
It was dusk now in London.
The setting sun cast a golden glow on the River Thames, and the reflections of buildings on the river banks in the water swayed in breeze.
"I miss you."
The low and soft voice of Joanne came from the other side of the earth, taking Brian's breath away without any signs.
He suddenly stopped and had an unrealistic fantasy for the first time-he wished he could teleport.
If he could teleport, he would hold Joanne in his arms at this moment.
Seeing Brian stopped, a group of secretaries directed an inquiring glance at him. He motioned them to go first.
Brian strolled to the river bank alone and said, "The things are settled here. I will go to the airport after dinner and arrive home at tomorrow's noon."
"Mmm," Joanne answered, but her voice still sounded spiritless. Brian frowned and wanted to ask her what was wrong with her. Before he asked, Joanne became energetic again. "Hey, answer the video call."
"You don't think the international call is expensive now, do you?"
"No! Anyway, you will pay for it!" Joanne answered boldly.
Brian did not know what to say. After he answered the video call, the pretty face of Joanne appeared on the screen. He could not take his eyes off her face.
Separated from the screen, Joanne absolutely could not feel the love in Brian's eyes. She was busy explaining, "Don't get me wrong. The reason why I called you is not that I can't wait to see what you are doing. I call this an upgraded version of sentry inspection by phone!"
Then she said with surprise, "Gee! Are you beside the River Thames? I have been there too. The Westminster Abbey is nearby."
That royal church where a large number of great men were buried was indeed nearby. Brian turned the mobile phone camera to that direction, and asked her, "When did you come here?"
"After I graduated from college," Joanne answered, "Freya wanted to see the church where the wedding of prince and princess were held. So she asked me to go there. That was our graduation trip."
Wedding?
That word drew Brian's attention.
"Joanne", taking back the mobile phone, he stared at the face of Joanne on the screen. "I have something to talk with you after I go back. Wait for me. OK?"
Joanne chuckled. "Then you should come back quickly, or I will not wait."
"Sir?"
Before Brian replied, he heard a strange woman's voice. "Could you tell me how to get to the London Bridge?" That woman asked with a pure London accent.
Even Joanne could tell the London accent of that woman. Asking the way was her excuse, she absolutely wanted to hit on Brian.
She was eager to hear the answer of Brian.
Brian replied indifferently, "Sorry, I have no idea. But my wife is familiar with the tourist attractions in London. We are on the phone. Do you need me to ask her?"
Glancing at Brian's mobile phone, the woman obviously paused for a moment. She apologized with a smile. "No, thanks." Then she ran away hurriedly.
"Why did you lie to her?" Although Joanne said that, she still could not help smiling. "I have been to London only once. How can I be familiar with London?"
"So you want me to show her the way? Then she will ask me to take her there," Brian asked without answering Joanne's question.
"... Then you'd better dismiss her. Anyway, she did not really want to ask the way." Suddenly, Joanne realized that something was wrong. "Why are you so familiar with the process of accosting?"
Brian answered calmly, "I have been hit on for too many times."
Joanne, "..."
"Mr. Brian." The assistant came back to remind Brian. "We will leave for the airport in an hour."
Joanne also heard what the assistant said. Suddenly recalling that Brian had not had dinner, she said immediately, "Go to have your dinner, and I will go to bed. See you tomorrow."
Brian replied, "See you tomorrow."
Seeing that Brian was unwilling to hang up first, she touched the screen with her slender fingers. The video call ended, and the face of Brian disappeared on the screen.
Lying on the bed, she pulled up the quilt and made sure that all sides of the quilt were tucked in under her body-This was how she covered herself with the quilt when it was cold. In this way, she would not kick off the quilt.
"When he comes back, he will tuck me in."
The next morning, Joanne received a phone call from Captain Turner who told her to have a day off.
Although happy, she was also confused. "What about the case of David?"
"Just put it aside," Captain Turner said resignedly, "we have no choice. There are such unsolved cases being archived every year. We have new and more urgent cases to deal with, so we cannot spend too many resources on this case. Take a day off. There are new cases waiting for us tomorrow."
"OK."
After hanging up the phone, Joanne found an unread SMS which was sent by Brian at 1 a.m. It said that he was already aboard the plane and would arrive home at noon.
Although it was still early, Joanne could not fall asleep again after reading this message. So she got up to have breakfast and tried to find something to do to kill the time. Time went by fast. It was already eleven o'clock.
"Young Madam," Simon came and asked, "Young Master will be back today. What should I prepare for lunch?"
After thinking for a while, Joanne said, "Let me cook the lunch."
