Next One Is a Babe

Cindy couldn't join in the conversation now that it had taken such a technical dive into investments, so she sat there in a daze. She should have made up an excuse earlier and declined the lunch invitation, but any excuse would come off as her being unwilling to have a meal with them. Nonetheless, that much was true.

Her mind was beginning to draw a blank when she suddenly heard her phone beep twice with a new message. Seeing as Gary and Otis were still discussing investment plans in earnest, she turned to fish her phone out of her purse and glanced at the message.

It was from lan, who had presumably just gotten off the set and seen her status on social media where she announced to no one in particular that she was having a hard time sleeping. Ian texted her to ask if she managed to get some sleep after all and if she had any work lined up today. If not, perhaps she should take a nap during lunchtime.

A smile touched her lips as she replied to him. She didn't tell him that she was out with Otis and Gary, and she only mentioned that she would try to take a nap after lunch at the office.

Then, she began to scroll through her social media and found that lan had left a kissing emoji under her status before he added, 'Sorry for keeping you up.'

Upon reading this, she visibly cheered up and told him to take good care of himself. She also told lan that he should make sure his door was locked when he returned to the hotel at night.

Perhaps lan was held up by more work, for she did not receive a reply from him after sending that text.

She set her phone down and turned to see that Gary had glanced over in her direction. There was an almost indifferent look in his eyes, but she froze and returned his stare like she was daring him to question her. He stared at her for a couple of seconds before he retracted his gaze and went back to talking to Otis. It wasn't until after the waiter had served their orders that the two men took a break from their conversation and asked Cindy to take her share of food.

As he ate, Gary finally addressed Cindy somewhat courteously and said, "I heard you took a break from work the other day."

Cindy nodded and answered solemnly, "That's right, I did. My boyfriend and I had a couple of errands to run."

Otis was taking a bite of food when he heard this and piped up curiously, "Oh, I heard about that. You and lan had to go back and settle that whole will thing, right? I follow the news, you know. That stepmother of his is one hell of a character."

Cindy pursed her lips in thought and said, "The whole situation was pretty much every man for himself."

Otis raised a brow. "Indeed, but she wasn't smart enough. She could have used other ways to get what she wanted, but she settled for the dumbest of them all."

Businessmen like Otis were often sharp-minded, and he added as an afterthought, "Life must have been too easy for her if she thought her little antics would work. Honestly speaking, her moves were not at all farsighted."

Cindy pointed out, "Thankfully, her lack of smarts worked out great for our lan's benefit. Otherwise, he might have had more trouble to deal with."

The way she had said 'our lan' made Gary frown, but he quickly recomposed himself.

Otis, on the other hand, did not think much of her statement and merely guffawed as he remarked, "I must say, it's an endearing sight to see you so protective of lan." After that, he brought up his wife with no small amount of affection. "My missus nags at me all the time, and I do find her irritating, but I love how unreasonable and aggressive she is when she defends me. She's a force to be reckoned with, and sometimes even I can't figure her out."

Cindy sputtered. "That just goes to show that the both of you have something real. Some get annoyed with their partner's flaws, but you see your wife's imperfections and choose to love her all the same, so that must be true love."

Otis took a sip of water and waved his hand dismissively. "Young people like you are always going on about love and all that, but my wife and I have been married for long enough to know that we want to do life together. We don't think about true love all that often; at the end of the day, we know everything in this world will fall into place, our relationship included."