Kenneth was a little agitated. He picked up the phone. "Put me through to Summer Lancaster in the Planning Department."
"CEO, Director Lancaster called in sick today." Kenneth hung up immediately. 'Is she sick today?' He grabbed his suit jacket and left the office. Just then, Zane Fletcher came looking for him and hurriedly called out when he saw him about to leave.
"Sir, there's a financial report meeting at ten."
"Postpone it. Postpone the afternoon ones, too." Kenneth didn't look back, just rushed forward. Zane Fletcher pouted. 'You're the CEO, so you call the shots, I guess.'
Kenneth ran several red lights. 'I wonder how Summer is doing. I'm a little worried since I can't see her.'
Summer was asleep in her bedroom. Her head throbbed, and her sleep was light. Hearing a noise at the door, she got up to answer it. 'Who could be at my door?' Before she even made it to the entrance, the door opened. It was Kenneth. 'Why is he here? Isn't it work hours right now?'
"Kenneth, why are you here? Don't you have work today?" Summer's voice was hoarse and she spoke slowly, breathing heavily.
Kenneth quickly changed his shoes. "I was afraid you'd die from this sickness."
Summer was confused. 'How did he know I was sick? Could he be worried about me?'
"Kenneth, I'm fine. COUGH, COUGH…" Summer covered her mouth as she coughed. It seemed her cold had gotten worse.
"You... You were always like this, even as a kid. Always trying to act tough." As Kenneth spoke, he walked over and touched her forehead with his warm hand. Summer froze, staring at his chest. Her face, already flushed from the cold, turned an even deeper shade of red.
"You have a fever, Summer. Go lie down. I'll go buy you some medicine." Kenneth had never treated Summer like this before, and it left her feeling pleasantly overwhelmed. She obediently went to her room and lay down, listening to the quiet thumping of her own heart. Kenneth returned quickly, poured a glass of hot water, and helped her sit up to take the medicine.
"Here, take your medicine," he ordered, still as domineering as ever. Summer obediently took it.
"Um, yesterday… did you spend the night at the bar?" Summer asked, her face flushed.
"There's nothing going on between me and Becky. The media is just fabricating things. Besides, this bit of gossip helped me get rid of Audrey." Kenneth himself didn't know why he was explaining all this to her; that wasn't what she had asked.
Summer hadn't expected him to explain himself. She just felt a little guilty, thinking she shouldn't have made him angry enough to leave yesterday. After she finished the medicine, Kenneth went into the study.
"Zane, switch the afternoon meeting to a video conference." After hanging up, he opened his laptop. The top headline was the news about him and Becky.
Kenneth took out his phone and dialed Dominic Thorne's number.
"Hello, Boss. What are your orders?"
"Dominic, delete that story your company reported about me. I don't want to see it ever again."
"Boss, didn't you used to say we could report on your scandals however we wanted?"
"I told you to delete it, so just delete it. Why all the chatter?" Kenneth hung up, looking a bit weary. On the other end of the line, Dominic Thorne was completely baffled. 'A man's sixth sense is telling me something's up with the boss. I need to meet up with him soon and get the story out of him,' Dominic thought.
The news story was deleted, and things seemed to quiet down. The afternoon video conference proceeded as scheduled. Being a light sleeper, Summer heard the sound of his voice, so she got out of bed to check on him. It turned out he was in a video conference. 'Why would he come back to see me when he's so busy? Is he concerned about me?' Summer patted her cheeks, trying to snap herself out of it.
The video conference lasted for an hour. When it was over, Kenneth leaned back in his chair, pinching the bridge of his nose. Summer knocked on the door.
"Come in?"
"Have some coffee." Kenneth opened his eyes. Summer's complexion looked much better; at least it wasn't flushed anymore.
"We don't have any coffee beans at home. Is instant coffee okay?" Kenneth didn't say anything, just took a sip of the coffee. 'Instant coffee isn't as bad as I thought.'