บท 27: Rumors Are Not Credible

Raelle had been in the conference room since the morning. The members of a project team had just come out of probation, so she had to audit their meeting. It was tedious but she had to do it herself.

After going through the hours-long meeting, she went back to her spacious but minimalistic office and took off her white suit jacket, hung it on a coat hanger, and went towards her desk. First of all, she took off her high heels and let her feet breathe on the soft carpet under her feet.

"Bring me a coffee," she instructed Cloe and opened the lid of the laptop where a spreadsheet opened up before her eyes. Before she would look through it, her phone vibrated.

Seeing the message from Xian, she stared at it blankly. She didn't actually have Xian's number since he never gave it to her. She was the one who passed her business card to him. But seeing the content of the message, she could assert that it was him.

He sent, a picture of an invitation card and a question... 'So, no wedding invitation card?'

"Whose wedding invitation card?" she asked herself out loud in confusion before dialing his number. And just as the call connected, she didn't even wait for him to say 'hello' before she voiced out her query, "Do I need an invitation card for my wedding?"

Shui Xian's deep, mellow but slightly careless voice replied, "Of course, you need an invitation. All weddings have invitation cards."

"Huh? But I'm the bride, why would I need an invitation to my own wedding?" Shui Xian paused and went silent for a while. And not getting an answer, she continued, "Say something! Don't I just need a groom to get married? Where did this invitation come from?"

"You're not serious about this question, are you?" he sounded very cautious and even uncertain. He had already concluded that anything was possible with her. So, he wasn't sure whether to take that as a joke or not. Although he could tell she didn't seem like someone fond of joking.

"Why? Did you believe me?" she retorted.

He shook his head, "It's your fault for sounding so convincing."

Raelle shrugged her shoulder, leaned back in her swivel chair, and gave it a spin with the heel of her foot as she said, "Actually, at first I really thought why would I need an invitation as a bride. But then I thought we're not even inviting anyone to our wedding. So, we don't even need an invitation."

"Doesn't your bucket-list have something like a dreamlike wedding?"

"I don't have a bucket list," was her candid response. "If I want something, I'll just get it. If I want to do something, I'll just do it. Why bother keeping things like bucket-lists?"

He tapped the tabletop at a moderate pace and since he controlled his strength, it made no sound at all. "I know we are just gonna register our marriage and be done with it. I'm okay with it but you as a girl must want to wear a pretty white or red gown and look breathtaking on your big day."

"I look spectacular every day though," she replied without any hesitation or chagrin. "And even if I want to wear a pretty white or red gown, can't I do it on normal days? Why do I have to hold a special ceremony for that? Am I dressing for myself or to please the public?"

"You have a point," he said after much contemplation.

"I may not always make sense, but I always have a point," she responded. "Anyway, that's all?"

"For now," was all he said.

"Then reach out to me whenever you want," she said and placed her phone at a side. She didn't hang up and strangely Shui Xian didn't either. He thought she would say something else but didn't understand that that was her way of saying bye-bye.

He heard two knocks from her side. He was hesitating whether to hang up or hold on. Soon, he heard another feminine voice, "Here is your coffee."

"Thanks," he heard Raelle's elegant voice.

"You have a video conference with the G country branch," reminded Cloe.

Raelle nodded, "I know."

Since she did her job, Cloe turned around to leave but heard Raelle calling out to her, "Cloe!" Cloe looked back and saw her opening her drawer. "Catch!" On instinct, she lifted her hands and caught the box she threw towards her. She looked back at Raelle whose eyes had already shifted back to the spreadsheet on the laptop screen.

Cloe frowned to herself before looking at the box. There was a sticky note attached at the bottom and when she read the two words written on it, she froze for half a minute.

It read, 'Happy Birthday!'

Cloe's looked at Raelle emotionally, looking touched, and grateful. She had just parted her lips to say something when Raelle raised her hand and motioned her to leave.

"Don't just stand there wasting time!"

"I just want to say..."

Raelle stopped her emotional speech with her words, "I don't need to hear your thank you."

Cloe pressed her lips together and opened the door to leave but before she stepped out, she said, "No matter how much you hate my mushy words, I still need to tell you I'm thankful for this. Even my parents don't wish me on my birthday as diligently as you have been doing for the past six years."

"I said, no mushy words!"

Cloe made a face at her and walked out saying, "Thank you for the beautiful pendant! I love it!"

Shui Xian and unintentionally or intentionally eavesdrop on this conversation and it left him dazed for a while. He did remember that Raelle went to buy a gift at 'Moonlight' when he met her. She even had a bit of an argument over a pendant. Now, he was truly surprised to know that Raelle had actually bought the gift for her employee. Most probably, her assistant.

'What is it? How come President Raelle is turning out to be such an adorable person?' He wondered to himself and sighed out. 'Rumors were really not credible these days.'