The next day, Samantha asked Hannah to come over to her house. Samantha lives in an exclusive residential area; Sapphire Gardens."You"re not kidding me, are you?" Hannah exclaimed after Samantha told her about Daniel Cho.
"C"mon Han, why would I make up a story like this? I"m not that bored. Am I that unbelievable?"
"I didn"t say that, S! It"s just.. It"s Daniel Cho! It"s Daniel freakin" Cho!"
"Wow, you sure are excited about this." Samantha sneered as she finished her warm cocoa.
"Ugh, h.e.l.lo? Where have you been living all your life? It seems like you aren"t aware how big of a deal this is, Samantha!"
"What? I don"t see why that is.. Sure he"s from the Cho family, their family"s famous and rich but so what? It"s not like I"m in need of money, Han."
Hannah rolled her eyes at Samantha, "S! It"s not just because he"s rich, though he"s filthy rich by the way! He"s the most eligible bachelor! Every woman in M City wants a piece of him, but he"s so unreachable that it makes the ladies want him even more!"
"Tch.. right. You"re just exaggerating, Hannah."
"I"m not! Haven"t you been reading the news? Daniel didn"t have any rumored girlfriends ever since he became the CEO which he has been for 5 years.. although he"s popular, there isn"t really a lot of personal information about him online, he doesn"t like to be involved in any scandals, he is very influential but he"s a private person. But S, he chose to date you! How special is that? You"re the only exception among thousands of women who are dying to get near him; he offers himself to you in a silver platter and yet you still have to consider?"
Samantha just listened to Hannah and is seriously considering it.. "Am I acting so high and mighty? Clearly, he"s a big catch, aren"t I supposed to be jumping for joy?"
Samantha pondered and said, "Okay, let"s say I"m a little more convinced by what you have just said... but it"s still just an agreement, he even prepared this paper.. isn"t this a bit too, business-y? Why would I want that?"
"What"s wrong with that? It"s not like you"re bargaining for money or something... Also, he said it himself, it"s not a contract, it"s just a list of things that both of you should agree on. You can compromise with him if you have conditions too. It"s pretty much just like a normal relations.h.i.+p, S."
"How is it like a normal relations.h.i.+p? You don"t go and just sign a contract or an agreement on a paper when you want to date someone, it"s just bizarre, it feels like work."
"Okay... how shall I make you understand. Gosh, I thought you were the smart one between us two, why do I feel like I"m way smarter than you now."
Samantha threw a pillow to Hannah, "Screw you! Maybe just a tad bit.", she and Hannah laughed their a*ses off.
"Think about it like this, when you agree to date someone, although you don"t proactively say some ground rules, it"s like common knowledge that you can and can"t do things while you"re dating, right?" Samantha nodded, "Of course I"m sure that there are others who want to be clear about it so they would verbally agree on things. Now, Daniel Cho gave you this paper just so that both you and him are much clearer on things before you agree to date each other since you didn"t really start your relations.h.i.+p like usual couples do. You"ll basically start with getting to know each other. But since it involves both your moms, it"s better to be crystal clear about what each party wants. So what better way than to write it on paper?", Hannah explained like her life depended on it.
Samantha sighed... "I guess so.."
"C"mon be more enthusiastic about it, don"t you find him attractive at all?"
"Well yeah... he does look attractive."
Hannah gave her a face that said, "Yeah, right. I"m sure you"re being conservative with your words."
"Ugh! Don"t look at me like that. Fine, he"s such a looker, okay? He"s gorgeous and charming!", Samantha exclaimed with her hands in the air.
"What a generic thing to say. I don"t believe you.. the man is oozing with s.e.x appeal, I"m sure just hearing his voice would make you cream your panties.", Hannah smirked.
Samantha recalled what happened last night when Daniel Cho whispered in her ear. And then she blushed, she blushed so hard, she looked like a tomato; she could explode any minute now.
Hannah gaped seeing Samantha"s expression, "Oh my, what is that blush, Samantha Kim? Did something happen? You have got to tell me!"
"What? No! Stop it okay..geez.", Samantha complained while touching her face with both hands.
Hannah laughed at Samantha"s reaction.
---------------
That evening, Samantha was preparing to go to bed when she received a text message.