Having cooked dinner for Brian for such a long time, Joanne had figured out which dishes Brian preferred. So the dishes she cooked today were all Brian's favourites. After cooking the dinner, it was already one o'clock.
Simon walked into kitchen happily. "Young Madam, Young Master called back just now. He has already gotten off the plane, and is on his way home."
"Really?" Joanne said surprisedly. Then she subconsciously lowered head and looked at her clothes-the loose pajamas?
She took off the apron unhappily. "Simon, have the dishes taken out. I will go back to my room for a while."
Joanne had no sooner finished what she said than she rushed to the second floor.
She ran straight into her room.
She opened her wardrobe the moment she entered the room. Although she had a lot of clothes, Joanne did not know which one she should choose.
"I cannot choose high-profile clothes which are too grand. Brian will know what I am thinking and make fun of me. But the clothes in a low profile I have are all leisurewear which is not attractive at all. Compared to them, pajamas seem to be a better choice."
"Ugh..."
Joanne stepped back in a dilemma and flopped down into her bed. Resting her chin on the hands, she stared at these clothes worriedly.
Finally, her eyes fell on a light-colored dress which Brian bought for her last time!
"Now that he chose this one, it means that he likes it. The color and style of the dress are both in a low profile, which satisfies my requirements."
Without any hesitation, Joanne put on the dress and combed her hair carefully. Thinking it was a bit too try-hard, she rumpled her hair again.
At this moment, "click-", the door opened.
Joanne subconsciously looked at the door-
Brian!
He was away only for a week, but Joanne felt that she had not seen him for a century. He looked the same as he was when he left, wearing the spotless shoes and the suit that fitted well.
Ignoring her rumpled hair, Joanne flung herself into Brian's arms, tightly holding around his waist.
Joanne needn't say anything, because every move of her told him how much she missed and loved him.
Brian combed her rumpled hair. "I have told you that I was on my way home. Why did not you wait for me downstairs?"
"I..." Joanne mumbled, "The clothes I was wearing was too ugly..."
Brian could not help smiling. "I thought you did it on purpose."
Joanne did not understand what he meant. She blinked her eyes. "What was on purpose?"
Saying nothing, Brian lowered his head and kissed Joanne.
Although the sceneries abroad were new and attractive, all he wanted was going back home as soon as possible after finishing his troublesome work. Because in a foreign country, he could not talk to her, eat the dishes she cooked, and be accompanied by her in the long nights.
He loosened the arms around Joanne unwillingly. She stared at him, instead of avoiding eye contact shyly as before.
Sometimes, he found that Joanne was gazing at him secretly. However, she would immediately look away the moment he looked at her. She did not admit it and even lied that she was enjoying the view.
It was unusual that she gazed at him in this way.
"What's the matter?" he asked.
"Nothing." Joanne shook her head with a smile. "I just want to make sure that you are here." Then, she would feel secured.
"Her unusual frankness may imply how much she missed me."
Brian was overwhelmed by a feeling of happiness suddenly. He pulled Joanne into his arms, pressing his forehead against hers. "Do you want to make sure that I have come back in another way, hum?"
Before Joanne understood what Brian's words meant, her stomach began to growl.
Brian frowned. "You haven't had lunch?"
Joanne looked down, and there was some grievance in her voice. "I want to wait for you to eat together..."
Having been fighting in the battlefield of markets for so many years, Brian thought his heart had already become strong enough.
However, what Joanne said melted his heart easily.
In order to expand the realm of Lambert Group, he had gone on business trips for countless times. Every time, carrying simple luggage, he did not feel sad when he left this house, nor did he feel happy when he was back.
For him, this house was not his home, but only a place where he could store his personal belongings.
But now, Joanne lived here, a girl who was reluctant to part with him and expected him to come back every day.
This kind of feeling was too wonderful to describe.
Seeing that Brian did not respond, Joanne asked, "You have had your lunch on the plane, haven't you?"
Her dewy eyes were filled with disappointment. Brian rubbed her hair. "Stupid."
In the plane flying at an altitude of 30,000 feet, when thinking that he was able to see her in several hours, Brian was in no mood to have lunch.
He took Joanne's hand. "Let's go downstairs."
A smile bloomed on Joanne's face again. She followed Brian to the dining room at a brisk pace.
Rice and soup had been served on the table by Martha. Joanne drank nearly a half bowl of soup the moment she sat down. Martha said with a smile, "The appetite of Young Madam becomes better after Young Master came back."
Martha who was busy with serving them echoed. "I can't agree more."
Catching a glimpse of the smile on Brian's face, Joanne was so embarrassed that she wanted to hide her face in the bowl.


