Chapter 4

Today I went to the office as usual.

The difference is, that I still could not get my mind off the figure of a woman I accidentally met at dinner at the restaurant yesterday.

I should have asked her name before we parted, instead of just sitting around watching her disappearing figure.

At that moment, I regretted my decision not to hold her back and offered to take her home.

If only I had forced her to be willing to take her home, maybe I could have dug up more information about her.

"Good morning."

A female employee greeted me as I walked down the hall to my office. I ignored her greeting earlier and just walked past her like I usually do whenever one or more of my employees pass by me.

My mind is still busy thinking about the woman I met yesterday, wishing I could see her again.

As soon as I arrived in front of my room, I immediately stopped my footsteps.

Wait a minute. That woman's voice, I'm sure I've heard it somewhere. But where?

I turned around in a flash and ran as fast as I could. My eyes were then busy looking for the figure of the woman who greeted me earlier, hoping that she was still where she was.

But I didn't see her at all. There was no one in the office hallway but myself, running like an idiot.

Was it just my feelings?

Regretfully, I returned to my room and sat on my work chair, thinking about the voice of the woman who greeted me in the office hallway, which I had unfortunately ignored.

If only I hadn't ignored her and returned the greeting, maybe I'd know who the woman who greeted me was, I muttered as I spun my chair around a few times.

It could be that the woman who greeted me earlier was the same woman I met last night.

If she was the woman I met last night, then it's a good thing that she has been working at the company without me realizing it all along.

That means my chances of getting close to her will be much greater than I previously thought.

"If I can meet her again today, I will make sure she agrees to accept my invitation to dinner together. Then ask for her number right away. I would not let it be like what happened last night."

After convincing myself that my plan to ask her out today would work, I called Frank, my only friend who also owned a famous restaurant, at short notice.

I asked him to prepare a special place for me to have dinner. When I said that it seemed like I had met the right person, he was happy to help me prepare my request earlier on the note that I had to tell him about the woman that made me reserve at his place.

I then thanked my best friend before hanging up the phone.

"Let's see then. I will make sure you accept my invitation tonight." I muttered, before starting to immerse myself in the work that had piled up for the day.

#

As soon as it was 7 p.m., I rushed to tidy up my desk. I could not wait to invite her to dinner at the place I had specially prepared to approach her.

With hasty steps, I left my room and headed for the office hallway where I had run into the woman who greeted me this morning.

Deep down, I felt a little nervous, because this was the first time I had taken the initiative to approach a woman whose name I did not even know.

I continued to quicken my steps until I stopped when I saw the figure of a woman who had just left the Marketing department together with a woman who I assumed was her only close friend.

I assumed that since there was no one other than a woman with a Soyjoy in her hand and a mouth that occasionally stopped to chew that snack.

It turned out that my assumption was correct; she does work at my company.

Why didn't I realize there was a woman with her own charm all this time?

Unknowingly, I was still silently admiring her charm until she turned back and smiled when she saw me, who was still standing where I was at that time.

She then asked the woman who brought the Soyjoy to leave her alone and walked over to me.

"Hey." She greeted me, waving her hand at me somewhat awkwardly.

"Oh, hey." I replied, covering up the fact that I was really nervous right now. "I just found out that you work here."

She nodded her head. "And I also just found out that your name is Richard Clark from a friend of mine, who you may have seen earlier. Hannah Summerfield."

Finally, I know the name of the woman who managed to keep me thinking about it all day.

While still hiding my joy at finally being able to find out the name of the woman in front of me right now, I stretched out my hand toward her.

"Do you want to go home together?"

"Hmm, that's..."

"Yes?"

"I don't know. Do you mind if I ask you to come home with me?"

"Of course, I do not mind that."

She lowered her head, playing with her feet while wearing high heels with a beige Mary Jane model that I found the shoes she was wearing at that time looked so harmonious with her skin tone.

"I thought you did not want to talk to me anymore."

Maybe she meant to talk about what happened this morning, I thought, shifting my gaze from his feet back to her still downcast face.

I lifted her chin so I could see her face, and I realized just how cute she was when I saw her face from such a close distance.

"Of course not. I must apologize for not realizing that you were the one who greeted me this morning."

Her face was flushed when she heard my words and brushed my hand that was still lifting her chin earlier on short notice. "Is your offer still valid? About..."

"Going home together? Yes, of course it is still valid. But do you mind if I take you out to dinner with me before taking you home?"

She shook her head as if she had been waiting for the question I asked earlier. "Of course, I do not mind that. I just happened to want to take you out to dinner. I am really hungry now."

It seemed that I had overestimated Hannah's expectations, thinking that she was indeed waiting for me to offer to have dinner together.

But at least, she was a lot better than the people I have dated before; I mean in terms of her honesty.

"That's good. We are leaving now."

My hands grabbed her at short notice and pulled her away before she could protest my actions.

I continued to pull her until I arrived at the place where I parked my car, without paying heed to the gazes of the people in the office who saw me dragging her without giving her a chance to ask the real reason for what I was doing right now.

As soon as I arrived at the place where I parked my car, I let go of my hand. Then we both got into my car and left the company I had started ten years ago.

"Is there no other way but to force me to come with you like earlier?"

I did not look at her at all and started to slow down my car and stopped just as the red light flashed. "The faster, the better, right?"

"Is that what you call it as faster? I almost fell many times because of what you did!"

I looked directly at her in surprise. "Really? Let me check your feet first."

Without hearing her voice asking what I meant earlier, I unbuckled my seatbelt and adjusted the chair back a little.

Then I took off her shoes and examined her feet, which were red and blistered.

My hands opened the car drawer like a bat out of hell and took some small pieces of plaster, placing them on both of her feet.

"I am sorry for what I did before. I did not consider the shoes you wore today."

Her cheeks reddened in a flash when she heard my apology earlier.

Then she turned her face away while muttering something my ears could not quite catch.

When I was about to ask what she was mumbling earlier, the sound of a car horn from behind my car made me realize that we were currently on the highway, waiting for the red light to turn green.

I buckled my seatbelt like a bat out of hell and increased the speed of my car, following another vehicle that was already running in front of me.