His Charms

"Yes..." Christian drawled and went ahead to explain the purpose for the ceremony. "... It's been due for a while now. Do you think you can make it back to New York in time?"

There was a loud sigh from the other end. The next moment, his mother's voice rose, "I'm sorry, but I will have to sit out on this one. Remember, your sister just gave birth and I can only leave her sight after three more months."

Christian had only one sibling; a sister who was married and lived in a different country. A week to her due date, his mother flew out to be with her and since then, they have been together.

And he was supposed to go and visit them, but work plus his new promotion has since kept his hands tied.

"It's fine. I will book my flight ticket for Vancouver as soon as the inaugural ceremony is done. My visit has long been due," he said with a bit of smile in his tone.

Hearing that, his mother was happy and didn't hide it from her tone. "Susie will be happy to hear this. I will help you pack your things from here."

"And how will you do that?" Christian laughed. His mother was so impatient to have him over and couldn't wait to pack his clothes from thousands of miles.

"I could help you assemble the essential items to pack with this app Susie showed me recently. Is that not enough?" Sarah asked.

Christian chuckled. He couldn't deny his mother's brilliant idea. "Thank you, Mum. I will speak to you again once I book my flight. How is Susie and the kids doing?"

"Susie is still recovering, but she is doing just alright. The twins are healthy. You need to meet them as soon as possible."

Christian went on to chat a bit with his mother and towards the end of their conversation, she asked about Ashley again.

"Ashley mentioned she would love to meet the things. Why don't you share you travel plans with her to see if it will fit into her schedule? I would love it if you come with her."

Christian let out a soft sigh as his gaze stared at the roof. "We will see about that." He gave no clear response to her and she could understand the reason.

"I know you work too hard, but don't skip your meals," she advised.

As soon as Christian got off the phone with his mother, another deep sigh escaped from his lips.

He clearly knew what his mother was thinking, but he had no right to tell her off at the moment.

***

Friday came faster than imagined for Christian as he has been buried with work and lots of meetings over the past week. And today, he would be formally introduced to the board of directors by Robert Heirs.

Ashley was present for the meeting and was very helpful to Christian just like she has always been by introducing him to a lot of their business partners who were present.

"... Mr. Grey is like the perfect uncle I never had. And if you happen to have any issues with my Dad, you can go to him." Ashley winked.

Christian cocked his head to the side and probed, "You don't have an ounce of fear revealing such information to me?"

"You are in luck. I seem to like you more than my father, so keep up with your charms," she whispered before leaving him to greet another guest.

Christian was finally left alone for a brief period before the meeting began.

After a few hours, the meeting finally came to an end. Christian stayed back for a bit to greet the important people of Heirs Holdings before finding his way to his car with George tagging behind him with a customized bag filled with invitation cards.

He got his own share of invitation cards to send to his friends and family for Sunday.

Even though it may seem like the invitation came in such short notice, it is important to note that no one given that kind of invitation would want to miss it, especially those interested in networking.

For the rich, and those who understand the power of relationship, they would never get tired of attending events like this unless they were actually preoccupied or bedridden.

As soon as George got into the car, Christian said, "I need you to send me somewhere and wait until I come down."

About 45 minutes drive later, Christian's Range Rover pulled over in Diane's vicinity. It was the hospital.

As soon as the parked somewhere close to the entrance, Christian picked up his phone and went to his speed dial list. There, he found Diane's contact and put a call to her.

On the other hand, Diane was sitting in her office after attending to her last patient when she Christian's call came in, and in all honesty, she didn't want to answer it.

She let her phone ring for the second time before she finally answered it.

"Are you done with work?" Christian asked casually. He seemed to have put the past behind him unfortunately, the same couldn't be said of Diane who kept her distance through her tone.

"I have a meeting in five minutes . How can I help you?" She asked.

There was a brief silence from Christian's end before he replied her, "I'm coming to your office. Wait for me."

As soon as he made that demand he got off the call and picked one invitation card from the pile before getting out of his car.

One thing between Diane and Christian's new relationship was the need to not ask too many questions.

For Diane, if Christian said he was going to do something, the sure he was. She didn't need to bother how he was going to get it done.

But now, Diane regretted lying. Maybe if she didn't do that, he won't have the need to come up to her office. But then again, what was the reason for this visit?