Again, the atmosphere in the car felt tense even though Asher had acted as a guardian angel when arguing with Barbara. The main question in her mind now was, how could Asher know about the problem she was experiencing now? Even though she only discovered the problem this morning. Did Asher place a spy in Barbara's company to make it easier for her to monitor her movements?
Serena only brought her laptop and some other equipment. She felt very relieved to be free from that hellish company, but she was also sad and guilty because she couldn't keep her promise to complete the project designed by Lariette.
Asher suddenly stopped his car on the side of the road, making Serena even more curious. Moreover, Asher stopped his car in front of an ice cream shop. It was still working hours but Asher asked her to go for a walk.
"Don't you still have a meeting?" Serena asked.
"I canceled all meetings today."
"What?!"
"You're too much! Once in a while I cancel meetings, is that a problem?"
"But, isn't the meeting important?"
"Just an internal meeting actually. Don't worry, I've asked my assistant to change the meeting schedule to tomorrow."
Asher got out of the car for a moment, then opened the car door for his future wife while holding out his right hand. "Today we just rested. You don't mind, right?"
Serena nodded while holding Asher's hand. "I don't want you to get into trouble because of me."
At first Serena thought Asher just meant to stop by the ice cream shop for a moment to buy ice cream. However, Asher unexpectedly didn't want to just buy ice cream. He wanted to spend more time with his fiancé at the ice cream shop that only they visited.
For a moment, Asher whispered to one of the servants serving him. It only lasted a short time, the waiter immediately brought an ice bag filled with ice cubes. Asher's eyes looked sad looking at his fiancee's right cheek which was swollen from being slapped twice. Slowly he moved his head and hands forward and compressed his cheeks with ice cubes.
Serena's heart was pounding at the sudden sweet treatment even though she had never done it herself before. What Asher is doing now is not looking like a criminal, but like a loving husband. However, what Asher did while following her secretly, she couldn't forgive him.
"Didn't you eat your ice cream?" Serena asked nervously.
"Your cheeks are swollen. I can't eat ice cream in peace."
"I can compress it myself. You just eat."
Still, Asher still stubbornly pressed his fiancé's cheek with focus. If he had arrived on time, maybe she wouldn't have been injured like this. For the first time he saw a woman in the eyes made his heart a little fragile.
"By the way, how did you know I was involved in this matter? You recruited spies so you could keep an eye on me?"
Asher rolled his eyes. "Why would I do useless things that are just wasting my time."
"Then how did you know I would be fired?"
"You don't need to know about that. It's just that I've had a bad feeling since yesterday. This morning you looked sleepy at breakfast. I know you're working too hard to make Lariette's project run smoothly." Asher stroked Serena's head for a moment. "From the start I wanted to recruit you to work at my company. But you kept refusing my offers."
"So, when did you secretly read the proposal I made?"
"When you fell asleep yesterday."
Serena scratched her head with an innocent face. "Did I fall asleep?"
"Should I tell you everything so you'll believe me?"
*****
That night, it was already two in the morning. As a result of working until he was exhausted, he fell asleep without realizing it with the laptop still on. Then, all the papers regarding the outline of the marketing strategy were scattered on the table.
Asher opened the door to this room slowly. His suspicion was correct that the fiancé worked so hard that he fell asleep. Slowly he lifted Serena's slender body onto the bed then covered her with a thick blanket. For a moment he sat in a chair while reading PowerPoint slides that Serena had designed with various decorations.
"You are a really hard working woman, Serena. Even though you have never been appreciated all this time, you still fight just to maintain my late wife's project," he whispered while reading the outline on the paper. "Actually, you are very suitable to work at my company. I will get you out of that hellish company at all costs."
Asher secretly took Serena's flash disk and then copied the outline of the proposal onto the flash disk. After that, he left his sleeping fiancé to continue his secret mission. In order to save his fiancé, he was also willing to stay up late. Now he works in his study. Plugging in the flash disk then moving all the copied documents to his laptop.
After carrying out his mission, he returned to the room to return the flash disk and then sat on the edge of the bed for a moment. His right hand spontaneously stroked his fiancé's soft forehead with a look of pity.
"Get enough rest, Serena. If you get into trouble, I'll help you."
*****
Hearing Asher briefly tell the story, Serena laughed out loud while licking the chocolate ice cream that was starting to melt. Moreover, it was difficult for her to imagine Asher's attitude of really caring about her even though he had always been cold.
"You don't thank me? Even though I took great pains to defend you today!"
"Actually, I laughed because I was happy. Finally there was someone who defended me openly, causing the whole office to be in an uproar." Serena smiled happily again while holding Asher's hand. "Thanks for saving me, Asher. You've always been saving me lately."
Asher smiled shyly as he licked his ice cream which was starting to melt. Seeing the sweet smile displayed by Serena right now made his body hot.
"I just don't want to see you suffer. Soon you will marry me, but as your fiancé I can't do much. I'm really embarrassed."
"I'm very grateful that you offered me the position of marketing manager at your company. But, I don't want to be recruited just through you. I want to be recruited fairly like other employees."