"I think my injury is better now. It's close to the year end and the company's going to go on a break. A lot of work has piled up in the office so I want to go back to work tomorrow. May I submit the proposal for the South River project later?"
Arya frowned and looked at him as he remained silent. She then said,
"The year-end holiday runs for about half a month and the team is still in a mess at the moment..."
Xavier did not reply to her immediately. He transferred the fried eggs with tomatoes from the pan to a plate. As he did not look at her the whole time, Arya only got more and more anxious.
Apart from being worried about the piling up work, she really disliked always staying at home. It made her feel empty and she had an odd sense of suffocation.
"Xavier..."
Arya rapped her knuckles on the cool kitXavier counter when he did not reply.
"Shouldn't you be happy that your company has such a dedicated employee like me?"
"The South River project can be delayed, but are you sure that you'll be fine?"
Xavier glanced at her. He knew what she was thinking about.
"You can stay at home to prepare the project. I've asked Vice President to take care of your work for now, so you don't have to worry. If you push further, then I'll take the South River project back from you."
Directly, he was declining Arya's request.
Arya felt defeated when he left no room for discussion. She glared at him unhappily as the smell of the food entered her nostrils. Without caring about elegance, she pinched a piece of the omelet with her fingers and chomped it down.
Xavier threw her an odd look.
"What are you looking at? It's plain and not tasty at all!" She then picked up a slice of tomato and ate it while looking pointedly at Xavier.
Xavier was unfazed. This woman would become unreasonable when she started to get mad. She would definitely mess with anyone if one got serious with her.
He just shot her a glance and then continued making the second dish.
"I met Mia today. She's my best friend and has always taken care of me. I told her about us being married. Do find some time so you two can meet."
Arya stopped making a fuss when he did not say anything. In her head, she did not forget about Mia's reminder which she had repeated over and over again.
"Does she want to see who's so unlucky to have married to a silly foodie?"
Xavier threw her a glance as he continued to fry the potato slices in the pan.
Arya sulked when she heard him. "Why're you making it sound like a bad deal marrying me? I'm a modern lady... A fair, rich, and beautiful woman! Who are you calling a silly foodie?"
"You need to train longer to lure me into your trap, but it won't ever work on me." Xavier scanned Arya with his eyes as if he was looking at an idiot.
He was the one who would trap others. Whoever could trap him?
A fair, rich, and beautiful woman?
Well, if she was serious, she was pretty cute.
"I'm stating a fact. I was the school idol back then, and now I have a stable job with income of over a million. I'm a strong woman who doesn't depend on others..."
Arya did not continue any further because the man was staring at her with a surprised gaze. She felt creeped out and stopped talking.
"Missus, I think you're very much alike something when you feel very good about yourself. Do you want to know what?" Xavier gave it some thought and then said calmly.
"Like what?" Arya became curious.
"An idiot." Xavier averted his gaze back to the potato slices after the short reply. A grin appeared on his face and he was stifling his laughter.
Arya's expression froze. She reacted after a slight delay and could not hold in her anger anymore. In her temper, she flung the bouquet of flowers in her hand towards Xavier.
"You're the idiot! You're the foodie! Don't think I'll be afraid of you just because you're the Chairman..."
Xavier shook his head at her wild behavior. He smiled and then held onto the bouquet she had thrown at him. Grabbing her body and holding her in his arms, he restrained her against himself.
"That's enough. If you continue to mess around, our dinner won't even be ready when midnight comes. You can arrange a meeting with your friend. Isn't Emperor Entertainment City open to the public already? Bring her there for some shopping. Put all your spending under my name... On second thought, I'll get you a supplementary card later, so you can get whatever you want with it."
"Then, do you want to meet Mia? We can have a meal. She's probably getting married to her boyfriend soon and they're both good friends of mine. We're bound to meet sooner or later," Arya raised her head from his arms and looked at him as she asked.
"Mmm, you can go ahead and arrange it. Let's have dinner with them in the next two days or so," Xavier replied after giving it some thought.
"Alright then. I know you're busy with several projects in City Mexico. We'll do it this Saturday then. What do you think?" She tilted her head and suggested a time.
"Sure, I have time this weekend." Xavier nodded.
"I'll give Mia a call now then. Also, I think these flowers look pretty and I'll give them to you now. I'll take the dishes out! Be quick with the rest. I'm really hungry!"
She then backed away from Xavier and left the kitXavier with the two dishes he had prepared.
Xavier stared at the bouquet of blue roses after she left the kitXavier. Several blue petals had fallen onto the floor because of her aggressive movement just now...
After dinner, Arya offered to do the dishes, so Xavier went upstairs in a relaxed manner. Upon finishing the dishes, she went upstairs and saw a vase that had suddenly appeared. It was full of the blue roses, and they were actually arranged pretty delicately.