Daniel: [ Have you decided yet? ]
Samantha: [ Working on it. ]
Daniel: [ Do you find me repulsive? ]
Samantha: [ What?? No.. of course not. ]
Daniel: [ Then why are you having such a hard time deciding? ]
Samantha: [ I just want to be sure of my actions. ]
Daniel: [ Nothing is sure in life; sometimes, you have to go through the unknown to see the beauty of it. ]
Samantha pondered upon Daniel"s last message. She reminisced the night at the gazebo. And while her thoughts ran about, she fell asleep.
---------------
The next day at Cho Corporation"s meeting room. Daniel is disappointed about his employee"s preparation.
"Is this all you got?? Am I paying you all to produce such subpar results?", Daniel yelled.
"President, with all due respect, sir, we"ve been pulling all-nighters already and juggling between projects but--"
"Is that an excuse? Are you saying that I"m making you do unnecessary overtime work?"
"No, sir.. I didn"t mean to--"
"First, I"m not preventing you to do overtime work but I"m not encouraging you either. You are responsible for your own time. Second, opportunities are given to you, we support you to further and broaden your knowledge so that you can do better at your jobs and the company rewards your efforts and achievements. Lastly, I refuse to believe that my people lack skill! Now, revise what needs to be revised and be ready to present it again by the end of the week."
Everyone in the meeting room fell silent and guilty, perhaps they haven"t done their best. They feel bad for making the president angry because of their inefficiency.
It was so silent in the meeting room when suddenly, Daniel Cho"s phone rang and everyone looked at him. He was closing his eyes as he was trying to calm himself. When he glanced at his phone, his expression turned tender. Everyone was curious what made him calm down; rather.. who.
Daniel answered his phone with a gentle voice, "h.e.l.lo~"
"Hi... Daniel.. um... Are you busy? Sorry for calling so suddenly... I hope I didn"t disturb you.", Samantha spoke on the other line.
"It"s okay, you didn"t... I wasn"t doing anything important."
Everyone in the room looked at each other, "We.. aren"t? But.. isn"t this top priority?"
"Oh.. okay... I wanted to meet you if you"re free. Are you in your office?"
Daniel tried to control his expressions as he can feel the gaze of the people in the meeting room, but the corners of his mouth lifted ever so slightly yet it was just enough for it to be noticed, "Yes, I am. Sure, I"m free this afternoon. Where are you? I"ll come to pick you up."
"Did the boss just smile?"
"It"s okay, I"ll go to you. I"ll probably arrive in 20."
"All right. I"ll send my a.s.sistant to meet you downstairs."
When the call ended, Daniel turned to a.s.sistant Ahn, "Cancel all my meetings this afternoon until further notice."
"Yes, boss."
He then turned to everyone in the room, "That"s all for today, meeting adjourned.", he said coldly before he hurriedly left the room.
Everyone left behind were too dumbfounded by what they"ve witnessed. "I wonder who called the boss, that person seemed important, he suddenly went from mad to gentle in a heartbeat. He even cleared his schedule.", one of them said.
"Yeah, do you think it was his girlfriend? I"ve never seen boss talk to anyone like that, not even to--" the employee didn"t finish his sentence but they all looked at Director Tan.
Leah felt uncomfortable, she didn"t like how caring Daniel was to the caller. Does he really have a girlfriend? Her face turned sour.
----------------------
Samantha rode a taxi going to Cho Corporation, she was too lazy to drive that day. She was wearing boyfriend jeans, white Stan Smith and a plain black s.h.i.+rt; very casual. And like always, she wore black sunnies and a face mask; she didn"t want people to gossip if they would recognize her especially that she going to look for Daniel Cho.
When she arrived at the company, she was ushered by a.s.sistant Ahn and was able to smoothly enter Daniel"s office. There were some people who noticed her presence and they were very curious who was visiting the president, especially because she looked kind of plain and mysterious.
*knock knock*
"Come in."
Samantha entered Daniel"s office, he gestured for her to sit on the sofa.
She removed her sungla.s.ses and facemask and placed it on the table before facing Daniel to talk. He was pleased to see the face beneath the disguise.
"Do you want something? Coffee maybe?"
Samantha shook her head, "No, thanks. I"m good."
He nodded, "So what brings you here, Samantha? Are you here to tell me your decision?"
"Yes."
"Okay," he nodded.
Samantha paused before she said, "I agree to your proposal, let"s date."
Daniel smiled at Samantha"s answer. And then she added, "But I have conditions."