Chapter 196: WEIRD FEELING (2)

This was quite annoying. Although, there was a little compassion that Hailee felt for Giana, it was just that as soon as she remembered that the woman would look for Ramon when she woke up, of course she pushed away that feeling, stepping on it hard so that it couldn't be felt anymore.

Leave it alone, it was none of her business, she had another matter to handle...

"These city streets are really annoying," Candice grumbled. These were the first words she said as soon as she sat on the chair opposite Hailee without permission. No 'hello' or 'how are you?' or 'how have you been so far after a few years of not seeing each other?'

Well, Hailee could understand this, because after all, this attitude was very typical of Candice.

"Would you like something to drink?" Hailee asked Candice when the girl had sat down and placed her bag on the table. The expression on her face was one of a frowning, not liking the atmosphere in the cafe.

"I want coffee," Candice said, but more to herself, she then raised her hand to call the waitress and ordered the coffee she liked; espresso.

Hailee didn't really understand why there were people who like this type of coffee…

"So tell me what's the reason you want to meet me? And how did you get my number?" Very typical of Candice, asking straight to the point.

Well, being with Ramon, Hailee got used to this way of speaking.

"I got your number from Ian," Hailee replied calmly as she sipped her smoothie.

"Oh, him." Candice remembered Ian. "But, I haven't been in contact with him for a long time."

"You could say Ian has a lot of connections," Hailee replied with a nonchalant shrug. "And I asked you to meet me to offer cooperation."

Having a clear understanding of Candice's interaction patterns, Hailee also didn't want to spend a lot of time making small talk, thus she got straight to the point.

"Cooperation?" Candice frowned and crossed her arms while leaning against the back of the chair, showing a defensive attitude, but also observing the other person. "I know that there is something important that we will talk about when we meet, but I didn't expect that you would offer to cooperate."

Hailee and Candice didn't talk much on the phone and it could be said that Hailee was the one who insisted on meeting this girl, lucky that Candice was willing to come, because the office where she worked was only a few buildings away from this cafe.

"I want you to design a jewelry set for my company," Hailee said and just at that moment, the espresso that Candice ordered was delivered by one of the waitresses.

The aroma of the coffee which was quite pungent and strong immediately pierced Hailee's sense of smell and made her wrinkle her nose and squint her eyes. Her stomach churned. It was almost the same feeling she had when she had to be hospitalized because her stomach ulcers flared up.

"I don't design anymore," Candice said in a tone that sounded very stiff. "I work as a financial manager." There was a tinge of fury behind her words when Candice informed her of her current status.

"But, in college you..." Hailee frowned, both surprised and also because of the strong smell of coffee. She wanted to get rid of the drink or throw it away.

"I did not finish my studies and chose to run the family company. Now I am taking business management courses. So, my time can be said to be very limited. You are lucky I was bored in that stuffy office and met you here for some fresh air." Candice cut Hailee's words into a long and detailed explanation. She seemed really bored to the point of being annoyed at having to be cooped up in a closed room, which wasn't her style at all.

Hailee didn't know this. Oh, she should have followed Ramon's way of solving problems, namely; find out down to the most detailed information about the people she need to meet and work with.

Tsk, Ramon should have shared this wisdom with Hailee too.

However, other than that, Hailee could still see Candice's reluctance to run the family business. Since she didn't really like she was enjoying her life right now.

Maybe this could be a material consideration? Maybe Hailee could give it another shot? At least, she didn't come all the way just to see Candice without trying, did she?

In some part, Candice reminded Hailee of herself, which she was not really willing to run her family company.

"But, I guess you still can't let go of your passion." It was a statement and was spoken so convincingly by Hailee that for a moment, a longing look flashed across Candice's eyes. Her longing to put her brilliant ideas into a design. Her dream for a long time.

Candice was an artist with a natural talent, of course taking a job that was not her dream was a very difficult thing and the past year had been a very long time. Candice felt like she was in a place that didn't belong to her.

"I have not designed anything in a long time," Candice said in a somber voice. "If that's your sole purpose of seeing me, I can't seem to help." Candice's voice sounded a little bit sarcastic. She then added bitterness to her life by sipping her bitter espresso.

