"O-Of course not, Miss Ariana. I was sincerely giving out some advice. With your charming personality, I'm sure you will be able to win Madam Le Grand's heart from the first meeting," Shimaya said with conviction.
"Give me a break, Kinder. You and I both know that you don't see me as charming, so quit the joke," Ariana chuckled and shook her head.
"But, boss-"
"I don't see why I have to travel all the way to another continent just to score a deal with a fashion designer who thinks she can order us around. Doesn't she know we are busy people? She didn't even call or leave us a message, she dropped a card. What are we, in the 90s? Who does that?" Ariana clicked her tongue and returned her attention to the laptop in front of her.
"I insist you must go, boss," Shimaya moved down to pick the card from the wastebin.
"Even if you don't get chosen by Madam Belle, you would have the chance to meet so many influential figures from Europe. This is an opportunity you should never miss," Shimaya dropped the card on her desk as Ariana sighed.
It wasn't like her secretary wasn't saying the right thing, she just wasn't in the mood to travel so far at this stage of her life, she didn't know if her body would be able to handle the stress from the journey and she didn't want to risk her health getting exposed that way.
Ariana felt at loss. She picked up the card and fixed her eyes on it as if staring at it so hard would supernaturally bring a decision out.
"So you think Madam Belle's Gala would be our chance to stand out?" Jared asked his father and placed the card back on the table.
"Exactly, I am sure Ariana Jatropesh has also received an invitation but I doubt she would attend the party because not only does she abhors formal outing such as this, her new launch would hinder her from going. That is unless she pushed it off just to go to the ball which I doubt would be the case. She is very meticulous and she wouldn't make such hasty decisions," Romano explained before taking a sip from his coffee.
Jared frowned slightly as he listened to his father talk about Ariana as though he knew her so well. From what Jared had witnessed from the amount of time he had spent with her, Ariana was detailed but she also made reckless judgements in the spur of the moment.
"Okay, if you want to attend the Gala, it's fine," Jared nodded his head.
"What do you mean by that? You are going to be the one to travel to France, not me. Have you forgotten you are the new face of the Antianos?" Romano flashed his wide smile at his son.
"Right, sure," Jared gave him a tight-lipped smile.
How could he ever forget that when he had lived basically his whole life being reminded of it on every occasion?
"Good, I want you to plan the journey out with Fredinard and we will discuss further on it. It's almost time for my meeting," Romano took a look at his watch.
"Alright, Dad. I'll be in my office then," Jared stood up from the chair and stepped out of the room.
He got to his office and began working on the affairs that needed his attention the most. By the time, he was done with most of his work for the day, the sun had already set out at its highest and it was time for lunch.
Jared had the sudden urge to call Ariana out for another lunch date. It was crazy, they were together last night but he was already missing her crazy nature and sassy remarks.
He didn't have enough time to call her this morning even though he knew she must have been discharged by now. He wondered if she went home to get some rest or if she had gone to her company right away.
Knowing Ariana to some extent now, he was sure she headed to her company because after all, according to her, she was the 'CEO of two companies'.
A small smile slipped from his lips as he thought of the way her laughter naturally rang out in the air each time something was to her amusement. It wasn't really hard to please her and he liked that about her.
He hovered his finger over his screen, debating whether to call or not. Jared nearly leapt from his seat when his phone rang through the room as Ariana's name flashed brightly on his screen.
"Why is she calling me?!" Jared asked himself out loud while staring down at the phone still ringing out to be picked.
Jared swiped the green button and brought the phone to his ear.
"Hello," he answered.