Chapter 253: Going Home
In the hotel lobby.
Vivian Lowell and Julian Faulkner walked hand in hand. Upon returning, they saw Joy Drake pacing back and forth in the lobby.
Joy looked incredibly anxious, occasionally picking up her phone to communicate with someone. Suddenly, a large group of people entered through the doorway, drawing her attention.
She looked over and saw Mr. Drake returning with Vivian, Julian, Eleanor Rhodes, and the rest of their group.
Joy froze for a moment before stepping forward to greet them. Approaching Mr. Drake with a smile, she asked, "Sir, where did you go today? I contacted your secretary, but she wouldn’t tell me.
"I couldn’t reach you on your phone either. I was so worried about you that I sent several groups of people out to look for you today. Your safety is simply too important to the Drake Family."
Upon hearing Joy’s words, Mr. Drake merely gave her a cool glance and shot back, "My safety is important to you? The truth is that quite a few partners and media representatives came looking for me today, didn’t they?
"You couldn’t find me and didn’t know how to explain it to them? That’s why you were so anxious, wasn’t it, Joy?"
Mr. Drake’s retort was completely devoid of courtesy.
Upon hearing Mr. Drake’s words, a flash of embarrassment crossed Joy’s face. She hurriedly offered an apologetic smile. "Those things are secondary.
"I can handle the media and the partners. It’s just... you are the one calling the shots in the company, and I don’t dare make any decisions on my own. My main concern was still your safety."
The underlying meaning of Joy’s words was that she did a lot for the company but held no real power. If Mr. Drake continued to be this elusive...
Then he might as well hand over some of the company’s authority to her, which would make it much easier for her to handle things.
Whether Mr. Drake picked up on her implicit request or not, he didn’t seem to care. He simply said, "I have the partnerships handled.
"As for the media, I’ve already met with the national broadcaster. Whether I see the rest of them isn’t that important. Alright, that’s enough. Everyone, dismiss. I’m tired."
"..."
Joy was slightly taken aback.
The national broadcaster!
That was a heavyweight outlet. What company wouldn’t want positive coverage from them? Of course, some didn’t, but those were mostly companies with skeletons in their closets, afraid of exposure.
Mr. Drake, however, was different.
He was an upstanding man. Bringing his patents back to the country could be considered serving his homeland, so it was only natural for the national broadcaster to report on it.
Joy just hadn’t expected Mr. Drake’s influence to be so immense. With the national broadcaster involved, the other media outlets truly paled in comparison.
At this thought, she bit her lip.
She had been completely in the dark about this from start to finish. The old man was truly formidable—he had arranged everything perfectly, cutting out the one who had been running herself ragged for him.
"In that case, please get some rest early, sir." Unable to find anything else to say, Joy offered a stiff, polite farewell and moved to escort Mr. Drake. Regardless of whether he wanted her to or not, she simply braced herself and followed along.
Vivian and Julian went upstairs in another elevator.
"President Faulkner, our flight is at ten o’clock this morning. We are expected to wake up before seven. Is that alright? It will take about an hour and twenty minutes to get from here to the airport," Vance Wyatt reported the schedule as usual.
Julian had a meeting at the company tomorrow afternoon. Having been away for several days, he would naturally be busy for a while upon his return.
"Okay," Julian agreed somewhat helplessly. Beside him, Eleanor pulled a long face and complained, "Waking up at seven? That’s too early! Boohoo, my beauty sleep!"
Eleanor was devastated. She desperately wanted to sleep in, but she also didn’t want to take an afternoon flight back all by herself. It was better to force herself to get up early and travel with Vivian!
That night, everyone was exhausted and went to bed early. Vivian was no exception.
Shortly after six o’clock the next morning, Vivian’s biological clock woke her up.
During the few days they had been out having fun, her internal clock had completely malfunctioned. Perhaps it was because she had mentally prepared herself the night before.
This morning, Vivian looked as though she was ready to get back into work mode.
The sky outside was already bright.
The sun cast a sparkling, gorgeous glow over the surface of the sea. Shortly after sunrise, the ocean was bathed in a stunning shade of crimson.
Reluctant to leave such a beautiful seascape behind, Vivian stared at it longingly. Suddenly, Julian sat up behind her and wrapped his arms around her.
Burying his face in her shoulder, he still seemed a little sleepy as he mumbled, "Why aren’t you sleeping? It shouldn’t be seven o’clock yet."
"Mhm, my biological clock woke me up. I saw that the sun had just risen outside, and I couldn’t bear to look away from such a beautiful view, so I thought I’d sit here and watch it for a little longer.
"Julian, Mr. Drake said Brettony is also by the sea and has a lot of seafood. Is the seaside scenery there just as beautiful?"
Vivian found herself yearning for it.
For busy people like her and Julian, finding the time for a proper vacation was truly difficult.
"I don’t know," Julian thought for a moment before his expression grew serious. "But if you’d like, we might have a chance to go see it next month. What do you think?"
"To Gallia?" Vivian was slightly surprised. As soon as she asked, something came to mind.
Right, Gallia Fashion Week was about to start. As a designer, she was supposed to go anyway. As for Julian, he probably had a business trip there as well.
"Mhm," Julian mused. "There’s a project I need to negotiate over there. It’s expected to take three days. It’s a bit short, but I can try to squeeze out some free time.
"By the way, if Eleanor likes, you can invite her to come along."
Invite Eleanor?
Vivian was even more astonished. Didn’t Julian always want to spend alone time with her at every given opportunity?
Why was he voluntarily asking her to invite Eleanor along this time!?
There had to be a catch when things were this out of the ordinary!
Vivian racked her brain but couldn’t figure out what secret Julian was hiding. She had no choice but to say, "Alright then, I’ll ask her later.
"But I think she’ll agree. She loves a good excuse to travel."
"Mhm," Julian replied softly, adding, "It’s getting late. If we wash up now, we can go down for breakfast and take a walk outside.
"Vivian, should I wash up first, or do you want to?"
"I’ll go first. I still have to do my makeup later!" After saying that, Vivian gently pulled out of Julian’s embrace and went into the bathroom.