Tina held onto the man’s arms with a smile on her face and said cheerily, “I was in a coma for so long that I’ve forgotten how to ski. Once we arrive at the skiing field later, you’ll have to be my skiing instructor!”
Toby glanced at her leg and asked with a frown, “Are you sure that your leg is fine?”
“It’s just a minor wound. Besides, I’ve been hospitalized for so long and I’ve recovered ages ago.” Tina smiled lightly and held onto his arm tightly. “It’s rare for you to accompany me for a trip when you have the time, so of course I want to share the fun with you.”
“Okay,” Toby responded calmly.
Tina had mentioned that she wanted to have some fun once she was discharged from the hospital. Coincidentally, Toby had some spare time so he decided to accompany her. However, he didn’t expect her to plan a trip to Mt. Buller Resort. It’s quite likely that Sonia’s here to see Thomas after getting the information from me.
…
Sonia and Charles went to the equipment shop to rent their ski attire and equipment as soon as they entered the ski field. Then, they changed into their attire in the changing room.
The skiing boots and jacket were quite heavy but fortunately for Sonia, she became used to them relatively quickly. She walked down to find that each ski trail was full of people.
She scanned the place and realized that everyone looked identical in their ski attire. After searching for Thomas at several ski trails, she was exhausted and her eyes felt quite uncomfortable. “The ski field is massive. Charles, have you caught sight of President Drew?” There was no response from him for quite some time and Sonia turned around, only to find that there was no one behind her.
“Baby, were you looking for me?” Charles zoomed toward her from the slope above and he did a perfect turn on his skis before stopping right in front of her.
Angered beyond words, Sonia muttered, “I asked you to come along and help me find President Drew. How dare you go skiing?”
“There are so many people here and everyone’s spread out all over the place. There’s no way I can locate anyone here!” Charles grabbed his skis and dragged her along. “Let’s go, baby. I’ll teach you how to ski. I’m sure you’ll turn out to be a formidable skier from my intensive coaching.”
Speechless, Sonia surveyed the massive ski field and realized that it was indeed quite crowded. In the end, she couldn’t help feeling resigned.
Just then, Charles dragged Sonia to the beginner’s slope. “This is the beginner’s slope and it’s not so challenging. It’s suitable for a newbie like you. Once you get used to your skis, you’ll be able to move around freely. By then we can head to the other intermediate slopes with a higher incline.”
It finally dawned upon Sonia and she murmured, “No wonder there are not that many people here and most of them have someone accompanying them. It’s because this is the beginner’s slope.” She peered around and all of a sudden, she saw a couple enter the ski trail. Coincidentally, it was someone she was quite familiar with.
Tina saw Sonia too and her expression turned cold instantaneously. Soon after that, the former plastered a smile on her face and greeted the latter, “Miss Reed, it’s such a coincidence to meet you and your boyfriend here.”
“Miss Gray, we’re actually not that close to each other so there’s no need for you to force yourself to greet us,” Charles responded lazily. “Why don’t you pester your darling President Fuller to spoil you? You should get him to take over this whole ski field and prohibit us from entering. Then, there’s no chance of us coming into contact with each other!”
Upon hearing that, Tina pursed her lips. “Mr. Lane, I don’t recall doing anything to offend you. I have to say that your words are simply too extreme!”
“Have you forgotten about the incident at the club?” Charles suddenly exclaimed with surprise and continued, “Oh—that makes sense then! You only have President Fuller on your mind because you’re overly anxious that your recycled husband will be taken by someone else. Obviously, you wouldn’t care to remember anything else then.”
Tina’s face turned as pale as a sheet and she looked quite pitiful standing there. Charles is so rude! Previously at the club, he deeply embarrassed me in public and I let it go then but today, his words are harsher than before! He’s so despicable!
“Gosh! I didn’t scold you so stop looking at me with that expression.” Charles acted fearfully and turned to say to Toby, “President Fuller, your girlfriend is as fragile as a porcelain doll, so you’d better take extreme care of her to prevent her from shattering into pieces!”
Meanwhile, Toby narrowed his eyes but remained silent and guided Tina to the other side. He then adjusted her gear for her.
“Come here, baby. Let me help you.” Charles kneeled down to help Sonia fasten her skis onto her boots. Snorting coldly, he muttered, “Tsk! It’s so easy to show affection!”
Meanwhile, Sonia couldn’t control her laughter as she found his actions quite amusing.
