Once Shao Yan was inside her office lobby, she quickly walked to the elevator lobby without looking back at all.
Zhong Yu and her had walked so slow from the mall to her office building; and all of her co-workers had walked much faster than them. She was now left alone at the office lobby.
Shao Yan stood in front of the elevator and keyed in her floor number on the keypad directory. With her feet tapping on the marble floor, she took out her mobile phone. Shao Yan dialed the number one speed dial on her phone, and the call was quickly connected.
"Yan Yan?"
When she heard his voice, Shao Yan breathed out a relief slowly. She did not know since when, but Li Xiqing had become her anchor. He was her source of strength. Her compa.s.s.
Her lighthouse.
Whenever she had doubt or felt insecure, she would always remember his promises and his words. And then her restless heart would calm down.
Shao Yan did not know how she was feeling right now. It seemed that the shadow of the past would not leave her. She was suddenly faced with three friends that would remind her of Liwei. And she needed Li Xiqing to lend her strength and self-confidence.
"Xiqing, I miss you."
Li Xiqing was holding onto the phone with one hand, while navigating around his computer using his mouse with another hand. But as he heard Shao Yan said that, he paused everything that he was doing.
He quickly recognized her lonely, downcast voice, and he knew something was wrong.
He lifted his fingers from his mouse and motioned to his a.s.sistant, who was standing next to him, to take a break. And then he swiftly stood up and walked over to the window.
"I miss you, too," his tender words traveled to her side while he said that with a smile.
Li Xiqing had been in an intense discussion with j.a.pan office since early morning, and he even had not eaten his lunch yet. He was irritated and hungry. But he forgot all of those feelings when his phone screen started to illuminate and he saw Shao Yan"s name calling for him.
He could feel it - despite her forlorn feelings, her words give him the injection that he need to fuel the rest of his day.
She was his oasis.
She smiled and did not say anything for a while. She was just enjoying his presence around her.
"Xiqing, I met some old friends from university just now," she finally said.
He furrowed his brows, and he calmly waited for her to continue.
"And I have promised them to go for some BBQ tonight," she took a deep breath, "So I was just calling to let you know that I can"t meet you for dinner."
Li Xiqing waited for a while more. He was looking outside the window, talking to her on the phone with one hand propped on his waist. The weather today had suddenly turned dark and cold, and he hated this atmosphere. It casted gloomy feeling over him.
He took a deep breath and looked up to the ceiling; he slowly said, "Don"t drive tonight. I will pick you up after dinner. Just go there with a taxi or the car-sharing ride." Despite how he was feeling, he never failed to show tenderness in all his actions. His gentle voice soothed her heart.
He paused, and then he asked her answer again, "Alright?"
Shao Yan smiled a little and nodded her answer, "Yes, I understand". She was staring down at her feet while enjoying his masculine voice caressing her ears; and when she heard a "ding" sound, she lifted her head up. Her elevator had just arrived.
"I have to go now, the elevator is here. I will text you when I leave the office," and after she heard a reply from Li Xiqing, she hung up the phone and walked into the elevator.
Shao Yan worked non-stop for the rest of the day, she had so many things to follow up before the OnScience meeting tomorrow.
All the phones just kept on taking turns to ring. People hovered around each other, asking questions and chasing items. Others would run around everywhere; trying to finish the list that are tasked on them. It was a chaos on floor 56.
After around 8 PM, Shao Yan was finally able to sit back and relax. She just got back from a meeting with Mr. w.a.n.g and immediately, she slumped back on her chair. She leaned her head back to the headrest, closed her eyes and tried to relax her aching shoulders.
She lightly ma.s.saged her temple using her fingertips while trying to relax. Unconsciously, she isolated all the noises around her, and just focused on inhaling and exhaling slowly.
She lifted both of her arms and stretched for a bit when suddenly she heard a familiar ringtone. It took her a while to realize that it was her phone call; it got disconnected before ringing once again.
She searched around lazily and finally found her phone somewhere in the corner of her desk. She straightened up a little and glimpsed at the caller ID.
She suddenly jolted up from her seat. Shoot! She forgot about the dinner! She quickly answered the call.
"Xiao Yan, are you on the way? Did you get lost?" Feifei"s sad voice came through the phone, "I"m already hungry~"
Shao Yan quickly stood up and grabbed her purse. She started to walk out of her area, "Sorry sorry, Feifei, I"m leaving the office now, I totally forgot about dinner."
It was already late when she was finally done with all of her tasks. She was so occupied for the whole day and she did not even have time to check on time. She held her hands on her forehead helplessly. How forgetful. Feifei was supposed to be her best friend, and yet she totally forgot about her.
"It is about fifteen minutes from my office to the restaurant. I think you can start ordering now. I"m so sorry, Feifei," Shao Yan was waiting for the elevator as she said this in a dejected tone. She tried to pacify this sulking Feifei.
Feifei grumbled for a while before she hung up. Feifei relayed what Shao Yan just told her to everyone on the table. They agreed to order the food while waiting for Shao Yan to arrive.
Feifei signaled the waiter to come to their table, and she started to rattle out her orders.