Chapter 166 Overnight in a Hotel
The two of them finished eating slowly—Willow really took her time. It was already half past nine, and Mitchell had to return to the office to work overtime. "Did you drive today?"
"No, I dropped my car off for maintenance yesterday, so I took a taxi this morning."
Mitchell hailed a cab for Willow and made a note of the car's license plate.
"Go home and rest. You've been working hard lately," he said, knowing that everyone in the project department had been incredibly busy, working almost daily overtime. Once this busy period was over, he'd have to treat the team to a meal as a reward.
After Willow got into the cab, she rolled down the window, "Jonah, I'm heading back. Make sure you don't work too late, either."
"Okay, send me a text when you get home. Take care."
As the car drove away and disappeared around the corner, Mitchell turned and walked toward the JK Group building.
Returning to the office, Mitchell continued reviewing documents. It looked like another night that would last until midnight.
Willow got home around ten, took a bath, and then remembered to message Mitchell on Facebook. Sprawled comfortably on her bed, she grabbed her phone.
"Jonah, I'm home. Sorry, I forgot to text you earlier."
Mitchell was buried in spreadsheets when his phone vibrated. Setting aside the paperwork, he checked his phone and saw Willow's message. Relieved that she got home safely, he replied, "Good, get some rest then."
"Jonah, are you still at work?" Willow glanced at the time and saw it was already eleven.
"Yeah, I'm wrapping up soon. I'll be heading out shortly."
"Okay, then I'm going to sleep. Good night."
"Good night."
With that, Willow turned off the light and went to sleep.
Mitchell stared at his smartphone screen for a while before setting it down. His mind replayed the image of Willow eating dinner just now – even he hadn't realized how fondly he was looking at her.
After wrapping up the day's work, it was close to midnight. Exhausted from the day's toil, he didn't feel like heading back home. Conveniently, he decided to stay at the hotel adjacent to JK Group. The hotel had a long-standing partnership agreement with JK Group; while they didn't stay often, the top-floor suites were always reserved for them and occasionally used to host guests.
Mitchell went down to the hotel lobby and handed his ID to the receptionist. The receptionist's eyes widened upon swiping the ID, realizing the rare night shift had brought in a VIP who had booked the top floor. Her colleagues had mentioned that JK Group's executives seldom stayed at the hotel, usually reserving it for entertaining guests. Was today's encounter a stroke of luck? Tomorrow, they would sure be envious.
In the flesh, there was a figure usually seen only in the pages of financial magazines. The young girl at the reception was starstruck.
He was incredibly handsome.
Seeing the receptionist lost in a daze, Mitchell asked, "Is there a problem?"
Snapping back to reality and blushing, the receptionist quickly regained her professional composure. "My apologies, Mr. Mitchell, no problem at all," she said, handing him the customized key card and his ID back. "Here's your key card. Please take your ID back. The elevator is to your left. Feel free to head to your room to rest, and if you need anything, you can call the front desk from your room for assistance."
Mitchell nodded, taking his key card and ID, and walked toward the elevator.
Once he stepped into the elevator, the receptionist stayed back, excitedly stamping her feet. Oh my god, Mitchell was so handsome and kind! He was just as good-looking as the magazines—no, even more so!
Mitchell arrived in his suite, renowned for holding onto his clothes at the hotel's laundry service, which he had forgotten to pick up previously.
He called for the clothes to be delivered to his room, opened the mini-fridge, grabbed a bottle of iced coffee, and took a couple of sips.
Within five minutes, a hotel server delivered his clothes. Now, Mitchell took a shower; a day's work had left him somewhat tired. After the shower, he lay on the bed and pulled out his smartphone, scrolling through the gallery until he found an old photo that he had stared at for quite some time.
It was a snapshot of Willow and Daniel standing side by side, both girls in their school uniforms and ponytails, holding an ice cream cone and beaming with smiles.
He had sneakily taken the photo from Daniel.
Thinking about the girl he had dinner with tonight - yes, it seemed she really had grown up.
Mitchell silently set his phone down and laid down to sleep.
The next morning, at seven o'clock sharp, Mitchell woke up, a habit ingrained over the years—no matter how late he went to bed, he always woke up on time. Perhaps it was the change in environment, but he didn't sleep well the previous night. He got up with a furrowed brow and a cold expression.
After freshening up, room service delivered breakfast, and Mitchell decided to eat in his room. He had a glass of milk, some bread, and a fried egg. As he ate, he browsed the news on his smartphone.
While scrolling through the headlines, his phone rang with a call from Marigold, causing a slight frown to crease Mitchell's forehead. Why was she calling so early?
"Hello, Marigold, what's up?" he answered.
Marigold's cheerful voice came through, "What, I can't call you if there's nothing urgent? Don't forget about our collaboration. You haven't asked me out in so long."
Mitchell massaged his temples. His mother had been hounding him for the past few days—calling every three days, messaging twice on Facebook, and always bringing up Marigold, wanting to know how their collaboration was progressing. He had been swamped with work recently and sometimes couldn't even be bothered to answer the phone.
"I've been really busy lately."
"We have a project at our company that we'd like to discuss with JK Group about a possible collaboration. It would make a great first impression for me," Marigold revealed her intention.
"We can take a look at the proposal," replied Mitchell. If her company could handle a collaboration with his, he didn't mind giving her the opportunity—considering it a favor repaid.
"Really? If you say so, I'll take it as a yes. Are you at work right now? I am near your office and have the proposal ready to bring over.
Mitchell chuckled at her preparedness.
"Then bring it to the hotel next to JK Group. I'm still having breakfast."
"I'll be right there."
Log in with Google Account
Chapters
Favorite
Settings
