Chapter 173: Concern

Words : 1729 Updated : Sep 19th, 2025

Chapter 173: Chapter 173: ConcernThe next day, James Brown arrived at the company and the office phone wouldn’t stop ringing, all from people who had seen the job advertisement on TV and were calling to apply. James could only answer each call one by one. He originally thought that as an HR manager who wasn’t involved in operational tasks, he would have the most leisurely job in the company. Now he realized that not only was the job not leisurely, but it was also quite busy. He was so busy that the phone hadn’t left his ear all morning. Looking at the time, it was already eleven-thirty. James pulled the phone cord out. Now, even if someone called, he didn’t want to answer it. He was truly exhausted. At that moment, his cell phone started ringing. James frowned but still answered the call when he saw it was from Gina Lopez. "Why can’t I get through to your office phone?" Gina asked. "Big sis, my phone has been like a hotline all morning; it never stopped ringing. It’s a miracle you got through." Hearing James’s hoarse voice, Gina remembered that these were the days of recruitment. As the HR manager, James definitely wouldn’t have any downtime. She felt somewhat smug and said, "Serves you right for trying to be lazy. If you were the president, you wouldn’t have so many problems, would you?" James rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Lopez, what do you want? I don’t want to talk much now, my throat is smoking." "Alright, just wait then. Sunny and I will come out with you for lunch," Gina said and then hung up the phone. Soon after, Sunny Nguyen and Gina Lopez came to find James. As soon as they entered, Sunny immediately asked with concern, "Is your throat feeling any better?" James helplessly shrugged his shoulders and with a raspy voice said, "You tell me." Sunny instantly said compassionately, "How can you be so exhausted? Buy some medicine later." Gina took out a box of medicine from her bag and threw it to James, saying, "Suck on two of these first," and then she headed toward the door. It was quite normal for Gina, the boss, to care about her employees. Offering gold throat lozenges to any employee who had a hoarse voice was a nice gesture that could also help bridge the relationship between her and the staff. However, because yesterday at her house she’d made a move to be with James, providing medicine today seemed rather awkward as if she was trying to pursue him. Sunny, however, did not notice Gina’s discomfort and quickly said, "Quickly suck one." In front of others, she was embarrassed to show this level of care for James, but in front of Gina, she had no such reservations. At Gina’s house, she was already living with James, so this was nothing. James nodded, took out a lozenge, and put it in his mouth—it was indeed quite soothing. The three of them then left the office. By now, everyone else had gone out to lunch since the cafeteria wasn’t open yet, so everyone had to go out. Because the three of them came out a bit later, they didn’t run into anyone else. James drove Gina’s car and chose a nearby Western restaurant. After sitting down, the waiter came over. Both Sunny and Gina were holding the menu, looking at James, and said in unison, "What do you want to eat?" The waiter was taken aback. There were many people coming here to eat, and it wasn’t uncommon to see a man dining with two women, but to see two beautiful women asking this man so attentively was a first for the waiter. He immediately envied James, thinking this man must be wealthy and highly capable, managing to bring two women out together so harmoniously. Sunny and Gina didn’t realize that a simple inquiry had sparked such thoughts in the waiter. Although Gina had said she wanted to be with James, in the absence of her sister and with Sunny, a woman involved with James, present, she just let Sunny help James order. During the meal, Sunny and Gina, both career-minded strong women, discussed company matters while eating, while James focused on his food. "I can’t eat anymore. You have the rest," said Sunny, pushing her half-finished steak towards James. James didn’t hesitate and just started eating. Gina also had half a steak left, but she couldn’t offer it to James. Although dining with him wasn’t unusual, sharing her leftovers with James felt oddly intimate. She wasn’t close enough to James to do that, and besides, she didn’t want Sunny to notice—it would be awkward working together afterwards, as if she was competing for a boyfriend. She was only trying to get her sister Grace to back off, not genuinely trying to be with James. Unexpectedly, after James finished Sunny’s portion, he looked at the steak in front of Gina, clearly still hungry. Gina noticed but pretended not to see. seaʀᴄh thё ηovelFire.