45 Who is She?

Lianne hit Kai on the chest.

Is *this* what he meant by having things covered?

By coming out to greet her personally and showing his affection for her?

Her lips curled to a smile even though she was slightly embarrassed. She had to admit, it certainly did cause a huge impact, judging from everyone's shocked faces.

"Stop that," Lianne said to him, "People are watching."

Kai just smiled and took her hand, "Let them watch. Let me show you around."

Lianne tilted her head, looking at his side profile as they walked together into the lobby, "What? A guided tour of the company?"

"No," Kai replied, "That'll just bore you. I meant, show you around my office and how to get there. You can come anytime."

"Do you have a private lift with special access?" Lianne asked, "You know, where you need a special ID or something to use the lift?"

That's how it was in Kyle's company.

She had such access, of course, and would drop by once in a while. Even if Kyle was busy, she could wait for him in his office. No one batted an eyelid for her special access because only the most trusted personnel were working on the floor his office was in.

Kai shook his head, "No. It's not so high-tech and fancy like Kyle's."

Kai knew very well what it was like at Kyle's place as he had been there before. It certainly left a huge impact on him as he was still young then and the entire set-up was inspiring.

Unfortunately, setting it up in the Sheng Corp wasn't feasible as they operated on a different concept i.e. one had to be easily accessible so that people won't be thinking you're too 'snobbish' or not caring 'for the people'.

"However," Kai said, "Though this is strictly not a 'private' lift, it is a specialised lift. Only this lift will go to my floor."

The two receptionists stood up as Kai passed by, and Kai nodded to them while he explained to Lianne. Lianne noted that the moment Kai's attention was in front, they were staring at her.

It was to be expected, so Lianne didn't make much of an issue about it. Who wouldn't be curious - and jealous - at the way Kai was treating her?

At the entrance of the lift, stood a young man with a head of dark hair and an easy smile. Although Lianne knew who he was from the documents she had looked through this morning, she let Kai introduce them.

"Lianne, this is Zayn, my PA," Kai told her, "If you can't get me for some reason, call him."

"Hello, Zayn," Lianne said with a smile, holding out her hand, "I'm Lianne. Sorry for using my left hand."

Kai wouldn't let go of her hand so she could only resort to using her left hand. In Country M, using the left hand to shake hands was considered rude but she had no choice in this case.

Zayn hesitated, for he could feel the death stare Kai was giving him as Lianne took out her hand. Yet, he couldn't let her stand there with her hand out like that and not take it, right?

However, before Zayn could make a move to shake her hand, Kai pulled her back a bit and used his other hand to put that proffered hand of hers down, saying, "It's fine. You don't need to shake hands."

Lianne gave a small smile as she looked at him, "What? I can't even shake hands with your PA?"

Kai pursed his lips, "No."

Kai gripped her hands tightly, feeling its softness in his hands. She really had such nice hands that not only fit in his very well but it was really soft. Her palms were not rough at all and he wondered what sort of hand care routine she did to get such soft hands.

No way was he going to allow anyone else to hold her hand.

Even if it was for something simple like a handshake.

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Lianne," Zayn replied, "This way please."

"Lianne, please," Lianne told Zayn as they walked into the lift.

"I can't do that, Ms. Lianne," Zayn replied.

"Oh, okay then, Mr. Zayn. Then I wouldn't be so presumptuous as to call you by your first name either. My apologies for that," Lianne said.

Zayn was Kai's PA, thus, he was Kai's right-hand man. It was not right that he was so formal with her. After all, she was Kai's girlfriend and not someone superior to Zayn. It was different with Carl, as Carl was the driver. He would not have been comfortable in being too familiar with her from the beginning.

If Carl was to be her regular driver, however, then it would be different. Only with familiarity could she insist with him calling her by her name. However, if Carl would be uncomfortable, she would not push it.

Zayn is different.

"Uh…" Zayn gulped, seeing the intense displeasure on Kai's face, "Lianne it is then."

Lianne smiled brightly, making Zayn blank out for a little while until Kai took a step forward to block her from his sight.

Zayn gulped again and stared in front of him, not daring to look anywhere else.

The lift doors closed and slowly went up. Once the light on the lift showed "1", pandemonium erupted below.

Just who was that woman?!

No one had dared to say a word when Kai was around so they waited until he was safely out of the way before the discussions began. The two receptionists were 'attacked' with questions.

Just like Carl, they had been given a picture of Lianne with the instructions that she was to be allowed access anytime. Priority clearance.

They had just taken the order as something normal i.e. another VIP. However, with the way Kai had acted, she was not just a mere VIP. But other than her name, they knew nothing else!

This 'Lianne' had popped out of nowhere.

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While people below were busy gossiping, the lampost* in the lift was being quiet and wishing the lift would move faster.

He may not be able to see them since they were behind him but he could hear them.

Specifically, his boss.

And his boss was not being normal. Not acting normal.

It was giving him goosebumps.

Just why was this lift so slow?!