205 Opportunity to repay

Tang had been so sure of himself and the power of his love that he hadn't given the much needed respect to Jia Li's feelings.

As much as he wanted her back in his life, he was determined not to use any cowardly or back-handed methods, this time round. He wanted her to walk back to him with her own will, not because he had coerced her, not because of some misguided sense of obligation. A small voice inside his head mocked him – what if she chooses not to come back to you? Shying away from that thought, he took a deep breath and put the folder back into the drawer. He knew what was going to be his first step.

Earthly Matters Ltd., London

It was good to be back at work finally. Though she had recovered within the first two days itself, the boss had insisted that she take another few days to recover. She had been bored to death sitting at home and "recuperating". She wasn't even allowed to work offline. A call to Eric about her predicament had finally solved the problem. He had convinced the boss and she was happy to be back at her desk, sifting through the piled up work. She had begun to enjoy her role tremendously and looked forward to coming to office every single day. It kept her busy and challenged. The work also ensured that all the troublesome and lonely thoughts stayed away.

"I see that you are happily hard at work already. Did you miss us so much?" Eric's teasing voice broke her concentration.

She had been working her way up the overflowing mailbox in the last twenty minutes.

"Of course, I did. And it's all thanks to you that I got to return to work so quickly. I believe Mr. Ying would have had me convalesce for a fortnight, if not more," she shuddered dramatically.

Eric laughed at her theatrics and replied, "so now that you owe me a favour, I am going to give you a chance to repay it. I don't like people owing me for long."

She raised her eyebrows in enquiry.

"You must treat Hui and me to drinks tonight, post work. A new lounge has opened up in Leicester Square and I have been meaning to go there for some time now," he said with a casual air.

His motive was to get the two of them together, outside the workplace environment. Otherwise, Hui would never be able to break through the boss-employee boundary and Jia Li wouldn't get an opportunity to see him in a different light. Apart from the first day of visiting her at the clinic for a few minutes, Hui had found himself at a loss of words and run away from there. Since then, he had only been checking up on her through Eric. It had been a golden opportunity and he absolutely didn't take advantage of it.

Eric had even suggested that he should have offered to let her recuperate at his house, since she lived alone and knew no one else in the city. He had oscillated between bringing in Hui's parents at this juncture or leaving Hui and Jia Li in his penthouse alone. But all his sand castles were washed away by his friend's negative reaction. Hui had reprimanded Eric for even entertaining such thoughts. He had told him categorically that he should stop reading trashy romance novels and operate in the real world. Post this conversation, he had gone and hidden in his lab, leaving Eric exasperated.

"Does he think that Jia Li will get to know about his feelings via their conversation about Earth's conservation or through the work mails that he keeps sending her??? Hadn't he asked for my help? Now that I am trying to guide him, neither is he willing to listen, nor ready to take even a tiny step ahead. That man has no idea how much effort is needed to woo a woman!!!" Eric sighed and waited for Jia Li to respond to his plan for tonight.

She hesitated for a few seconds. She was unsure about socialising with her employers, both of whom she hardly knew at a personal level.

Looking at her conflicted face, Eric goaded her, "so you don't think we would be interestingenough as company tonight? Is it because of how Hui is? Or are you simply being miserly and trying to think of an excuse to wiggle out of it?"

She shook her head in negative and told him that she would be happy to express her gratitude to both of them for taking care of her throughout this period. He gave a mental pat on the back to himself and told her that they would leave from work together to go there.

After Eric left, she sat back at her desk and froze!