Chapter 29- His attitude of indifference
The sunlight illuminated the room brightly through the slit of the curtains. Abigail’s pretty face glowed with the golden light. Her eyeballs moved left and right rapidly. The skin between her eyebrows creased slightly, and she groaned. Covering her eyes with her hand, she opened her eyes slowly in a narrow squint. She was too sluggish to wake up. She didn’t sleep till late last night. Her sleep was not completed yet. Rolling on the other side, she pulled up the quilt to cover herself up to her head and went on sleeping. After a while, knocking on the door disturbed her sleep. She groaned and rolled on the other side.
“Miss, Sir is calling you for breakfast.” The maid’s voice came out of the other side of the door.
Abigail was irritated a little, but she still answered, “Okay, coming.”
She kicked the quilt, got out of the bed, and dragged her lethargic body to the washroom.
Fifteen minutes later, she came out of the washroom with a towel wrapped around her body and walked to the closet. She changed into a pink t-shirt and a pair of grey trousers. She held up her hair in a ponytail and came out of the room.
Robert Mills was sitting at the dining table, reading the tabloid. She walked up to him.
“Good morning, Dad.” She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek lightly.
“Morning.” He smiled and put the tabloid down on the table. He peered at her attentively.
She sat down on her seat and poured a glass of orange juice.
“Are you alright? Last night you left the banquet without telling me. The driver told me that you looked disturbed.” His pupils shrunk while staring at her. The concern for her brought a frown on his face.
She glanced at him and replied casually, “I felt discomfort. So I came back.”
She took a bite of the toast. The last memory of the last night with Charles flashed in her mind when her father mentioned the banquet, spreading the agony within her. But she maintained her serenity and ate the breakfast quietly.
Robert Mill’s tense mind eased up to see her behaving normally. He smiled and said, “Alright. But don’t repeat this the next time. I was worried about you. At least let me know if you need to come back.”
“Sorry, Dad. It won’t happen again.” She took a sip of the juice.
He smiled and started eating.
After breakfast, he said, “Come quickly to the office. I hope you remember about the10 o’clock meeting.”
“Yes. I will be there on time.”
She ran to her room after dropping those words. Robert Mills smiled and strode out of the mansion.
Abigail quickly changed into her business attire. She wore a dark blue skirt and a white blouse paired with a dark blue jacket. The hem of the skirt ended just below her knees. She kept her hair loose. After wearing her wristwatch, she grabbed her bag and phone. Only then did she realize that her phone was still switched off.
The memories of last night again surfaced in her mind. Sighing deeply, she turned on the phone. The messages that Charles sent last night popped up on the screen one after another as soon as the phone was on.
Abigail was startled to see so many messages. She opened the messages and began to read them one by one. He kept apologizing in different ways in all those messages. Her heart ached, even more, to see him apologizing. What was he apologizing for? Did he regret the kiss? Or Did he worry that she would complain about him to Aidan? These questions rushed into her mind at once, increasing her agony little by little.
She tried hard not to cry, but a few drops of tears still rolled down from her eye. Her hands were itching to make a call to him, but she suppressed her impulse. Last night she swore that she would never contact him again. Now, she couldn’t get weak. Taking a deep breath, she deleted all the messages and threw the phone in her bag. Wearing the goggles, she turned around and walked out of her room.
Charles reached the office with a haggard face and big bags under his eyes. He looked exhausted.
Lara frowned deeply to see him. Always energetic Charles looked dull. She remembered he said last night that he was not feeling well. At that time, she thought he was making an excuse to leave the party because she had sensed his discomfort. But he turned out to be sick.
“Good morning, Charles? How are you feeling now?” She walked up to his desk.
Charles mustered a smile and replied, “Good morning. I am good.”
Lara peered at him with interest and asked, “Are you sure? You look not good. Didn’t you sleep well at night?”
Charles only smiled while turning on his system. After noticing that he did not intend to answer her, Lara smiled awkwardly and said, “Well then, I won’t bother you anymore.”
“Thank you, Lara.”
Lara smiled and left.
