Chapter 128
Anais warmly pulled James over to the two women with a friendly smile on her face.
"James, let me introduce you. This is Mira, and this is Mira's daughter. She's been abroad and just got off the plane today. She came straight here to meet you without even resting. Her name is Kaia Collins."
When Mira saw James, her eyes immediately lit up. She had only seen James in the news before, dressed in suits and looking all serious and stern. She never expected him to be so handsome in person.
Originally, she had planned to carefully evaluate James on Kaia's behalf tonight, but after just one look at him, she was completely satisfied.
"I really didn't expect James to have grown so tall. I remember the last time we met, you were only ten years old. You were so small back then. Your mother and I were joking that you might not grow very tall. Who would have thought that after all these years, you'd be this tall?"
James was an adult now, after all, and hearing her talk to him like this made him quite uncomfortable.
Mira was speaking to him as if he were a little child, which made James feel like he was being treated as immature.
Unlike James, Kaia seemed much more composed. She extended her hand politely to shake hands with James.
"Hello, Mr. Smith. My name is Kaia."
James glanced at her and stood there without moving.
Anais immediately felt a bit embarrassed and quickly tried to smooth things over, laughing a couple of times awkwardly.
"Kaia, you two practically grew up together. Why are you being so formal? Don't call him Mr. Smith, just call him James."
"Even though James is the CEO of the Smith Group and everyone calls him Mr. Smith at work, we all call him James in private."
Hearing this, Kaia smiled gently and withdrew her hand, not seeming embarrassed at all.
"Alright, since you put it that way, I'll call him James from now on."
James nodded, thinking that Kaia seemed fairly sensible. She understood that he wasn't interested in her, so she wasn't forcing a relationship.
"Mrs. Collins, Kaia, now that everyone's here, let's eat first!"
Seeing that James was at least being polite to them, Anais breathed a sigh of relief.
The group sat down at the table, and Anais enthusiastically handed the menu to Kaia.
"Kaia, you just got off the plane. You must be hungry, right? I'll leave the ordering to you today. Order whatever you like to eat, and don't hold back."
"You've been abroad for so many years. You must not be used to the food here anymore, right?"
As soon as Anais finished speaking, Mira, sitting next to Kaia, quickly chimed in.
"Anais, please don't spoil Kaia. There's nothing she can't eat. Even though she's been abroad for a few years, she's a born-and-raised local. She doesn't do all that foreign stuff."
Kaia smiled faintly and politely opened the menu.
"Mrs. Smith, I remember when I visited your house as a child, your favorite dishes were meatballs, right? And braised ribs. I usually like to eat potato pancakes and vegetable salad. My mom prefers mushroom dishes."
Kaia was a very quiet girl and very considerate of others' feelings. Since Anais had given her the task of ordering, she took everyone's dietary preferences into account.
After saying this, she looked up at James somewhat awkwardly.
"I don't know what James likes to eat. Would you like to order for yourself?"
At this moment, Kaia seemed very tactful. She had probably noticed that James had been keeping his distance from her all along, so she wasn't being too forward with him.
When it came to ordering, she was just being polite and didn't want to leave James out. Even handing him the menu was just following normal procedure, not a special attempt to find out what James liked to eat.
James looked up at Kaia and figured she wasn't interested in him either. What she was doing now was just an act for their parents, and also just being polite.
If she had been overly eager, it would have annoyed James. But since she was so tactful and polite, James actually felt a bit more respect for her.
James took the menu directly, didn't order according to his own preferences, just randomly picked a few dishes, and then called over the waiter.
While they waited for the food, Kaia remained quiet, only occasionally standing up to pour water for Anais and Mira.
Anais and Mira were delighted to see each other and kept chatting about everyday matters. Occasionally, they would mention things about James from his childhood, and talk about how James and Kaia used to meet often when they were young.
When they mentioned the two meetings often as children, James deliberately observed Kaia's expression. She didn't show the shyness that other girls might have; she just sat there quietly while the elders talked.
When the conversation turned to her, she would say a few words, but she was very tactful and didn't try to make everything about herself.
At this dinner, James was actually the only quiet one, sitting there in silence the whole time.
When the food was served, Anais directly brought up the topic with James. After all, tonight's main characters were James and Kaia. She and Mira shouldn't let the conversation stray too far.
"James, Kaia finally came back. You should tell her about the country's development in recent years. And also, Kaia doesn't plan to go abroad again after coming back this time. See if there's a suitable position at our company and arrange one for Kaia."
Anais's intention was all too obvious. Kaia's father had his own company, yet she wanted to arrange for her to work at their company. The attempt to bring them together was painfully clear.
Seeming to notice James's doubts, Mira quickly spoke up.
"James, the Collins Group does have suitable positions for Kaia, but everyone knows Kaia is the daughter of the Collins Group's CEO. So if she works at our company, the employees will inevitably give her special treatment."
"That way, she won't really learn anything. I was thinking of having Kaia go to your company, and we won't reveal the relationship between our two families or Kaia's identity. Just let her start as a regular employee, let her personally experience the ways of the world and the backstabbing in the workplace. That's how she'll get real experience and be better prepared to take over the Collins Group in the future."