Chapter 729: Chapter 700: Love in a Parallel Universe [022]
Simon Forrester recalled the time he met Sienna Thorne at The Imperial Hotel.
That day, Thomas Reed had arranged to discuss an investment with him. As their conversation was wrapping up, Thomas went to the restroom. Shortly after he left, a few men suddenly entered the private room.
Simon was sitting behind a screen, so the newcomers couldn’t see him.
He initially thought to remind them they were in the wrong place, but then he overheard one man say, "Why did Vantage hire such a young rookie lawyer?"
Another man asked, "Are you referring to Lawyer Thorne, Mr. King?"
"It’s that girl. She looks incredibly young. Can she even handle the job?"
The man laughed, "Tonight she’s just here to make you happy, Mr. King. There’s no way she’d be handling the case. A girl who’s been at the firm for less than a year isn’t qualified to handle cases on her own..."
The men outside were blatantly questioning Sienna’s professional capabilities, mixing in their derogatory remarks about women in the workplace. Simon couldn’t stand listening any longer and left the room.
That was when he encountered Sienna Thorne by the elevator.
He already knew then that Sienna wasn’t having an easy time at Vantage. She couldn’t independently take on cases, which meant she wouldn’t be earning much from case commissions, explaining why she mentioned her salary wasn’t even ten thousand yet—she was probably only getting the base pay.
He noticed his expression suddenly turned serious, and the girl on the other end of the video softly asked, "What are you thinking about?"
He snapped out of it and smiled, "If you’re not busy tomorrow, shall we go see a movie?"
"Sure."
He smiled, his eyes filled with affection and fondness, "It’s getting late. You should go to bed early. I’ll pick you up at eleven tomorrow, we’ll have lunch and then see the movie."
"Okay, you get some rest too."
"Alright."
The girl reluctantly looked at the man on the screen, slowly moved her thumb to the bottom of the screen, and gently touched it. A red icon popped up on the screen, and with a tap, their first video call would end.
She didn’t want to end it. She wanted to watch Simon Forrester as he fell asleep, wanted to spend the whole night with him, and listen to him talk.
But he still had work to do, and not wanting to affect his sleep, she could only turn off the video.
Sigh.
If only they lived together...
The thought startled her, making her face blush deeply. Afraid Simon would realize she was daydreaming, she hastily decided to end the video call.
Just as her thumb was about to tap the screen, Simon suddenly called out "Annie."
She looked at him on the video.
Out of her sight, Simon was gently rubbing her rosy cheek on the screen with his thumb, fondly recalling the tender feel when he touched her cheek that afternoon.
"A kiss before we hang up," he said softly.
Sienna blushed, too shy to admit she had the same thought.
Feeling shy and nervous, she brought the phone close to her lips and gently kissed the screen where he was.
He was satisfied, said "Goodnight," and smiled as he waited for her to end the video call first.
She didn’t want to hang up and hesitated for a moment before finally pressing the small red dot on the screen.
Outside, snowflakes gently fell, the room was quiet and warm, and the air was filled with pink heart-shaped bubbles.
Sienna reluctantly closed her phone, then opened it again a few seconds later to check the time. It was already midnight.
Simon Forrester had spent fourteen hours of the day with her, from picking her up at ten in the morning.
He was so busy, yet he stayed up late to chat with her about trivial things. People say, to determine if a man loves a woman, see if he’s willing to give her three things:
Time, money, and energy.
Simon had given her his time today and had slipped his salary card into her coat pocket before he got out of the car.
She felt that, so far, Simon really liked her.
Whether he would eventually fall in love with her, only time could tell.
...
That night, Sienna slept soundly and peacefully. The next morning, she saw the message Simon sent her at two in the morning.
"Goodnight, sweet dreams."
He had finished his work and wanted to go to sleep, but thought of her and sent her a goodnight message.
Those simple four words made her feel extremely secure and happy, her heart warm and fuzzy.
She wanted to text him back "Good morning," but worried that he might still be asleep and her message might wake him, so she refrained, finishing her breakfast and anxiously counting the minutes until his arrival.
Just past ten-thirty, Simon arrived and called her, saying he was waiting in the car and she shouldn’t hurry, to take her time.
She quickly ran to open the curtains and peeked outside, and sure enough, Simon’s sports car was parked outside the garden.
She sweetly asked over the phone, "Weren’t you supposed to arrive at eleven? Why are you half an hour early?" She was actually concerned that he had worked late into the night and came early without enough sleep.
He got out of the car, looked at the Thorne Family villa, and inadvertently, his gaze met hers at the window.
He waved at her and said over the phone, "I wanted to see you sooner, so I came earlier."
His voice carried the deep and husky tone of someone who had just woken up, warming her heart to the point of melting.
Her face reddened as she said, "Just wait for me a moment," then pulled the curtains shut and hurriedly went to get dressed.
As she headed downstairs, Quentin Thorne was sitting in the living room reading a newspaper, and Melinda Linton was in the kitchen preparing lunch.
"Dad, Mom, I’m going out for lunch with a friend," she said as she headed toward the shoe rack, "I might have dinner out too, so don’t wait for me."
Quentin looked outside suspiciously, not seeing the sports car or the man obscured by the outer wall, but he still asked, "Which friend are you having lunch with?"
"Oh, you wouldn’t know them even if I told you. Don’t ask," Sienna said, slipping on her boots and standing up, "I’m off!"
Quentin watched her leave, saw her get into the same sports car that had brought her home the previous night, and sighed, shaking his head.
.
The sports car sped away from the old villa neighborhood, and before buckling her seatbelt, Sienna leaned over to Simon and kissed his cheek, then obediently sat back to fasten her seatbelt.
Simon smirked and asked, "What do you feel like eating?"
"Anything’s fine with me, I’m not picky," she laughed.
Simon thought for a few seconds and asked, "Japanese food?"
But before she could answer, he laughed and said, "Wait, no, the last time you had tuna steak on the plane, you had an upset stomach. Let’s not do Japanese food."
She froze for a second, then remembered the embarrassing moment on the plane and immediately covered her face, pretending to cry.
"So embarrassing, so embarrassing! Don’t talk about it anymore, okay?"
He laughed, driving as he reached out with his right hand to ruffle her hair, "Not embarrassing, just cute."
Leaving her to deal with the dreadful toilet after an upset stomach—how could that be cute?
It was mortifying!
She whimpered a few times while covering her face when a mischievous thought suddenly crossed her mind. The next second, she turned to face him, blushing, and asked, "Weren’t you scared when you helped me flush the toilet back then?"
