Chapter 19: Chapter 19

Chapter 19

In the office, Kent couldn’t help but sneak peeks at Brandon in the inner office now and then.

After looking over at him, he couldn’t resist giving Susan the once over, his eyes scrutinizing her until she got ticked off, “What’s up?”

She was still miffed about running into him earlier and his incessant babbling.

Kent shot back, not in the best mood either. “You sure know how to backdoor your way in with finesse.”

“That’s got nothing to do with me. I didn’t dare dream of sneaking through your boss’s backdoor He’s the one who came to me asking for the papers

Susan found it odd recalling how Brandon reacted when she mentioned Sophia earlier, not at all like he was indifferent about Sophia.

She pondered for a moment, then leaned in closer to Kent, lowering her voice, “Hey, let me ask you something, how were things between your boss and his wife before?”

Kent glanced at her, “Why the nosiness?

“Just curious

She leaned in closer again, “Come on, spill it.

“No clue

Susan was speechless.

So much for her little investigation.

“But, Kent eyed her, you sure have a knack for picking your moments. Mr. Crawley never used to give anyone special

treatment before.”

Susan said. Not even Sophia?

“You’d have to ask Mr. Crawley about that. Kent stroked his chin, Sophia never asked Mr. Crawley for any favors. Who knows if he’d make an exception for her? Maybe he’s been secretly hoping Sophia would come to him”

Susan drew out her voice in disbelief, Pssh

“Don’t be so quick to dismiss it. Didn’t you notice? The moment you brought up Sophia, his attitude shifted

Susan scoffed at him, “That’s not a change in attitude. It just shows your boss is still sore about being dumped by Sophia and can’t get over the blow to his ego.”

Kent rolled his eyes, not in the mood to argue.

Having worked with Brandon for so many years, Kent knew pride wasn’t that high on Brandon’s list

Inside, Brandon had finished reviewing the proposal and hit the intercom to Kent’s desk Send Ms. Cooper in.”

Kent hung up and looked at Susan, “Ms Cooper, Mr Crawley would like to see you”

Susan eyed Kent suspiciously, then glanced towards Brandon’s office before heading over and knocking on the door.

“Come in.”

A deep and cool voice came from inside Susan pushed the door and entered.

Brandon turned to look at her, “I’ve looked over your proposal, and I think the area has potential. There’s room for partnership

Susan looked surprised, “So, do you agree to collaborate?”

didn’t say that.”

Susan kept silence

“That’s just my personal opinion, but the final decision on whether we’ll go ahead with the partnership still needs to be evaluated by the Investment department.”

Susan nodded. “No problem.”

She asked further, “When can I expect a response from you guys?”

“Two weeks”

Susan frowned, two weeks to get a response, plus the time it would take to finalize contracts, it could take months to seal the deal. This timeline was too lengthy, and she was a bit uneasy about Sophia.

“Could we speed things up a bit? Susan asked, adding with a buttered-up smile, “My colleagues are all vying for other clients, and I don’t want to lose out on a head start.”

Brandon looked up at her, “Don’t worry, business has its fate too. If it does get snatched away, then it means the Starlight Group and your company weren’t meant to be”

Susan realized that he was indirectly hinting that he wasn’t that interested in their business proposal.

Susan couldn’t tell if Brandon was genuinely uninterested or if it was just business talk. She couldn’t quite read Brandon’s mind and didn’t dare appear too anxious, so she chuckled, “True, I’ll just wait for the good news from you! then

While she said this, she couldn’t help but rant to Sophia about Brandon once she got home that evening.

Sophia didn’t really want any more news about Brandon, but she patiently listened to Susan’s rant. When Susan mentioned the investment department needing to evaluate, Sophia frowned.

Susan, ever so perceptive, instantly noticed the subtle change in Sophia’s mood, “Any problem?”

Sophia shook her head slightly, “Not really. But Brandon himself has absolute decision-making power. He could settle the whole Starlight Hotel deal on his own, no need to go through anyone or any department.”

Susan stood up, So, was Brandon intentionally stalling me?”

“Probably not. Why would he stall you for no reason? If he’s not interested, he’d just say no.”

Then, Susan thought for a bit, “Is he interested?”

Sophia couldn’t be sure, I don’t know. He’s always been decisive and straightforward. If he was interested, he would have made the decision on the spot, not left it to the investment department to grind over for half a month.

Now Susan was confused too, Then what’s his deal?”

Sophia spread her hands, indicating she was just as clueless about Brandon’s agenda.

Susan was even more baffled.

