Whenever Regan was around, Matthias wouldn’t feel at ease, so he decided to head out. Recalling how he treated Heather yesterday, he felt that something was wrong, so he simply came up with a reason to go see her.
However, she didn’t like how Matthias would come looking for her so frequently at the office. On the contrary, Blake was rather glad to see him visit, which was why Matthias had always been given access to Langston Group.
At this moment, Heather, who was busy working, heard someone was at the door, so she instinctively said, “Come in.”
Who knew Matthias would be the one to come through the door? Of all the people it could’ve been, it was the person she didn’t want to see the most. She was already stressed out because she had tons of documents to go through, and Matthias coming here only made her even more agitated.
“I’m working and have no time for personal matters,” she said coldly, wishing he’d just leave her alone as soon as possible.
“I’m here to discuss work.” It wasn’t surprising that he already thought of an excuse to talk to her.
“The person you’re looking for is Blake. I’m in no position to represent Langston Group.” It was evident that she didn’t want to talk to him at all, no matter if it was personal or work.
“I want to talk to you. Is that an issue?” He asserted. Nonetheless, she was also a persistent person when it came to rejecting someone.
“I don’t want to blur the line between personal matters and work,” she nonchalantly said with her head lowered as she continued to read the document she was working on.
“We’re discussing it in the office today.” Obviously, he had no plans of leaving without getting what he wanted. He immediately plopped down onto the chair opposite of her while she didn’t bother to spare a glance at him.
He must admit that being ignored wasn’t a good feeling. At this moment, he felt like he was transparent, and all he wanted was a glance from Heather.
His feelings toward her were ineffable. He knew very well that there wasn’t any chance for them to be lovers, but there were times like these where she would be so headstrong like how one could get in a relationship.
“May I know what’s the working matter that you would like to discuss with me?” Her eyes were still trained on the documents on hand as she tried to brush him off.
“Is this your attitude when you deal with work discussions?” he questioned as her attitude was beginning to irk him.
“Well then, Director Locke, how would you like me to act?” With that, she finally placed down the pen she was holding and looked right at him.
“Look at me, seriously.” As he raised a brow at her, mixed feelings brewed within himself. He was beginning to suspect that he really had feelings for her.
At once, she offered him a courteous smile as she wore a calm and composed expression. Her stare made his heart skip a beat.
He could even feel a trace of blissfulness. That was what he felt when he finally got eye contact from her. He liked that pair of sparkly, crystal clear eyes that were ever so mesmerizing.
“Does this satisfy you?” She stared at him motionlessly as if to mock him and anger him.
“I would like to discuss the collaboration of Locke Group with Langston Group.” It was the same old excuse he used before. Some time back, Robert had already rejected him, so the chances of it happening were slim.
“I can’t make the call on this matter. In fact, even Director Blake can’t do that. You should pay a visit to my Grandpa and discuss with him.” Heather had already heard from Robert that he had rejected his proposal for a collaboration.
“Is getting approval from Old Master Langston the only way that you’ll seriously discuss our collaboration with me?” he asked, chagrined. It was obvious that she had been talking to him in a perfunctory manner to his displeasure.
Ever since he came back from Tasnia City, things hadn’t been smooth for him. Even Heather’s attitude toward him had a 180-degree change. Matthias thought that he had been rather unlucky lately. Staring at Heather deeply, he was perplexed by his feelings for Heather and annoyed at her perfunctory attitude.
“A collaboration between the two groups is a big matter, so we must have Grandpa’s approval to proceed.” She simply repeated what she said. Honestly, she didn’t want to pick a fight with him, and all she wanted was for him to leave her to work in peace.
“Heather, do you really hate me so much?” he asked, discontented. Having gone through Myra’s wedding, his feelings toward Heather had undergone a change in which he couldn’t control.
“I don’t discuss personal matters at work.” She didn’t want to answer that question. Moreover, he was acting really odd, as if she had stepped past his boundaries.
“Do you still want to terminate the contract?” He brought up a topic that would pique her interest.
Despite the fleeting change in her expression, she persisted. “I don’t want to repeat myself thrice. If you don’t have any other work-related matters, I would like to work in peace.”
However, it would take more than that to break her current effort to ignore him. It was easy to bring up the contract termination, but she knew that he would not easily have it dissoluted as he had just given her his answer yesterday.
Hence, she had already given up on terminating the contract. As long as Matthias did not do anything else that crossed her boundary, she did not mind the current situation she was in.
