Chapter 4

There was a companionable silence before he started saying, "can we…"

But Becky cut him short by saying, "a minute please, someone is knocking at my door." 

"Oh. Okay," he responded.

"Come in," Becky called out and Rita, their maid, walked in.

"Mummy said you should come with me," the girl said.

"I should come with you?" She asked her. "What's happened?"

"Mrs. Edwin, the interior decorator is around."

"Okay," Becky said. 

They wanted to do some makeovers in the house. "Go. Tell her I'm coming."

"Sorry about that," she started talking to Colin again after Rita left the room.  

"No problem," he chuckled. "You still live at home with your parents?"

"Yes," Becky said.

"Wow, we are two of a kind, then." He laughed slowly. 

"Oh, you live at home too?"

"Yes," he replied. "Anyway, let me leave you to answer your mom," he said. "Can we chat later on?"

"Okay, no problem," Becky replied to him and stood up from the sofa. She disconnected the line and left for the sitting room. 

When she returned to her room later, she was trying to decide if she wouldn't look too eager if she called him to say she was through with her mom when her phone started ringing in her hand. 

She felt so happy and quickly swiped across the phone screen. They talked for about one hour more. Colin had to release her so that she could sleep. She was already yawing. 

Because she was tired, it didn't take her too long to fall asleep. 

After the phone call, Colin moved to his home office space to check his emails. He hadn't checked them at all for the day. He scrolled through the new forty-one emails, trying to decide which ones to respond to immediately. 

He opened five briefs from senior managers and one from an executive director. Reading through them, he copied his father and also the MD. He, too, went to bed for the night after that. 

From the following day, he began to call her twice every day; on her way to work in the morning and later at night; talking with her was so easy and enjoyable. 

After a week of calling her daily, on Tuesday of the second week, he called her at around 10:30 am when she was already at work. 

He asked if they could meet during her lunch break. 

"I don't know," she smiled at the wall in front of her, she was reluctant again "I have a lot of work on my desk right now, Colin."

"You need to rest your brain too," he retorted with a chuckle. 

In the end, she agreed to meet him at a Chinese restaurant near her office. She insisted she would drive to the place, that he didn't need to come and pick her up. 

Becky reached for her handbag at noon and brought out her makeup purse to refresh her face. She arrived thirty minutes behind schedule at the restaurant and it was worth it.  

She saw him the moment she pushed open the entrance door. He was sitting facing the entrance.

When he made eye contact with her and smiled slowly, her breath hitched. She smiled back and walked up to him. 

Colin watched in awe as she strode towards him. She was so beautiful; so breathtaking. Even though she was only wearing a two-piece business suit, with minimal make-up.

He stood up and put his arm around her in a half embrace as soon as she got to where he was.   

"You look so elegant," Colin smiled and stared into her face. His heartbeat speeding up by the second. 

"You are not looking bad yourself," she smiled happily, pleased with his reaction.

He looked so handsome in his navy blue suit, paired with a light pink shirt and a gray tie. Looking every inch the top executive that he was.  

"I'm sorry I came late," she apologized.

"Oh, it's nothing." he waved a hand briefly and pulled a chair out for her to sit on before he sat down.  

"What would you like first?" Colin asked. "Wine, cocktail, or fruit juice?" He picked the menu." they serve fresh juice here.

"Fruit juice it is,” Becky smiled.

He beckoned for a waiter to make their orders for the drink.  

They hit it off immediately. It was just as if old friends were meeting for lunch. 

He was so warm and hilarious. He had her shrieking with laughter most of the time. 

They found out that they shared the same interests and the same views on most issues. 

She couldn't believe they had spent one hour and fifty-seven minutes until her phone rang. Looking at the screen, she saw it was Caroline, her assistant, calling. 

"Are we still having the staff meeting today?" The younger woman asked from the other end.

"Oh dear," Becky muttered. "Yes, of course. I will be in the office soon."

Being the program manager of the foundation, she was the one in charge of the day-to-day running of the organization. 

When Becky disconnected the line, she checked for the time and realized that they had spent almost two hours. 

"I have to go now, Colin," she looked into his eyes. 

"I know," he squeezed her hands over the table. "Duty calls, right?"

"Yeah," she blushed. "Thank you for lunch."

"It's nothing," he grinned at her and called for the check. He paid, and they left.

"I will call you later at night," he told her when they walked to her car. 

"Alright." She got into her car. "I will be expecting your call." 

They both waved at each other and she drove away. 

He felt somehow lonely as soon as she drove away. He wished they could just continue talking all day long. 

When Colin got back to the office, MD told him that the two of them and a senior manager had to travel on Thursday night to China to sign the new deal which had come through. 

Though he was happy about the recent development, he was sad he would be away for days and won't be able to see his Becky for days.