She thought she’d be out of the picture once the project was handed over to the investment department, but instead. she found herself summoned to the Starlight Group for discussions every day, as if they were very interested in their business district, bombarding her with questions daily.

The liaison for these talks was Kent, and they took place either in his office’s conference room or the VIP reception

room.

So, unsurprisingly, Susan bumped into Brandon day after day, seeing him more times than she had in the past two years combined.

She and Sophia were like two peas in a pod, and with her job having her run around all over the place year-round, it was pretty standard for her to duck out of work to hang with Sophia or hit her up during the holidays. But even on those days off or weekends, the chances of bumping into Brandon were slim to none. She couldn’t figure out if Brandon was seriously a workaholic who never took a break or if he was purposely dodging her visits to give her and Sophia some space. But let’s be real, in the past two years, Susan hadn’t exactly been seeing a lot of Brandon.

Lately, she had noticed that Brandon seemed to be keeping tabs on her. In the past, even if he was home and she oppped over, he’d do nothing more than toss a polite hey her way before scooting off to his room. But now, although he was not saying he, she had caught him throwing glances her way amidst his busyness, his eyes always looking a tat

pensive.

“You reckon Brandon’s caught some serious bug lately?” In the afternoon, during a break from munching, Susan couldn’t help but gripe to Sophia over a WhatsApp video call, “Dragging me to their company every day. Can’t they just get their act together, lay it all out at once and deal with it in one go?”

Having wrapped up her talks and with lunchtime upon her, Susan couldn’t be bothered to cook at home. So she just stepped out of Starlight Group and hit up the restaurant downstairs to settle her hunger.

Sophia was also out grabbing a bite and told her, “You could just talk to him about it.”

“I brought it up already, no dice. The big boss loves to run people ragged” Susan switched her phone to the other hand and looked up to see Brandon and Kent returning from outside, with Hannah trailing behind.

Hannah was clutching a folder, her stunningly beautiful face all business, seemingly reporting something to Brandon as you could tell from the way her lips moved that her speech was measured and well-paced.

Brandon still had that same cool, detached expression, not looking at Hannah but obviously listening intently.

Susan found the whole scene a bit too much to stomach, muttered a “catch you later” to Sophia, and hung up before sneakily snapping a photo with her phone.

Maybe Brandon had a sixth sense because he suddenly turned his head her way. The sharpness in his dark eyes sent a wave of panic and awkwardness through Susan, but she quickly regained composure, pretended she hadn’t seen him, and shielded her face with her phone as if she was deep into some game.

Brandon turned to Kent and muttered, “You guys go on in.”

Kent nodded, “Alright.”

“But, Hannah hesitated, throwing Brandon a look as if wanting to say something but ultimately biting her tongue and nodding obediently, “Okay.”

Her gaze unintentionally swept over Susan, still “focused” on her phone, before she turned away and followed Kent into the building.

Brandon started walking toward Susan.

Susan kept her eyes glued to her phone, oblivious to the comings and goings of the others.

Thinking Brandon and company had left, she casually put down her phone and glanced in the direction where Brandon, Kent, and Hannah had been standing, only catching a glimpse of Hannah and Kent’s backs disappearing through the doorway.

She patted her chest in embarrassment and, as her gaze swept back over the phone on the table, noticed the screen. still displayed the snapshot she’d just taken. Whether it was her mad photography skills or Hannah’s blatantly obvious gaze at Brandon, the admiration and infatuation in her eyes were unmasked.

That old irksome feeling toward Hannah crept up on Susan, just like back in their younger days. She was one to quickly let off steam, so without a second thought, she shot the picture over to Sophia along with a text. [Check out the way Hannah’s looking at Brandon. I’d bet my bottom dollar there was something going on between them before.]

When Susan’s phone pinged with a WhatsApp notification, Sophia picked it up and instantly saw the photo of Brandon and Hannah.

There he was, Brandon in his usual sharp black suit, looking as tall and majestic as ever with his familiar cold, aloof vibe. The guy stood out like a sore thumb, his six-foot-something frame and perfect body proportions complemented by a chiseled profile that cut a particularly striking figure against the night. It was the Brandon she knew all too well, the one whose photo made her heart wrench in a way she couldn’t control.

Sophia didn’t want to know anything more about Brandon, his work, his life, or his romantic developments

She deleted the photo and sent Susan a text. [He’s single now, free to choose the life he wants. Don’t fret about it too much)

After a moment’s thought, she added another line. (I can give you a hand with work stuff, but let’s not talk about Brandon anymore. Honestly, I’d rather not know anything about him]