[Chapter 612: Even Tap Water Wouldn't Do]
If possible, Eric would have preferred Caroline, such a delicate girl, to stay in a castle forever, living an idyllic life like a carefree little princess. However, fairy tales could only ever remain tales, and most fairy tale stories didn't have true endings. Real-life fairy tales were even rarer than Disney's animated features.
Faced with the hopeful look in Caroline's beautiful big eyes, Eric ultimately couldn't bring himself to refuse her directly. Instead, he said, "Caroline, being my assistant isn't an easy job. Just because you got an MBA from Harvard doesn't mean you'll easily adapt to this work. First, you need to intern in my assistant's office for a long time -- maybe months, even years. Only by standing out in that environment can you move forward."
Although Allen had little work experience when he started, he grew alongside Firefly when it was just beginning. His qualifications developed right along with the company, allowing him to perform well and stick around Eric for more than five years.
Over the years, as the Firefly system expanded, Eric's personal assistant office grew into a small team of more than ten people, aside from Allen, who reported directly to Eric. Though Eric rarely intervened in Firefly's management, it didn't mean he was oblivious to company affairs. One of the essential roles of that little team was to summarize vital financial, personnel, and project decision-making information within Firefly before submitting it to Eric for review. Another crucial responsibility was to keep track of all the film and television projects that Eric personally approved, ensuring they didn't deviate from his creative direction. While Chris primarily handled most of the holding companies like Yahoo, AOL, Cisco, and Nokia, many matters still filtered through the team to Eric. Moreover, the team also took charge of Eric's personal finances, scheduling, research, and all sorts of trivial chores.
Eric had entertained thoughts of adding a little flair by trying to recruit Jennifer Connelly, a Stanford graduate, into his assistant's office to take over Allen's job. However, she quit after just a month, demonstrating that the job was anything but easy. Therefore, he had no confidence in this delicate little person standing before him, who looked as if she might break at any moment.
However, Caroline showed no signs of retreating. She didn't want to continue being an ignorant girl in her ivory tower. Besides, as long as she could be closer to him, she felt she could overcome any obstacle. Hearing Eric's slightly softening tone, Caroline quickly beamed, saying, "So I'll take that as a yes! Once I finish my courses here, I'll head to Los Angeles around September."
Eric thought about it and couldn't quite remember agreeing to anything, but seeing Caroline's excited face, he reluctantly asked, "Will your parents agree?"
"Eric, I'm twenty-three now. I can decide what I want to do myself," she replied earnestly.
"Oh..."
Eric stretched out that last syllable, smiling as he took a step back to look Caroline up and down, feigning surprise as if he hadn't realized how grown up she was.
Seeing Eric's playful expression, Caroline appeared flustered, her previously pale face glowing red under the streetlights.
Eric had intended to tease, but noticing Caroline's growing self-doubt, he quickly backtracked, saying, "Alright, I agree. But I'm not the kind of boss who's easy on you. If you don't perform well in this job, I won't hold back."
Caroline nodded slightly.
Taking a glance at his watch, Eric noted it wasn't even eight yet. He thought he could still discuss his earlier meeting with Bill Gates with Chris and the others. Looking at several brightly lit apartment buildings by the roadside, Eric asked, "Which building do you live in?"
"That one," Caroline pointed at a red-brick apartment ahead of them.
As they arrived at the entrance of the apartment, Caroline hesitated, asking, "Eric, when are you leaving Boston?"
Eric had planned to return the day after tomorrow, but with the sudden appearance of Gates, his schedule would definitely change. "I'm not sure now; with everything that just happened, I'll probably stay for another four or five days."
Caroline had hoped they could wander around Boston like they did last year in London and Berlin, but from Eric's tone, she realized he would be busy over the next few days and had to let it go. After thinking for a moment, the girl feebly suggested, "Eric, how about coming up for a cup of coffee? I... oh, I can introduce you to my roommate."
Eric hesitated for a moment, almost ready to refuse, but with Caroline watching him intently, she nervously added, "Unless that's a no, then forget it. I'll see you."
With a small sigh, Eric relented, "Alright, but Caroline, do you know what it usually means when a girl invites a guy over to her place for coffee at this time?"
Caroline paused, recalling fragments she had read in books or seen in movies, her face immediately turning crimson. Stammering, she replied, "Maybe, maybe tea would be okay?"
Here she goes, trying to play cute again.
Suppressing the urge to smile, Eric said seriously, "Caroline, you need to remember: you absolutely shouldn't invite any man to your place to drink coffee at such times, nor tea, juice, milk, or even tap water."
Caroline then realized and shyly fidgeted with her hands, responding obediently, "Okay."
As Eric walked into the lobby of the apartment building, Caroline noticed the little flag on her mailbox was up. Excitedly, she walked over and pulled out a letter, waving it at Eric and sharing her little secret, "Eric, my aunt wrote to me again!"
Eric laughed as he walked to the stairs, replying, "Looks like your aunt treats you better than your parents do."
"Not really," Caroline replied while fiddling with the envelope. Feeling something that seemed like photos inside, she hurriedly tore it open, "It's just that my aunt has lived in Greece for many years. She only wrote to me last year and asked me not to tell my parents."
Seeing Caroline's eagerness to share, Eric continued, "Since she's been gone so long, why did your aunt write to you now?"
