Falling in Love : I love you, Today and Forever

Although Noah wanted to rush over to his grandfather to know what he was hiding, he still had two meetings to attend. And he could not postpone them any longer. Aria's sickness had stopped all his work and now, he had to deal with all the piled up work to get back on track. He was running behind schedule and he was done relaxing.

After finishing his call with his grandfather, Noah had sent the absent-minded Mia away. Though he was guilt-ridden for blaming her, he did not apologize to her, not because it hurt his ego. No. He still had questions and until he got the answer to them, he was not willing to seek her forgiveness. 

During the entire meeting, Noah was distracted and his concentration wavered every few minutes. Even though the marketing team had come up with a brilliant strategy to promote their new hotel Arvy, Noah's lack of response and pensive behavior made them apprehensive. They could not help but wonder if they had failed again at their job. This was the seventh proposal they had come up with and the previous ones had been rejected mercilessly by Noah before. 

Ronnie noticed the pleading looks the other employees were giving him while they waited for Noah's reply. His gaze fell on his Boss and he sighed lightly. He could guess what was running in his Boss's mind and he did not blame him for his lost thoughts. It was quite rare of his Boss to be distracted during a meeting and since it was an issue that mattered to Noah, it justified his behavior all the more.

'Boss is so distracted today. I haven't seen him this worried before, not even when Madame had given a cold shoulder when the truth about her father had come out in the open. I hope everything is fine.' He thought to himself and darted a small glance at the other members in the conference hall.

The marketing team had done a great job and he himself felt their planning to be perfect and well thought. However, his lone acceptance was not what decided how the company worked. His Boss had to agree with it and accept it. 

"Umm, Boss." He cleared his throat, trying to gain his Boss's attention. However, it did not work and Noah continued to stare far ahead. "Boss," He tried again only to meet the same result. Not knowing what to do, he thought of a plan and hoped against hope it would work. "Boss, Madam is here to meet you." He stated and at once, Noah's stupor broke.

Noah blinked and he looked around only to meet the curious glances of his employees. He was in a daze and he could not comprehend where he was. "Did you say something?" He questioned Ronnie, who seemed to be relieved on getting his Boss's attention, when his eyes fell on him.

"Not at all Boss. I was just calling you." Ronnie lied significantly. However, Noah's next words stunned him to the core.

"Then, why did I hear about Aria from you?" He questioned, with his brows raised.

Ronnie's eyes widened at once and he gaped at his Boss in wonder and awe, a small amount of fear lingering in the sides. 'How did he hear about Madam? He did not listen to anything else during the presentation. But as soon as I spoke about Madam, he reacted at once. Is Madam's name an attention-seeking trick I must use from now on?' He wondered and smiled to himself.

"Why are you smiling?" Noah did not miss the time-lapse in Ronnie's response as well as his subtle raise of lips. "Did something happen?"

Flabbergasted, Ronnie was once again speechless and he wondered how to get out of the situation he was in. He then remembered the employees who were waiting for Noah's approval and he cleared his throat, donning on his business smile. "Boss, about the business proposal...." Ronnie stopped suddenly, not knowing how to continue.

"Send me the minutes and the recordings. I will look over them when I am free and review them. Thank you everyone for your hard work." Noah praised them, giving them a curt nod before he got up and buttoned his suit. "And yes, I have a surprise for all of you once our hotel's inauguration is successful. I am sure all of you will love it." Noah smirked at them, throwing everybody off guard.

Even Ronnie was stunned by the declaration and he gawked at his Boss for a few seconds, until Noah retraced his footsteps when he sensed his absence behind him. "Ronnie, I think we were supposed to be leaving the room. Or do you have other plans in the conference hall?"

"Boss?" Ronnie was startled and he stared around in confusion. However, Noah did nothing to clear his doubts and he started walking. This time, Ronnie followed him immediately and all the employees in the conference room looked at one another, shock and excitement evident in their faces.

They were shocked by Noah's weird behavior, yet were excited by the surprise he had mentioned a few minutes back. But there was another emotion that was running in their minds, worry. They were worried about Noah's approval and hoped for him to pass their plan at one shot, without throwing it back on their faces for lack of quality work.

An hour later, Ronnie and Noah reached the Carter mansion where Noah's parents and Jonathan resided. Ronnie had driven the car like a mad man seeing his Boss losing patience as time ticked by and he did not want to be the one to face his wrath, not when he had no idea what was happening.

All the workers of the mansion greeted Noah seeing him enter and he nodded at them curtly. Even though he was impatient at that moment, he did not forget to greet them as they worked for him, and without them, he was sure that he could never reach the level he was in. Although he was not that great at expressing his emotions, except with Aria, he was still grateful to them in his heart.

"Where is grandpa?" Noah cut the chase and asked the head butler who was ordering the maids around.

"Old Master is in the orchid garden and he has a guest with him." The butler replied with a polite smile.

"What about Mom and Dad?"

"Madam and Sir are attending a charity ball at the City Council Hall."

Noah did not waste another second and approached the orchid garden. This was the place his grandfather had personally designed for his grandmother as a gift of proposal. And it held a great place in Jonathan's heart. It was where he had proposed and married the love of his life.

However, Noah was in no mood to admire the beauty of the place as he usually did. This time, he was here on a mission, a mission to get answers. He heard sounds of laughter from the garden as he neared it and he wondered who his grandfather was talking to. But as soon as he approached the seating area, he halted in his feet when he saw the person sitting beside his grandfather, sipping on his tea. 'Why didn't the butler inform me that Joshua's father was here?'