It'll Come Naturally
Chapter 749 An Invitation From Rachel (Part Two)

"How about I buy you lunch?" Edward smiled. He trusted Tom. So when he said there was still some hope, Edward did not cast any doubt on him at all and believed that Hero's situation was not that bad.

"Buy me lunch another day! I want to go back and make some careful plans for treatment. I won't lie to you; this won't be a walk in the park. You can thank me later on." If someone offers to take you out to lunch, you shouldn't refuse. You'd have to be a fool to reject the invitation. Particularly because Edward had offered to pay. He had such deep pockets that such a meal would likely be more expensive than any food Tom would grab for himself. But in order to save Hero, Tom had to be the responsible one, and give up on the lunch offered by Edward.

"Okay! Then I'm heading back to the office now. You can call me if there's anything I can do to help. See you." Edward walked towards his car. He felt so much better now that Tom was on the case. He raised his arms and waved bye to Tom without facing him. Tom turned around and walked to his car too. Likewise, he raised his arm and waved his goodbyes to Edward. Then he hopped in the car and drove away. Luke also followed them in his car. So the three famous cars left the parking lot one by one. They went away and disappeared from sight.

At the same time, in the meeting room of Leng Group, Rachel Qin fixed her gaze on Duke Leng. Duke sat in the president's chair. There was nothing but love and passion for Duke in Rachel's eyes. She did not rush to Duke and ask for attention from him. She did not want Duke to think she was a boring woman, or to be suspicious of her. So, no matter how much she wished to get closer to him, she had to suppress her feelings and try not to be too aggressive. She should wait for her chance.

Duke was known as a cold and fair-minded man in the company. No one saw him ever smile. But as long as you did your job well and didn't offend him, it was easy to get along with him. He was a good boss in this respect. He never punished employees who didn't deserve it, and treated them all equitably.

"Is there any other business that needs to be addressed? If not, the meeting is over and you can leave now." Duke took a look around the meeting room. He felt like someone was watching him during the whole meeting. But when he tried to replace him or her and meet the gaze, the feeling left him suddenly. Who could it be? He wondered if it was Rachel Qin. But he saw that she had her head lowered and was writing something. It wasn't her, was it?. But who else apart from her would be so interested in him?

"Mr. Leng, can I make a simple request?" When Duke was about to declare the meeting closed, Rachel suddenly spoke out.

"What is it? Spit it out!" Duke frowned. He wondered what kind of tricks she was going to play. As a matter of fact, it was not appropriate for her to say a word in the meeting. Her position in the company wasn't high enough.

"I have a very simple request. Our department is celebrating tonight. I'd like to invite Mr. Leng to join the party." Rachel looked right straight at him with no hesitation. She knew that if she invited him for dinner privately, he would definitely refuse. But now in the meeting, so many people were there, she was sure that he would not replace any excuse to turn down her invitation. After all, it was her department, his company. It's bad form to turn down an invitation for an official function.

"Well... I'll go if I'm not busy tonight." It was the last thing Duke had ever thought he'd hear. There was no way he could have seen that coming. After all, no one ever invited him to join their festivities. This never happened before. But now that she mentioned it, there was no reasonable excuse for him to refuse it. So he had to go no matter if he wanted to or not. He could not turn down it since it was an business thing and he was the boss of the company. Should he not go, people might consider him distant from his employees.

"Thank you, Mr. Leng. I'm sure we'll have a happier time to have you at our party." The corners of Rachel's mouth raised up a little. She could break them up if she tried hard. She considered herself to be a beautiful and smart woman. She believed that it was a piece of cake to make Duke fall in love with her since Duke had loved her so much before. This was going to be like taking candy from a baby.

"You can leave now if there's nothing else." Duke fixed Rachel with a thoughtful eye. Finally, he picked up the files in front of him and left the meeting room.

"Mr. Leng, are you really going to the party tonight?" Janice Sun asked. She was Duke's assistant, and trotted to catch up with him. She knew that Duke had never been to a party like that. So she was a little bit worried. "What do you think? Should I go?" Duke asked her. He left the question to her. His cool face betrayed nothing, but there was a hint of mischief in his eyes. But it disappeared in an instant.

