Chapter 12.2

Over the weekend, they had come to a certain arrangement about Monday's pickup date. She would wait in the car while he'd join her as soon as she arrived. She expressed her worry about leaving a good impression on his employees, so they came up with that arrangement.

Although she was likely to still be seen as she'd be arriving when most workers were clocking out, it was less pressure on her. The other thing they were yet to decide on was when to meet her family. If he could get out of his weekend meeting, he'd definitely be able to make it to her house during the upcoming weekend. Hence, that plan was still on hold.

"Granny, how would you advise me to approach Tina's grandmother? I don't want to be rude towards her and I don't want Tina to be uncomfortable either."

Sia nodded in agreement. If Tina's grandmother was the type to cling on to her granddaughter's boyfriend because of her preference, it'd be awkward for him and Tina.

"Try your best not to seat next to her grandmother. If she praises you, praise Tina even more. Try to talk more with her parents, so she has less chances of interjecting into the conversation. If Tina goes left, go with her. If she goes right, do not be left behind. I'm sure Tina will also help you out, so you don't have to be so worked up."

He listened carefully to what his granny said and noted it in his heart. After their short conversation, Jeff hitched a ride with his father to work. He didn't want to drive his car since Tina had already volunteered to be his chauffeur for the day.

Upon getting to work, the employees noticed that their boss was in a very good mood. Did a contract just pull through for him?

Well, it didn't take them long to know the answer.

Later that afternoon, Bob sent out a central mail informing them that they could clock out an hour early to spend time with their lovers. Of course, if you were single, no early clock out for you. When the single dogs saw the email, they knew their boss was definitely in love. Who was the lucky girl?

After confirming what the date menu was, Bob was summoned into Jeff's office.

"Yes boss. What can I help you with?" he asked courteously.

"Did you send out the email?"

"Yes, I did. Most people were glad to be getting off work early on a Monday," he answered unhurriedly.

"That's good. Too bad single dogs like yourself don't have that opportunity," he mocked Bob gladly.

Bob held on to his aching chest, "Boss, can this be considered a workplace injury?" Ever since his boss got a girlfriend, his shady comments about his singlehood had tripled. He needed some sort of compensation for this abuse.

"Tsk tsk! You wouldn't understand the feeling of love," Jeff shook his head at his lonely assistant.

"One more thing. You'll be picking up the Missus once she arrives at the company." He couldn't hide his smile when he said that.

Bob nodded and asked considerately, "Since Madam is coming, do you need me to prepare her tea or she won't be staying long?"

Jeff frowned, "who do you think I was talking about when I said Missus?"

Bob was confused at how fast his boss's mood changed, "Big Madam," he answered.

"When have I ever called my mother Missus? I meant my girlfriend!" he snarled at his clueless assistant.

Before Bob could reply, Jeff spoke up again, "what can I expect from a single guy? Of course, you wouldn't know that these days, mature men like myself are ready to plunge into marriage when the right person comes along, so missus is the appropriate title."

Bob gave up rebutting his boss. He knew he was just going say something else about him being single. Hopefully he has that same energy when the Missus came over. Thinking about it again, he needed to get on her good side. That way, his boss would adore him.

At 5pm, the employees with a significant other clocked out early, leaving their single partners at work. If this went on for long, everyone in the company would have to start dating. Some were even praying for the boss to breakup so they could get their peace of mind back.

To avenge himself, Bob let the news lose that the boss's girlfriend would be dropping by at the company after work hours. So, despite the fact that work ended at the right hour, many stuck around to catch a glimpse of their future madam.

Receiving Tina's message, Jeff had the urge to run down to get her, but he held back and described Tina's car to Bob. Very soon, he saw Bob leading her into his office.

"Babe!" He quickly rose from his chair to welcome her. Bob lowered his head and left the office quietly.

He brought her into his embrace and noticed that she trembled a bit.

"What's wrong?" he asked worriedly.

"I knew I couldn't escape seeing some of the employees, but right from the entrance up until your office, so many eyes were on me," she said gently as she embraced his waist and rested her head on his shoulder.

Now, he felt bad.

"Sorry about that. I have no idea what they're doing past office hours."

The truth was Jeff did have papers to sign off on, but those papers were not urgent, so he could have done them tomorrow. He was just looking for an excuse to show off his girlfriend to his lonely workers. Also, stupid Bob forgot to remove his address from the gossip mail he sent, so he knew who released the news about Tina's visit.

Bob was definitely in trouble now!

After hugging for a while, he sat her on the couch and the secretary brought in snacks for her while he finished going through his documents. It didn't take long before they headed out for dinner.

He walked out of the building with his arm around her waist. She insisted on driving, so he rode shotgun. As he was about to lower himself into her car, a very sweet voice called out to him.

"Jay, is that you?"

He turned back to look at the person who called out to him.

"Damn, why is it her?" he muttered under his breath.