The Silence of Circumvent

Yáng XinYu saw his schedule. There were three meetings back to back from 2 p.m. to 7 p.m. He knew that Wu Lina had to be present in the last meeting as she was heading the project. He didn't know whether he was ready to face her or not…

Zhou Zhili brought his coffee along with his breakfast. She was instructed to serve him breakfast, as he was practically living in the office. Zhou Zhili stood in front of his table for some time before saying, "Miss Wu Lina won't be able to come to the office today since she had to go to visit her aunt urgently."

Yang Xinyu did not reply while maintaining a steely expression. He looked at his tablet intently blocking out Zhou Zhili. He started shuffling pages on it stopping at various points to show he was busy reading the details.

"CEO Yang, Ms. Wu Lina is an excellent coder. Kindly allow her one-day leave. I know that she is required for the last meeting but she wouldn't have been absent from the job had it not been urgent." Before Zhou Zhili could continue further, he cut her off and said coldly, "Ask her to be present for the meeting or even you can visit her aunt along with her."

Zhou Zhili silenced immediately and lowered her eyes. She wanted to go out of the room, away from this demon, but she had her duties to perform. She apologized "Yes CEO," and carried on to explain him all other tasks that needed his attention. She finished and hurried out of the office.

---

Wu Lina was like a small sister to Zhou Zhili. Zhou Zhili liked her because she wasn't pretentious like many other girls in the office. She was simple and laborious. She never backed out from a job that was given to her. Wu Lina was abandoned by her family, a fact only Zhou Zhili knew. This was enough for the softhearted Zhou Zhili to help Wu Lina whenever required.

Once Zhou Zhili had left his office, the silence overpowered the atmosphere. The sunshine was streaming in through the closed glass window. He kept the tablet on the table and looked outside with a pensive mood. The city beneath him was busy with the daily humdrum of life.

---

'Miss Wu Lina won't be able to come to the office today since she had to go to visit her aunt urgently.'

He knew that there was no aunt… she was making up an excuse to not see him. He was well aware of the fact that her family had abandoned her and Zhou Zhili was her best friend. Wu Lina had nowhere to go.

So how did they become nemesis of each other? He lit a cigarette and took a large puff.

He picked up his phone to call her but he decided against it. He started moving his fingers lightly on the edge of the phone, and opened it to see the wallpaper, which was her sitting on a hospital bench, grinning from ear to ear. He lightly stroked the photo and looked outside.

Later, he saw eighteen missed calls from his mother and three from his father. There were numerous text messages but all related to the company matters. Eventually he called his mother.

"Ah Xinyu, where have you been? Come home and we will have dinner together today. Your father and I are so worried about you! You must show your face to us at least once in a day. However you choose to ignore us and don't visit us for weeks. How long will you be like this?" His mother complained on the phone.

"Hmm… I'll come today in the evening for dinner," he replied nonchalantly. This was the only way for Yang Xinyu to get them off his back. He was tired of their constant nagging and pestering him to get married to a suitable girl.

So he reluctantly agreed...

Rest of the day went hectically in the usual manner. He didn't get time to think about his previous night's predicaments.

In the evening, he came out of his office to attend the last meeting of the day, which Wu Lina was supposed to join. He went to the meeting room and saw that all the employees working on that project had arrived. He took a quick glance at everyone hoping to find her…but…she wasn't there. Her absence felt like sharp knives hurting his heart. He suppressed his emotions deep down and looked passive and controlled outwards to concentrate on the presentations.