Chapter 136
Landon?
Charlotte was momentarily stunned. Lately, it seemed like she kept running into Landon everywhere she went.
Jenna, however, clearly had no such concerns. She even excitedly waved at him. "Mr. Forbes, what a coincidence! We meet again."
Landon smiled. "At this hour, you two aren't planning to grab dinner again, are you?"
Jenna quickly waved her hands. "No, no, we're looking for a shop space."
Charlotte wanted to stop her but it was too late. She could only smile and explain. "It's for one of my mother's former students who wants to open a studio. He asked me to help find a place."
Landon nodded, "Want to open a studio? Perfect timing. I have a shop space here. The current tenant wants to end their lease. Want to take a look and see if it works?"
Before Charlotte could respond, Jenna was already praising him, "Mr. Forbes, you are a saint!"
"Can I ask first, how big is your shop space?"
"160 square meters. Would that be too small?"
Jenna was so excited she almost jumped up. She secretly nudged Charlotte and lowered her voice. "Did you hear that? Say yes already! Please."
Charlotte was also surprised by this unexpected good fortune. After a moment, she looked at Landon. "Not small at all. Landon, thank you."
Landon smiled lazily, "Should I take you to see it now?"
"Yes!" Jenna agreed immediately.
Charlotte felt a little bit embarrassed.
After all, having someone of Landon's status personally take her to view a shop space is a big deal.
Maybe it was just her imagination, but Charlotte felt like Landon's gaze lingered on her face for a moment before he smiled. "Let's go then."
Landon kept walking in front, though he was clearly listening closely to what was being said behind him.
Jenna nudged Charlotte again in frustration. "You must regret letting such a great guy go, right?"
Charlotte shot her a warning look. "Shut up."
Did she regret it?
Her answer was no.
She never regretted things that were already in the past.
What she was focused on was how she make her future better.
Besides, maybe because he was praised as a genius, Landon had been mature since childhood. Every time she saw him, she felt like she was facing an elder.
Who would want to choose an elder as their husband?
Lost in thought, Landon had already led them to the place he mentioned.
Charlotte loved it at first sight.
The previous tenant had also run a studio. The decoration and layout were very stylish and modern—they could use it directly without much modification.
This way, no matter how difficult Quentin wanted to be, he couldn't find an excuse.
"Landon, I'll take the shop.Charlotte said without hesitation.
"Okay." Landon immediately made a phone call.
In a few minutes, a young man hurried in. "Mr. Forbes, here's the contract you wanted."
Landon took it and handed it over to Charlotte. "Take a look first. If there are no problems, we can sign right away."
Perfect!
Charlotte tried to hide her excitement as she reached out and took it.
Perhaps because she was so excited, she didn't even notice that when she took the contract, her fingertips lightly brushed against Landon's hand.
But Landon’s eyes darkened slightly, growing more thoughtful and intense.
Where his gaze fell, Charlotte was holding the contract and reading it intently. Her shoulder-length hair fell smoothly behind her, and her profile was clean and defined. For a moment, Landon seemed to return to the past, when he'd accidentally catch Charlotte deeply focused on studying problems.
Without realizing it, the corners of Landon’s lips lifted into a faint smile.
Charlotte finally finished reviewing the contract, her eyes lingering on the last few lines as she look up in confusion. "Landon, the monthly rent is only ten thousand yuan? Are you sure that's not a mistake?"
"What? Only ten thousand yuan rent!" Jenna was already exclaiming beside her.
But Landon remained calm. "What? Too expensive?"
He turned to his assistant, "Take the contract and revise it. Cut the rent in half."
Five thousand!
Charlotte was shocked; quickly waving her hands to stop him. "No, no need to change it."
Landon turned back and raised an eyebrow at her, but remained silent.
Charlotte licked her lips and finally managed to say, "Landon, it's not that the rent is too expensive, but that it's too cheap."
"Too cheap?" Landon's eyes crinkled.
Beside them, Jenna quickly covered her mouth!
She nearly blurted out the truth before she could stop herself.
Her small shop was only seventy square meters, and the monthly rent was already 110,000 yuan.
This studio, although on the second floor, had a great location and large space. No matter how you calculated it, in this prime commercial street, the monthly rent should be no less than 100,000 yuan.
But Landon was only asking for a mere ten thousand!
That was practically giving it away for free.
But since Charlotte was her best friend, she absolutely couldn't remind Landon.
So Jenna desperately tugged at Charlotte's sleeve, blinking frantically, signaling her not to say anything more and to sign the contract quickly!
Unexpectedly, before Charlotte could speak, Landon noticed something was off.
"Miss Hayes, is something wrong with your eyes?"
Jenna froze. "I'm fine."
But just as she finished speaking, she covered her eyes in pain. She'd blinked too much and her eye muscles had cramped.
Landon glanced at his assistant. "Help Miss Hayes rest over there."
Without a word, the assistant rushed over andy helped Jenna to the rest area on the other side.
Only Charlotte and Landon were left in the shop.
Inexplicably, Charlotte became nervous again.
She sighed quietly to herself. Perhaps this habit of getting nervous around Landon would never change in this lifetime.
"What are you thinking about?"
Landon's low voice, accompanied by his crisp cedar scent, suddenly surrounded her.
Charlotte looked up, a bit caught off guard. "Landon—"
Landon responded softly, taking the opportunity to take in Charlotte's uneasy expression, the corners of his lips curving into a faint, indulgent smile.
The distance between them was so close it made Charlotte uncomfortable. She wanted to step back, but hesitated.
After all, Landon had been helping her all along, like an elder would.
"Landon, I think this rent is too cheap."
"This place was empty before. Later I rented it to a friend, also for ten thousand." Landon said while secretly observing Charlotte's expression. "Now I'm renting it to you, also for ten thousand."
"If you feel like you're taking advantage of me, how about you invite me to dinner more often? Or make me more little cakes?"
In that brief moment, Charlotte understood.
To Landon, he didn't care about this bit of rent at all.
But to her, this studio was exactly what she needed, and it could help her solve a big problem.
It seemed she owed him another favor.
After thinking it through, she looked up with a relieved smile. "That makes my little cakes pretty valuable."
Landon returned the smile. "Yes, very valuable."
For the first time, they smiled at each other.