Sebastian could understand Natalie’s concern. She was hesitant to accept Brandon’s help because she didn’t want to be indebted to him all her life.
Natalie seemed reluctant regardless of what Sebastian said.
But knowing that his wife needed a nudge, Sebastian took her to the villa that night. The villa was equipped with furniture of various kinds and daily necessities.
They didn’t have to buy anything apart from personal belongings. Natalie was frightened and uncomfortable about the extravagance, so she sent a message to Brandon that night.
“Mr.Larson, thank you for your timely help.I will find another house and move out as soon as possible.”
However, Brandon didn’t reply. Seeing Natalie’s message, Sebastian turned and glanced at her.He could tell she was fighting a battle in her mind.
Natalie’s innocence made him fall in love with her all over again.
They were in the downtown area of Seacisco.She could never find an affordable house here.
After work that Friday, Laney accompanied Natalie home as usual.
“Are you busy with work lately? Why have you been acting so mysteriously the past few days?” Laney asked with slight frown.
She still lived in the same old apparent, which was near Natalie’s new place.
Because their homes were relatively near each other, Laney usually walked home with Natalie.
Natalie sighed.
“I’m looking for a house.”
“I heard that Mr.Larson is lending you a house.”
“I know, but Mr Larson’s villa is way too luxurious for me.I have to spare some time to find a new apartment” Natalie said warily.
It was clear that the matter was really stressing her out “Let me help you.I have nothing to do after work anyway.Are you looking for an apartment near the office?”
Secretly.
Laney couldn’t help but think that Natalie was being too naive.
This was the most prosperous city center in Seacisco. Ordinary wage eamers like them couldn’t afford rent here.
“Of course it’d be great if it’s near the office.I know that housing there is really expensive, but I was able to find a cheap apartment before, right? I’m going to try my luck.”
But finding an apartment at the right price point was not as easy as Natalie thought.
After making a few enquiries, she found that rent in the area was ridiculously high.
Although the apartments on the periphery of the city were much cheaper, she’d have to spend a lot of time commuting.
If she wanted to get to work on time, she’d have to get up two hours earlier than usual.
Laney figured that Sebastian didn’t want Natalie to live in a tiny apartment in the suburb and spend hours commuting anymore, nor did he want to expose his identity.
That would’ve explained why he gave her a house under the name of the Larson Group.
“Apartments here are really expensive.If you’re looking to rent a place as cheap as your old place, you’ll have to consider renting in the suburbs,” Laney suggested.
Knowing who Sebastian was, Laney thought it was more reasonable for Natalie to just live in the villa.
Natalie shook her head, feeling depressed and helpless due to the exorbitant rent prices.
When she came home, Sebastian immediately sensed that something was wrong.
“Did you go looking for a new apartment again?” Sebastian asked, leaning back on the spacious sofa.
The room was warm enough today, so he only wore a casual cotton shirt.
Feeling sore and tired, Natalie rubbed her shoulders and threw herself into Sebastian’s arms.
“My conscience is killing me not to live in a fancy house like that.I feel like a freeloader, Sebastian. This house doesn’t belong to us, nor is it our home.”
Sebastian wrapped his arms around Natalie’s waist and held her tightly.
Twirling her hair with his fingers, he murmured, “Given our current situation, it’ll be difficult to buy a house. You’ve been taking care of me in the hospital lately. Your work must’ve been affected, right? Why don’t you stop looking for a new place and focus your time and energy on work first?”
Leaning on Sebastian’s chest, Natalie could feel his well-defined muscles through his thin clothes.
Her eyelids drooped and she said resignedly, “I guess we have no choice but to live here for the time being and move out as soon as we have enough money.”
Natalie had been busy with her work lately.
The following day, while Natalie was poring over her work, Tiffany came to her desk again.
“Please see me in my office, Quinn.”
Natalie promptly put aside her work and went to Tiffany’s office.
To her surprise, not only Tiffany was there but also a beautiful and sexy woman.
Lounging on the sofa, the corners of the woman’s slanted eyes were slightly raised, and her big black locks hung loosely around her shoulders.
Her stunningly beautiful face was unforgettable.
“We have a big project on our hands, Quinn. You’ll be in charge, along with the senior designer, Patty Jenkins.”
Tiffany gestured at the beauty sitting on the sofa.
“It’s nice to meet you, Miss Quinn.Good luck to us and our cooperation,” said Patty with a reserved smile.
“Nice to meet you, Miss Jenkins.I hope we’ll have a pleasant cooperation, too.”
