“Tell me everything,” Nicole encouraged her with a nod, after which she took a pen from the table. “I’ll write it all down and I’ll have the design draft tomorrow.”
Seeing the serious look on Nicole’s face, Wendy suddenly stood up. Her pursed lips parted as she promised in a hushed voice, “I’ll keep the thing between you and Colton a secret!”
Looking at Wendy, Nicole pursed her lips together. She found the little lady quite comical as she swore her loyalty to Nicole, but alas, Nicole decided to explain the truth of the situation to Colton’s younger sister.
“What ‘thing’ are you talking about? There is nothing going on between me and your brother.”
However, Wendy stayed grinning as she wiggled her eyebrows at Nicole. The arrogant look on her face showed that she knew more than Nicole was telling her.
Nicole could only look back at Wendy quietly. Deciding that Wendy probably wouldn’t listen to anything she had to say, Nicole stopped explaining herself to the little girl.
She went on and jotted down Wendy’s three sizes and special requests, and it was only after she was done that Wendy voluntarily left her office.
On the other hand, Tony was reporting to
Colton in the President’s office of Gardner Corporation. “We will be using the design from our collaboration with F&M Apparel as our upcoming marketing plan’s focus.”
Colton nodded in agreement at that. “Leave a space on the homepage of the company’s website from now on. Releasing it alongside the new products should give it a proper push,” he suggested.
Tony was caught by surprise at that. As a company whose main focus was on digital marketing, the promotions done through its website had always shown great results.
Gardner Corporation had a well-received mass media website that charged its advertisers hefty sums. Even though they had done promotions using the website when they got involved in the clothing industry before, the homepage of the website had remained untouched the whole while. Advertising on the homepage could easily mean spending millions, or even tens of millions of dollars in a day. During peak moments, advertisers might even have to fight for the ten-million deal.
Although surprised, Tony still calmly replied with a nod. “Alright. This year’s summer release will happen around May. I’ll make sure to clear the schedule for May 1st.”
“Make it 3 days,” Colton curtly added.
Tony began to quietly ponder Colton’s decision. Colton must have really wanted to build Gardner Apparel as a brand for him to book 3 days on the 1st of May, which was one of the most money-making times for them.
“Yes, sir,” Tony replied.
Tony then lowered his head and wrote down the important things, but just as he began to tilt his head at Colton to inform him regarding his schedule before the new year, he caught sight of the injury on Colton’s chin.
“Gardner Corporation… before the new year’s… the job has…”
He somehow was stammering through a simple sentence as he continued with his report.
Hearing the stutter, Colton raised his head and looked at Tony with a frown on his face.
“Why are you stuttering?”
Hearing the dissatisfied tone, Tony immediately brought his eyes back to the little notebook he was holding in one hand. “Nothing,” he forced himself to say.
Colton’s frown had turned into a squint then. Knowing that the cowering Tony was hiding something from him, he got even more displeased.
“Stop squirming around and spit it out!” he demanded.
Tony obediently peeked at Colton’s face as he pressed his lips together before hesitantly saying, “You…might have injured your chin.”
With his timid personality, he didn’t have the guts to say that those were teeth marks on Colton’s chin. He was a young man with a promising future, after all. Today was not the day he would give up his life for something like this.
For an injury as intimate as that, Colton was acting extremely generous by not covering it up. Is he showing it off on purpose? Tony mused. The big boss is indeed someone whose heart a side character like me cannot comprehend.
Colton’s face immediately fell after he listened to Tony’s words. “What the hell are you thinking? I got this from shaving!”
Tony only looked back at him in silence. How did shaving leave teeth marks on your chin? he thought to himself.
Even though he found it ridiculous, he decided to agree with his boss’s words. “You don’t have to explain yourself, President Gardner.” He shook his head and swiftly continued saying, “I understand. I’m not delusional. I’m not overthinking anything.”
Colton’s face only further dimmed as he looked at his assistant’s fervent denial.
“I don’t care if you are delusional. I don’t even care if you have sh*t for brains. I hired you to be my secretary, not for you to pick up on things like this,” he growled.
Tony could only zip his mouth shut as he looked at Colton getting angry for no reason.
President Gardner probably isn’t satisfied enough…
Tony immediately shut his mouth and turned his gaze away from his boss’ chin. He then sputtered out his report at the speed of light and finally heaved a breath of relief when he had finished his presentation.
“President Gardner, that is all for the pre-new year’s plan. I’ll leave the information you need on the table. I’ll be leaving first if there is nothing else.”
Just as he was about to slip away, he only managed to take a few steps out of the office before that familiar, commanding voice told him to stand right where he was.
Tony’s body stiffened for a second there. He then abruptly turned around and peered at his boss with careful eyes. “Is there anything else, President Gardner?” he asked cautiously.
He couldn’t risk acting out-of-line today. He had to be extra careful when dealing with Colton, who was behaving, unlike his usual self.
“Do you have a bandage?” Colton’s low voice surprisingly rang out with a darkened face as he asked his secretary for a bandage.
“Huh?” Tony thought he heard Colton wrong. He finally responded when his eyes fell on the injury again. “Ah. I…I don’t.”
“Go buy me a box, then,” Colton ordered him with a wave of his hand.
Tony didn’t even need to be told twice as he nodded and flew out of the office.
If only Colton had known that the small injury would garner such big reactions from the people around him, he would have accepted the bandage Nicole had offered him this morning.
What Colton had not expected, however, was how much more eye-catching his chin had become after he slapped a bandage on it.
He first noticed how the regular employees kept throwing glances at him and his chin when the executives were giving their reports during a meeting. They even had the nerve to start chattering amongst themselves after peeking at him.
He couldn’t make out what they were mumbling about, but he knew for sure that they were talking about his chin.
It was an understatement to say how much he felt like a zoo animal surrounded by spectators.
It wasn’t like it was a big injury to begin with, but it did get more conspicuous with the bandage on his chin. Finally, after the persistent whisperings in his ears, he ripped the bandage off his face.
Because of that, the ones who were throwing glances every now and then were now staring directly at his chin with wide eyes.
Colton shouldn’t be held responsible for his actions, anyway. He had thought that the most the injury would do was bleed a little. Never would he have thought that teeth marks would start to appear on his chin.
A commotion would definitely have broken out in the office if Colton wasn’t there.
What kind of situation was this?!
The one and only President Gardner, who had been in abstinence for years, actually came to work with teeth marks on his chin!
Looking at the amorous marks, everyone could only wonder if it was done by the lady from the Anderson Family.
Colton’s face was dark all the way until the end of the meeting, and by the time he had left the office, he was a walking block of ice that everyone stayed away from.
Meanwhile, Nicole, the instigator of the incident, had her chin propped in the palm of her hand while sketching a draft on her computer.
As someone who specialized in haute couture for adults, Nicole had to consider the fact that Colton’s sister was a young lady that had not even come of age. She would have to come up with a design that wasn’t as revealing; something less mature and sexy would probably be more appropriate for Wendy.
She gave it a long thought before an idea finally came to her.
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