Chapter 161 Stamping My Card
On the way back to the residence, Olivia kept on nagging, "Ms. Taylor, although today was a narrow escape, I must remind you. Your behavior today was very inappropriate. Do you know that just because of your impulse, all the company's efforts almost went to waste?"
Evelyn found Olivia annoying, but she didn't expect Olivia to be so irritating. She smiled at Olivia. "Is it that serious?"
Seeing that Evelyn didn't realize the seriousness of the issue, Olivia became even more serious. "Ms. Taylor, I don't know why you can still smile at this point. Do you think nothing happened? It's just lucky that you know Lisa, but what if you didn't? Or if Lisa didn't show up, or if Lisa didn't recognize you as her friend?
"We should understand that as guests in someone else's place, we should follow the host's arrangements. The organizers indeed have shortcomings, but we can provide suggestions afterward rather than blaming others face to face. If they cancel our qualification because of this..."
"They didn't even consider us as qualified candidates in the first place!" Evelyn interrupted Olivia, feeling a bit impatient with her nagging.
"I..." Olivia stood there, not knowing what to say for a moment.
"Olivia, I know everything you do is from the company's perspective, and it is indeed well-intentioned, but can't you see? They don't care about Vistalia people here or people from other small countries. Believe it or not, even if I win a prize in the competition, they will say I got it through connections," Evelyn explained.
Originally, Matthew discriminated against Evelyn, and now that everyone knew Evelyn was a friend of Lisa, if Evelyn won, it would definitely be seen as a result of favoritism.
What Vivian said was right.
Certainly, Vivian might not speak for all, but a considerable faction shared such sentiments. Even before Evelyn entered the competition, the repercussions were already foreseeable.
"I..." Olivia didn't think about it.
From the moment Evelyn started talking to Matthew, Olivia's mind was consumed with thoughts of the repercussions should she offend Matthew. She pondered anxiously about the implications for Neogenito Fragrances' international expansion in the future.
Now that Evelyn brought it up, Olivia was reminded.
"So, are we already in a dilemma?" Olivia asked cautiously.
Participating in the competition has two outcomes. One was a failure, which would result in her returning home in disgrace, and the other was a success, which would be equally disgraceful, as it would be seen as a result of her relationship with Lisa. Not participating in the competition would mean Evelyn withdrawing out of guilt, which was even worse.
In short, Evelyn was wrong whether she acted or not.
"Yes." Evelyn nodded solemnly, not very worried, but it was better for Olivia to worry about this and try to find a solution than to keep nagging her.
Indeed, this trick worked well. After Evelyn finished analyzing, Olivia became entangled in her thoughts.
Olivia went back to the hotel room to work, probably to make routine reports and think of solutions.
Finally, Evelyn could relax. She changed out of her formal dress into comfortable clothes before checking her phone.
There were a few unread messages. One was a greeting emoji from Lisa. Evelyn smiled and sent an emoji back to Lisa before returning to the main screen. Besides company group messages, there were messages from Cathy and Laura, all asking if Evelyn had arrived and why she wasn't responding.
Evelyn replied to each one, not mentioning the minor incident at the banquet, only saying she had fallen asleep.
After checking, she confirmed that Samuel hadn't messaged her, feeling a bit disappointed. She thought, 'He is so busy that he even has no time to send a message to me.'
She pressed a few keys, wanting to send a message to Samuel, but then thought better of it and deleted it, thinking, 'If Samuel didn't message me, I wouldn't either! I am not going to have to take the initiative!'
However, after a moment of thought, she couldn't resist opening the chat window. In this day and age, did women still need to be reserved? Evelyn took the initiative because she missed Samuel.
She quickly sent a message: [I've arrived!]
But after that, Samuel seemed to have no response at all, not even a perfunctory emoji reply, leaving Evelyn feeling instantly downcast.
Staring at the message, she felt embarrassed. Evelyn had taken the initiative, but Samuel's reaction was too indifferent, making it awkward!
She tried to recall the message, but it was already past the time limit for recalling.
Evelyn was feeling frustrated when the phone rang suddenly. Seeing it was Samuel's number, she was about to answer eagerly.
But just before touching the answer button, she hesitated, pondering, 'No! If I answered so quickly, it would imply that I had been waiting for his call.'
After pausing for three seconds, Evelyn finally pressed the answer button, fearing that Samuel might think she wasn't there, and just hung up.
"Hello?" she drawled lazily.
"Seven hours and twenty-eight minutes," Samuel said.
"What?" Evelyn blinked, not understanding Samuel's meaning.
"You're seven hours and twenty-eight minutes late," Samuel seemed to be checking the time. "According to the flight schedule, you should have arrived seven hours and twenty-eight minutes ago. Even giving you an hour and a half for the journey and rest time, you're still five hours late."
Evelyn replied, "But you're seven hours and twenty-eight minutes late! No! Seven and a half hours!"
She asked herself inwardly, 'Why? He knew the flight time and could have called or messaged me, yet now he dares to blame me for being late.'
"Sorry, I was in a meeting," Samuel pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed.
After a whole day of meetings interspersed with meetings with business partners, Samuel was indeed busy. It was only after drinking a cup of coffee to refresh himself and preparing to call Evelyn that her message came.
Although they were simple words, looking at them warmed his heart and dispelled his fatigue.
"Alright, I forgive you!" Since Samuel had apologized, Evelyn readily forgave him.
"Are you getting used to it over there? I know there are a few French restaurants that are quite good. You can try them out," Samuel said, "I'll send you the address later."
"If you think they're good, they must be expensive." Evelyn pouted, poking the bed, "Forget it, I'll just have the hotel's fast food."
"Stamp my card!" Samuel chuckled.
"Alright, stamp your card. Where's your card? Bring it here!" Evelyn said, playfully reaching out her hand as if Samuel could place the card in her palm the next second.
Even though they were millions of feet apart, they spoke as if it were easy to stamp his card without a card!
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
