Flight Back

Standing outside the door, Mathew looked at the six paged list that Madam Ming had sent his boss.

'Wow, here I thought that my wife loves to shop. Madam Ming surely is on the next level. Hey, some of these things can be sent to my wife as well. I'm sure she'll love the chocolates written in this list.'

Copying the things that he could buy for his wife onto his phone. Mathew took the list and left to start his shopping spree.

Inside the hotel room, Reuben took a warm comfy bath to relax his tight muscles. Working continuously to finish a three month project in a single month had drained his energy completely.

He did not have any problem with staying here for three months to complete the project on its normal schedule, but he had to rush along as his mother kept reminding him to be considerate to his loyal subordinate.

Being away from his heavily pregnant wife at home in her sixth month was stressful for Assistant Kim and it showed in his dark circles as he worked hard in the day and tried to stay awake at night to talk and accompany his wife on video calls.

Though she tried to reject his ideas to not overburden him, he insisted that the baby needed to hear his voice everyday or else it would forget about it's daddy.

Listening to him coo over the phone talking to his wife was annoying at times, but Reuben had always admired this about his assistant.

There was never a shortage of women trying to hook up with Assistant Kim, either to get some perks in the office or just to get a step closer to meeting his boss. But he always kept them at a distance.

If assistant Kim had ever slipped up, that would have meant immediate termination of his contract. Just like the assistant who worked for Reuben before he joined.

How could Reuben trust such a man with confidential information, if he could not even be loyal to the woman he slept with every night?

Reuben followed a strict code, 'Loyalty above all'. It could mean loyalty to his company, to family or even just to his friends. But what mattered was loyalty and hard work.

'I wonder how Assistant Kim would react if he knew that the main reason he could keep his job for the past five years is his mad obsession and loyalty for his wife.'

Thinking of this Reuben chuckled and got out of the bathtub.

If ever Mathew came to know about this, he would only be more in love with his wife and pamper her even more. Because that's the type of person that Mathew Kim was.

Getting into bed with his laptop he continued to work until his stomach growled. Ordering some room service, he saw the pictures his friend had sent from his vacation in the Bahamas.

Looking at the beautiful scenery, he made a mental note to visit the place once his schedule is free.

After working till late in the night, he remembered that he had to get some sleep to avoid oversleeping and missing his flight back home tomorrow.

Looking at the time 2:45AM, he wondered if Assistant Kim could have bought all the things on the list.

Not bothering about him anymore. Reuben fell asleep after setting his morning alarm at 7:00 AM.

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Next morning as he made his way to the hotel's restaurant, he found Assistant Kim in a booth lying on the counter. Walking towards him he noticed the dark circles and understood that he must have stayed awake to talk to his wife.

Sitting down in the opposite seat with a loud bang, he startled Assistant Kim who was dozing off.

'Huhhh? Earthquake?' Looking around Mathew found his boss opposite him, he stifled the yawn that he had just let out.

"Good morning, Boss. You look refreshed and happy today." Mathew noticed the smile on his boss's poker face.

"I will be happy, after all I'll get to eat my mother's home cooked food after eating these Western meals everyday for a month." He said, as he rolled his eyes.

'But I had offered to take you to that small Chinese stall that I discovered while roaming around the city which you brutally rejected.' Mathew argued in his mind but did not dare to say a word in front of the Emperor.

Having finished their breakfast in silence. They went back to their rooms to finish packing their luggage and decided to start their journey to the airport to avoid getting stuck in the rush hour traffic.

After placing the luggage in the car, Mathew got into the car with his boss who had already started working on a new project to improve his company's sales record which was always on the top of the list.

Seeing him get settled in his seat, Reuben inquired without even looking up from his work.

"Got everything on the list?"

"Yes boss, they were a few things that were hard to find because it got quiet late last night. Thankfully, the General Manager helped me out."

Thinking about the beauty and food haul that he had just shopped last night, he pressed his aching feet.

"Good." Saying so, Reuben concentrated on his laptop.

The driver who had witnessed the huge pile of things that Assistant Kim had somehow arranged in the car to take back to the hotel, the driver gave him a wry smile as if he understood his pain.

'At least someone appreciates my efforts!' He smiled back at the driver.

Then thinking about the expensive chocolates that he bought last night, he felt a prick in his heart. But thinking about his wife's smile he put down the sour feeling in his heart.

The journey to the airport took a long time, thanks to the traffic. It was a good thing that they had started early.

Reaching the airport, they directly entered the Secret VVIP lounge.

Reuben made a few phone calls to his managers back home, giving them the instructions for the meeting he would hold after he landed.

He put down the phone when he heard Assistant Kim inform him that they could board the flight.

Getting up he walked towards the terminal, but stopped and looked in a certain direction.

Assistant Kim who was following behind at a close distance almost crashed into him but managed to stop and steady himself.

Looking at the direction his boss was staring, he too turned his head to find a young girl in a black leather jacket trying to pacify a crying child.

Then he turned to look at his boss incredulously.

'Did the Emperor just stop to notice a girl? What's going on here? That too such a young girl.'

Shocked at this discovery, he quickly looked back at the girl to make note of this and inform Madam Ming that her son had finally shown interest in the opposite sex.

'The Emperor is already 28 this year and he's looking at such a young girl. I din't know he had such a fetish. Trying to rob the cradle. Tsk Tsk.'

Thinking of this, Mathew cast a disapproving look at his boss.

Having woken up from his daze after listening to the 'tsk tsk' from his assistant. Reuben glared at him then turned and walked away.

What he did not notice was that the moment he turned away, the young girl had turned towards his direction. It looked like she was searching for something.

Observing all this from the corner, Mathew Kim had an evil smile on his face as if he had found something new to gossip about with his wife and Madam Ming.

'Hehe, finally something interesting seems to be happening in the Emperor's life. I can't wait to inform the big boss about this.'

Then quickly ran to catch up with Reuben.