nodded and took his drawing board from the butler before penning a word—‘daddy’.
She was confused. “Daddy? He bullied you?”
He wrote another sentence again—‘He doesn’t allow me to see you.’
As soon as Courtney saw the sentence, a lump formed in her throat as mixed feelings rose within her. Tears almost streamed down her face.
‘I want to stay with you’ was another sentence that Jordan wrote before he pulled her hands to show it to her.
The more she spoke to him, the worse she felt.
Alexander’s displeased voice suddenly rang behind them. “Jordan, come here.”
Jordan immediately grabbed Courtney’s pants by force.
She lowered her head and sniffed to keep her tears at bay. “Jordan, I still have to work, so I can’t play with you anymore. Go to your dad. In the future, I’ll try to find some time to accompany you.”
He still clung onto her pants with a stubborn look on his face.
While glancing at the butler, Alexander asked, “What are you doing? Bring him to the office.”
With that, the butler had to pry Jordan’s hands off from her pants and forcefully hold him in his arms.
Worried that she would be unable to suppress her emotions, Courtney turned to leave.
Jordan struggled in the butler’s arms before he suddenly yelled in her direction. “Mommy!”
It was the first time that Courtney heard Jordan speak, so she immediately stopped and turned to look incredulously at the little fellow in the butler’s arms.
“She’s not your mommy!” Alexander’s voice was like a bucket of cold water that doused the fire in her heart. In that instant, conflicted feelings arose within her.
After ordering the butler to bring Jordan back to his office, Alexander walked toward her with an indifferent look on his face.
The people who were watching the drama in the corridor were chased off by Josh, who had great eyesight, before silence fell on the entire area.
“President Duncan.” Courtney suddenly lowered her head and hid her shock from earlier.
“Courtney Hunter, what are you planning?” he asked.
She frowned. “President Duncan, I’m afraid I don’t understand what you mean.”
The moment she said that, a force was suddenly exerted on her shoulders, causing her to exclaim as her feet staggered backward and her back landed on the wall beside her. Alexander had pressed on her and went closer to her ears to ask in a cold voice, “You rejected me, but you are treating Jordan with a mother’s love. Are you playing hard to get?”
“You’ve thought too much into this.” She stopped moving, but the frown on her face almost made her eyebrows meet each other. “I just think that Jordan is cute—that’s all.”
“Do you think I’ll believe such nonsense?” Alexander increased his force on her shoulders with a cold look on his face. “If you are playing this game to show how important you are to Jordan and coerce me into thinking that you are the only suitable woman for me, let me tell you this—you have lost. I’m never threatened by anyone.”
Courtney felt that her shoulders were almost broken by his grip. With a face that was as pale as a sheet of paper, she said painfully, “Really, you are thinking too much about this. I don’t have any intentions to be with you. All I have is the respect of an employee to her boss. Please respect yourself, President Duncan.”
The words ‘respect yourself’ reverberated in Alexander’s mind. The anger that was already burning within him seemed to flare up as her words added fuel to the fire, causing the flames to fiercely rage on. Even though he was initially cold toward her, his eyes were reddened by that point.