Charles started working, despite an overwhelming headache. Half an hour later, Aidan arrived and summoned Charles to his office. Charles followed him silently.
Aidan started saying as he moved towards his seat, “Mr. Mills has convened a meeting for all the clients of Vision Networks. We have to attend the meeting.” He sat down on the seat and went on to speak, “He had sent the contents of the meeting. Check that out and narrate me later.”
“Okay.” Charles turned to leave but Aidan stopped him, “What happened? You don’t look good.”
Charles paused and glanced at him. “It’s nothing. Only a headache.”
“Take some medicine. I don’t want people to see my assistant so dull.”
Aidan picked up a file and started checking it soon after he finished speaking.
“I will.”
With that, Charles strode out of the CEO’s office.
At half-past 9 in the morning, Aidan and Charles left for the Vision Networks. On the way, Charles narrated the purpose of the meeting to Aidan.
Vision Network was implementing new technology to provide more efficient service. Robert Mills wanted to introduce this new technology to the clients. So he called this meeting.
Silence swept inside the car as no one spoke after that. The cheerful and talkative Charles was indifferent and detached. Aidan was not familiar with this Charles. He glanced at him and asked, “Is your head still hurting?”
“No.”
Charles kept looking out through the windshield.
“Then what the hell happened to you? Why are you so quiet?” Aidan was a little irritated to see his cold appearance.
“People’s mood doesn’t remain the same. Assume that mine is sour today.”
Aidan was stunned to hear him. This was something new that he had not noticed in Charles. Currently, he looked so mighty and unapproachable. Although Charles was his assistant, Aidan felt a sense of oppression around him. He was a smart businessman. He could always guess what was hidden in people’s minds by looking at them, but right now, he couldn’t say exactly what Charles was thinking. This made him agitated.
“Alright. But don’t keep this gloomy face in the meeting. Mr. Mills will think that you don’t like this new technology.” He loosened the tie and started doing something with his phone.
“I will be careful.” This was the answer Charles gave to him.
The remaining journey was quiet. Ten minutes later, they finally arrived at Vision Networks and headed straight to the conference hall.
Robert Mills and Abigail were present in the hall. Other clients had already arrived.
Abigail dropped the pen from her hand the moment she saw Charles entering the conference hall. Her breathing hitched up. She stared at him blankly.
Charles could sense her intense gaze. But he didn’t look in her direction. He maintained his calm and indifferent demeanor and sat down on the chair next to Aidan.
Aidan greeted Robert and Abigail professionally. Only then did Abigail come to her senses and tore off her gaze from Charles.
Robert Mills saw her absentmindedness. He tapped on her shoulder and asked in a low voice so that only she could hear him, “Why do you look lost? Today’s presentation is crucial. We can’t afford mistakes. Concentrate.”
Abigail was confident about the presentation, but after seeing Charles, she was not sure if she could do it or not. She licked her lips and said, “Dad, can you do the presentation? I am a bit nervous.”
She stole a glance at Charles. But he didn’t even spare a glance at her. He was talking something confidentially with Aidan.
Robert Mills was a little unhappy with her. His hands under the table curled up gradually. He squeezed out the next words coldly, “Don’t back off at the last moment.” He swept his gaze to the opposite side of the conference table. “Your uncle and cousin are also here. This is the best chance to prove your capability. If you back off right now, they will find an excuse to speak against you. Don’t provide them that excuse. You can do it. I trust you.”
After hearing him, Abigail regained her confidence. She couldn’t accept defeat just because of her emotional weakness. If he could come here and act indifferent as though nothing had happened, why couldn’t she stay calm? She glanced at him before she stood up and started the presentation.
“Hello, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for coming here for this meeting on such short notice. Vision Network is launching new technology…”
She continued to explain about the new technology they were implementing and showing on the projector how it was going to work. During the presentation, several times she peeped at Charles, hoping that he would look at her. But to her surprise, he didn’t move his eyes to her for once. His entire concentration was on the presentation. She wanted to stay away from him and vowed not to contact him. She should be happy to see his indifference towards her as it would help her to stay away from him. But her heart ached intolerably. She wished if he looked at her just for once.