Chapter 311: Her Own Choice
“Gabriel, I truly hope you can stick with this job…” Alison hesitated, then added, “I genuinely want you to start anew.”
Gabriel replied calmly, “I know. I’ll keep doing this unless you leave or someone fires me.”
Hearing this, she felt a surge of happiness.
“Then let’s go pick up your uniform and work pass. I’ll notify the manager of the management department shortly,” she said.
“Thank you so much, Miss Fairchild,” he said seriously — it was the first time she had ever heard him sound that formal.
“Don’t mention it. The one who should say thanks is me. If it weren’t for you that night, Pierre might have been…” She smiled.
“You might be careful around Pierre,” he cautioned.
“Got it,” she replied before hurrying away.
Back in her office, she sensed a palpable tension in the air.
Mia glanced back at her and said, “Miss Fairchild, the president just asked about the processing.”
“Oh, got it,” Alison replied, instinctively glancing toward Aidan’s office.
But all she could see was the glass window — a barrier that allowed Aidan to see her but kept her from seeing him.
She had chosen to immerse herself completely in her work.
The files and documents piled high on her desk left her no time for anything else.
“Miss Fairchild, it’s quitting time. Let’s grab coffee at the cafeteria,” Mia reminded her.
“You go ahead. I’ll go later,” Alison replied, worried that she wouldn’t finish her tasks.
It was her first day back at work, and she had to finish everything before leaving.
Plus, she had promised Aidan that she would go to the ancestral home today.
“Alison…” Mia glanced toward Aidan’s office door.
She was puzzled by the tension between Alison and the CEO, especially since he had also mentioned skipping lunch earlier.
Alison nudged her. “You go ahead. I really don’t have an appetite.”
She threw herself back into her work.
Her focus doubled her effectiveness while halving the effort, thereby boosting her efficiency.
Suddenly, her phone rang.
Alison frowned. She was swamped and didn’t want to check it.
But then, the text-message alert echoed.
Reluctantly, she picked up her phone.
The message read: [Lunch box.]
Alison smiled and dashed out of the office.
Just as she began looking around, a figure darted out from the stairwell.
Gabriel held the bag toward Alison, and she instantly caught the scent of hamburger.
“Is this for me?” Her face lit up with excitement.
She hadn’t expected Gabriel to be so thoughtful and caring.
“Yeah, you didn’t have lunch,” he said simply.
She noticed he held another one.
“You didn’t eat either?” she asked.
“Not yet,” he said.
“Then let’s eat together,” she said.
She took the lunch box he offered with one hand while pulling his arm toward the staircase leading to the rooftop with the other.
“I have work to do,” he protested, trying to pull away.
“Don’t you have a break?” she asked.
“I only have twenty minutes before my shift starts,” he replied in a low voice, still gently struggling.
Seeing him about to break free, she said, “Let’s eat on the rooftop. Ten minutes to eat, ten minutes to go back down.
I promise we won’t be late.”
She pulled him up the stairs, compelling him to follow her.
She loved the rooftop, filled with so many cherished memories.
She just wanted to spend a little time with Gabriel — as if she could stay with Jack for a little longer.
She raced up the stairs to save time.
Panting, she sat on a step.
Before she could catch her breath, she tore open the box lid.
The hamburger reminded her of Jack, and her eyes welled up.
Seeing her pause, Gabriel asked in a low voice, “What’s wrong?”
“Ah, nothing. I just remembered something from before.
Here, you take this. Eat quickly.” She placed the hamburger in front of him, blinking as clarity returned.
“What about you?” he asked.
“I’ll have yours,” she replied with a smile.
“No,” he objected.
“Hey, it’s untouched yet. Why can’t we swap?” She was puzzled.
“I’d like my own one.”
He pushed Alison’s box toward her, picked up his own, and began eating with refined manners.
His table manners made it impossible to associate him with a robber.
She glanced at his box, then at her own, and only then did she realize there was an extra fried egg in hers.