“Thank you for having me here for dinner,” she replied smoothly. “You’re welcomed here any time, you know that. Please send my regards to your mother. I hope that she will get well soon,” Queen said.“Of course. Thank you, Queen,” Rachael thanked the older woman politely. “Thank you, Rachael. Knight, please take care of her,” Queen said before smiling at them both and taking her leave. Reiner watched as his mother walked gracefully out of the dining room, leaving him alone with Rachael once again. He felt tired after spending his entire day entertaining her or more like letting her try to entertain him. He glanced at his watched and wondered when Rachael would go home. Just as Reiner was about to suggest that Rachael should head home, the younger woman spoke up. “The weather is so nice. What about an evening stroll in the garden with me?” Rachael suggested in a pleading voice. Reiner remembered how she would beg for him to play with her when she was younger too. Whenever her fath
“Go home…” Reiner said as he stood up from the chair. He turned on his heels and began walking away without looking back. As far as he was concerned, the conversation between them was over. He didn’t want to stay to answer any of her questions or confirm any of her suspicions.“I won’t give up. We’re going to get married no mater what!” Rachael called out stubbornly from behind him. Reiner ignored her words complete as he continued walking away. The situation had gotten much worse than he initially estimated. Rachael was supposed to help him until he was done with what he had intended which was to send Natalia back home. She was never supposed to be in love with him. When he broke off their engagement years ago, he had been certain that she was happy and relieved to have the freedom to choose her life partner on her own. How did things turn out like this?…It ended up being a very busy night at the bar and I didn’t get a chance to talk properly to Charles again until it was closing
“I see…that’s one hell of a project that you’re working on,” Charles said, and he seemed interested. “Yeah…honestly, we haven’t gotten very far at all and…that’s probably because I’m not at all knowledgeable about this topic…” I admitted a little sadly. “I wish I could give you an easy and simple answer, but the reality is, it’s not easy at all. There are too many factors and uncertainties involved in a mission,” Charles replied followed by a sigh. “I understand that but there’s got to be something that we can do to help…” I said, not willing to give up on this. “Well, there are many things that could indicate that agents are more likely to be compatible but there is no sure formula and no guarantee that they will be…” Charles said sternly. “Such as?” I prompted as my eyes widened in interest.Charles turned to smile at me, and I could tell that he was slightly amused at my intense curiosity regarding this topic. “Such as skill level, experience working together, religion, perso
“We should stop for now. I can tell that your mind is elsewhere…” Charles said gently.I was shocked at how understanding he was. Then I was shocked that he could tell and that made me feel very ashamed of myself. He’s so kind to me and I was just using him to comfort myself. “I’m sorry…” I apologized guiltily. “It’s ok. We don’t need to rush this. Goodnight, Natalia,” Charles said as he reached out and stroked my hair softly. “Thank you. Goodnight, Charles,” I said softly before getting out of his car. …Reiner woke up with a throbbing headache the following morning. He stretched as he got out of bed and headed for the shower. His instinct told him that today would be another bad day. The event that unfolded with Rachael last night ended in a complete disaster. He had told her to go home while she was crying her eyes out and he was beginning to regret it right now. He looked at his phone and saw no miscalls from Rachael. She’s probably mad right now, not surprisingly. He took a
Monday arrived and I was determined to make it to work on time despite the heavy Monday morning traffic in the business district. I would be lying if I said that I didn’t feel anxious about going to work today. Honestly, I didn’t know what kind of face to make when I met Reiner after seeing him and his fiancée together on that day. I was spying on them, and I was paying the price for that dishonest act now. I got into the elevator, and I was on my way up to his office. There was no point running away from it. Unless I give up this job entirely, he’s going to remain as my boss and I’m still going to be his secretary. Reiner called me countless times yesterday. Of course, I didn’t answer any of his calls. The reason was obvious, I didn’t know what to say to him and I wasn’t exactly in the mood to have a pleasant conversation with him either. I didn’t even wonder why he was calling me. He probably found out that I had moved out of his mansion, and he was probably glad about it. The ele
“Zero, thanks for coming. It’s been many years since we last met,” Reiner said before smiling pleasantly. “Don’t worry. I remember you well enough, Knight,” the huge man said, and his voice was surprisingly light and cheerful. Unlike the stern and scary-looking photo of him in his profile, this man smiled a lot and seemed to have a good sense of humor. He shared some small talk with Reiner before laughing loudly. The way he laughed made me feel a lot less intimidated by him. It was like, this giant of a man had a human touch to his character. He seemed like a nice and very friendly guy. When he turned to smile my way, I found myself smiling back at him with ease. “Right, let’s get down to it. We want to improve agents’ survival rate on missions and my secretary here believes that talking to you and asking you some questions will help us achieve that. So please, answer all questions truthfully. There’s no need to hold anything back,” Reiner explained. “I never hold anything back,”
My place is around here but…“It’s ok. There’s no need for you to do that. I can get back by myself. We don’t have the same destination anymore so there’s no need for you to go out of your way to drive me back. Thanks for the offer, though…” I declined politely before my eyes shifted to his large hand that was still holding the door close. Do I have to enter into a wrestling match with him before I can open that door? “You’re right…” Reiner said softly. To my surprise, he removed his hand from the door and gave me some space. Well, it wasn’t like I could win against him in a wrestling match. “Please send Queen my regards…and I’m sorry for being in your way all this time,” I said before I smiled a tight smile at him. Before he could say anything, I opened the door and walked out of his office. That night, I didn’t sleep well at all. I wondered what Reiner wanted from me and why he was suddenly acting kind towards me again. Thinking about it wasn’t going to give me any answers. I
“That’s something that you can help me study and while you’re doing that, I’m going to reach out to some experts in this field to ask for their advice. Training courses need to be properly designed. We have money so we can invest in this,” Reiner said confidently. “Ok. Let’s do that. I’ll help you look into what team trainings we have now,” I agreed readily. “Don’t wander around the training grounds or facilities on your own. If you want to go, let me know and I’ll come with you,” Reiner ordered seriously. “Ok. Sure, I’ll let you know…” I promised. Just like that we both focused our efforts on working together to crack the problem in front of us. Despite the unfavorable development that I witnessed between Reiner and his fiancée and my confused involvement with Charles, our work wasn’t affected. Thankfully so. Reiner seemed more open to me at work, and he turned out to be a very supportive boss. How he worked with me was very different from the dynamic that I had working with Edw