Ecstacy of the Heart

After boiling the pork ribs for a whole two hours, a nutritious and mouth-watering pork rib soup was done. Allison poured the soup into a thermos flask before heading out. Before she left the house, she studied herself in the mirror. Suddenly, she was stuck by uncertainty.

If she were to appear in the company looking like this, there would be numerous colleagues who would no doubt recognize her. Her entrance and exit into and out of the president's office would certainly stir up some suspicion.

After some deliberation, she decided to change into a casual sportswear besides wearing a cap and a mask. Then, she could finally depart to the company.

When Alexander had sent her last time, he led her through an exclusive pathway reserved only for him before entering the president's office. This time, she also took the exclusive elevator which led her to the president's office directly.

When she got off the elevator, Allison was feeling happy for herself for hatching this brilliant idea. However, before she could go further, she was being stopped by someone.

"Who are you? Do you know where you are now? Food delivery can't get through here!"

A woman who looked like a secretary was blocking Allison's way. She had a good-looking face but her raised brows showed an expression of indifference and arrogance towards Allison.

Allison was stunned for one moment and that woman continued, "Whose food delivery is it? Leave it here and exit this place!"

Food delivery?

Allison looked downwards at her attire and the food box carried by her. She indeed couldn't explain herself well looking like this.

That woman couldn't get any response from Allison which caused her expression to become hideous, "Do you hear me? I'm asking you to get out. This is not a place someone like you can just come in!" Allison's gaze fell on the name tag on her chest. She spelled out her name, "Lillian, your attitude is a little..."

"My attitude? You're just delivering food, what kind of attitude are you expecting me to show you?"

Lillian rolled her eyes as she was about to snatch the food box from her hands, "Give me the food, and get lost!"

Allison staggered backwards, and just as she was stuck in a dilemma, a familiar voice sounded nearby.

"Yes, just follow the proposal submitted by Group A. Give me the full plan in three days."

Allison searched the source of that voice, and she saw Alexander walking in her direction while being accompanied by several others.

Alexander looked in this direction coincidentally and their eyes met for a moment. He immediately averted his gaze as if nothing of interest had captured his attention. Lillian saw Alexander and her eyes lit up. She moved forward and said, "President Parker, I have already placed the documents that you have requested in your office." "Alright."

Alexander mumbled a faint reply as he brushed past her. His gaze was locked on Allison.

Allison was wearing a cap and a mask at the moment, and her whole body was covered up entirely by clothes. Only her two eyes were exposed. She felt cold sweat breaking out on her back as she was being stared by him.

Lillian noticed that Alexander had discovered Allison, so she quickly sneaked a glance at Allison before explaining, "President Parker, she's a food delivery person from god knows where and she is insisting to enter into this place. This must be the negligence of the receptionist downstairs that has allowed her to sneak up here. I will ask her to leave now..."

"There's no need to do that." Alexander interjected, "Let her in."

"Huh?" Lillian's face was that of disbelief. She was wondering whether she was hearing things.

"I said, let her in."

Alexander repeated himself before marching in the direction of his office.

Lillian froze momentarily while gaping at Alexander who was disappearing into his office before turning her gaze onto Allison. She said with resignation, "Why didn't you inform earlier that you're delivering food to the president? Go in now!"

Allison didn't give her any response. Her hand gripped hard on the food box while she lowered her head and walked in the direction of his office.

Alexander must have recognized her. While she was looking inconspicuous and she might be able to fool others, this didn't work on him.

She carefully entered the office. Before she could look upwards, she heard his abrupt commanding voice, "Shut the door."

"Oh." Allison turned around to close the door before finally removing her mask. Her heart started to race for no reason at all. "Why are you here?"

"I'm... I'm here to bring you some soup."

Allison sucked in an icy breath before inching towards his desk. She took out the thermos flask from her bag, "I was the one at fault yesterday. You're already busy enough at your work and I shouldn't really add on to your troubles."

He looked at her who was looking at the floor like a primary school student who had done something wrong. Her voice was tiny and her cheeks were red.

For some reason, the displeasure in her heart dissipated considerably. He squeezed his brows using his fingers while managing a soft reply, "Alright, I get it." Allison heard him and looked up with agitation. She ventured, "Then... are you not angry anymore?"

"Yes."

After getting his affirmation, Allison felt a sudden joy in her heart. She then continued, "Tonight, can you accompany..."

Knock, knock!

Suddenly, someone knocked on the door and a voice sounded, "President Parker, there is a document that needs your signature.

Alexander didn't provide any response. Instead, he looked at Allison and ordered with an expressionless face, "You can go now."

Allison was left unable to complete her sentence, so she could only bite her lips and reminded him, "Remember to drink the soup while it's warm."

After that, she wore her mask before marching out of the office.

She had planned to tell him about her father's birthday the moment his anger had dissipated, but she didn't foresee that he would be so busy. It seemed that he didn't even have time to listen to her. This time, she could only conjure some lies when she met Jennifer later.

Allison continued to move forward and soon the exclusive elevator appeared into view. Suddenly, a familiar voice called out to her from behind, "Stop right there!"

Allison turned around and saw Lillian heading towards her.

"Is there anything I can help you with?"

Lillian jerked up her eyebrows as she asked tentatively, "What is your relationship with President Parker? Are you his maid?"

Allison was in a gloomy mood at that moment so she naturally didn't feel like attending to her. She blurted out a cold reply, "Does that have anything to do with you?"

After finishing her sentence, Allison directly entered the elevator and pressed the button to descend.

"You!" Lillian was infuriated with her response and she was left stomping her feet outside the elevator.

When the elevator arrived at the ground floor, Allison proceeded to exit the building and she wondered where she should go right now.

She initially had an upcoming dinner gathering with Don and Jennifer as a come together for both families, but since Alexander was not going anymore, she really didn't know how to explain things to Jennifer. After thinking for some time, Allison still couldn't come up with anything feasible. She recalled that she hadn't prepared any presents for her father, so she decided to shop in a nearby mall for it.

She visited several shops in the mall but none of them had the ideal gift she had in mind that suited her father. That was when she passed by an antiques shop which boasted a brownish wooden floor and maroon display shelves. This peculiar shop which seemingly belonged to another era quickly grabbed her attention.

Allison loitered in the shop for a while before chancing upon a display shelf that housed a metallic greyish pen. She was immediately captivated by it.

With excitement, Allison immediately asked the shop owner, "Boss, can you show me this pen?"

The shop owner came over in a hurry and saw her pointing at that bespoken pen. He showed a sheepish smile on his face as he apologized, "I'm sorry to tell you that this pen has just been sold out. It's just that it hasn't been wrapped up yet."

Allison hesitated slightly as she asked to seek confirmation, "Has someone really bought it?"

She had been window shopping for some time yet she couldn't settle on a satisfactory choice for her present. This pen was definitely what Don would love, yet...

The shop owner nodded solemnly as he motioned her to turn around, "It's sold alright. The buyer is that gentleman right there."

Allison turned around and saw that a man who was sitting in a wheel chair was admiring some displayed items in a shelf not far away.

He had good features and his gaze was gentle and warm. The most important trait she noticed on him was that he somehow resembled Alexander a little...‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