"If I consider this from an official position, I think it's best for you to go." Janice hesitated. Actually, she did not anticipate that a new employee from the sales department would have made such an invitation to the boss of the company. The truth was that people from other departments had never invited Duke when there was a team building activity. Anyway, they held those activities for fun and let their hair down. She did not think that Duke's cold personality would allow him mingle with the group. So she concluded that Rachel's invitation was obviously unwise.

"Janice, how about this? You go to the party on my behalf," Duke said, and took a sidelong glance. She was young but quite capable and hyper-organized. He liked her particularly because she wasn't on the prowl for men. She didn't act like a lovesick fool around him, and saved any romantic entanglements she might be involved in for her off time.

"She invited you, not me." Janice pursed her lips. She did not want to get involved in this drama at all. If she guessed right, that girl Rachel must have feelings for her boss. Otherwise, she would not have locked him in her gaze for the entire morning.

"Then I am asking you to go on my behalf. It's your obligation." Duke pushed the door of his office open. He walked inside without holding the door like a gentleman. He didn't worry that the door might hit Janice's beautiful nose. He didn't think she'd follow him in, as he considered the matter a done deal.

"They don't want to see me. So forget about it. I'm not going!" Janice knew that he was not a man used to taking care of other women. So she reached out to hold the heavy door the moment Duke let it go. This way, she avoided being hit by it. Otherwise, her nose would be broken. This happened once last time when she went to a hotel to send him his clothes. Her nose was hit so hard that it hurt for a few days.

"I assume I am the one they want to see. Is that what you're saying?" Sitting behind the office table, Duke took a look at her and frowned. Then he opened the files taken from the meeting room and started signing his name on the blanks that needed it.

"From my point of view, yes. You need to go." Janice was used to Duke's stony manner a long time ago. Even when he was telling a joke, he still stayed calm and cold. Janice expected it.

"Alright. Check my calendar. If I am free tonight, I can make an appearance, and then go home." Duke thought so. He could just show up there. That would be mission completed. As for how long he'd stay, that was his decision.

"You are quite free today. You only need to meet one client to talk about business and contracts." Janice replied. Actually, she was a little bit unsettled. She knew Duke hated it a lot when he needed to attend some business function. So she always turned those invitations down for him if they were not important. But she did not expect that Rachel would be so bold as to invite him directly, in the morning meeting no less!. So even though Janice wanted to reject it for Duke, she had no chance at all.

"Okay, I see. You can get back to work now." Duke signed the files and then passed them to her. He frowned, thinking about how to explain the whole thing to Belinda. She wouldn't like this, not one little bit. And she was not included in the invitation -- so she couldn't go along to keep him out of trouble.

His thoughts went unbidden to her wounds. So he picked up the phone and dialed up Tom.

"Hello! Duke, is there anything I can do for you?" Tom was looking carefully at the x-ray film he took from the hospital. Sometimes he marked some vital points on his simulated operation.

"Are you free at noon? Let's have lunch." Actually inviting Tom for lunch was just an excuse. The main reason he wanted Tom to have lunch with him was for Belinda. He wanted him to check her wounds again.

"No way! Hey, are you guys doing this on purpose today? Is this a prank? Both of you invited me out for a meal when I'm so busy. Why aren't you so hip to pay when you don't need something?" Tom pushed the ground with his feet, and his chair rolled smoothly to the other end of the desk. He picked up one slide from the desk and then pushed off with his feet again. The chair rolled back to where he started.

"What? Is there someone else who invited you for lunch?" Duke wasn't worried when Tom rejected his invitation. He would replace a way to make Tom accept his offer.

"Of course. I've become quite popular recently." No one knew when Tom had become narcissistic just like Rain. If they continued keeping in touch, they'd end up as clones of each other. And no one needed more than one Rain. One was more than enough. "Did Rain invite you? If so, be careful. Don't let him turn you gay." Even though Duke was talking about boys' love stuff, he still stayed cold and calm. It was supposed to be a joke. But from Duke's cool face, no one could tell that he was telling a joke at all. "Look at you, the little matchmaker. Don't forget, he likes women, not men. So I know you want us to be a couple so bad, but you should at least know his sexual preference before shipping us."

Tom was annoyed. He rolled his eyes without a word. It was impossible to match him and Rain. Come on, everyone knew Rain had it bad for that girl named Annie. Ever since Annie disappeared, Rain became a zombie. And Tom had no interest in guys at all. He always liked women instead of men.000