Chapter 171 Why Choose Charles
Gwendolyn was surprised at Gavin’s grumpiness toward him, he wondered, what did he do wrong? Why was the CEO giving him the cold shoulder?
Not wanting to be left out, Gwendolyn followed Gavin into the office after Daphne had left to take care of business. He started, "CEO, is it because of what happened last night that you don’t want to see me?"
Gavin's face turned frosty. ‘He had the nerve to bring that up!’ he thought, still upset at Gwendolyn.
"It wasn't my fault. After you chose Mr. Lancelot, I even confirmed with you again, and you said you didn't need my ride before I reluctantly left," Gwendolyn explained, his intuition telling him that if he didn't clarify this situation, there'd be no bonus coming from the CEO.
Gavin gave him one line to ponder, "I was drunk then; can you trust what a drunk person says?"
Gwendolyn took a moment to give it some thought, ‘No, you can't. But Mr. Lancelot’s presence was too imposing for him to argue over a person.’
"If I get drunk again one day and tell you I want to go bungee jumping without a cord, are you going to push me off a building?" Gavin started to fixate on the issue.
Gwendolyn’s composure was beginning to crumble, "You're joking."
"You’re the one who is playing the joke on me," Gavin retorted as he thought about the disgraceful things he did at Charles's and felt a bit sick to his stomach. Yet he still couldn’t understand, ‘Why choose Charles? Why?! It just didn't make sense.’
"Do you remember what Charles said when he offered to give me a ride?" Gavin still felt something was off, "Repeat it to me, word for word, if possible."
Charles's assistant, Mark, was the one who had recounted the occurrence to Daphne. Whether or not they deceived Daphne, remained to be seen.
Gwendolyn was always blunt and straightforward when he spoke. "He just asked whether you wanted me to take you home or him, and you chose him,” Gwendolyn stated plainly.
At that moment, only Mark heard the way Charles had addressed him. Gwendolyn was too focused on the CEO's reaction to pay much attention to Charles's form of address.
Gavin had given up, after muttering that he needed some peace and quiet, he sent Gwendolyn away and sat alone in his office, questioning his life choices.
Daphne had been waiting for Gavin to decide, all day long. Yet she still hadn't heard a word from him, if he was planning to apologize to Charles or not.
At precisely five-thirty P.M., Daphne received a WhatsApp message. It was from Charles, letting her know that has a new phone and was ready to have his data transferred with her.
Daphne replied with a curt "Okay”.
Remembering how he had to borrow her phone to call Mark last night, she deliberated for a while before changing his name on her contact list from ‘ex-husband’ to simply ‘Charles’. She did this to prevent Charles from picking a fight with her if he saw something else besides his name.
But she somehow felt odd as soon as she had changed it. Ultimately, she decided to leave it as is and reminded herself to keep contact with him to a minimum.
After reverting the contact’s name to ‘Charles’, Daphne put her phone in her pocket and headed to Gavin's office.
Gavin didn’t do anything productive the whole day. Documents were piling up like a mountain.
“What's going on with you?” Daphne asked when she saw how down he looked, concerned he might be sick, “Got a cold?”
“No,” he responded dejectedly.
“Then what’s with you?” Daphne surveyed his condition,
Gavin uttered five woeful words, “A hangover from last night.”
Nobody knew the ordeal he had endured that day.
Whenever someone knocked on the door to deliver documents or discuss business, he'd muster up the energy to face them, but once they left, he'd slump back into his chair.
He had never felt so socially defeated and hopeless.
Daphne was silent; then she spoke, sensing his aversion to certain matters, “You sort through these documents, I’ll deal with Charles.”
“No need, I'm just mentally preparing myself,” Gavin refused. Daphne didn't want to get too entangled with Charles, and if she went, it just wouldn't seem right, considering Gavin was supposed to be the one in charge.
Daphne didn't press him further, simply saying, “Okay, you take your time. I'm going to head out.”
“Wait!” Gavin called out to her. He certainly couldn't face this alone. Going solo was asking to be ridiculed. What if Charles mercilessly mocked him? What would he do then?
If Daphne were around, Charles at least wouldn't be able to act too arrogantly.
Daphne glanced back at him.
After much deliberation and a mix of emotions, Gavin finally spoke, "Could you take care of these documents for me? I need to mentally prepare myself one last time."
"I'm leaving now," Daphne refused and rejected his request.
But as she started to walk away, Gavin stood up and chased after her, blocking her path and beginning to whine, "Daphne."
"You're Gavin,” he sought to have her see his perspective. "What's wrong with Gavin? Can't Gavin be all cutesy?"
Daphne was beyond words. She found his logic strangely indisputable and couldn't come up with a retort.
"Just help me out this once, please. I really can't focus on work today," Gavin pleaded with a softer tone.
Daphne stared at him for a good minute, succumbing eventually to his persistence.
After telling Charles she would be a bit later, she began reviewing the documents. She read one while Gavin signed the next.
Watching Daphne work, Gavin felt a wave of pride. People say a man working is charming, but to him, Daphne, right in her element at work, outshined any man. She was admirably assertive like a boss.
"Daphne," he called out to her.
"Mm?"
"You're really beautiful," he couldn’t help but compliment her out of admiration.
She wanted to chide him, but given that his mood had improved for once, she refrained. By the time they finished with the documents, it was eight o'clock.
Gavin sent a message to Gwendolyn to pick up the files from the office, and then he and Daphne headed to Charles's place.
Once they arrived at the bottom of Charles's building, Gavin parked the car and felt the tension creeping back, "He's not going to mock me, is he?"
"No, he won't," she assured him.
"What if he does?" Gavin was truly anxious.
Daphne sighed to herself and soothed him, "If he mocks you, I'll set him straight."
"No, that won't do." Gavin got more flustered, and said, "Then he'll think even less of me."
Daphne was at a loss for words. Seeing Gavin like this was rare, so she simply inquired, "Then what do you want to do?"
"I don't know," he replied.
"If you don't know, then get out of the car, and we'll deal with it once we're upstairs." After saying that, Daphne got out of the car. Gavin wanted to delay things further, but Daphne pulled him along.
Overwhelmed with complex emotions, Gavin followed Daphne to Charles's front door, where she rang the bell.
Gavin's heart pounded.
He imagined what it would be like to see Charles again. Wondering whether their conversation would be laced with veiled jabs and sarcasm.
The sound of the door clicking open interrupted Gavin's daydream. As Charles opened the door and caught sight of Daphne, a flicker of emotion passed through his eyes. He was about to invite her in when he noticed Gavin standing beside her.
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