"Jonas!" Jade called out in a loud voice when she sighted Harry from afar off heading for the cafeteria, causing heads to turn in both hers and Harry's direction.
Harry turned when he heard her voice, and even though he didn't like that she called him in such a manner within the company, thereby drawing attention to them both, he didn't let it show on his face.
His heart fluttered when he saw the wide smile on her face as she hurried to catch up with him, and he smiled at her, remembering the last time she had been there and how she had bothered him.
She was dressed simply in a red shirt that was tucked into blue jeans, and she had on a white pair of low flats, "I've been searching all over for you," Jade said breathlessly when she stopped in front of him.
"You could have just called," Harry pointed out as he looked at her, his gaze softening as he watched her.
"Well, I did, but your line was busy. So I decided to ask around if anyone had seen you leaving," Jade said as she beamed a smile at him. Although she wanted to embrace him and touch him, she knew Harry wouldn't want her to do that. At least not here. Not yet.
"You look lovely," Harry observed, and her face glowed with pleasure.
"Thanks."
"You managed to draw the attention of everyone to us," Harry said, and she smiled apologetically when she noticed that most of the people around were trying hard not to stare directly at them.
"Sorry. But I'm sure looking from the side, they would most likely think of me more like a stubborn kid sister that likes to follow you about. You know, your best friend's kid sister is your kid sister kind of thought," Jade said, and Harry scowled.
"You are not my kid sister. And thankfully there is nothing brotherly about my feelings for you," Harry said, and Jade grinned.
"According to Tom, you claimed I was," Jade teased him as she poked his arm playfully.
"You were the one who first said you had motherly and sisterly instincts towards me (chapter 251)," Harry reminded her, and she frowned.
"I did? When?" Jade asked, and Harry raised a brow.
"You can't remember saying that to me at the suite? While we were watching Lucy's interview?" Harry reminded her, and she giggled when she remembered.
"Well, you were the one who showed up at my door and asked me to assume you are my brother (chapter 161)," she reminded him.
"I asked you to ASSUME so if it would make you feel better not take me as one. And just so you know hearing you talk about your motherly and sisterly instinct towards me was very annoying," Harry said, and Jade giggled.
"The same way introducing me as your little friend (chapter 286) was annoying," Jade said, and Harry chuckled.
"Alright, I guess we are even. Let's just agree from here on out that there is nothing motherly or sisterly about your feelingsfor me," Harry said, and Jade extended a hand.
"As long as there is nothing unclely or brotherly about yours for me too, we have a deal. Cause that would make the thoughts I have of you incestous," Jade said with a wink and Harry chuckled as he shook her hand.
"What are you here to do anyway? Want to grab something to eat?" Jade asked curiously as she looked behind him into the cafeteria.
"Oh, right!" Harry said as he turned back to look into the cafeteria. For a moment he had almost forgotten he was there to find someone.
That was exactly the kind of effect Jade had on him. She made him forget everything and everyone else. Having her working with him in the same building would be trouble for him, Harry thought, and then reminded himself that he had offered her the job himself.
He missed her whenever she wasn't with him and was distracted by her whenever he was in her company. He was just going to have to learn to live with the knowledge that having Jade in his life was going to come with a lot of professional distractions, and he needed to discipline himself not to entirely forget himself especially within the company.
"I wanted to see the President of the airline. He is having lunch here. Are you in a hurry?" Harry asked, and Jade shook her head.
"Not at all."
He gave her a nod, "Good. Why don't you wait in my office?" Harry asked as he glanced at his wristwatch, "I will join you soon," he said, and Jade flashed him a smile.
"Sure," she said with a wave before walking away.
Harry smiled as he watched her back knowing she was most likely going to turn before taking the bend, and just as he expected, she did, and he winked at her, making her giggle.
Harry caught himself smiling and sighed to himself. He couldn't even control his emotion in public anymore. He was certain that anyone with eyes could guess something was up between them. He only needed to look at the surprised look on the faces of some of the staff who had seen him wink at Jade to know that the whole building would be buzzing with news of their relationship soon.
Harry sent them a glare and immediately they turned away their faces. Harry maintained a straight face as he walked into the cafeteria, and stopped at the man's table, who he had come to see, "Can we talk?"
The man rose, "I would have come to your office if you had sent for me," He said, feeling uncomfortable that Harry had come there for his sake.
"It's more a personal matter than an official one," Harry said as he gestured to the man's seat for him to sit down, before sitting down as well.
"I won't take too much of your time. I was expecting you to come with Director Anita Miller. Why did you come with a different director?" Harry asked curiously.
"She wasn't feeling well, so she asked that I go with someone else," the man said, and Harry looked at him thoughtfully.
"She did? I guess it's for the best. I want to know more about her. How has been her performance lately? And what are your observations?" Harry asked, startling the man who had been expecting anything else but that.
"I beg your pardon?" he asked, wondering if Anita might have said or done anything to show Harry that she was no longer interested in the airline.
"I want her fired, but unlike me, Mr. Hank doesn't want to fire her based on personal reasons. He wants her to quit on her own. She gets on my nerves and I'm not sure I can wait for her to do so. I need a professional reason to fire her," Harry said honestly, having no problem with admitting that he was willing to do something Tom wasn't willing to do.
"She actually submitted her resignation letter this morning but I turned it down," the man confessed, wondering what Anita could have done to offend Harry.
