"Boss, you..." Elliot Morris stared wide-eyed in shock.
He was about to continue speaking but suddenly halted his words, nearly biting his tongue.
"What do you want to say?" Mason Bennett squinted his eyes and spoke coldly.
Elliot swallowed, shaking his head like a rattle drum.
How could he say it? He couldn’t possibly tell him, "Boss, you look like a lovestruck fool waiting for a call from a secret crush, could he?
Saying that is bound to get him sent off to Africa, right?
"Speak!" Mason barked sharply.
Elliot almost cried, and with a wronged expression, he said, "Boss, it’s just that, don’t you think you seem kind of like, kind of like..."
"Like a resentful wife waiting for her husband to call home." Elliot couldn’t hold back and blurted out what was really on his mind.
Then he assumed a face of utter determination, looking as tragic as he possibly could.
Mason was stunned for a moment, unable to process the words for a while.
Thinking about Elliot’s words and then considering his own state, his face turned black in an instant.
Because, to his dismay, he felt Elliot’s description was dead-on!!
So why did he care so much about whether that little thing called him or not?
After Victor Bennett went abroad, he would only call him once a year during the holidays, and it seemed he didn’t feel much about it.
Suddenly, images of Bella Green’s every smile and frown, quirky and stubborn, appeared in his mind.
Imagining her in this office, confidently stating that opposite sex is for reproduction, and same-sex is true love.
Imagining her pretty little face saying words that begged for a scolding, asking if he wanted her to find a man for him?
Thinking about Fragrant Forest Riverside, with Mrs. Jiang seriously telling him to take responsibility for Bella Green.
"Here." Elliot instantly straightened his back, standing at attention like a soldier, with a serious and earnest expression.
"Do you have a girlfriend?"
Elliot was taken aback by the sudden shift in the question, and after a moment, he shook his head.
Then he saw Mason immediately furrowing his brows, looking at him with a gaze full of disdain and contempt.
What the hell? Did he just get looked down upon by the boss? By a 24-year-old veteran single guy who’s never been in a relationship??
Elliot felt his self-esteem was deeply bruised, looking at Mason with a gaze full of humiliation.
"Boss, I might not have a girlfriend now, but I’ve had a few before..."
Mason fell silent for a while, and just when Elliot thought he would get angry, he saw the man unexpectedly speak up with a strange expression.
"So, what’s it like to like someone?"
Did he just hallucinate?
Seeing him not speak for a while, Mason’s brows furrowed with displeasure, as he tapped his fingers on the table to regain Elliot’s attention.
Elliot snapped back, still a bit dazed, mumbling without knowing what he was saying.
"It’s just that you want to see her, wondering what she’s doing when you can’t see her, feeling happy just being with her even if doing nothing, and feeling completely off if you can’t see her... Um."
At this point, Elliot paused and instinctively looked at Mason.
He saw that Mason’s face had turned as dark as a pot’s bottom.
Everything Elliot described matched exactly with how he felt about that little thing...
"So, if it matches what you said, does that mean it’s liking?"
"No, even if it matches just a bit, it’s already the seed of liking..."