"She said she missed her family," Caroline carefully extracted a few photos from the envelope and suddenly remembered, "Oh, she mentioned you! She said she saw our story in the newspaper."
Eric didn't think there was anything special between him and Caroline, probably just a misunderstanding from her aunt, and casually replied, "Oh, what did your aunt say?"
"She encouraged me to bravely pursue my happiness and not to be bound by family," she said, sneaking glances at Eric, her voice shy and trailing off almost to a whisper.
Feeling a bit awkward about how to continue, Eric remained silent for a moment until Caroline raised the photos in her hands and handed them to him. "Look, this is my aunt."
The hallway lights were dim, and as Eric took the photos, he saw a picture of a blonde woman dressed in a white sundress lounging against the rail of a small yacht, her fair skin glowing and elegant demeanor radiating warmth as she smiled. She looked only in her early thirties, incredibly young, and bore a slight resemblance to Caroline.
Eric stared at the first photo for a few seconds before politely returning it to Caroline, complimenting, "Your aunt is beautiful."
"Thank you," Caroline said as she carefully placed the photo back in the envelope, expressing some regret, "I wish I could look like her."
Eric recalled the impression he just had and said, "I think you two look quite similar."
"She resembles my grandmother more. We don't look alike," Caroline shook her head, glancing at Eric and stretching her arms over her head, saying, "Besides, I meant I wish I could be as tall as she is."
Eric replied, "You're just the right height now; no need to envy anyone else."
With a hint of uncertainty, Caroline lifted her chin, asking, "Really?"
"Not really."
"You bad boy."
...
Melanie struggled with whether or not to tell Caroline about meeting Eric Williams. In the end, she decided she should inform her and felt a bit guilty for feeling jealous. Caroline always treated everyone around her sincerely, and Melanie thought it was unfair to have such thoughts.
However, it wasn't until after dinner that Melanie realized Caroline still hadn't returned. After recalling how Howard Heinz, who constantly switched girlfriends, had been bothering Caroline lately, she started to worry. Caroline was too pure and kind-hearted; if that guy managed to lure her in, she would surely get hurt.
Just as Melanie resolved to go find Caroline herself, she finally heard the sound of someone opening the door.
She hurried to the entrance and excitedly exclaimed to the pink figure that had entered, "Caroline, guess who I ran into this afternoon!"
Before Caroline could answer, another figure followed in, smiling and saying, "It wouldn't be me, would it?"
"Ah!" Melanie gasped in surprise upon seeing Eric walk in with a smile, quickly rearranging her expression, "Mr. Williams, I didn't realize you came specifically to find Caroline. I thought it was just a coincidence."
Eric had only now noticed Melanie's voice and realized how coincidental this situation was. "It really is a coincidence; I didn't know Caroline was studying here."
Caroline wanted to introduce the two but was shocked at their exchange. She looked back and forth, asking, "Do you two know each other?"
"I ran into Mr. Williams on West Street while I was at the supermarket this afternoon," Melanie briefly explained, extending her hand formally toward Eric, "Hello, Mr. Williams, I'm Melanie Gleason."
"Call me Eric," he replied, shaking her hand.
If it had been any other woman, she probably would have questioned how Eric and Melanie knew each other. However, Caroline didn't realize any of this and was instead thrilled by their coincidence. She invited Eric to sit, and while Caroline headed to the kitchen, nearing the kitchen door, she suddenly turned around, asking, "Eric, what do you want to drink?"
Eric chuckled softly, replying, "Just coffee, I think."
Melanie took a seat next to Eric. Though she seemed a bit reserved, she was significantly more talkative than Caroline. Noticing Eric casually inspecting the apartment's decor, she volunteered, "This is a place Caroline and I decorated together. She can take you to her room later; it's more interesting there."
As Melanie said this, she playfully winked at Eric. Eric was not clueless as to what Melanie meant, but just then, a little head popped out from the kitchen. "Eric, you can't go into my room! That would be so rude!"
Upon hearing Caroline say this, Eric understood what it meant. After all, a girl's room generally contained personal things related to her. "Don't worry, Caroline. I won't do that."
Caroline indeed felt relieved and busily resumed her tasks without hesitation.
Melanie laughed silently and pointed subtly at a door on the left side. Eric simply smiled and shook his head.
Melanie was just joking when she asked, "Eric, did you come to Boston to deal with those companies on Massachusetts Avenue?"
"Yeah," Eric recalled Caroline mentioning that their instructor had taken these three companies as case studies. He glanced at a nearby photo of Caroline and Melanie beaming on a bridge and thought to ask, "Caroline mentioned this afternoon that you guys analyzed those three companies as case studies. What do you think of their situations?"
Though Melanie didn't understand why Eric was suddenly questioning her, she realized that it could only lead to something good. After considering it, she replied, "I believe you shouldn't treat them as three separate companies. Especially in the future, if they continue with their current statuses, as the user bases of these three companies grow, there will be increasing management and technical conflicts, slowing down the growth of all three. Only by merging can they address these synergy issues. Additionally, during our investigation, while we didn't acquire specific data, we realized these three companies have reached a terrifying number of users, and there's no sign of slowing down. If they can't successfully transform commercially, with the rapidly increasing operational costs, I think even you might find it hard to shoulder such a huge expense."
*****
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