The outsiders would think that they were a mundane couple, but rumors would die off after some time. As both Heather and Matthias did not announce anything regarding the rumor, the public can only speculate. Moreover, she didn’t really care what others thought.
“Okay, I’m the one bringing contempt upon myself.” With that, he left dispirited. Perhaps it was due to the blind dates he had gone on, he had seriously considered marriage and thought of marrying Heather.
It seemed that it was just his wishful thinking. All Heather felt for him was hatred and nothing else. At this moment, he was beginning to regret his actions. He had been trying to make her like him more when it was clearly impossible.
After he left, she continued working, thinking about how it was getting hard to read Matthias. There were sayings about women being hard to read, but men were also the same. Nonetheless, she didn’t want anything to do with him any longer.
She had been telling herself that it was impossible for them to be together. Moreover, Matthias was not her type. She even suspected whether he was trying to trick her into his trap such that she would have to go through the heart-ripping pain that she had gone through years back. It almost felt like deja vu.
With her guard up whenever she was dealing with him, she would regard all his acts of goodwill as a false impression. Her life was already in a messy state, no thanks to him. Even Myra had called her specifically to ask about what was going on between Matthias and her.
If this went on, she might as well imprint the name ‘Matthias’ on her. Most of the people were already assuming that they had an intimate relationship.
As she got lost in her train of thoughts, she subconsciously wrote Matthias’ name on her document. The moment she snapped out of it, she immediately drew over it. It was a bad day for both Matthias and Heather. Before the day ended, she got a phone call from her junior, Leon.
“Hi, Heather.” Leon’s voice came from the other end of the call.
“Hi, Leon.” Clearing her head, she thought of how it had been a while since she heard from him. Now that he was contacting her from overseas, she was guessing that she would get some good news from him.
“I can go to Bradfort City anytime. Are you prepared on your side?” He had always been straightforward as he liked to be succinct.
“I’m too involved in my family business and I can’t free myself yet,” she sighed. In fact, she had been doing preparations in private, but she could not find free time which would pose a problem.
“It’s just a project and it’s been a few months. Why haven’t you finished it?” he asked in a joking manner.
“This project has not been running smoothly. I think that it’ll take a couple of months more for it to end.” She replied straightforwardly, not bothering to hide anything from him.
“Sounds like I should get to Bradfort City earlier. I would like to see what project is posing a challenge for you,” Leon said excitedly. He was probably going to book his plane ticket right after ending the phone call with her.
“Stop teasing me. How are things for you and Kate?” she asked casually, curious about his private life.
With a chuckle, he said, “We broke up long ago. She’s quite a nuisance.” He pursed his lips as he recalled how her ex-girlfriend was even more of a mother than his own mother.
“When do you plan to be more serious?” She sniggered. Leon had always been a nonchalant person when it came to relationships; he was never one to settle.
“If you’ll become my girlfriend, I will definitely treat my relationship seriously,” he said in a frivolous tone. After all, he had once pursued Heather before.
“No thanks, I’m not interested in a relationship with a younger partner.” If it wasn’t Leon who was talking with him, the person would already be in her bad books. However, Leon was different to her; he was like a younger brother.
“Well then, have you found me a brother-in-law?” He continued to chat with her about random things. As they had not talked for quite some time, they had a good time chit-chatting.
“I’m too busy with work to find a partner.” It was very rare for Heather to talk to someone in such a free and easy manner, but it was relaxing to chat with Leon.
“Back in school, you said that studies were keeping you busy. Now, you’re using work as an excuse. Aren’t you interested in men at all? Or do you have a girlfriend in secret?” He continued to tease her. Seeing how she had a tough, domineering image, he wouldn’t even be surprised if Heather had indeed found a girlfriend.
“Cut it out. I don’t have a boyfriend or girlfriend. I’m unlike you who swings both ways.” She was exasperated as he was the one who was bisexual, yet here he was joking about her sexuality. She made a mental note to lecture him when they met later.
“Who cares about gender when the feelings are right?” he chuckled. Perhaps it was his easygoing character that made Heather feel like she could let her guard down.
“I still have work to do, so I can’t chat with you any longer.” With that, she hung up the call. He was such a talkative person.
Having talked with Leon, she was in a better mood. As for the work she had to tend to, she didn’t really bother much about it. Most of the time, workaholics loved it when there was a lot of work to do. If it weren’t for Blake who always brought her trouble, Heather would not be so busy working at Langston Group.
After giving it some thought, she sent Leon a message. ‘What time is your flight? I’ll come pick you up.’ Knowing him well, there was a high chance that he was already buying his plane ticket for Bradfort City tomorrow.
