Chapter 256 Even More Aggressive Than Before
The meeting in the study was still ongoing, as the executives had differing opinions on the new proposal and were at a stalemate.
Immersed in their work, the executives soon forgot about the earlier video interruption. The heads of two key projects were persistently seeking Gabriel's approval for their respective department's plans, and the argument grew increasingly heated.
Usually, everyone maintained a cordial demeanor in the company, even among the higher-ups. But when it came to their interests, especially since this project was crucial for the future of their departments, the executives were no different from people haggling over a few pounds at a farmers' market.
If it weren't for the conference table and the fact that Gabriel was watching through the high-definition camera, they might have rolled up their sleeves and started a brawl right there.
Other attendees offered perfunctory words of comfort, but most remained silent, waiting for Gabriel to express his opinion.
Gabriel held a slice of peeled orange, his expression calm and unreadable. His long, slender fingers continued to peel the orange, and his gaze was steady and revealing nothing.
However, the attendees, who were all senior executives and familiar with Gabriel, silently guessed that this was the calm before the storm.
After all, Gabriel's usual style was to remain silent, and when he did speak, he could chill the room instantly.
After patiently waiting for two minutes, Gabriel finished peeling the orange and finally decided to speak, "Mr. Armstrong, Mr. Clark."
The arguments ceased immediately upon Gabriel's words.
The room fell silent as everyone awaited Gabriel's reaction.
Gabriel placed the orange back on the fruit plate and said, "Revise the proposal and send it to me again. It's getting late; time to clock out. Let's adjourn for today."
Adjourn?
Even when Gabriel couldn't return to the company, he was always meticulous and demanding, ensuring that tasks were completed on the same day. Was he planning to give them a break on the proposal? To stop the arguments for now?
Was Gabriel really being so lenient today?
Before they could stand up from their chairs, the screen signal was abruptly cut off, leaving it in darkness.
Gabriel ended the video call, stood up, and walked out of the study, seeing Jessica curled up on the couch.
He walked over and saw her holding a phone in one hand, the other hand resting under her cheek, fast asleep on the couch. The towel wrapped around her head had loosened, and her half-dry hair hung messily over her shoulders.
He gave her a light kiss on her lips and told her to go to the bedroom to sleep since it was easy to catch a cold in the living room. Jessica slightly turned her head, opened her eyes drowsily, and looked at him. She seemed to have a headache, her delicate nose wrinkling as she weakly responded, "Yeah."
She agreed but didn't get up for a long time.
Jessica's lazy demeanor made Gabriel's eyes darken, his gaze lingering on her for a moment.
Soon, he leaned down and kissed her again.
This kiss was more aggressive than the last.
But at the same time, he felt her temperature.
As expected, she had fallen asleep here because she had a fever again.
Flu fevers rarely went away in a day; they usually recurred several times.
Jessica felt him kissing her but didn't have the strength to speak. She half-opened her eyes and suddenly felt Gabriel lift her from the couch, holding her waist.
She only remembered the bedroom door opening and closing and being coaxed by him into taking some fever medicine. She was afraid he'd make her sweat under the covers again, so she turned over and hugged the blanket, moving to the other side of the bed.
But later, in a daze, she felt that domineering embrace pulling her back, her limbs trapped, unable to kick off the blanket.
In the middle of the night, she was groggily awakened but didn't get out of bed. Gabriel fed her some soup, and Jessica, feeling boneless, clung to him, too dizzy from the fever to even hold the spoon.
The next day, Jessica felt much better, but only within the confines of Gabriel's apartment, eating energetically. She wasn't even allowed to look at scripts.
She was really bored, so she borrowed a tablet from Gabriel, swiping through it to find something to watch. Since she entered the entertainment industry, following a show hadn't been easy. She wasn't picky, but there really wasn't anything particularly good.
Finally, she settled on a foreign sci-fi movie. After finishing one, she watched a crime movie.
She managed to kill the entire morning, but by the afternoon, she didn't know what to do.
Gabriel, usually so busy, hadn't gone to the office in the past two days since returning from Sunshine Bay City, staying at Blue Bay Apartments with her, not giving her a chance to faint alone at home.
In the afternoon, she browsed Facebook for a while, finally having the time to read reviews of "Charles II." She also logged into her Facebook account to check it out.
The show had only been on for three days, but her Facebook followers had surpassed five million. Although all the main actors gained followers, Jessica's increase was the most significant, with most of the positive reviews related to her.
Many initially thought she only attracted attention with a few action scenes, doubting she could maintain such a high profile throughout.
But after just a dozen episodes, especially when Katrina started turning bad, fans were excited that they were screaming on Facebook. Many people even tagged her on Facebook and shouted crazily: [Katrina is amazing! Katrina! Please notice me!]
Jessica remained silent.
She didn't post on Facebook, but in the past two days, Mackenzie had posted two updates for her to promote the show, sharing some behind-the-scenes photos and GIFs.
Fans thought Jessica posted them, with comments and shares quickly surpassing fifty thousand.
There were also fan-made videos, drawings, and other creations about Jessica's character, flourishing across various platforms in just a few days.
Having passed the time until evening, Jessica was browsing fan art on her tablet, liking a few with her alternate account.
Hearing some noise outside, she put down the tablet and left the bedroom.
Gabriel just went to the company for a while but returned in less than an hour.
When Gabriel entered, he was still on the phone. Jessica, unable to stay idle, went over to help with his coat.
As she took his coat, Gabriel finished his call and saw her instinctively smelling the clean scent on his coat.
Gabriel set his phone aside, casually loosened his collar, his Adam's apple moving slightly, and pulled her wrist, wrapping his arm around her waist and pressing her against the wall from the side.