“What’s so funny?” Charles stood up and ruffled his hair before smirking at her. “Is it because you think that I’m handsome? Baby, why don’t you try and gain some weight? I’m sure I’ll be able to bring more happiness to your life.”
“Shut up!” Sonia poked him with her ski poles. “Don’t force me to slap you on the face!”
Charles subsequently behaved himself after being poked by Sonia and his expression turned quite solemn. He carefully lent her a helping hand and gave her time to gradually get used to the skis.
Meanwhile, Tina, who was standing quite close to them, heard their conversation and her face flushed pink. She softly remarked, “Although there are not that many people around, how can they… flirt so blatantly? That’s so shameless!”
Meanwhile, Toby glanced toward Sonia and Charles with tightly furrowed brows. I thought that she came here to discuss business with the boss of Continental Co. but I never expected her to be skiing and flirting with Charles. She seems to be enjoying herself a lot.
“Ignore them,” Toby mentioned in a low voice and the surrounding temperature seemed to be lower than before.
All of a sudden, Tina shivered as she lifted her head to look at him. She noticed that he had an impassive look on his face; it was as if his previous turbulent emotions had never existed and it was all in her imagination.
On the other hand, Sonia was a newbie at skiing so she was completely clueless at it. After Charles had finished giving her instructions, he let go of his hands and allowed her to slowly attempt using her ski poles. She tried to ski for a short distance but she soon lost her balance and fell onto the snowy surface.
This triggered Charles’ mocking laughter. “Baby, you’re so clumsy! How can you fall even while using ski poles! Can’t you balance yourself?”
“Shut up!” Sonia noticed Tina by the side, who was quite adept at using her ski poles as she skied around gracefully. The former felt a stronger sense of displeasure and she clenched her teeth, getting up from the ground to continue practicing.
After multiple falls, she finally managed to maneuver her ski poles deftly and she could also glide around the track quite easily. At that moment, she finally experienced the pleasure of skiing and no longer paid attention to the people around her but immersed herself into the activity.
In the afternoon, Sonia and Charles made their way to the ski field once more and this time, they chose the intermediate trail. There were more people on this trail and it was buzzing with energy.
Charles no longer needed to instruct Sonia and he fixed his skis on before gliding along behind her. Perhaps he was too bored, so he kept chattering to her and was quite a distraction.
“Baby, come over to my place for dinner with Grandpa on New Year’s Eve,” Charles murmured. “My mom nagged me over the phone two days ago because she wanted to see you.”
After her marriage, Sonia had always spent the New Year’s with Toby and his family. This year, however, she was no longer married to him.
But in the end, she didn’t agree with Charles’ suggestion. “Let’s talk about this later.”
She was aware that he felt sorry for her, but the Reed family still existed as there was still her and her grandfather left. Besides, she didn’t wish to intrude on another family’s gathering on such an occasion. She knew that her grandfather wouldn’t want to either.
Charles heaved a sigh. “Could you just agree to it considering my handsome looks? Pretty please, my darling girlfriend?”
“Fake girlfriend!” Sonia replied in a huff.
She no longer wanted to listen to him chattering so she dug her poles into the snow, thereafter brushing past him and gliding off. She had merely moved a few meters when she suddenly heard the sound of skis moving against the ground behind her.
Before she could react, she felt a sharp pain from behind and the impact knocked her ski poles off the ground. She could feel herself zooming down the slope.
“Sonia!” Charles shouted, his expression darkening as he quickly rushed after her.
The slope was quite steep and she zoomed downhill without any chance of stopping. Without her ski poles, she found she was unable to balance herself and she wobbled unsteadily.
Suddenly, a shadow zoomed toward her from the side and a man pulled her as he moved closer to her. Then, he quickly wrapped her arms around his waist and said with a low voice, “Hold on tight. Don’t let go of me.”
Sonia was sick with panic that as soon as she heard the voice ring out inaudibly by her ears, she immediately tightened her grip on the man’s waist.
Toby calmly steered his skis downhill and he skied on quite effortlessly despite having another person clinging onto him. Soon, they arrived at the end of the slope and they came to a firm stop.
“Miss Reed, we’ve arrived,” Toby announced as he looked at the woman who was still clinging to him. “What’s up? Do you want to hold on to me for a few more minutes?”
Toby Fuller? Sonia immediately let go of him as soon as she figured out who that male voice belonged to. She moved further away, keeping a distance from him.
Then, she removed her safety helmet and revealed a composed look. “I’m sorry. I thought that you were my boyfriend so I held on to you tightly earlier. Thank you, President Fuller.”
