Standing Right Next To You - Chapter 355
“He could have at least dropped me off at the hotel…” Lina pouted as she sat in the backseat of the car.
Benji who was seated next to her and Reuben’s driver who had driven Lina around for the last few days turned around and shot her an incredulous gaze.
“What!?” She muttered with her cheeks puffed up and looked out of the window when she saw the disappointed and sarcastic look in their eyes.
The strange expressions on their faces were thanks to what had taken place just a few minutes earlier.
__
When Lina and Mathew had finally stopped their grand schemes of visiting various tourist attractions in the city once they were free, Benji had brought their attention back to what was important.
“Shall we take our leave?” He inquired while pointing to the watch in his hand.
Mathew’s eyes widened when he caught sight of the watch on the wide wrists of the other assistant.
‘He wasn’t lying when he said that his salary is high… Look at that watch! It’s a limited edition from Sergei’s collaboration collection!’ He stared at the designer watch with sparkling eyes.
Just like Wade, even Mathew was a fan of expensive and limited edition watches and had a vast knowledge of each one of the famous ones.
The watch in Benji’s hand was also one such limited edition piece that had never reached their country as it was never sold here.
This made him remember how the other assistant had scoffed at the million dollars that the youngster had tried to bribe him with for Lina’s number.
‘I want a pay raise!’ He cried out as he turned his eyes to the boss who was standing with Benji.
Reuben had witnessed everything that had just taken place and his only reaction to the wordless request his assistant had placed before him was a roll of his eyes.
‘I pay you more than enough!’ He sneered at the greedy man.
Mathew pouted and drooped his shoulders, defeated by a simple gesture of his boss.
In this city, Mathew Kim was the highest-paid assistant among the business circles and this was something that he was proud of.
However, Benji had dethroned him from his previous glorious position which was making him pout.
Lina was amused with the barrage of emotions swimming over Mathew’s face as he was a man who did not hide his feelings at certain times and this was one such instance.
‘I was given the paternity leave so I should not be asking for more.’ He appeased his greedy heart and decided to be happy with what he had now.
‘So he finally calmed down?’ She wondered as she stifled a chuckle from escaping her lips.
She then turned to look at her boyfriend who was shaking his head at his assistant’s dramatics.
“I’ll take my leave now, Ru… Reuben.” She announced and smiled at him awkwardly.
The awkwardness on her face was due to the number of people who had been staring at them as they moved around the lobby.
She was about to call him by the endearing name she would always use for him but had stopped herself when she noticed the eyes on them.
‘Not the place to do PDA.’ She decided and applauded her quick thinking for stopping ahead of time.
They had come to this place in the same car but their destinations were in separate areas which meant that they would have to go their separate ways from here.
Lina would leave for the hotel where Benji had booked a room for her while Reuben and Mathew would head back to Ming Enterprises to finish their piled up work.
“My driver will take you there.” Reuben stated with resolution, not giving her any chance to refuse his offer.
Hearing that she had a mini-episode upon reaching Ming Enterprise had made him vigilant and he would not let her travel alone in another cab or other means of transport.
He was not willing to take a risk when it came to her health and hence had informed Mathew to ask the driver to come over with another car.
‘Protective much?’ Lina rolled her eyes at the man who was being too worried when there wasn’t any reason to do so.
“That was a one-time thing and won’t happen every time.” She coaxed him but from the look on his face, it appeared as though he was not willing to listen to her words.
Having left with no other choice but to agree to his arrangements, Lina nodded and gestured towards the door.
Thus, four people left the restaurant together but soon parted ways after they exited through the door.
The caring boyfriend waited until she had taken her seat in the new car that had arrived with the driver.
“Hurry back to your office and make sure you don’t overwork yourself!” Lina reminded him with a threatening glare to which he answered with an amused nod and chuckle.
He did not refuse her concern for his health and waved as the car began to move away from the restaurant.
Finally, Reuben and Mathew went ahead to the car that they had arrived in only after making sure that the other car left safely.
The two men began their journey when Lina along with her assistant was already on their way to the hotel.
Now that they were approaching their destination, hearing Lina’s unfounded complaints made the driver and Benji shake their heads at her.
“Weren’t you the one who had asked him to go straight to his workplace?” The assistant pointed out the major flaw in her words.
‘I was also here and heard those words!’ Driver San nodded to show his consensus with Benji’s argument.
This made Lina’s cheeks flush as she glared at the man who had exposed her straightaway.
“But… But… He should have insisted on coming along!” She grumbled in a soft voice as she knew that her demands were unreasonable.
‘He wasn’t even hesitant to let me go…’ She continued to pout at the heartless man who just watched as she left in the car.
‘A wave and that’s all?’ She growled at the lack of emotions in the man.
She would be gone for the next few days but it seemed as though he was not bothered about being separated from each other as much as she was.
This thought made her continue sulking and pouting until they reached the hotel that would serve as the location of her closed-door cultivation from this day forward.
___
Back at the restaurant that the group of four had just vacated,
“Isn’t that brother-in-law, baby?” A woman’s coquettish voice was heard in the lobby where they had just reached.
The man’s indulgent face turned cold upon hearing the name that had come out from the woman’s mouth.
“It is, Miss Lin.” Another woman who was standing a few steps away from the couple interrupted what he was about to say.
They turned towards the woman with platinum blonde hair in a steel grey business suit and frowned.
“You know my brother-in-law, Miss Gu?” The coquettish woman inquired even though she was well aware of the answer.