Although he wanted to look out for Anita, he couldn't do that at the expense of his position. The last thing he wanted was to get on the bad side of his new employers because of someone who didn't really care about him.
"She did?" Harry asked rhetorically, and the man nodded.
"What was her reason?" Harry asked with interest. He had decided to speak with the man because he wanted to better understand what Anita was playing at, but it was beginning to look like she was really backing away.
"She didn't give me any. She is very competent and I honestly think it would be a shame to lose such a dedicated staff as her," the man said, feeling the need to add the last part. And he explained what he had told Anita about taking some time to rethink her decision.
Harry nodded, "Alright then," he said as he rose, and the man looked at him in confusion wondering if that was all.
"Alright? Do you want me to accept her resignation?" he asked, and Harry raised a brow.
"Didn't you say you rejected her resignation already? Let me know what she decides after now. Enjoy your meal," Harry said briskly before walking away.
Why did it seem like Anita was having a change of heart suddenly when they were so close to punishing her already? He wasn't sure whether to feel relieved about this new development or not. How were Tom and Lucy going to feel about it? Were they going to be willing to forgive her just like that and let it go? Well, that was dependent on whether or not she was willing to humble herself and apologize to Lucy. That would definitely determine their next course of action, Harry thought as he got into the elevator and headed for his office to meet Jade.
Once he stepped out of the elevator, his phone started ringing and he glanced at it expecting that the call was from the person who was coming over to see him, but he smirked when he noticed that the call was from Sara.
It was great that she was calling first. Thankfully, one of his men had called to inform him that they had seen a young lady that fit the description he had asked for. Everything was falling into place.
"Hello, mother!" Harry greeted pleasantly as he walked past his secretary into his office.
Jade who had been seated on his seat behind his desk, rose once he walked into the office but Harry pressed a finger to his lips asking her to keep mute as he walked over to stand beside the window in his office instead of sitting.
Sara tried not to wince at the way he called her mother. It made her feel old and she didn't like it. Unfortunately, she couldn't ask him not to call her that. At least not yet.
"Hello! I'm not calling at the wrong time, am I?" she asked politely.
"Not at all, mother. No time could ever be wrong to hear from you," Harry assured her sweetly.
Mother? Why was he calling her that? Jade mused with a raised brow when she realized he was on the phone with Sara.
"I have been able to clear my schedule. We can meet tomorrow if you are not very busy...."
"I could never be too busy for you, mother. Text me the time and venue and I will be there," Harry assured her.
It gave Sara so much joy to know that Harry was just as gullible as his father. The only good thing about him was that he was wealthy and wasn't going to be dependent on her hard-earned wealth.
"I will have my assistant text the details to you after the reservation has been made," she assured Harry before hanging up.
"Really? Mother?" Jade asked with displeasure once Harry turned back to face her. As far as she was concerned, Sara didn't deserve to be called that.
"Yeah. Mother," Harry said with a nod.
He did not call her mother because he loved to call her that, but rather he did so because he felt that was the best way to mock her. He intended to keep throwing the name in her face until he was done with her.
"I didn't imagine you would call her that," Jade said with disapproval, and Harry grinned.
"I'm sure she doesn't want me to call her that either. She wouldn't know what hit her when I'm done. Enough about her, how is your day going? When did you get here?" Harry asked as he watched her.
"We got here while you were in the conference room. And the day was just crawling slowly until you showed up," Jade said with a shrug.
"I guess you are bored?" Harry asked knowingly, and Jade smiled as she gave him a nod.
"It's the first time I've been so idle in years," Jade confessed, and Harry nodded in understanding as he held out a hand to her, and she walked around the desk to go to him.
"I think being bored is only a small price to pay for looking so well-rested, relaxed, and breathtakingly beautiful, don't you think so?" Harry asked as he took her hand and raised it to his lips making her smile.
"Well, if you say it that way, I guess so," Jade said as Harry pulled her to himself easily and embraced her.
"I will be meeting with Sara sometime tomorrow. And I also plan to see Aurora tomorrow. I think the sooner I resolve the stuff with Aurora the earlier I can go out on a date with you," Harry said and he kissed the top of her head, making Jade sigh with contentment.
"I guess I won't be seeing you tomorrow then," Jade said after she pulled away from him, and Harry smiled.
"Don't worry, I'll text you each time I pick up my phone," Harry promised and Jade smiled.
"Did you see my grandfather?" Jade asked, and Harry gave her a nod before leading her to the desk.
"Yes. He is still as formidable as ever," Harry said as he made her sit at the edge of the table and stood in front of her.
"That's good to know," Jade said with a small smile as she wrapped both arms around Harry's waist and looked up at him.
"So, about that vacation you talked about," Jade reminded Harry.
"Yeah? What about it?" Harry asked with a grin.
"Well, the last time we were discussing it (chapter 515), you were saying something about leaving Virgin Harry behind. You said and we can both... Then you were interrupted. What were you going to say?" Jade asked, and Harry chuckled.
"Well, I was going to say maybe we can both...." Harry stopped when a knock sounded on the door, and he laughed out loud when Jade swore loudly as she glared at the door.
"I guess it's not something I'm meant to tell you then. I think my guests have arrived," Harry said with a grin as he stepped away from Jade and called out to his secretary to come inside.
"I will just take my leave," Jade said grudgingly when the door opened and the secretary informed him that his guests had arrived.
"Nah. You should stay," Harry said before giving his secretary the go-ahead to let them in.