Chapter 478 Toby’s Refusal to See Her
In order to save herself the embarrassment of chasing Sonia away like she did to the other women, the receptionist tried hard to keep her name in mind. However, she didn’t expect the day she met Sonia in person would come so soon.
So, this is Miss Reed—the lady whom President Fuller has been crazy about. Oh my gosh! I’m so fortunate to run into her now, and I must receive her with hospitality. Who knows, she may give me a large tip if I could make her feel happy?
Getting carried away with her imagination, the receptionist looked at Sonia as if she was gazing at a generous tycoon who was about to give away her money. Thus, she poured Sonia a glass of water and treated her cordially. “Please have a glass of water, Miss Reed. I’ll pass on the word about your arrival.”
“Thank you.” Sonia nodded a smile. In fact, she had actually tried to contact Toby when she was on her way there but failed to get an answer from Toby, whom she thought was probably busy at that moment. Thus, she had no choice but to approach the front desk and request help to contact the man.
“You’re welcome,” the receptionist replied, and reached for the telephone before dialing a number.
On the other hand, Tom happened to just exit from the elevator with a stack of files in his hands when he heard his phone ringing. Upon shifting the files to his left arm, he rummaged through his pocket for his phone and answered the call. “Hello, what’s up?”
“Tom, Miss Reed is here. She is actually just right beside me now.” The receptionist shot a gaze at Sonia.
“What did you say? Sonia is here?” Tom froze in his tracks.
“Yes.” The receptionist nodded.
A surprised look flashed across Tom’s face as he wondered to himself. I can’t believe Sonia is here. “What did she come here for?” Tom asked.
“She wants to see President Fuller,” the receptionist answered.
Tom was rendered speechless after hearing the receptionist’s answer, thinking he had just asked a silly question because there was no one else Sonia would come a long way to see besides Toby. Soon, he curled his lips upward and took a deep breath to keep himself together. Then, he said, “Alright, I heard you. I’ll see President Fuller and tell him about it while you receive Miss Reed.”
“Sure.” The receptionist responded with an affirmative hum.
After hanging up the call, Tom put away his phone and knocked on the door to Toby’s office.
“Come in.” Toby’s glacial voice could be heard from inside the office.
“President Fuller.” Tom opened the door and walked in.
“Have you found what I need?” Toby sat behind his desk, asking without even bothering to look up.
Tom walked closer to him and put the files down on the desk. “They’re here.”
Toby, who was writing with a pen, paused and looked up for a split second. “Good. Now, you may excuse yourself.”
“I have something else I want to bring to your attention, President Fuller,” Tom said.
“What’s the matter?” Toby shifted his gaze from the papers to his assistant.
“Miss Reed is here.” Tom adjusted his glasses.
“What did you just say? Sonia is here?” Toby squinted with a pair of furrowed brows.
“Yes, she wants to see you and is currently waiting at the front desk on the first floor. Would you like to see her, President Fuller?” Tom gazed at Toby and asked him.
After all, he had never needed to ask Toby for his permission before letting Sonia in because Toby was always happy to see her. Because of that, he was never blamed for taking the liberty of granting Sonia access to Toby’s office, but nonetheless, things were no longer the same as they used to be when Toby made up his mind to stay away from Sonia. Therefore, he had to ask Toby’s permission before allowing Sonia to see him.
In the meantime, Toby responded with silence while squinting in a ponderous manner. In fact, he was aware of Sonia’s call about half an hour ago and had no idea why she was calling him. He was just sitting in his chair, tempted to answer Sonia’s call, when his phone rang but decided to ignore it until the call disconnected.
After that, he thought Sonia would give up and forget about reaching him, only to be surprised that she had come to visit him in his company. Deep down, he was happy that she came to see him but knew that he mustn’t give in to his temptation because all his effort would go down the drain if he decided to do that.
Therefore, he closed his eyes for a moment in a broody manner. When he opened them again, the bitterness and his love for Sonia were gone from his eyes, leaving only slight pain on the inside. “No!” He pursed his lips, uttering a firm negative answer.
Tom shrugged his shoulders as he didn’t find Toby’s answer surprising. Having expected how Toby would react, he reckoned it made sense for Toby to cut ties with Sonia since he was planning to give up on her.
Well, it’s a good thing for him not to see her, I guess. Because once they both meet, his feelings are going to take over him and bring everything back to square one.
“Alright, President Fuller. I’ll pass on your word.” Tom nodded.
“Yes, please,” Toby tightened his grip around the pen and replied in a deep voice.
Seeing Toby’s tight grip, Tom slowly began to notice that his boss’ hand was shivering. However, he only let out a sigh and stepped out of the office before making a phone call.
The receptionist quickly answered the call and asked, “Tom, are you calling to inform me that Miss Reed can see President Fuller now?”
Tom shook his head. “No. President Fuller has an important meeting to attend, so he is currently a little too busy to see Miss Reed at that moment. Therefore, you’re going to have to tell her to go home for now.”
In fact, he had figured out a euphemistic reason to make Sonia leave without meeting Toby because it was for her own good. After all, he knew Sonia would be a laughingstock if he told the receptionist that Toby didn’t want to see her, considering Sonia’s large network in the company.
Meanwhile, the receptionist gave Sonia a surprised look as soon as she learned that Toby wasn’t going to see her. Fortunately, Tom didn’t directly tell the receptionist about Toby’s refusal to see Sonia, or she would no longer treat her as cordially as she did.
In fact, he knew she might contempt Sonia for having lost her place in Toby’s heart and think it was because she didn’t visit Toby previously. If she thought that way, it would be a natural way for her to believe that Sonia had come to bring her relationship with Toby back to life.
Nevertheless, since Tom put his words tactfully, it didn’t occur to the receptionist that Sonia was here to save her relationship. Thus, she regrettably looked at Sonia after hanging up the call. “I’m sorry, Miss Reed. President Fuller says he has a meeting to attend later, so he won’t be available to see you. Therefore, please come another time.”
“A meeting?” Sonia knitted her eyebrows.
“Yes.” The receptionist nodded.
Sonia was silent for a while, whereupon she curled her lips upward. “Alright, I heard you. In that case, I guess I should get going first. Before I forget, please deliver this to President Fuller for me later.” She then gave the receptionist the thermal flask. “I made him some soup that is good for his bone recovery, but since it has been quite a while, it may have already gone cold. So, when you give it to him, please tell him to heat it up before drinking it.”
“Alright, Miss Reed.” The receptionist took the thermal flask.
“Thank you,” Sonia said and turned around to walk out of the building. As soon as she got back to her car, she reached for her phone and proceeded to send a text message to Toby on Messenger.
‘I made you some soup, so when you’re done with your meeting later, please get someone to collect it for you.”
On the other hand, Toby appeared to be absent-minded ever since Tom exited his office in the Fuller Group. With the same document lying in front of him, he was too distracted and distraught to flip it to the next page. Suddenly, his phone vibrated beside him as the screen lit up. After the vibration snapped him out of his trance, he rubbed his forehead and reached for his phone with a stunned look on his face.
Oh my gosh! It’s a message from Sonia!
Toby immediately viewed the message to read what Sonia wanted to tell him.