She was surprised as she did not expect him to know about flower arrangement.
She stared at the flowers for quite a while before entering the bedroom, holding the big bag of things she had gotten back from her apartment in her hands.
Only a dim lamp on the dressing table was switched on. Within the dark bedroom, the light from the bathroom seemed very bright and the sound of water flowing was heard.
She gently closed the door and turned on the bedroom light. Walking towards the wardrobe with her luggage, she then opened it and started to put her things into the wardrobe.
When she had just hung her first piece of garment up, she heard a ringtone. Looking around, she saw the phone on the bedside table ringing.
She ignored it and continued arranging her stuff. About ten seconds after the ringtone stopped, the phone rang again. It seemed urgent.
After a brief moment of silence, she raised her head and glanced over at the bathroom. The sound of the water stopped and she spoke loudly,
"Xavier, your phone keeps on ringing!"
A brief reply came. "You answer it."
Arya frowned. She got up and started walking towards it as she was fiddling around with the golden rose Xavier had won the last time. Without seeing who the caller was she picked up the call.
The calm and quiet voice of a lady came through as soon as the call was connected.
"Hello? Xavier, my flight's been delayed. I'll probably reach the airport by 8.30 a.m. tomorrow. Please come and pick me up. It's more convenient from your place to the airport since it's connected through the highway."
Arya could not react quickly. Instead, she replied quietly, "Hello..."
There was a short pause on the other hand when Arya spoke.
"Hello, are you Arya?"
There was a tad bit more warmth in her voice.
"Mmm, I'm Arya. And you are...?"
Arya somewhat guessed who she was when the lady was able to address her name accurately.
"I'm Olivia Knight, Xavier's mother. His grandmother told me about you. Please tell Xavier to pick me up at the airport at 8.30 a.m. tomorrow. Alright, it's pretty late now. Rest earlier and don't forget to tell him."
The call ended before Arya could even reply,
Arya's heart sank a little and her eyes darkened as the phone screen dimmed. Her expression seemed odd. When she heard the sound of the bathroom door opening, she turned around.
"What's wrong? Who called?" Xavier was drying his wet hair as he walked towards the bedside. He glanced at his phone in her hand when he noticed her odd expression.
Arya handed his phone back to him and looked at him with a troubled expression. With a hand on her forehead, she informed him,
"Your mother called. She said her flight's been delayed and that she'll only arrive at 8.30 a.m. She asked you to go and pick her up from the airport."
"I see." Xavier put his phone on the bedside table then went and sat down before the dressing table.
"Hey... From your mother's tone, she sounded... Would she not like me?" Arya was looking at Xavier helplessly. Oliva's tone seemed especially cold just now and it freaked her out. She felt oddly nervous.
Xavier glanced at her. He smiled as she gave him a very troubled look.
"She's just like that. Her tone always sounds cold and distant. Father said it comes with her occupation, so don't worry about it. It's fine even if you don't get along well with her since we don't stay together anyway."
"But that's your mother!" Arya was shocked to hear his indifferent tone.
"She and Father are in a sort of special position. Communicating can be difficult at times. Sometimes, she doesn't have anyone to communicate to. Just get used to it and don't worry so much. If you really can't deal with it, you can just nod or shake your head to whatever she says."
Xavier looked downwards as he spoke as if he was reminded of something. Arya noticed he was still and became quiet. However, she did not ask about it as he looked rather sad, so she just handed the golden rose to him and said gently,
"Mmm, got it... How about we put this in the study room? There's an empty spot on the bookshelf beside the window. I think it's just right to put this."
Xavier averted his gaze back up and saw the golden rose in her hand. He raised his eyebrows and asked,
"You went back to your apartment?"
Arya nodded. "I had something to take, but I don't really have much anyway. They didn't even fill up one luggage case and most of them are documents."
"Do as you wish then. Unpack your stuff later. Go and take a bath first. I've filled the tub for you."
"Mmm, you take over then. I'm almost done."
Arya gave him the rose and went back to arrange her stuff. "Right, the flowers in the living room look amazing! Have you learned how to arrange flowers before?"
"A person with good sense of aesthetics doesn't need to learn. Just being exposed to it is enough."
Xavier walked over to her and took the clothes from her before putting them into the upper shelf of the wardrobe. The wardrobe lined the entire wall, so it was pretty tall. Given that she was not that tall, it was pretty difficult for her to reach the upper shelf.
"I realize you have no idea what being humble means." Arya rolled her eyes at him.
"That's meant for hypocrites. I don't need it. Go and take a bath now." Xavier casually handed her a sleeping gown.
Arya was speechless as she took the gown and went into the bathroom after arranging her stuff.