Shelly had not thought of that and said, "Forget it. I don't want to disturb him."Seeing how polite Shelly was, the receptionist desperately wanted to help her. "Please wait, Ms. Taylor. I will call up to see if Mr. Tate is busy," the receptionist said and picked up the landline. "Mr. Taylor from Courtney's Cafe brought some kimchi for Mr. Tate. Can you help to ask Mr. Tate if she can come up?"Shelly felt embarrassed.She did not want to deliver anything to Hayden at first. However, her mother made some and since Hayden treated both her and her mother to dinner during the weekend, her mother insisted on returning the favor.Shelly did not think that a man of Hayden's status would be interested in homemade kimchi, but her mother insisted that it was thought that counted and that a favor had to be returned.Sometime later, Hayden's secretary said, "Mr. Tate asked Ms. Taylor to come up.""Okay." The receptionist hung up and smiled at Shelly. "Ms. Taylor, Mr. Tate asked you to go u
"Why do you also have a computer in here?" Shelly stared at the computer in the room and wondered why there was a need for two computers in an office."That's for gaming," Hayden said.Lunch for Hayden was a three-course meal. "I will get Eliam to send in another set. You can start first," Hayden said.Shelly refused without hesitation, "It's served on your personal tableware, right? You should eat. I can wait."Hayden blushed. "Sorry, I forgot."He proceeded to eat and Shelly opened the jar containing the kimchi."It's fine. I know that you are just trying to get me to eat first," she said.Hayden picked out a piece of kimchi and placed it into his mouth; it was crunchy and slightly sweet which gave way to sourness and ended on a spicy note. Hayden could not help but reach for another piece."Hayden, you don't have to eat that much just because my mom made it. It's cool if you like it, but don't force yourself to eat if you don't. I don't mind at all," Shelly said because
"There's too much food for the two of us," Shelly exclaimed."You can pack the leftovers and take them with you if you don't want the food to go to waste." Hayden knew that Shelly was an easygoing woman and tended to relax around her."That's hardly appropriate!" Shelly smiled sheepishly. "Let's try our best to finish it all! I'm starving.""Eat more and take the fruit with you if you can't finish it. I don't like fruits."Hayden was not in the habit of eating fruits as they were all either too sweet or too sour, so he preferred water if he needed something after a meal."I love fruits, but I rarely buy them," she said. "Fruits are so expensive these days.""Why did you buy a fruit basket when you came to visit my family, then?" Hayden asked and reached for another piece of pickle.Shelly's mother indeed made great kimchi, and it went perfectly with the food they were having."I couldn't go empty-handed, could I? It would have been rude to do so." Shelly's nervousness slowly di
"He invited you to have a meal in his office. Isn't that considered a date?" Courtney felt that their relationship, even if not romantic, was definitely not ordinary."It's just a meal, it can't be considered a date. Besides, it wasn't his idea to invite me for a meal. It was because I brought him my mom's homemade kimchi, and out of politeness, he invited me to eat. You don't know how awkward it was. There was only one serving of food on the table, and after I arrived, he asked his assistant to buy some food for me," Shelly recalled sheepishly."Hahaha! He accepted your kimchi, which means he still has some positive feelings toward you. Otherwise, he wouldn't have taken it. He must have had all kinds of delicacies, so he can't possibly be interested in tasting kimchi," Courtney said.Shelly had a different opinion. "Is it possible that he has had too many delicacies and wants to try something different, like kimchi?""I understand now!" Courtney exclaimed.Shelly was startled by
Shelly accepted the gift with a smile. "Ivy, there's no need for formality. I appreciate whatever you give me. Next time you come, you don't have to buy me a gift.""Shelly, it's just a small gift, not very valuable." Ivy chuckled. "I don't have classes this afternoon, so I came here to see you. I hope I'm not disturbing your work.""Of course not. I've hired a few more employees in my shop now, so I'm not as busy as before," Shelly replied. "Your older brother's company is near our dessert shop. Would you like to go and see him later?""I see him every evening, so I won't go out of my way to see him," Ivy said, not wanting to disturb her brother at work. "Shelly, you met my brother last Saturday, right? What did you think of him?"Ivy was acting as her family's representative, and she was here to talk to Shelly. Their hopes were riding on Shelly's response, as they needed to understand how Shelly saw Hayden. "He's very nice!" Shelly replied without hesitation. "Your whole family
"I like Shelly and wanted to check out her cafe." Ivy did not intend on sharing the conversation she had with Shelly, as she felt that she should leave it to fate to see if Hayden and Shelly would end up together."Her cafe is quite ordinary and small. There's nothing much to see," Hayden said."You are being too blunt, Hayden." Ivy chuckled. "I'm sure Shelly's cafe will grow bigger.""I'm only saying this to you. I won't criticize her to her face.""Alright. You should get back to work, Hayden! I'm going home for a nap.""Sure. Next time you come by my office, at least come inside and see me," he said."Alright. I will do that next time."After the call, Hayden stared at the screen on his phone hesitantly, before sending Shelly a message. [Did my younger sister go to see you?]Shelly happened to be free and replied right away. [Yeah! How do you know?][She told me. What did you two talk about?][She told you that she came to see me, but didn't mention what we talked about?]
Eliam was an intelligent person.After hearing what Hayden said, he immediately understood that Hayden saw Shelly differently. However, from his perspective, Shelly was undoubtedly not a match for Hayden.Hayden likely felt the same and intended to test Shelly; it remained to be seen whether Shelly could withstand the test.It was half-past six in the evening, and Shelly was getting ready to leave work.With the addition of a few more employees in the shop, she no longer had to stay late at night.As she stepped out of the shop, a man immediately intercepted her path. Despite his somewhat brusque demeanor, his face carried a gentle and friendly smile."Shelly, do you remember me? I came to your shop last time to buy cakes, and we chatted for a bit," the man who spoke was Fergus Bailey, an employee from the Administration Department of the Dream Maker.Shelly immediately smiled and replied, "Of course, I remember you! We're from the same town! It's my first time meeting someone f
On the other end of the phone, Shelly's mother burst into laughter. "I've played poker with your mother before! I didn't expect you to run into Shelly here! That's wonderful!"Upon hearing her mother's words, Shelly suddenly felt a closer connection to Fergus.They went to the restaurant he had mentioned.Fergus took the initiative to grab the menu and ordered a few signature dishes before passing it to Shelly. "Order whatever you like. I earn a decent salary, so you don't need to worry about saving money for me."Shelly noticed that the dishes he ordered were enough for two people, so she did not order anything else. "Even if you earn a good salary, it's still important to spend wisely, unless you plan on going back to our hometown." Shelly hoped that he would continue to improve his life. "As for me, I don't plan on going back. My goal now is to earn money and settle down here.""That's impressive! You are so young and already a boss running your own shop. You even turned my bos