Chapter 42 Personal Assistant
ANNA'S POV
The whole ceremony had finally come to an end, and the large hall that had been filled with people just an hour ago was now slowly emptying. Mom and Dad didn’t waste time; they decided to head home almost immediately after the last group of guests left. They both looked exhausted, especially Mom, and even though she didn’t say it out loud, I knew the long day had drained her. I hugged them both before they left, telling them I would call once everything was done.
I had already told Dan earlier that he was going to contact James very soon, but I wanted to give it at least a day before I made any decisions about buying the shares. Everything had gone smoother than I expected today, and even though I acted calm the entire time, I needed some breathing space before stepping into another decision.
I hadn’t seen Isabel since the moment Ryan decided to step in and James left. At first, I assumed she went to the bathroom, but as the minutes passed, I realized I might be wrong. I asked Ryan casually if he knew where she was, but he told me he left her while she was talking to someone on the phone. After that, he hadn’t seen her again.
Maybe she had gone home?
It was possible. And honestly, either way, I was glad that she actually took this whole thing maturely. I expected worse from her today, but she surprised me. I just hoped that she would eventually get over this weird little hatred that she seemed to have for me. I didn’t want to keep dealing with that tension forever.
Ryan told me earlier that he came here because he was close with the Quinn family, but I found that a bit hard to believe. Almost everyone had left the headquarters, except Dan, Lita, and me.
Now, I expected Ryan to be talking with Dan, especially since he claimed he was here because of Dan, but nope — he was right beside me as I watched the waiters clean up the scattered glasses and empty plates left behind on the tables. The hall echoing with the sounds of chairs scraping and soft chatter from the cleaners was strangely calming.
“So, you have a personal assistant now,” Ryan said as he stood beside me, both of us watching the cleaners work. His tone was light, almost playful, like he was trying to start a normal conversation after everything that had happened.
“Yeah,” I said, nodding a little. “Apparently every CEO who has run the company had one.”
“Are you the youngest?” Ryan asked suddenly.
I turned to face him, raising my brows. “Definitely not. How old do you even think I am?” I asked, genuinely surprised that he would even guess something like that.
“Well, to be honest, you look to be in your early twenties,” Ryan said without hesitation.
I blinked at him. I didn’t know whether to take that as a compliment or not, but I decided to let it slide. “Late twenties,” I corrected him.
“Well, you definitely don’t look it. But that’s a good thing,” he replied, smiling slightly. “How about we go for a walk? I mean, your personal assistant can supervise the cleanup.”
I looked around the hall again, watching Dan instruct two of the workers on what to remove first. I didn’t really want to go for a walk, especially not with everything I still had to do today, but saying no felt like it would come off rude after the help I got from Ryan earlier. I didn’t owe him anything, but common courtesy still counted for something.
“Alright, sure,” I said.
Before leaving, I quickly opened my phone and sent Dan a short message: “Going for a walk, be back soon.”
That was all I needed to send him. He already knew what to do next.
Ryan and I walked down an empty street near the headquarters. It was surprisingly quiet, like everyone had disappeared all at once. There were no cars passing by, no pedestrians, The sun was already setting, painting the sky in soft hues of orange and purple. I hoped this walk would be short because I still needed to go inspect my buildings before it got too late.
“So, tell me about yourself,” Ryan said after a moment, his hands tucked casually in his pockets.
“Well, I’m sure you already know enough about me,” I replied. “My name, my age, my work.”
“Yes, but I’d like to know the real you,” he said. “What you do for fun, the types of movies you like to watch.”
I gave him a sideways glance. “You know, it’s really weird hearing all this from you when you’re supposed to be grieving. You sound way different from when we last spoke, and that was just a few days ago.”
“Here’s the thing about me,” Ryan began, his voice steady. “I am grieving. The loss of my father… it shook my world. But you see, as a Cole — especially when you’re meant to take over the business, I can’t just sit in my room feeling down or crying. If my mom is crying and I’m crying, who’s going to console whom? So this is the best time for me to show my hard side.”
I nodded slowly. That actually made a lot of sense.
“So you’re also taking over your family company,” I said, my tone turning slightly sarcastic. “By any chance do you have any relatives who don’t agree with the decision of you taking over?”
He chuckled lightly at the obvious reference to Isabel. “Nah. I’m an only child. And I’m also working on launching my own businesses too.”
Oh.
So we had more in common than I originally thought.
“I’m also an only child. And I’m about to open my own businesses too,” I said.
“Alright, now we’re getting somewhere,” Ryan said. “What business do you want to run apart from your family company?”
“Well, my main focus is actually on opening my pharmaceutical company,” I answered. “There’s something big I’m working on.”
Before he could say another word, a small beep came from my phone. I lifted it immediately and saw that the message was from the agent in charge of the buildings I wanted to buy.
My attention shifted entirely.
“I have somewhere to be,” I said quickly. “It was nice talking with you.”
Ryan looked slightly taken aback at how abruptly I said it, but my focus was already on the phone. I turned around to start walking back toward the headquarters.
“Wait,” Ryan called after me. “I’d like to talk to you again. We’re not really done with our conversation. How about we finish it at dinner tomorrow? Let me take you out for dinner.”
“Sorry,” I said without slowing down. “I’ll be very busy throughout this week, so I’ll have to turn you down.”
“Okay…how about your number, so we can keep in touch?” he said.
“Ask Dan. He’ll send it to you,” I replied, raising my voice just enough for him to hear me from where he stood.
I didn’t have time for dates or relationships. That would only distract me from my real goal. I needed to focus.