Chapter 102: Chapter 102
The last ten minutes before getting off work, Conrad sat in the meeting listening to his employees’ summary reports, already growing impatient.
"Are you done?" he asked.
The marketing manager who was questioned shuddered inside, thinking he might have said something wrong. He quickly glanced at his speech draft and honestly answered, "President Sterling, there are two more pages."
"You’ve worked so long and haven’t learned to condense your summaries? Can you finish in the remaining ten minutes?"
Hearing this, the marketing manager shuddered again.
Who knew that Conrad’s previous demand for thorough work meant they couldn’t miss a single detail, even if it meant delaying the end of the workday, and meeting reports had to be detailed and comprehensive.
As Sterling employees, have they ever left work on time? The answer is no!
Of course, the overtime pay was very generous!
But who would’ve thought that the workaholic President Sterling would suddenly change his ways one day? The marketing manager couldn’t complain, so he just wiped his sweat and said, "President Sterling, I’ll try to finish in ten minutes."
Conrad gestured for him to continue quickly and didn’t interrupt the report.
The marketing manager, speaking at one and a half times his normal speed, managed to finish the weekly sales report right on time with ten minutes to spare, and after he sat down, no one dared to speak. Everyone was waiting for the president to announce the end of the meeting.
However, Conrad picked up his phone, initially just intending to check the time, but unconsciously opened WeChat.
Today, Pop was transferred to a regular ward. The hospital’s recommendation was that the child’s recovery was proceeding very smoothly, and now observation was needed. If there were no adverse reactions, Pop could recover to be just like an ordinary child.
Earlier that morning, Conrad received a set of cute photos of Pop from Anna Thornton, who had taken advantage of Pop’s bald head to buy her a little monk outfit for a memorable photoshoot.
Among them was a photo of Anna holding the child. In the photo, Pop was in Anna’s arms, dumbfoundedly looking up at her mommy’s beautiful long black hair, so envious that she was drooling.
No doubt, Anna intentionally slipped this photo in.
She’s pretty good at finding joy in adversity!
The others in the conference room wondered if the sun had risen in the west today. If none of them were wrong, the president’s lips were slightly upturned, was that called a ’smile’?
Conrad smiled, but the atmosphere became particularly eerie.
The project director was eager to discuss the scene with everyone. But remembering the last group chat incident in the company that went awry, he restrained his urge to reach for his phone.
In his observations, Conrad seemed to be checking his phone noticeably more these days.
Could it be he’s keeping an eye on the group to see if anyone’s bad-mouthing him?
Conrad stared at that photo for a full two minutes, only announcing the end of the meeting when it was time to leave.
He couldn’t adjourn the meeting early, lest it affect employee management in the future.
But even if he said the workday was over, no one dared to leave; they were all waiting for his next move.
Not until President Sterling got up and left first did the conference room burst into discussion.
"Did you guys notice that President Sterling is particularly handsome today?" Yasmine Winters brought up first.
"Is there a day he’s not handsome?" Jimmy Yeats retorted.
Yasmine rolled her eyes at him; when President Sterling wasn’t around, these male colleagues could really lay on the flattery.
However, what they were saying was also true.
"You don’t understand! What I mean is whether a man has dressed meticulously, a woman can see at a glance. Today, the shirt President Sterling wore under his suit had patterns, which he rarely wears, and he even sprayed some men’s cologne."
"Oh, you guys who aren’t particular can’t smell it. It’s that understated, elegant, woody cologne, very pleasant and hormone-triggering. Seems President Sterling is in a hurry to get off work on time for a date, isn’t Miss Ford lucky? Comparing is so infuriating!" Yasmine said acidly.
"President Sterling and Miss Ford are naturally a pair, everyone knows it, so what’s with the jealousy?" other male colleagues joked at her.
"I’m sour if I want to be, it’s none of your business! President Sterling is my male god, but Marilyn isn’t my goddess. So what if she has money, looks beautiful, and is an actress? In my eyes, she still doesn’t match President Sterling. Always with that cold face, only you unmarried men buy into that. Once you’ve been married, you’ll know, you should find a woman who knows warmth and is good to cuddle with."
"Just say you want President Sterling to pick you, won’t you?"
Conrad left the conference room, shaking off Ethan at the elevator. Get full chapters from NoveIꜰire.net
Today he didn’t need him to be an assistant and driver; Conrad was going on his own.
In the parking lot, he even sent Anna a message asking if she needed a ride, but Anna hadn’t replied for over ten minutes.
According to Conrad’s temperament, he certainly wouldn’t call again.
You can’t be too proactive with that little woman, or she’ll keep pushing her luck.
Conrad’s car had already left the company, headed straight to the dinner venue.
If Anna really needs a ride, she’ll call; she has never been shy about inconveniencing others anyway.
If the call comes too late, Conrad will coldly ask what took her so long.
Then, under that woman’s sweet talk and persuasion, he’d reluctantly agree to pick her up.
But even by the time Conrad’s car was parked outside the restaurant, there was still no call or reply from Anna.
"Sir, how many in your party?"
The server heard ’two’ and took another glance at Conrad, quickly responding, "Oh, it’s the spot Miss Thornton reserved, right? Please follow me."
"She’s already here?" Conrad asked.
"Not exactly. But when Miss Thornton made the reservation, she mentioned that her male companion might arrive early and told us to look for the most handsome one." The server mentioned ’most handsome’ and blushed slightly, stealing a few more glances at Conrad.
The man sat at the table without ordering a drink or a glass of white wine, sitting with a straight back and a stern face, exuding a ’do not disturb’ aura while being somewhat out of sorts.
It wasn’t Conrad’s first date!
However, when he ate out with Marilyn Ford, he always had his assistant book the table, and this was the first time someone else arranged it for him.
And the first person to invite him to dinner was even late.
Conrad had been at the restaurant for over half an hour, growing impatient. Remembering Anna’s track record of wasting his time, he decided to call her.
The first call went unanswered, and was disconnected.
The second time he called, the phone was directly off.
What’s that woman up to now?