Chapter 148
After listening, Cedric thought for a moment. "Good idea."
Josephine smiled slightly, unable to resist her curiosity. "Can I ask..."
"What?" Cedric glanced at her.
Josephine asked carefully, "Do I know this person?"
She truly admired anyone who could refuse Cedric. She herself didn't count. Now seeing that Cedric liked someone, she was even more certain it had been a misunderstanding.
She'd been narcissistic.
Cedric's lips curved slightly. "You know her."
"I know her? Someone from the company?" Josephine was genuinely surprised now. No exaggeration—the two of them often worked together, and she hadn't noticed Cedric getting close to any particular woman.
Unless...
No way!
Josephine promptly suppressed that dangerous thought, not daring to be narcissistic again or speculate wildly.
Cedric said flatly, "Maybe because you two haven't met many times, you've forgotten."
He paused, glancing at Josephine, amusement flashing quickly through his eyes. "She's not from the company." She belonged to herself.
This statement wasn't exactly a lie.
Josephine nodded. Put that way, everything made sense. "I understand. But whoever it is, I hope everything goes smoothly for you."
"I'll take your blessing." Cedric seemed to be in good spirits. Encountering a red light ahead, he stopped the car and casually handed her a chilled beverage.
"Thank you." Josephine cleared her throat and took a sip, but couldn't help glancing at him.
Cedric was really attentive—he'd noticed she'd eaten something salty and her throat had been itchy since earlier.
"What do you think of Daryl?"
"He's..." Josephine didn't like discussing others behind their backs, but since her boss asked, she had to answer.
By rights, she should say something positive—Daryl was Cedric's friend after all.
But during that meal, they'd seemed at odds...
No, to be accurate, Cedric had been on the offensive, his words constantly barbed.
Had these two had a falling out?
Unable to figure it out, Josephine simply spoke honestly. "I think he's pretty good. Reasonable, good personality."
Cedric's hand gently stroking the steering wheel paused slightly. He said casually, "Then it seems you two should get along well."
"Actually, he gets along better with my father." There was nothing to hide about this. Josephine spoke directly. "Today's meal—my father told me to eat with him. Though I don't know how he won my father's favor, the two of them have almost become friends despite the age gap."
Cedric imperceptibly raised an eyebrow. "Is that so? He was quite inarticulate as a child. Don't know who he learned from growing up, but he became sharp-tongued and good at pleasing people."
"You've known each other since childhood?"
"When we were young, he and I lived in the same villa complex. Later, he went abroad with his parents. He just returned recently." Cedric's fingertip lightly tapped the steering wheel.
At the same time, the red light ahead turned off.
Cedric started the car. "He has a good personality, never holds grudges. Just his private life is a bit messy."
The earlier topic could still be discussed, but now that it came to someone's private life, Josephine felt it was somewhat inappropriate.
She made a sound of acknowledgment but didn't continue the conversation.
Cedric glanced at her. Seeing she'd dropped the topic and turned to admire the scenery flying past the window, seemingly completely uninterested, he curved his lips. "How is your father's health?"
"Pretty good. Both my parents are well." Speaking of her parents, Josephine couldn't help smiling, somewhat helpless. "It's just that we haven't seen each other in so long, they insist I stay a few more days."
Actually, the apartment her parents lived in now was quite far from the Getty Group. Every day she had to commute—a longer distance and time than from Clearwater Ridge.
She'd need to wake up earlier. That was painful.
At least Josephine thought so.
"The company gives employee benefits every year, organizing a full-staff health checkup," Cedric said. "Regular employees get one checkup opportunity for themselves only, but executives can bring family members."
"There's such a good thing?" Josephine really hadn't thought of this. She'd recently been thinking about taking her parents to the hospital for a checkup, and could also see if there was any possibility of her father's hand recovering. "Can I bring my parents?"
"You're a department head. What do you think?" Cedric met her gaze, his eyes gentle.
Josephine scratched her head. "I think yes."
"For checkup matters, find Noah later. Fill out the roster with him."
"Great!"
Josephine was very happy. The next day at work, as soon as she arrived at the company, she couldn't wait to find Noah. But he seemed very busy, distracted while talking to her, constantly looking at his computer. "The checkup roster is still with Mr. Getty. I haven't gotten it yet..."
Josephine was startled. "Then I'll come back tomorrow."
Noah finally looked up, as if just noticing Josephine had come. "You want a checkup, right? Just go find Mr. Getty directly. Get the roster from him, fill it out, then give it back to Mr. Getty. Mr. Getty will give it to me then. I'm really too busy these days. There's a project I need to personally oversee..."
"No problem. You're busy then." Josephine turned and left.
The moment Josephine left, Noah closed the form he'd randomly opened earlier. Actually, he hadn't read a single word. He plopped into his chair.
For the boss's romantic prospects, he was really putting on a performance—pretending to be busy was also a technical skill.
Josephine knocked on Cedric's office door.
"Come in."
Hearing that low voice, Josephine pushed open the door and entered.
Cedric sat behind his desk, looking down at documents, with a thick stack of files piled in front of him. He looked busy.
"I came to get the health checkup roster from you." Josephine felt a bit regretful. Better to have waited a couple of days and gotten it directly from Noah.
Cedric looked up, somewhat wearily rubbing his temples. He pulled open a drawer beside him and placed a roster on the desk.
Josephine took the roster and looked it over, deciding to fill it out slowly later. She hesitated before looking at Cedric. "You don't look well. Are you feeling unwell?"
"A little. Last night's food was too salty and a bit spicy. My stomach is uncomfortable." Cedric covered his stomach, eyes downcast.
The usually steady and calm Cedric now looked somewhat vulnerable.
Josephine hesitated. "You should take medicine for an upset stomach. Don't tough it out."
"There's no medicine here. Forget it, I'll endure." Cedric waved his hand dismissively, but he kept frowning, his complexion truly poor, his other hand constantly covering his stomach.
Josephine sighed silently. "I have medicine. Wait while I get it for you."
She turned and hurried out, returned to her office, grabbed the medicine, and rushed back into Cedric's office. All this rushing about drew sideways glances from many colleagues.
But she couldn't worry about that. She gave Cedric the medicine and even poured him a glass of water.
"Thank you." Cedric smiled, stood up, and walked to sit on the sofa. He took the medicine with water, brow furrowed. "Last night I attended another dinner. Had some drinks. Now my head aches a bit too."
Josephine pressed her lips together. "Is it very uncomfortable?"
"Yes."
Josephine blurted out, "Want me to massage it for you?"
The moment she said it, she regretted it.