Love Began with the First Meeting
Chapter 1016 Extra Story 154 Of Aaron The End

"Sorry, the number you dialed is unavailable. Please leave a message after the beep..."

The automated voice irritated her as she put down the phone and grumbled in frustration. Her curiosity intensified and the fact that she couldn't get an instant gratification became intolerable.

*

In a conference room at the headquarters of the Leng's Corporations, the senior executives were conducting quarterly reports. During his presentation, the company's director of publicity, all of a sudden, caught glimpse of a partly hidden and partly visible smile at the corners of Aaron's mouth. Shaken by the connotations of Aaron's smile, he didn't know whether he should go on with his presentation or not. Looking around with his peripheral vision, he found that all his peers were gazing at him with sympathetic eyes. Everyone who worked in Leng's Corporations knew that Aaron always wore a cold face and that smile would only appear on his face when he was about to fire somebody. With that thought in mind, the director of publicity couldn't help thinking whether he was going to get the axe today, even though he didn't know what his mistake was.

"Well..." he said, mustering up his courage to face the music. "Honorable CEO, is... is there anything wrong with my report?"

His voice brought Aaron back to reality. In an instant, the smile disappeared from Aaron's face and he cast a curious glance at the director of publicity, who was sweating profusely, and said, "Do you think there is anything wrong?"

The director of publicity found himself in a more difficult situation with that question. While cursing at Aaron silently in his heart, he pretended to think seriously. After a short while, he said, "We've decided to invite a popular star in H Country as the tourism ambassador for the new quarter..." When he concentrated on his presentation about the plan for the following quarter, the director of publicity regained his self-confidence. Without pause, he stated his program smoothly till the very end.

"Hmm." Aaron nodded his head in acknowledgement. Then he asked, "The amusement park is going to celebrate their second anniversary. Has the Dragon Empire Group submitted their plan yet?"

"Yes, they submitted the plan yesterday."

"Well, I want you to cooperate with them in case they need anything else!" Aaron ordered and then continued. "If there's nothing else, I'd like to call this meeting to an end. I want to see all of your final programs on my desk in the afternoon. You may leave now." When he stood up to leave, all the other senior executives stood up respectfully. As soon as Aaron left the conference room, they all sighed in relief, as though they were soldiers who had just come back from a battlefield.

Aaron went back to his office and walked out with some documents about the import of copper ore in his hands. While taking an elevator to the parking lot, he checked his cellphone for messages and read a short message from Ximena. With a cheeky smile on his face, he sent her a short message in reply.

"See you in the noon!"

Ximena couldn't help but grimace at the simple five-worded short message from Aaron. That was not an answer she had been expecting... The man blatantly ignored her question. He was intentionally digressing from the topic of her question.

"Ximena," Freya said when she walked into her daughter's office. "Would you like to go to the supermarket with me? Didn't you say that Aaron is coming for lunch today? I need to pick up some ingredients and vegetables..."

"Sure!" Ximena gladly walked out of her office to accompany Freya. They got along with one another as naturally as real family members did. Fortunately, nothing felt forced or improper between them.

Before she closed the door, she accidentally glanced at the pot of hyacinth on her desk. New flower branches had grown from where the original ones had been cut off by Molly, as if they were the prelude of a new beginning. Suddenly, some unclear expectation rose in Ximena's heart.

*

At the council hall of QY Island

After fleshing out the details about the importation of copper ore, Aaron was chatting casually with the political commissar of the island. "I heard that David has come back. Right?"

"Yeah," the political commissar of the island answered with a helpless smile when he heard the name of his son. "My wife wants to invite you to have dinner at my house when you come back."

"Okay," Aaron said. "What does David plan to do?"

"Only that boy knows what he wants to do," the political commissar of the island answered in the tone of a helpless father. "He doesn't want to be engaged in politics, and I don't want to force him either... So I've decided to just let it be."

"I heard that he majored in business administration?" Aaron asked. Seeing that the political commissar of the island nodded, he continued, "I wonder if he would be interested in working for the Leng's Corporations. I plan to establish a new department soon. If he is interested, he should come and give it a try."

"No back door?"

"No back door!"

The political commissar laughed with great satisfaction. "That sounds like just the thing he needs. Let him get some real work experience. I am afraid that the back-door route would give him a sense of superiority. I want him to earn his way to the top." After taking a pause, he continued, "Why don't you have dinner at my house today? It just so happens that my wife doesn't have anything else to do today." Before Aaron answered, he added, "Don't forget to bring Miss Mo along with you."

"Great! I'm sure she'll be delighted," Aaron answered. After taking a look at his watch to check the time, he said, "I have to go now. I promised Ximena that I would have lunch with her."

"Hmm..." the political commissar of the island nodded, as he realized that Aaron and Ximena were getting along well with each other. After saying goodbye to Aaron and seeing him off, he called his wife immediately.

As soon as he left the council hall, Aaron drove to "Only Memory" for lunch, where he enjoyed a beautiful home-cooked meal with Ximena and Freya. After lunch, Aaron told Ximena that the political commissar had invited the both of them over for dinner so he would come to pick her up after work. Then he went back to the company.

Ximena spent the rest of the day in a good mood. The air was sweet. Her world had been cast anew and she was savoring every moment. As she looked at the newly-grown branches of the hyacinth, Ximena wore a smile that almost never left her face. Although Freya was happy as any mother could be for their child, there was something bothering her. "Ximena..."

"Yes?" Ximena turned her head to look at Freya, who was sitting on a chair in front of her. "What's the matter, mom?"

"Ximena," Freya called her name again with a heavy expression on her face. Out of a sincere heart and the earnest wishes of a mother, she asked, "What are your future plans with Aaron?"

It turned out this was something that was bothering Ximena as well, but she had managed to keep it hidden under her happy thoughts. "I don't know..." She sighed and her nostrils twitched like they always did when she was nervous about something. "Mom, I don't know what to do. I have been thinking about that since I came back from Dragon Island, but I haven't been able to come to a decision yet. But I know that when Aaron was not here with me, I felt empty. It was as if something was missing in my life. He's busy every day, but I know that he will come back to me sooner or later. The thought of that makes me feel at ease."

Pursing her lips slightly, her eyes looked a bit sad as something came to her mind. She continued, "I can't bear the thought of leaving him... but I..." She didn't know how to put her feelings into words. Feeling at a loss for words, she sighed with exasperation.