Seeing Candice drink the thick black liquid, for some reason Hailee could feel a bitter taste on her tongue as well. Maybe it was just her mind playing tricks on her, but Hailee couldn't stand it, she shuddered and averted her eyes from Candice who was drinking.

Of course Hailee's unusual attitude didn't go unnoticed by Candice, she frowned and lowered her glass, glaring at Hailee who was still shifting her gaze toward the highway.

"Why? You don't like the smell of coffee?" Candice asked, inhaling the fresh aroma of her own coffee.

Hailee wasn't a coffee lover, but that didn't mean she had a problem smelling the aroma. Because if you could say it, she often made coffee for Ramon and that's fine.

It was just that lately her stomach had been churning whenever she smelled a strong scent, coffee being one of them.

"No, not really," Hailee stuttered a little, turning her attention back to Candice, but being careful not to get closer to her coffee cup.

On the other hand, Candice just shrugged her shoulders nonchalantly. "Why are you asking me to design? Don't you have your own designer at your company?"

"I wanted something new, a breakthrough, before I took over the company," Hailee said. Well, technically she would lead the company even though in reality it would be Ramon and his professional team who would oversee all the affairs.

"How about your husband?" Candice's brows furrowed when Hailee mentioned him, but two seconds later before Hailee explained any further, Candice was reminded of the big and exciting news from a while back.

Candice didn't follow such news, but at the time she was quite surprised that Hailee, her high school friend, was the lucky woman to marry Ramon Tordoff. More or less that's how the mass media reported the marriage.

"Oh right, I just remembered about your marriage to Ramon Tordoff," Candice said, not seeming too interested in the news. "Congratulations, you managed to get an established man. I thought you were going to marry the man from the Gevano family you were betrothed to first, I didn't think you would end up with a better one," she said blandly. Well, in this case, she was right. Ramon was way much better than Theodore.

Hailee gave a modest smile, because she knew Candice's words of congratulations were just words she had to say to appear more polite, while her comments about Theodore didn't hurt Hailee at all.

It was an undeniable fact that she got a man who was a million times better than Theodore.

But, that didn't mean Hailee wouldn't do something about her original plan.

"I think you are very busy with your work right now," Hailee quipped at Candice a little in the way she spoke. She then put a few bills on the table to pay for their drinks. Since Hailee asked her to meet, so it's on her... "Then I won't take any more of your time. If you change your mind, I'll be waiting to hear from you in three days, because I think you're a perfect fit for this project, but if there's no news from you in the next three days, then I'll have someone else do it."

Since Candice already knew of Ramon's involvement, it was certain that she too would realize how fast Tatum Jewelry would grow under that man's cold hands.

And if Candice still had some interest and wanted to pursue her dream of becoming a jewelry designer, then this was a golden opportunity she couldn't miss.

Or if Candice had thrown her dreams away, then there was nothing else Hailee could do.

Because after all, she wasn't going to waste her time trying to convince Candice to do what she could when she doubted it herself.

For now, this was the most effective way Hailee could think of dealing with Candice, making her a little curious and feeling less needed, while if she thought about it further, then she would be able to see the advantages before her eyes.

"You're leaving now?" Candice saw Hailee stand up from her chair and smiled kindly.

"Yes,"Hailee said softly. "If you hadn't been late, perhaps I could have given you more details about what I had to offer, but I think you've already got a rough idea of ​​what I mean."

Candice was deliberately late, but who would have thought that Hailee would reply to her like this.

"I still have other things to do, until later Candice." Hailee waved her hand and left.

There really wasn't anything important for Hailee to do. If making dinner for Ramon and Lexus was important, then Hailee couldn't be said to have lied, could it be?

When Hailee passed the counter and the aroma of coffee wafted from the coffee maker, hitting her senses of smell again, a feeling of nausea hit her so badly that she had to cover her nose and run outside.

It was only when Hailee was out in the open that she could breathe normally again, but the nausea still made her stomach feel uncomfortable.

"Mrs. Tordoff, are you all right?" Asked Hailee's private driver who approached her worriedly, because Hailee stood still for a while. "You look pale."

"Yeah, I'm fine," Hailee replied, trying to take a deep breath of fresh air as the sun shone brightly.