My One-month Marriage With Mr. Hawkins

Chapter 27: Invisible Gentleness

Timothy was very efficient. It didn’t take him very long to place a brand new set of tables, chairs and benches in the office.

He also brought some of Florence’s work documents from the design department.

He asked politely, “Ms. Fraser, if there’s anything else you need, I’ll help you take them.”

Florence was confused about whose assistant Timothy was based on his dedicated attitude.

Reluctantly taking the documents, she finally accepted her fate.

“That’s it, thank you.”

“I’ll leave you then, you can call me if you need anything.”

Timothy nodded towards Florence then left the room, closing the door behind him.

Ernest and Florence were the only two left in the room once again.

This time, it was different; she wasn’t here to report for duty, somehow she had to stay here for work.

Florence wasn’t feeling too comfortable, “Mr. Hawkins, I’m going to start my work.”

She sat down at her new office desk, rummaging through her documents hastily.

She looked serious, but deep inside, she was in a mess; she couldn’t calm down.

Ernest was slightly upset because he saw how uneasy Florence was in her new work environment.

Florence was still cautious whenever around Ernest.

Only in this way could she gradually get used to getting along with him.

“Knock, knock, knock.”

There were knocking noises outside the office.

Florence, who had been busy working, raised her head immediately and looked at Ernest, her eyes slightly shimmering.

“Someone’s looking for you, should I leave first?”

“No need.”

Ernest simply rejected Florence’s question.

The door was opened and three executives from the company came in. They were shocked to see a new desk in Ernest’s office.

It was common for a secretary to work inside the president’s office, but what was uncommon was that Florence wasn’t a secretary at all.

Since when were designers working inside the president’s office?

They had never heard of such kind of thing.

Florence was slightly embarrassed. She refused to look at anyone, burying her head inside her pile of documents and pretending to be productive.

Ernest glanced through Florence, the corner of his lips slightly going upwards and he seemed to be happy.

He said, “Spill the beans.”

They hesitated whether to speak up to let Florence leave for a short while. After all, most of the reports from these executives were either confidential or important.

But since the president had said so, it meant that it was unnecessary.

Those who were able to climb up ranks this high were elites, so they probably have guessed something was fishy.

They just stood straight up and started briefing their reports, not asking any more questions.

Ernest sat behind his desk, dealing with matters on his hand while listening to the reports briefed by the executives.

He was still organized despite dealing with two things at the same time.

The company was a first-class company; their main business wasn’t just clothing, so, Florence couldn’t understand most of what was being discussed.

She kept on listening out of boredom, and suddenly heard a topic that spiked her interest.

One of the executives said, “The investment for Ovi Fashion Design Contest has already begun. We’re the largest investor this time, so we get three places for the semi-finals.”

The Ovi Fashion Design Contest was held once every three years. It was a nation-wide competition and a place for many talented designers to compete.

It was safe to say that those who were awarded in this contest would mean that their future in designing would be a bright one.

Getting on the stage was to die for; of course, this included Florence.

But she had no qualifications; her newcomer status didn’t even qualify for the junior auditions. She initially gave up all hopes for this contest.

But now…

The company had three places for direct participation; if only she could get a spot. Nôvel(D)rama.Org's content.

“We’ve discussed a bit about these three places; we’ll let those senior designers in our company to compete for their places. That should work.”

Qualified?

Although she was qualified to design the president’s outfit, she hadn’t design anything yet, which meant that she didn’t have any qualifications or achievements to prove her worth and that she was not qualified for this competition after all.

Ernest took a quick glance at Florence and saw her with a sad face.

His gaze deepened as he spoke.

“I’ll choose the participants.”

“Yes, Mr. Hawkins.”

The executives had no opinion for Ernest’s decision; he was the president, after all.

Hearing these made Florence’s heart moved, a thread of hope rose again.

Would Ernest give her this chance?

Maybe she could fight for the chance.

Florence wanted those three executives to leave as soon as possible.

But three of them came simultaneously, which meant that they all had things to report.

Florence couldn’t understand what they were talking about; it was like school time, where teachers were explaining textbooks, she fell asleep in no time.

Ernest noticed that she fell asleep immediately, he smiled.

He glanced at the executives who were speaking spitefully and ordered them in a low voice.

“Keep your voice down.”

The executives froze for a moment, feeling puzzled; he had been talking for quite a while now with the same tone.

Despite being puzzled, he immediately toned down his voice.

Ernest told them to speed up their reporting and had them leave.

He stood up and walked towards Florence’s desk.

She slept late last night and got up early today, so she was sleeping soundly now.

But it seemed like she wasn’t sleeping too comfortable, she kept changing her position while sleeping.

She also left a mark on her face for lying her head down on the table.

Ernest pursed his lips, reached out his arms, gently picked up Florence, walked into the lounge, and placed her down on a bed.

He bent down and covered her with a thin blanket.

His actions were natural as if it was normal for him, but if Timothy saw this, he would be very shocked.

Since when did the mighty Ernest ever offer to cover someone with a blanket?

Florence slept well, comfortably. She even had a good dream, smiling when she woke up.

But when she saw her surrounding, she froze.

Where was this? Why was she sleeping here?

She got off the bed, opened the door and saw the familiar office, where an elegant man sat in front of the desk.

Ernest looked up when he heard something, looking at her.

His voice was low and somewhat sexy, “You’re awake?”

“Yea.”

Florence’s cheeks were slightly red, she realized she had fallen asleep on the desk, and Ernest carried her to the lounge.

She walked towards her own desk awkwardly and noticed the clock on the wall.

It was half an hour past leaving time.

She felt embarrassed immediately. What kind of staff would sleep in front of the boss until the end of the day?

She awkwardly packed up her stuff, “I’ll… I’ll leave.”

She was far too embarrassed to stay, so she left instantly.

Seeing Florence running away hurriedly, Ernest smiled shallowly.

Only then did he put down his work, stood up and prepared to leave.