Julian stopped what he was doing and raised his head. The secretary brought the roses over. “Put it on the coffee table.”“Okay.”He walked over to place the bouquet on the coffee table. Then, he looked toward Julian and asked, “Is there anything else, Mr. Bucham?”“Nothing for now. You can go on with your work.”“Alright.”The secretary left the office when he saw Julian had resumed working. Julian completed his work as fast as he could. He shut his computer and grabbed his phone and car key. The car was newly bought to take Quinn on relaxing drives. He grabbed the bouquet. After looking at it for some time, he felt that the bouquet was prettier than the ones he had bought for Elisa half-heartedly before. He decided he would buy flowers personally next time. Would a bouquet be enough? Julian recalled Josh buying bouquets and jewelry for Jasmine frequently but it was not suitable for him to give Quinn jewelry. She would never accept it. He even wanted to give her a
The sky was already dark even though it was still early. Days were shorter and nights were longer during winter. Quinn’s class with the kids had just ended. “Julian is here.”A kid spotted Julian’s car and shouted. The children swarmed out of the gym. “Don’t come over. The wind is strong,” yelled Julian. However, everyone still rushed out. Julian passed a few bags of snacks to the older children to be brought into the gym while the younger ones took the fried chicken. Quinn walked out while putting on a thick jacket. When she saw Julian, she smiled and said, “I used to be the most popular person in the gym before you came, but it’s you now.”Will came out too. He said, “You’re just stingy. If you were as generous as Julian and bought everyone a meal every time you came, you would definitely become Ms. Popular again.”“I’m not stingy. How many times can I treat everyone with the little money I have? Julian is the CEO of a huge company. I’m not going to fight Julian for
Will distributed the drinks.He thought of how much Julian had spent to get them to put in good words for him to Quinn. Whenever he visited the gym, he would treat everyone to food and even cater to their requests. He would send the food over himself and ensure there was enough food for everyone. They could not even finish the food sometimes. With the large number of people Julian treated every time, the money he needed to spend was definitely not a small sum for ordinary people like them. As Quinn mentioned, how often could she treat everyone to a meal with her meager income? Will thought, ‘My salary is the highest among the coaches, but even I can’t do what Julian can.’Julian was for sure filthy rich, as expected of a mega corporation’s CEO. Will looked around for Julian and Quinn as he handed out the drinks. When he saw they were still outside, he thought, ‘Julian must’ve fallen in love with Quinn at first sight.’That was why Julian traveled a great distance to Summerva
“Let’s go inside. It’s cold out here,” Quinn said with the bouquet and lunch box in hand. Julian followed her inside. When everyone saw the bouquet of roses in Quinn’s arms, their gazes turned playful. Even the children sensed something was different when they saw their coach holding that bouquet. Quinn walked toward them. “Coach Quinn, the flowers are so pretty.”“Do you want some fried chicken? It’s almost finished.”“Did Julian give you the roses, Coach Quinn? Why did he do that?”Quinn smiled and said, “You guys can finish the rest of the chicken. Don’t worry about me. Julian packed a separate serving for me. He said he noticed the roses were lovely when he passed by the florist, so he bought a bouquet for me to admire them.“Don’t the roses look beautiful? I think the bouquet is gorgeous. I like it.”Everyone complimented the beauty of the flowers. On the other hand, the gazes of Quinn’s training mates shifted from Quinn to Julian, who had a sly smile, and lastly
Everyone laughed. “We weren’t bribed by Julian. We’re just speaking the truth. Julian is genuinely good and is a perfect match for Quinn.”Another coach whispered, “I think Julian also likes Quinn. Mainly because, of all the young men Quinn has encountered, apart from us seniors, there hasn’t been a decent one. Mr. and Mrs. Crawford are also worried.”“If Julian wasn’t good, we wouldn’t approve of him pursuing Quinn. I see that Quinn gets along well with Julian. But I always feel that Quinn treats Julian the same as she treats us.”These words made everyone involuntarily nod, feeling deeply resonant.There were many seniors and juniors, but it was Quinn, their junior, who made them worry. The main issue was that Quinn habitually treated males as buddies, and they felt helpless.They had thought about introducing a boyfriend to Quinn, but her requirement was for the person to be skilled in martial arts. Those who could not match Quinn’s martial prowess would sneak into the martial
“Quinn, about this bouquet of flowers, I mean, when you received it, did you have any thoughts?”Julian gathered his courage and asked Quinn.Quinn finished eating the fried chicken wing. While eating, she said, “Thoughts? Yes, I just think this bouquet is really beautiful. I wonder who grew these flowers, they’re so well taken care of. If it were me taking care of them, they would’ve wilted long ago.”Julian did not utter a word.“Also, when I received the bouquet and looked at the roses, I thought of pancakes. Suddenly, I wanted to eat pancakes. I’m going to order now.”While saying so, Quinn took out her phone and was about to order pancakes online.“I’ll buy you some. I have a friend traveling from the south. I’ll ask him to bring some pancakes for you. They’re definitely better than what you can order here online.”Quinn said, “Unless it’s the freshly made ones, buying it online or not doesn’t make much difference, right? I heard the freshly made ones are delicious. Next ye
Quinn thought about mentioning that it would be too troublesome for him, but she changed her mind at the last moment. She then nodded and said, “I’ll take up your offer then.”Quinn treated Julian when he was in Summervale. Now that she was planning to visit Wiltspoon, he would be treating her. That way, they would not owe each other anything.“Quinn, besides pancakes, what’s on your mind?”Julian got back to the main topic.They looked at each other.After a moment of eye contact, Quinn tentatively asked, “What else would I think of? Something like thinking that you like me just because you gave me flowers?“I know that you like me. I like you too. If we didn’t mutually like each other, we wouldn’t have become friends.”After a brief silence, Julian said in a low voice, “Have you never thought that my affection for you isn’t just platonic, but the affection a man has for a woman?”“You’re a man, and I’m a woman. Your affection for me is exactly a man’s affection for a woman. W
Julian stood up to go after her but was stopped by Will.He turned to see Will and had to suppress his temper. “Will, I’m going to check on her.”“Don’t go now. Let my sister calm down, and think about it. It’s not that she doesn’t like you, she just needs time to digest this news and accept that your feelings for her are romantic and not just platonic.”Julian said, “It’s very cold outside, and it’s snowing. I’m afraid she might feel cold.”“You might feel cold, but she won’t. We’re born and raised in Summervale, accustomed to this kind of winter since childhood. It’s different for you. You came from Wiltspoon, where there’s barely a winter. Quinn won’t get cold. Don’t worry. Let her go outside, get some fresh air, calm down, and think it over.”Will understood his sister very well.“Your sudden confession caught her off guard. She needs time to process it. It’s just temporary confusion, there’s no big problem. But you, can’t you wait for a more opportune time to confess? Sendin