Natalie nodded with a smile.She had heard of Patty.
This beautiful designer was very famous in the design department.
Not only was she a looker, she was also very talented.
Plus, she was the girlfriend of the director of operations of the Larson Group, so everyone tried to curry favor with her.
However, the senior designers were not on the same floor with them.
Natalie didn’t really know much about Patty, and she had only seen her several times in the department meetings.
Natalie felt that Patty was a bit arrogant and unapproachable, but perhaps it was all justifiable since she was indeed young and talented.
“Here’s some info on this project.Quinn, you can have a look for yourself first. We’ll meet up with the client in the afternoon and discuss these matters together then.”
Patty handed the documents in her hand over to Natalie and then winked at Tiffany before she left the room.
Tiffany didn’t say a word as if she hadn’t seen anything.
Natalie saw the interaction between the two of them, decided to put it out of her mind, and instead she lowered her head and began to read the documents.
The client of this project happened to be Yoyo Fashion, a large-scale fashion brand company located in Seacisco.
This brand was very popular among those at home and abroad, from teenagers to middle-aged people.
So it was obvious that it had a very wide range of consumers.
Inside the meeting room.
Ronald Williams, the project director of Yoyo Fashion, began to state his opinions.
“We want the design to be fashionable, leisurely, and comfortable all at the same time.Our customers are basically 16 to 40
years old, so I hope your design can meet their standards and preferences.”
After having said that, Ronald turned around to look at Natalie and Patty and said to them, “Miss Quinn and Miss Jenkins, if you have any suggestions, you can put them forward at any time during our meeting.”
While listening to Ronald just now, Natalie had already quickly made two sketches.
As she was about to stand up and hand the drafts over to him, Patty had already come up to him with an iPad in her hand.
“Here are some of my previous designs that you can look at.How do you like this style?”
Patty said this in a confident tone and displayed her drafts to the people of Yoyo Fashion.
Ronald nodded as he skimmed through.
“Well, it’s very good.But the style is a little simple and there’s nothing eye-catching about it.”
He then turned to look at Natalie and asked, “What does the other designer think?”
Patty looked in the direction of where Natalie was sitting and then smiled politely at Ronald.
“Miss Quinn just so happens to be the preliminary designer of our company.She’s only here to assist me.”
After having said that, she went on to carefully explain her ideas in greater detail.She didn’t even give Natalie the chance to speak up at all.
At the same time, Natalie could do nothing about it‘She simply sat there, forcing herself to smile.
After that, Natalie met up a few more times with Patty and the client.
She discovered that Patty was very domineering in all these meetings.
This woman always went out of her way to control the overall situation and made decisions all by herself, without giving Natalie even a chance to let everyone know her opinions.
Due to the fact that Patty had a higher rank than her and had a strong background in the company, Natalie decided to simply put up with it.She didn’t bother complaining and just did her job of assisting Patty.
Natalie had originally thought that the cooperation would go fairly smoothly.
Patty was really an_ insightful designer, but her stubbornness happened to stand in the way.
Because of her arrogance and bad temperament, she never compromised when dealing with the client.
That was why frictions could not be avoided and the cooperation between the two sides turned out to be not very smooth.
During the project, the conflicts and disagreements between the two sides were growing more and more serious by the day.
Therefore, Ronald, the project director of Yoyo Fashion, specially invited Natalie and Patty to have dinner with him, saying the reason he was inviting them out was because he wanted to take this opportunity to ease things up between the two sides.
The restaurant he picked out happened to be in a five- star hotel.
At the dinner, Ronald and several male colleagues of his drank a lot and their faces were red as a result.
During the meal, those men headed out to smoke, leaving only three people behind.
Ronald, Patty, and Natalie were the only ones left in the private room.
Ronald kept chatting a storm with Patty and began to get fresh with her.
A hint of impatience flashed across Patty’s preity face right then.
“Mr.Williams, please behave yourself. If you’re really drunk, I’ll ask someone to take you home.We can discuss the project in-depth tomorrow at the company.”
After saying her piece, Patty pushed Ronald’s hand off her legs in total disgust.
Ronald only continued to grin shamelessly.
He went on to stroke Patty’s thighs with the palm of his hands again and whispered in her ear, “Miss Jenkins, you’re too stubborn.And I can’t let things go on like this. How about this, if you join me for one night, I’ll make a compromise and take your opinions into consideration.I promise that this project will be completed smoothly and perfectly from now on.”
