Louie returned to his office, seated himself, and began nibbling on a piece of bread. Before he could finish it, a knocking sound echoed through the room.
"Come in," Louie said, taking a sip of coffee and shifting his gaze toward the door. Bella appeared at the entrance.
Bella took a step into Louie's office, hesitated for a moment, and then spoke, "Manager, I... I... I would like to invite you to have dinner at my home." After saying this, Bella lowered her head, unable to meet Louie's eyes.
This unexpected invitation surprised Louie. Why would Bella be so kind to him? Was the sun rising from the west today, or perhaps there was something wrong with Bella's head? Standing up, Louie circled around Bella, reached out, and lightly touched her forehead, muttering, "Not feverish at all. What's going on?"
Upon hearing Louie's muttering, Bella's face, which had been flushed, instantly turned pale. She felt embarrassed and explained, "It's not me who invited you. It's my parents. They felt that you didn't get a proper thank-you for escorting me home the other night, so they asked me to invite you. Now that I've said it, you can choose to go or not."
Seeing Bella's annoyed expression, Louie realized that she couldn't handle his teasing. Considering that he might have gone too far, he quickly grabbed Bella's right hand as she was about to leave, and explained, "Bella, your sudden kindness caught me off guard. Of course, I'd love to come to your house for dinner. When should I come?"
Bella, initially planning to leave, was caught off guard when Louie grabbed her hand. Her heart started pounding. Upon hearing Louie's explanation, Bella thought it made sense. She wasn't used to being kind to Louie, and her sudden invitation must have seemed odd. Bella also blamed her parents; why did they have to invite Louie to dinner just because he escorted her home? They didn't need to go to such lengths. Little did Bella know about her parents' intentions. Knowing her daughter's prideful and self-respecting nature, they didn't reveal their plans to her directly. If they had, Bella would likely refuse to invite Louie.
After Louie explained, Bella's tone calmed down. She glanced at Louie and asked, "If you have time, how about tonight?"
"Tonight? Sure, no problem," Louie smiled and then inquired, "I don't know what your uncle and aunt like to eat. Since it's our first meeting, I don't want to arrive empty-handed. I'll buy something they like, so they'll have a good impression of me. Who knows, if they're happy, they might consider me as a potential son-in-law in the future."
Bella gave Louie a disdainful look and said, "Don't jump to conclusions, Louie. My parents invited you to dinner just because you escorted me home. Don't dream of becoming my future husband; I would never marry someone like you."
"Don't get me wrong, Bella. I know you don't like me. Perhaps you have a sister, and what if your sister likes me?" Louie teased.
Bella glared at Louie, thinking that this guy had the thickest skin. "I don't have a sister," she replied. With that, Bella didn't bother to say goodbye and turned to leave Louie's office.
Watching Bella leave, Louie chuckled and resumed eating his bread. Before he could finish it, another knock on the door interrupted him.
"Damn it, can't I finish my bread in peace?" Louie, irritated, glanced towards the door and saw Erica and Jim standing hesitantly.
"Come in," Louie beckoned.
Erica and Jim approached Louie, and Jim nudged Erica, signaling her to speak. Erica moved closer to Louie, smiling, and pulled out a cigarette, saying, "Manager Louie, care for a smoke?"
Louie, still munching on his bread, saw Erica offering him a cigarette and waved her off, saying, "Cut the crap, get to the point. Can't you see I'm having breakfast?" Louie paused, staring wide-eyed, and clutched his throat. Seeing this, Jim hurriedly handed him a cup of coffee. Louie gulped down two large sips of coffee, finally catching his breath.
"Almost choked me to death. You two, just spit it out. Don't you see I'm trying to enjoy my breakfast?" Louie pushed the bread aside, deciding he couldn't eat until these two finished talking.
"Manager Louie, here's the thing. Now that you're the department manager of the Organization Department, ever since you came to the Marketing Department as a supervisor, we haven't had a chance to take you out for a meal properly. We thought we could seize the opportunity of your promotion to organize a dinner for Manager Louie. I've already booked a table at the Fugui Grand Restaurant for tonight. Manager Louie, do you have time?" Jim explained.
"Tonight? Sorry, I've already made plans for the day," Louie smiled. "You guys should have mentioned it earlier. I have time any other day, just not today. How about this? I'll treat you guys to dinner another day."
"Manager Louie, that wouldn't be right. We should be treating you. In the future, we'll rely on you a lot, so let us take care of you. How about we reschedule for another day? We're just not sure when you're available," Erica hurriedly lit a cigarette for Louie, continuing, "Let's pick a day that suits you."
Louie patted Erica on the back and said, "Enough already. I'll call you guys when I have time. As for taking care of you in the future, you should discuss that with our Edith. You don't know my personality; if you make me in charge, I'll be exhausted. Now, go do whatever you need to do. I haven't even finished my breakfast."
"Alright, alright, Manager Louie, enjoy your meal," Erica and Jim smiled and left the office. As they were leaving, the phone on Louie's desk began to ring. Erica secretly signaled to Jim, implying, "See that? Now that our supervisor is the department manager, everyone is trying to establish connections with him one after another."
Jim, regretting his decision, thought if he had known it would be like this, he should have befriended Louie earlier. Establishing a good relationship with Louie would mean a continuous flow of orders in the future. The delivery schedule would no longer be a problem, and the priority of orders would be determined with just a word from Louie.