QueenCL

For a while, they just looked at each other and smiled through their phones.

“Do you think there will ever come a day that we’ll have an argument so big it affects our relationship?” she suddenly asked.

Jeff’s heart thumped. Was this her opening up to him about her worries?

“Never. That day will never come,” he answered confidently.

“How are you so sure?” Tina asked back.

“I’ll never let you go to sleep angry. When there’s a problem, I’d like for us to communicate about it. If it’s something on my end, I’ll try my hardest to fix it. If it involves one of us giving in, I’ll do that gladly."

"If you’re not ready to talk about it immediately, I’ll give you time to cool off while still taking care of you and reminding you about how much I love you daily.”

“If the problem is on your end, I’ll try my best to fix it as well. I’ll take 9999 steps, so you just have to take 1 step towards me.”

He wanted her to know that in their relationship, she was the most important. He wanted to be someone that she could willingly rely on. 

“You look like you’re ready to drag me to church right now, hahaha.” She laughed at how serious his face got the moment she brought up their relationship.

Before he could reply, she added, “how can I just take 1 step? That’s too unfair to you. I’ll take 10 steps, so you can take 9990 steps.”

He couldn’t even get mad because she had the brightest smile on her face as she teased him.

“Whatever my queen says is right.” He gladly obliged her.

Novel cover is by Zipcy (Yang Se Eun). Very beauty illustrations. Check it out on https://www.boredpanda.com/new-romantic-couple-illustrations-korea-zipcy/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

Slow but steady

A week had passed since he met Tina. During this time, he only received work emails from her. He didn't know how to ask her out without coming across as unprofessional. He could not bear to lose his cool image in front of her.


He spent his whole day thinking about a subtle approach, but he could come up with nothing. As he dragged himself sluggishly into his parent's home, he heard a voice he longed for, granny Sia, his paternal grandmother.


"Grandma!" he exclaimed with glee as he scooped her up and spun her around.


"Oh boy! You sure make granny feel young again," she smiled as she patted his back. Her grandson was so cute.


"Why didn't you tell me you were coming? Hi mom and dad," he said before taking his seat next to his beloved granny.


"Just to surprise you," she rubbed his cheeks in between her palms.


After dinner, the family of four sat together to watch TV.


"Your mother tells me that I've got a granddaughter-in-law," Sia teased.


Jeff instantly turned sullen. They had to be friends first before he could make a move. He thought they shared a connection and she'd be as eager as he was to get in touch, but nothing. Everything was just his wishful thinking.


"Well, there is this girl I like, but I don't think she likes me," he said timidly.


"What? There is a girl that does not like you? I thought you were too good for the girls out there. I would like to meet this girl," Mrs. Strider mocked her son and she snickered. That was what he deserved.


Jeff rolled his eyes at his mother. If he couldn't date Tina, it would be the loss of his whole family so what was she so excited about?


"Why don't you approach her first?" Sia asked.


"We met through work, so I don't want her to get the feeling that I prey on any woman that I work with."


"If she thinks that way after you've made a move, then you convince her that it is not like that. You cannot not make a move because of your assumptions of what she might think."


Jeff nodded as his granny spoke the truth. She was of better help than his mom. Mrs. Strider only knew to demand for a daughter-in-law but of no help when it came to him getting one.


"I knew granny was the only one for me," he smiled as he drew her into his embrace.


Unlike Tina, Jeff's family didn't care about gender. It had been like that for some generations now. What really mattered was there were children to carry on the family lineage, whether male or female. 


Sia dotted on Jeff more than her other grandchildren because he was the only child. His cousins had siblings they grew up with, so their childhood was not lonely. Jeff on the other hand didn't have much friends growing up because he stuck to his mother a lot.


After listening to his grandmother, he went up to his room to draft a text to Tina. They usually exchanged emails, so this was the first time he was contacting her outside of work.


"Hi Tina. This is Jeff, CEO of Jeff waves. Great work on the project. The new designs and input you've made are ama…"


Reading over it, he smacked his head. "I might as well have sent her an email instead."


"Tina, this is Jeff. Remember me? The guy you had coffee and lunch with. I was wearing an ivory suit when we met, and we had lunch togeth…"


He erased it again. "Why does it sound like we met for a blind date rather than business?"


He erased and drafted for an hour with nothing to show for it.


Closing out of his messages, he hit the call button without realizing it.


It rang once when the call was picked up.


Chapter 3.2