Chapter 96: Loving Lunch
Leo mentioned a name. Hearing it, Vivian Lowell immediately thought of a specific person. She realized it was him.
"I know him," Vivian said with a frown, a hint of disgust in her expression. "Speaking of which, in the design circle, the Lowell Family used to occupy half the industry. As for half of the remaining half, that belongs to the company he’s currently with, right?"
Leo nodded. "That’s right. In terms of talent, he’s not as good as you. But he’s older, and over the years, he has accumulated some relatively well-known design works.
"I’ve seen your ’Swan’ design drafts. Even if I poured a massive amount of effort into it, at first glance, mine might not look much different from yours.
"However, upon closer inspection, one would still spot a slight difference in design inspiration and finesse. As for him, he’s at my level, at best.
"Now that I’ve left, the Lowell Family couldn’t find anyone else, so they had no choice but to go to him.
"Vivian, you and he have had some bad blood in the past. Now that the Lowell Family has sought him out, do you want to..."
Vivian nodded, an idea already forming in her mind. "Stay in my office after the meeting later. I’ll tell you what I plan to do next."
"Okay." Leo nodded and let out a sleepy yawn. "I’ll go refine my drafts first. Call me if you need anything, Vivian."
"Sure," Vivian agreed, before heading back to her own office.
By the time the meeting ended, it was already past eleven. Vivian had burned through a lot of brain cells all morning. Even though she had eaten quite a bit for breakfast at Grandma Faulkner’s insistence, she was already hungry again.
Just as Vivian and Leo were discussing their design work, Vivian’s phone suddenly rang. It was a message from Julian Faulkner.
She wondered, "Isn’t he only coming back at two in the afternoon?"
Feeling a bit puzzled, Vivian opened her phone, only to see Julian’s messages: "I ordered lunch. I’ll have Vance Wyatt bring it to you later.
"Although there are many fast-food restaurants downstairs, they aren’t very nutritious and mostly serve pre-made meals. Eating too much of that is bad for your health."
"..."
Vivian couldn’t help but mutter in her heart, "How considerate."
Then, a third message came through.
"This is a restaurant I eat at every workday; they prepare a private menu for me. I’m not around today, so help me eat it."
"..."
Vivian realized she seemed to have misunderstood him. Julian just simply didn’t want the food to go to waste.
However, if Julian was afraid of wasting food, giving it to Vance Wyatt wouldn’t be a bad idea either, right? Vance worked so diligently. Sometimes, an excellent employee like him needed more than just a salary to stay; a certain human touch was absolutely necessary.
Thinking of this, Vivian couldn’t help but sigh inwardly, "Julian really is a typical man. His way of thinking just isn’t thoughtful enough. If it were me..."
Thus, at noon that day.
When Vance arrived at Vivian’s office carrying a very sumptuous meal, he noticed a small stool placed right next to Vivian’s chair.
Vivian patted the small wooden stool. PAT PAT.
"There’s so much food. Come and sit down. Let’s not waste it," she said. "Since this is Julian’s kind gesture, we can eat together!"
Question marks popped up in Vance’s head. For a moment, he shot Vivian a look of absolute terror.
What did Mrs. Faulkner mean by this? The President had specially prepared this lunch for her, yet Mrs. Faulkner was actually inviting him to eat it with her?
Vance thought in a panic, "No way, Mrs. Faulkner! Don’t you know that if President Faulkner finds out about this, I might get fired for something as absurd as stepping into the company with my left foot first?"
He absolutely did not dare to accept her offer!
Looking at Vivian with a bitter expression, Vance stammered, "Uh... Mrs. Faulkner, the President prepared this for you. I... I think I’ll pass."
Vivian felt a bit puzzled. Pointing at the large spread of food on the table, she asked, "I remember Julian is usually a big advocate for clearing one’s plate, isn’t he?"
Vance nodded, his face still full of bitterness.
"Then there’s no problem." Vivian suddenly looked as if this was the most natural thing in the world. "Come over and sit down. Let’s eat together so nothing goes to waste. If Julian finds out we wasted food, that would be bad!"
Vance was genuinely on the verge of tears.
If President Faulkner found out that he had sat down with Mrs. Faulkner to share the "loving lunch" the President had specially ordered for her in advance, then things would truly be "bad" for him!