<h4>54 The Best Kind</h4>
The rest of the week for Xiu was very calm and rxing since Dn was out of the city for business purposes. Xiu''s only job was to organize the data in the reference room. That work was tiring but not having to deal with Dn brought her morefort and happiness than she cared to admit.
Today was Friday. It not only marked the end of the week, but it was also the day for her dinner night with Nora and Darren.
On Darren''s side...
There was a private elevator that opened directly in his private office, a huge room upying the corner of the building with floor-to-ceiling windows facing the main road giving a view of two directions. It''s triple zed and so clear that the panorama seems like a high definition screen. The city below was so far away but the birds flying past the window seems at an arm''s reach. As if to remind us that the skyscraper was in their space now.
The remaining two walls had a door, a low bookshelf, and a single oil painting - the scene of a rainy night with a girl standing with an umbre under amppost.
The office room was painted grey with a sophisticated and minimalistic interior. The ss surface of the desk was equally uncluttered with a desktopputer and an open notebook sat beside it. A stack of papers was sitting under a crystal paperweight with a beautiful silver colored fountain pen lying on top of it. The pen had an inscription of ''R.D Salvay'' in golden writing.
The swivel chair behind the desk was empty. And a tall figure stood before the bookshelf, bursting with books. He held a book in a foreignnguage. As he slid it back on the shelf, he came to sit behind his desk on the swivel chair. He picked up his opened notebook and looked at the words written in ck ink.
"Loving you was my pride
Losing you became a story of its own
A story that brings me a million degrees
of pain.
A story where I cried all night
and yet
had to act strong all over again.
I wish our parting was like a stalemate...
But my dear, you abandoned hope
And your surrender left me with no way to cope."
The ding of his private elevator reached his ear but Darren didn''t even lift his eyes to see. Because he already knew only two people had ess to his private elevator; One was he and the other was his best friend.
Dn entered his office and glowered at Darren whose attention wasn''t on him at all. He sat down on the chair before his desk and said, "What kind of a brother are you?"
"The best kind," replied Darren matter-of-factly and Dn was left gaping at him in disbelief.
"Don''t you feel any shame?" Dn asked. "How can you even im to be the best kind?"
"Why can''t I?" retorted Darren as he closed his notebook and locked it back in the bottom drawer of his desk.
"I was angry with you," said Dn as if it was a known fact.
"Were you?" Darren frowned as he finally looked at Dn''s face.
"You have got to be kidding with me!" Dn was looking at him unbelievingly. "Forget it. It''s no use telling you about it anyway."
"Already forgotten," Darren stated.
.
Dn stayed silent observing Darren''s facial expressions to decide whether to talk or not. With much hesitation, he finally did.
"Daz, we are best friends. No, let me rephrase that. We are brothers. Right?" Darren nodded in reply not knowing where this was going. "Then help me get out of this blind date that mom set me up with."
Darren heaved a long sigh and got up from his chair, looking out the window she said, "Didi this is the one thing I can''t help you with." Dn came to stand beside him as he added, "I have already promised your mother that I''ll stay far away from this matter."
"What? She contacted you first?" Dn almost shouted in exasperation as Darren gave him a nod. "How can she do that?" Dn was feeling dejected.
"Yourst breakup was a couple of months ago. I think you should just go on this blind date." Darren''s sound advice made Dn scowl. "Besides, you should get as much experience as you can before you find THE ONE. That experience might help you in treating her well."
Dn scratched the side of his jaw. "But you don''t understand the awkwardness of blind dates."
"And I never will," said Darren proudly.
Dn snorted, "Of course, you won''t. Aunt has never forced you for anything." Dn was really resentful thinking about how Darren''s mother and his own were so different.
"Because I have the best mother ever!" announced Darren lovingly and a smile lingered at the edges of his lips at the reminder of his mother.
"Mama''s boy," Dn grumbled under his breath.
"Indeed." Darren agreed with his remark. "And a proud one."
Dn was about to speak when a knock sounded at the door and a head craned inside saying, "Boss, Mr. Sylvester''s secretary has called twice to confirm whether we are really canceling the dinner meeting or is there some kind of a mistake."
"There is no mistake, Paige. I have a personalmitment." Darren replied with a smile.
Both his Assistant and Dn gave him a wide-eyed look. "When did Mr. Salvay started prioritizing personalmitments over professional ones?" Dn asked in a weird tone.
Darren ignored his question and turned back to his secretary saying, "If they call again, tell them we can decide on a time for tomorrow but tonight is not possible."
"Copy that," said Paige and asked Dn, "Would you like something to drink, Mr. Qiu?"
"Anything other than the poison you want to give me, Turner," Dn replied with a cheeky grin. While Paige rolled her eyes at his childishness of stillughing because of her name.
"I''ll try my best to refrain from adding that poison I oh so passionately want to give you." With that, she closed the door.
"Did you see that? Your secretary really hates me." Darren shook his head.
"Maybe you are the ''secretary despising ma''. Even your own secretary hates you much less mine." Dn pursed his lips since he had nothing to refute with. "And if you get over the joke of ''Paige Turner'', my secretary might stop hating you."
Dn burst outughing as he said, "Sorry, can''t do. That''s the only amusing thing about your secretary; Her name. The rest of her is scary."