43: Chapter 43

Chapter 43

The car fell still with a deafening silence, as both Henry and Kate seemed to be occupied with different thoughts. Kate's mind was occupied with thoughts about the meeting while Henry was trying to suppress the guilt in his heart.0

The car stopped at a red light in the crowded Downtown LA, and as expected, Henry's dark green metallic Ferrari became the center of attention as the metallic coating reflected under the sun, making the already flashy car even flashier. 

Kate watched as the people on the streets started taking pictures of the car, some even posed in front of the car to take selfies.

"The glass is tinted, right?" Kate couldn't help but ask.

"Of course," Henry chuckled. "I wouldn't want them to see us if we were doing something private."

Kate glared at him, then scoffed, "This is why I don't like flashy things. You will attract unnecessary attention and that will cause you nothing but trouble."

"You don't like attention?"

"Not at all," Kate replied curtly. "I never wear anything flashy, but that's mostly because I was raised in a conservative family. My evening gowns were the only attention grabbing things I have."

"Not even  jewelry?"

"I don't use jewelry that often," Kate replied. "I'm just an office worker with a husband at home. My education molded me to be modest. I only use them for special occasions."

Henry checked on Kate from the corner of his eyes. Kate sat straight while staring at the crowd of people taking selfies with his car. 

It surprised him how he hadn't noticed it in the past.

She always wore modest clothing. Even now, she only wore simple things, an unassuming  pair of small diamond earrings, a plain white top draped with a dark brown blazer, and a knee-length black skirt. 

She didn't carry a luxury brand bag that screamed the brand name with big bold letters and logos. Rather, she carried a rather simple unassuming one.

However, with her current income, she should be able to buy at least a Chanel or a non-Birkin Hermes bag without any hesitation. 

Truthfully, style-wise, Kate was not Henry's type. 

He was used to being surrounded by women who dressed either provocatively to seduce him or the one who had a dedicated stylist to mix and match their clothing. 

Kate was, in a sense, a true career woman who cared about nothing but her job, and for many men, she'd be considered boring.

But Henry didn't see her as boring. 

In fact, the more he eyed Kate, the more he realized how beautiful this woman was. 

Even without wearing anything eye-catching or over-the-top, Kate already exuded the serene beauty that would last a lifetime. She didn't need to dress to impress, she simply was impressive in her own right.

Even at the age of thirty-two, Kate still looked gorgeous enough to hook a twenty-four years old man.

'I like her better like this, I wouldn't want other men eyeing what's mine. She's too gorgeous for her own good,' Henry thought subconsciously as he continued to watch her.

Henry swallowed his saliva. He was suddenly overcome with a unique thirst, one that couldn't be quenched by just water. He opened his mouth and was about to mutter something. 

"Kate, I—"

HONK! HONK! HONK!

The serene moment between the pair was broken as the cars behind them began blaring their horns. Henry checked the traffic light and clicked his tongue annoyedly when he saw it had turned green.

Thus, he was forced to swallow his words and drive again. 

Kate glanced at Henry, who was suddenly in a bad mood, "You know you can't wear that sour expression when we arrive at the Netflix headquarters, right?" Kate reminded him. "Why are you suddenly so annoyed anyway?"

"It's nothing," Henry replied curtly as he sped up.

Kate thought he was pissed because she hadn't told him about the key points for the meeting  with the Director from Netflix. 

She sighed and then said, "We're going to meet with Jack Quinn, one of the directors of Netflix. Emperor Publishing had a licensing deal with Netflix regarding the adaptation of one of our highly popular books. The project is stalled because the Director doesn't like how the book ends and wants to change the ending, while the author refuses to sign the deal unless the Director keeps the original ending."

"Oh? That's interesting," Henry commented. He tried to temper his annoyance. He went along with the conversation instead, "Who is this author we're talking about?"

"Irene Banks, the book they want to adapt into a series is her first book, Thousand Words with You," Kate informed Henry. "She has been adamant about refusing the deal, she even walked out of the meeting when the Director said the original ending of the book was bad."

"I see," Henry hummed for a while. He did a quick read of Irene Banks' first book and in his honest opinion the ending wasn't bad, it was a bit too tragic but not bad. The female lead died because of cancer, leaving hundreds of unsent letters to the male lead, who was too busy with his own life to care for his dying wife.

It was a tragic story, and the sequel was supposed to be a second chance in life with a rebirth for the female lead to find a man who could treat her right. 

"Then what do you think? This is a big deal, will you support the author or the director?" Henry asked.

Kate went silent for a while and replied, "The Director."

"The Director? You don't like the ending of that book?"

"Not at all," Kate replied. "The male lead is portrayed as an asshole in the end, even though that's not the case for those who read the full story. He is just too busy working, taking care of their kids, and also finding a suitable bone marrow match for his wife. He tried his best to live a balanced life, but he is just a human, of course, he has to prioritize a few things."

pqdm.com