Chapter 156 Happy Birthday to You
Caroline knew Leopold was just teasing her with his words.
"Oh, really? Tell me about it then. What kind of birds are there? I'm not very knowledgeable about this stuff, but if you find a good one, I can help you figure it out."
Leopold gritted his teeth. "You're trying to piss me off, aren't you?"
Caroline glanced back and, seeing no one was paying attention to her, lowered her voice and said sweetly,
"Honey, I'm out in public. Give me some face here."
Leopold raised his eyebrows with an involuntary smile. "Alright, since you're being so good, I'll let you off this time."
"Ms. Tudor, Ms. Tudor!"
Someone called out from behind her. Caroline hurriedly said goodbye to Leopold. "I've got something to deal with here. Gotta go. I'll catch up with you tonight when I get home."
"Go ahead, take care of business."
Leopold blew a kiss at the screen, and Caroline caught it in the air and sent one back to him.
Putting away her phone, Caroline quickened her pace and ran toward the engineers.
After a busy day, when Caroline got home, she checked the time and calculated it was only a little past 5 AM on Leopold's side—better not disturb his rest.
Their communication was often out of sync due to the time difference. Plus, with Caroline's busy work schedule and Leopold's equally demanding job, they had almost no free time during the day. With both of them frequently working overtime at night, opportunities for video calls became even more rare.
After half a month of collaboration and multi-channel operations, the Celestial Waters Hotel in Willowbrook began its first trial run after the renovations. Not only did they improve service standards in guest reception, but they also added new dishes and service offerings. The entire hotel looked brand new, and first-day revenue was up 30% compared to the same period before.
Over the following week, Leopold didn't let his guard down. He made irregular inspections throughout the hotel, addressing problems immediately when he spotted them. Allegra also spared no effort in promoting the Willowbrook Hotel through various channels.
She was the person who most wanted the hotel's revenue to soar, aside from Leopold himself. If this hotel succeeded, it would surely become a classic case study in the hotel industry, and she would gain more benefits from the project.
Her ultimate goal was to make her boss, Vaughn, recognize her abilities enough to give her a higher position.
Allegra had been at Vaughn's company for two years, and during that time, the resources she'd received compared to her peers were pitiful. If it weren't for Preston's ulterior motives—planning to use her to sabotage Leopold and Caroline's relationship—how would she have gotten the chance to work on this Celestial Waters Hotel project?
Because of this, Allegra was even more determined to prove herself with this project.
After a month of operations, Allegra got the revenue reports for all five overseas Celestial Waters Hotel locations. She excitedly went to report the news to Vaughn, but he didn't react as she'd hoped. His expression remained calm, his eyes showed no emotion, as if this was exactly what he'd expected from her.
Vaughn said, "Don't think the project's success is your achievement. In this company, anyone could have done the Celestial Waters Hotel project well—in fact, some people could have done it even better than you. Because this isn't a difficult project, and you should know that."
Leaving Vaughn's office, Allegra felt somewhat disappointed. Noah saw everything. He took a bag of candy from his drawer and placed it on her desk. A cute card hung from the candy bag that read: [Happy Birthday!]
Allegra suddenly looked up, just remembering that today was her birthday.
"Happy birthday, Ms. Watson."
Allegra said, "Thank you."
Noah encouraged her, "Don't listen to him. You're doing great."
Allegra picked up the candy bag and took out a fruit candy, her eyes stinging.
"Thank you."
After work, standing at the company entrance, Allegra suddenly felt suffocated but couldn't find anyone to talk to. Leopold suddenly came to mind, and she took the initiative to call him.
This was their first personal call outside of work. Leopold was inspecting the housekeeping department. Seeing her number, he didn't think much of it, assuming it was work-related.
He answered the phone, "Ms. Watson."
Allegra asked, "Are you busy?"
Leopold's attention wasn't on the phone. He was checking the housekeeping storage room, where things were messily arranged, and some disinfectants needed to be stored separately.
"Not too bad. What's up?"
Allegra looked up at the sky. "Today is my birthday."
Leopold gestured for the cleaning staff to move the disinfectants from the shelf to another storage room, saying, "Happy birthday."
Allegra smiled slightly—that blessing was a bit perfunctory. "We've been working together for a month now. It's been pretty good so far, right?"
Leopold didn't deny it.
Allegra said, "Could you spend my birthday with me?"
The hotel's revenue increase was largely thanks to Allegra, so he should thank her. But given their past relationship, spending her birthday with her seemed a bit ambiguous.
As he hesitated, Allegra said wistfully, "I don't have any friends here."
Leopold checked his watch. "You're off work?"
"Yes."
"I'll treat you to dinner. What do you want to eat?"
Allegra thought for a moment. Even the fanciest restaurant couldn't make the taste she missed. "Let's skip restaurants. I want to eat your cooking. Can we go to my place?"
Leopold's eyes lowered. Cooking for her was fine, but going to her place wasn't appropriate.
"You don't have enough ingredients at your place for me to work with. Come to my hotel instead."
He sure knew how to avoid suspicion. Allegra said, "Can I order dishes?"
Leopold said seriously, "Ordering dishes requires an extra tip."
Allegra laughed, "Leopold, you're too much."
In a foreign land, she was just too lonely.
Leopold contacted the chef and had him prepare a cake right away.
When Allegra walked into the lobby and saw Leopold standing at the front desk, just his back alone brought back memories. Everything before her eyes felt like another lifetime.
Allegra came up behind him. "Mr. Wipere."
Leopold turned around. "You're here. This way, please."
She followed Leopold's steps all the way to the restaurant.
Choosing a window seat with a view of the street, Leopold pulled out a chair. "Please, sit."
Allegra sat down. "Thank you."
Leopold said, "Just a moment."
The restaurant was playing soothing, elegant light music. Allegra rested her chin in her hand, gazing out the window. These past few years, she'd been working under intense pressure, exhausted both mentally and physically. But in this moment, she was completely relaxed, not having to think about anything.
Leopold brought out two plates and set them on the table. Smelling the familiar aroma, Allegra said, "I knew you'd remember what I like to eat."
She took the utensils. Leopold said, "There are two more dishes."
"No need, this is enough."
Leopold left and returned. When Allegra saw the other two dishes, her heart warmed.
All four dishes today were ones she loved. But she couldn't cook well, so when they were together, Leopold always did the cooking.
Leopold pulled out a chair and sat across from Allegra, pouring her red wine. He raised his glass and said,
"Happy birthday."
They clinked their wine glasses. Allegra said, "Thank you."