Chapter 2 - The Avoidance

Inside, he sunk to the carpeted floor and held his head in his hands. Even though his temples were throbbing with pain and he could barely manage himself, he couldn't help feeling disgusted. He remembered only a few flashes from the previous night.

He heard her fading footsteps that sounded down on the office floor. He kept calling her name in his heart frantically.

He didn't know for how long he sat there but all the while XinYu kept thinking of Lina. In time he could sense a frenzy of activities outside, in the office as employees had started pouring in. He looked at the clock and saw that it was already nine in the morning. His headache had worsened, so he decided not to go to the office. He got out from his reverie and informed his secretary to cancel the morning meetings and clear his schedule.

He managed to move to his bedside drawer and pulled out a medicine to eat. Once again he slumped on the bed and went off to sleep. He woke up late in the afternoon realizing that it was past one. He headed straight to the bathroom to take a shower and came to the walk-in closet. After changing into a white shirt, a navy blue pant with a matching tie, he quickly gelled his hair before combing them. He chose a Rolex out of his collection of watches and wore a pair of black Luis Vuitton shoes before stepping into his office.

As soon as his secretary, Zhou Zhili saw him, she got up from her table and came to his office trotting on her high heels. "Good morning President Yang!" She presented him his daily schedule on a tablet. A woman in her late twenties, Zhou Zhili gasped a little, as she was stunned by the way her boss looked today. Perfectly chiseled features with hair that were drawn back, he looked aristocratic. At more than six feet, his statuesque features emitted a commanding aura. She was awed. And he was unaffected...

She had a secret crush on him but was very scared of him at the same time. She wondered whether she idolized him or romanticized him... It had been over five years since she came to this company as his secretary. Her feeling were intense for him earlier, but with passing time they began to simmer down. She could never gather courage to see him in a romantic way.

But one look from him, and she would blush incessantly! She would try to look her best in his presence. She felt nervous around him. She knew he was temperamental... and incidentally today his radiating antagonism hung thickly in the air... His face was thinner, his eyes shadowed. She cringed a bit. She wanted to flee from there!

"Bring me a cup of black coffee", he ordered in a frigid voice. Zhou Zhili made a quick about turn and vanished from there!