Aiden looked up from his work as the executive entered, his attention shifting from the docunts to the familiar figure approaching him. He blinked in surprise, then stood, offering a polite nod. "Kimberlee. This is... a surprise. How are you doing?"
Kimberlee paused, seemingly caught off guard as well, before a tentative smile spread across her face. "Aiden," she greeted, her tone light but asured. "I’m doing well. And you? I didn’t expect to see you here. Honestly, it threw off for a second."
Aiden chuckled and gestured toward the seat opposite him. "Understandable. It’s not every day you run into soone you know in a setting like this. Please, have a seat."
Kimberlee moved toward the chair with a composed grace, smoothing her skirt as she sat down. "Thank you," she replied, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear. "I must admit, I didn’t realize you’d be the one I’d be eting with today."
"Well, here we are," Aiden said curtly, his polite smile unwavering. "So, you’re the executive for HiUp?"
"Yes, that’s right," Kimberlee confird, her smile tightening slightly before she added with a faint edge to her tone, "And I assu you’re the one I need to impress. Though, honestly, considering how things ended between us in the past, I wasn’t expecting you to be so... civil."
Aiden, who had just reached for his phone to call his assistant, froze mid-motion. His gaze t hers, steady and unreadable. "The past?" he repeated evenly, leaning back slightly. "That’s exactly what it is, Kimberlee—the past. We were young and foolish back then."
Kimberlee’s hands curled into fists under the table, her knuckles whitening montarily, though her face betrayed nothing but a practiced smile. "Hmm," she murmured, tilting her head slightly. "So of us were more foolish than others. Aiden, about the past—I think I owe you an apolo—"
Before she could finish, Aiden held up a hand and interrupted her. "Kimberlee, there’s no need. Whatever happened back then doesn’t matter now. Let’s focus on why you’re here today, alright?"
For a brief second, sothing flickered in Kimberlee’s eyes but she recovered quickly and gave a small nod. "Of course," she said smoothly, reaching into her briefcase. She retrieved a neatly prepared file and slid it across the desk toward him.
"This," she began, her tone businesslike now, "is our proposal, complete with projections, revenue and profit calculations for the past five years, and supporting data. You’ll also find our patent certificates included in the appendix. Naturally, all of this is strictly confidential, which is why I’m here personally to present it to you."
Aiden picked up the file, his gaze briefly scanning the cover before flipping it open. "Confidential," he repeated, glancing up with a small nod. "I’ll take a look. Thank you for coming in person—it speaks to the weight of the matter."
Kimberlee allowed herself a small, satisfied smile. "Of course. I take matters like these seriously, especially when it involves HiUp’s future partnerships."
"That is indeed a smart decision. Let’s et again soon once I’ve gone over everything. We’ll go over the proposal in more detail then."
Kimberlee nodded in agreent. "That sounds good. I’ll get everything finalized and we’ll set up another ti."
She stood up, adjusting her blazer as she reached for her briefcase. "Thank you for your ti, Aiden. It’s appreciated."
"Of course. Goodbye."
As she moved toward the door, her steps suddenly faltered. A mont of dizziness washed over her, and before she could react, she collapsed onto the floor.
"Aiden!" she gasped in panic as she fell but of course, he could not catch her. Aiden raced to her side imdiately and picked her up from the floor, placing her on the couch carefully.
The mont her body touched the couch, she seed to wake up and she blinked her eyes up at Aiden in confusion," What just happened?"
Aiden shrugged and answered,’ You fainted." He then moved over to his desk, imdiately calling the resident nurse while looking at Kimberlee in concern. She was still quite pale.
Kimberlee blinked up at him. "I think I might’ve forgotten to eat. I’m so sorry for this..." She gave him an apologetic smile, though her embarrassnt was clear.
Soon, the nurse entered and as expected, Kimberlee’s blood sugar was low, due to not eating.
The nurse glanced at Aiden briefly before turning back to Kimberlee. "You must eat regularly, Miss. Low blood sugar can be dangerous. You’re lucky you weren’t alone. Chairman, I’ll send so food from the cafeteria for the lady."
Aiden nodded and once the food had arrived, Aiden pushed it towards her, "Here. You should eat."
Kimberlee stared at the container for a mont, her expression hesitant. " I shouldn’t be bothering you..."
Kimberlee sighed softly but took the container before looking at him carefully," Why don’t you join ?"
"I wasn’t planning to eat. You go ahead."
After a mont of silence, Kimberlee set the fork down and gave a small, defeated sigh. "Fine," she mumbled. "I’ll eat."
After taking a few bites quietly, she looked up and murmured,"I appreciate this, Aiden. Thank you once again. This ti it’s your treat. Next ti, I’ll invite you to dinner to thank you."
Before Aiden could refute or accept, Kimberlee placed her container on the small table and stood up to leave.
Aiden watched Kimberlee leave with a faint frown creasing his brow, but after a mont, he gave a small shrug and returned to his work. The delay had been brief, but it was enough to throw off his already packed schedule. He knew he needed to wrap things up and head ho soon.
Once outside his office, Kimberlee paused in the hallway, her lips curving into a satisfied smile. The evening had gone better than she had anticipated. The dose of insulin she had taken earlier had worked wonders in pushing her normal sugar level low enough to make her black out for a few monts and giving her a chance to feel Aiden’s arms around her again.
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