Hello, Mr Li: The Christmas Trip

"Come down for breakfast ladies!" Jaime called his daughters.

The two girls left their rooms and went downstairs to join their parents. 

"Why are you all dressed up?" Reen asked Cixi who was completely dressed in a skirt suit.

"There's a seminar I am attending today, so I'll probably be returning in the evening or tomorrow morning." Cixi informed them. "You two better return home early—"

"Mum, it's today!" Joreen interrupted. 

"What's happening today?" Cixi asked. 

"The photoshoot. It's today. I'm going out of town." 

"Oh..." Cixi stressed when she remembered. 

"You are going to be okay?" Jaime asked.

"Sure. Not looking forward to it actually but I have to go." 

"When are you going to return?" Cixi asked. 

"Tomorow evening." She sighed in frustration. 

"Someone is already missing her boyfriend." Reen giggled and earned a glare from her younger sister. 

"How has it been with Hoy? It's been like a month since you two started dating and you've not been looking too good." Jaime asked. 

"Work. He is busy, I am busy. We do see each other but not often." She sighed again. 

"It's going to be fine. At least this way, people won't notice too much until it's the perfect time to talk about your relationship." Cixi stopped talking and looked at her wristwatch. "I need to leave now." She gave her husband a kiss on his temple and blew a kiss to her daughters before reaching for her bag. 

Immediately she left, Reen stood up.

"I'll return late. Have basketball practice with the other kids." Reen said to her father as she ran up the stairs to go get ready for school. 

"You going to be fine?" Jaime asked when it was just him and Joreen left. He was worried since this was going to be the first time she would be travelling after what happened with Kyle. Plus she was going with people from work only. 

"I'll be fine. And extra careful." 

"I believe you must have picked up a few things from your karate classes?" 

She giggled. "Yea. I know it's been really busy for me lately with learning to drive, going to the company and listening to boring business lectures, but I have been taking my karate classes very seriously." 

"I am proud of you." He said with a warm smile. "I don't know how to express how I feel. Seeing you becoming such a beautiful young woman—"

"Are you crying dad?!" Joreen asked in surprise. 

He pressed two fingers to his closed eyes and shook his head. "Of course not! You should go get ready now. I'll do the dishes." 

"Aww.." Joreen stood up and gave him a back hug when he stared to gather the plates. 

"I love you dad. You know that right?" 

"I do. And I love you more." He slowly turned around to look at her. "Be careful. And always call us." 

"I promise."

He dropped a kiss on her forehead before pushing her gently towards the stairs. "Now go do something useful." 

Joreen returned to her room and quickly freshened up. Reen was already gone by the time she got ready and a car was already waiting outside for her. 

She joined her manager, driver and assistant in the official van and off they went to G–GLOBAL. They were going to make a quick stop before driving down to the location of the photoshoot. Since it was only an hour and a half distance, they were driving down there. 

"I'll go say hello to CEO Li before we leave." Joreen said. She tried to sound casual but she sounded nervous. 

"Sure. Be back in 20 minutes tops." Her manager said while Xiao Fei simply gave her an ambiguous smile. She didn't think too much about it and took the elevator to Hoy's office. She wasn't sure he was in but she really hoped he was.

Getting to the 11th floor, she met Mr Ping who looked really stressed out. 

"Miss Luo! Thank goodness you are here."

"Is something wrong?" Joreen asked, concerned. 

"The CEO is having a terrible day. One of the directors made a really big mistake and he has been taking it out on everyone. I need to go out on a date later but I cannot even tell him about it because of his mood." 

"Maybe I should leave?" She asked. 

"No.. not at all! You should go see him." He urged her. 

"What if he yells at me too?" She asked while looking worried.

"He won't. Trust me." He assured her. 

She eventually did what he asked and knocked on his door. There was no answer so she opened it and peeked inside. 

Hoy raised his head and looked at the door, already prepared to bark at whoever was there. 

"Jo?" He called in surprise. 

"Am I... interrupting?" She asked without entering inside. 

"No. Come inside." He returned his attention to his computer and typed a few things before he stood up. 

"You're not okay." She mentioned carefully. 

"Just some crazy work stuff. I'm good." He assured her before leading her to the couch to sit then he sat beside her. 

"Do you want to have lunch together later?" He asked. "I'm sorry I have been too occupied with work lately. I'm doing my best to reduce the workload but it isn't working."

"You... are not aware?" She asked. 

"About?" 

"I have a photoshoot outside of town today."

He looked surprised. "Really? Thought it was next week?" 

"You must have been really busy with work to not remember." 

"Sorry. I tried to make it a conscious effort to not stalk you or monitor your schedule. You are a big girl now, I didn't want to make you feel uncomfortable." He said with a sigh. 

She smiled at him. "What about tomorrow? Let's have dinner when I return tomorrow." 

"Tomorrow? You are returning tomorrow?" He asked in surprise. 

When she nodded, he stood up. "That's..."

"I will be fine." She stood up and assured him.

"It's just..." He stopped and sighed. "I won't be comfortable if I am not there."

"I will be fine. I promise. I am a big girl." Before he could say anything else, Joreen's phone began to ring. When she saw it was her manager, she sighed and picked up her purse. "I have to leave now. Do take care." 

She answered the call and began to head towards the door when Hoy grabbed her hand, making her stop. She turned to look at him and noticed he was surprisingly giving her puppy eyes. That was the strangest thing she has seen.

"I'm... on my way." She said into the phone to her manager before hanging up. 

She looked at Hoy, wondering what was wrong before he spoke, 

"I don't want you to go. Stay with me instead." He said quietly before pulling her into a hug.