Convincing her

The following day, Jen was able to meet Nancy and Leanna at the cafeteria for a chat since she was already done with her classes. The three girls were talking animatedly up until Jen remembered what Lucas said about inviting Nancy for the company launch party.

"I just remembered" Jen blurted out, silencing the other two girls.

"What is it?" Nancy asked curiously.

"Nancy, Are you free next weekend?" Jen asked Nancy.

"Well I haven't made any plans, so i'm pretty much free, why?" she asked tilting her head.

"Well, there is a launch party at Lucas' company and he was extending an invitation. David will be there" Jen said.

"Really?" Nancy asked her eyes brightening up.

"Mmh, do you want to go?" Jen asked. She really felt like she was being a matchmaker. She did not want to believe that she and Lucas had become 'that' couple that wanted to see everyone around them date.

"Sure" Nancy agreed.

"Have you talked to him at all since sunday?" Jen asked curiously. She really wanted to know if there was any development in the relationship between the two. The only response Jen received was a sigh from Nancy.

"Why what happened?" Jen asked in her excitement.

"You sure look happy" Nancy commented glumly.

"Hehe, sorry, it wasn't intentional" Jen said sheepishly as she leaned on the table.

"Well, I texted him, but his replies shut down every potential conversation we could have had. Does he have no social skills at all? I was so mad I almost threw my phone against the wall." Nancy said as she vented.

"Tsk tsk, I understand your frustration" Jen said as she shook her head.

"What should I do?" Nancy asked.

"Don't have hard feelings towards him, that's just how his personality is. If you don't like it, then it would be better not to get together in the first place. You'll just be frustrated to death" Jen said as she patted Nancy's shoulder.

"I find his personality endearing actually, cause he is straightforward and doesn't look like he even knows how to mess around" Nancy said.

"Don't underestimate him, you could get surprised" Jen replied as she laughed.

Meanwhile, Lucas had called Dave in his office to discuss the progress report that they were supposed to send to Noah the following day.

There wasn't much amendments that needed to be done. After they were done, they both got up from the lounging area in Lucas' office. Lucas went behind his desk and sat down on the large office chair.

"If there's nothing else then-" David said and turned to make his way out.

"Wait, arrange for the HR department to give Michael a bonus, you look really pleased with his work" Lucas said as he twirled the pen he was holding between his fingers.

"I finally feel like I'm not wasting my breath when I'm talking to him. It was truly frustrating when those previous assistants couldn't follow simple instructions" David said and showed a rare smile.

"That's good, about the launch party next week.-" Lucas said but was cut off by David.

"About that, it'll be held in the Lewis Hotel that's in the outskirts of the city" David said thinking that Lucas was not aware of the venue.

"About next week's launch party, I want to see you there" Lucas said in a tone that left no room for negotiation.

"Why?" David said almost breaking his composure.

"What do you mean why? For networking purposes of course" Lucas said without batting an eyelid. He was lying with a straight face.

"Huh, alright" David replied with a sigh.

"Bring a date" Lucas said and put on his glasses, meaning that he was not going to negotiate about this either.

"Why?!" David asked his composure completely disturbed.

"What do you mean why? are you planning on third wheeling with me and Jen?" Lucas asked as he looked up from his computer.

His answer really left David speechless. David wanted to punch something from frustration. He did not have a girlfriend and his social life was pretty non-existent as the only friends he had were also in Lucas' circle. Where was he supposed to find a date?

"But I don't-"

"Have a girlfriend? If you can't find anyone I can arrange a date for you" Lucas interrupted with a mocking laugh which really hurt Dave's pride.

"No need, I'll look for a date myself" Dave said in his annoyance and left Lucas' office. Lucas looked at the closed door and laughed to himself before going back to work.

David finished amending the progress report before sending it to the CEO's secretary. After that he leaned back in his chair and watched Michael who was busy typing on his computer.

The kid had been coming to the office everyday and even did his school work there. David was watching the creation of a future workaholic. With a bored sigh, he took out his cellphone to check if he had any messages.

Nancy had been texting him occasionally for the past few days which was new to David as he hardly ever chatted casually with people, especially women. He was completely okay when he fooled around with his friends but he was awkward with women.

He had dated a couple of girls during his university years, but they were the ones that normally pursued him and tried to accommodate his personality but the relationships never got anywhere because they were one sided. He was never actually interested in any of them in the first place so the relationships ended after a few weeks.

When he had seen Nancy for the first time, she was slightly drunk and he was so nervous when she had started talking to him on their ride to the estate that he couldn't bring himself to hold a proper conversation, so he donned the stoic mask that he always wore in front of other people. He had only managed to talk to her without embarrassing himself when he was inebriated.

He opened the message he received from Nancy and couldn't help but smile to himself.

[Did you have lunch?] the message read. It oddly made him feel happy.

[Mmh] he replied.