ηet website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. "Hey, Boss Lopez, are you going to eat your steak?" James didn’t think too much about it. This steak was quite delicious, and having been very tired this morning, his appetite was wide open. "Oh... I’m not eating anymore, if you’re still hungry..." Gina meant to say she would order another portion for him, but James had already reached over and pulled her steak towards himself, then started eating heartily. Sunny Nguyen glared at James Brown and said, "Are you even functional anymore? Eating my food is one thing, but rushing to eat what Mr. Lopez has had? Don’t you know that only people who are close should eat leftovers from a girl?" Gina Lopez was even more embarrassed and hastily said, "It’s okay, after all, I just cut it to eat." Now, this was the only excuse she could comfort herself with. James Brown nodded repeatedly and said, "Exactly, exactly, how could I not know that?" Looking at Gina Lopez, Sunny Nguyen then chuckled lightly and said, "I guess I’m overthinking it. You two have been together so long, such a trivial thing really doesn’t matter." Gina’s face turned red, and she hurriedly said, "Sister Sunny, don’t talk nonsense. When we’re together, we’re just pretending, nothing real is happening." "Really? Then why are you blushing?" Sunny blinked and leaned in close to whisper in Gina’s ear, "Even when pretending, you have to show some intimacy, right?" Gina pushed Sunny Nguyen away, slightly annoyed, and said, "Sister Sunny, you know it’s just to fool my parents and sister, it doesn’t mean anything. Besides, it’s all in the past now, so stop teasing me about it." "Alright, alright, I’ll stop talking about it." James Brown had been secretly observing Gina Lopez. Today, the Boss seemed to have a slightly girly demeanor, an attitude that usually appears when a woman is interested in a man. Could it be that Gina really was considering being with him? "By the way, James, when are you going to bring your girlfriend over for us to meet?" Sunny Nguyen shifted the topic to James. James Brown was also keen on bringing up Emma Campbell, to probe Gina’s real thoughts. Not that he had any feelings for Gina, but he always felt something odd about this affair, so he wanted to get to the bottom of it. Smiling, he said, "She’s usually at school and only comes back on weekends." Sunny Nguyen promptly said, "Then bring her over next weekend for us to see." James nodded and said, "No problem, I’ll bring her next weekend for you to meet, but don’t scare her, being a CEO and a director yourselves." Gina Lopez glared at James Brown and said, "Are we that fierce?" James chuckled and said, "It’s not about being fierce; it’s about your presence. You both are such VIPs. My girlfriend is just a young girl who hasn’t seen much of the world; how can she compare to you?" Curiously, Sunny asked, "I’m quite puzzled, when did you start dating a college student? Didn’t you say before that you didn’t want to get into a relationship so soon?" Gina Lopez also stared at James Brown, curious about this matter as well. During his time in YODC City, he had spent most of his time with her; she had no idea he had somehow gotten a girlfriend, and a college student at that. James Brown looked at Gina Lopez and smiled, "I should really thank Douglas Smith for that. He got me into the warehouse, and it was there I met Lemon. Mr. Lopez, you must remember when I borrowed money from you?" Gina nodded and said, "So, you were borrowing money for her then." "Yes, she ran into some trouble at the time and urgently needed money, so I helped her out. She was very grateful and started coming over on the weekends to help me tidy up the place. After a while, I felt she was quite nice, and we ended up together." James Brown didn’t mention that Emma Campbell had been selling herself to save her father, although he didn’t think she had done anything wrong. Still, it wasn’t something glorious, and he didn’t want anyone to look down on Emma. Feeling a bit bitter, Gina said, "It seems then that I also played a part in you two getting together." James nodded repeatedly, smiling, "Yes, if Mr. Lopez hadn’t helped me then, we might not have gotten together." Gina Lopez glared at James Brown and said, "Then you’d better bring her over to meet me." "Alright, alright, I’ll bring her over this weekend. But don’t tell her I’m a CEO or anything; it might scare her." "What if I do tell her?" Gina Lopez teased, arms crossed and a playful smile at the corners of her mouth. James Brown rolled his eyes and said, "Mr. Lopez, you wouldn’t be that cruel, would you?" Sunny Nguyen chuckled lightly and said, "But saying you’re a CEO. That would make you seem more impressive, more capable of attracting girls, right?" "I’ve already settled down; no more chasing girls," James Brown said with an embarrassed smile, seemingly also telling Sunny Nguyen that their flirty relationship had ended.

Chapter 173: Concern

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