Chapter 6: VERY CONSIDERATE

Charles looked cool, overbearing, and fickle, but as a lover, he was surprisingly gentle. He respected Sarah's opinion and always made a decision based upon what she wanted. This made Sarah feel like a genuine connection with Charles might actually be possible. It had never occurred to Sarah that Charles could be so tender and gentle. When they went out for a date, Charles always let her decide what she wanted and never forced her to do anything she didn't want to do. Charles gave her the feeling of romantic love, so Sarah thought that maybe she had misjudged him before. However, sometimes she became suspicious, wondering whether Charles was gentle to every woman that he interacted with and not just her. Did Charles truly love her? She tried to gauge the answer from his eyes, but she was unable to read him. In her presence, Charles was very tender and affectionate, which confused her even further. Sarah knew that Charles was fickle in love, and it wasn't easy for him to truly fall in love with a woman. On the other hand, she couldn't fathom why he would only pretend to be affectionate to her. Charles was very high-profile. It seemed that he was happy to let their love be public. Every day, he picked her up and stayed with her, which made their relationship quickly known by everyone in the company. Everyone now knew that Sarah was their president's girlfriend. This all made Sarah a little embarrassed because she was used to keeping a low profile. All in all, their love had a bad influence on the dynamic of the company, but Charles didn't care about that. Perhaps, the notion of romantic privacy was, in fact, the one thing that Charles didn't respect her opinion on. Sometimes, Charles would buy an enormous bunch of flowers for her, which were so big that even her entire desk was unusable. Women envied Sarah when they saw Charles' extravagant romantic gestures and would whisper about it privately amongst themselves. Sarah couldn't refuse his gestures, of course, as Charles was too overbearing. Moreover, she enjoyed it, because she felt that above all, it was really sweet to be loved by someone. Sarah's birthday was in a few days. As it happened, she was really looking forward to this birthday. Since her younger sister studied in another city, she had always celebrated her birthday on her own before. Even though there were one or two friends around, she still felt alone when she came home and saw her empty room. But this time was different; she had Charles, who could accompany her. In fact, the only thing she wanted was to be accompanied by someone. Therefore, Sarah was particularly excited about this birthday. However, several days before her birthday, Charles had not signaled that he had made any plans. No matter how often Sarah reminded him, he still couldn't remember her birthday. Even on the day of her birthday, Charles had not made any plans and Sarah hadn't received even a single flower from him. Charles was very busy during the day, which upset Sarah immensely. However, she couldn't complain because Charles was a CEO and had an enormous number of things to do every day. It was expected that sometimes he would ignore her, but she still felt so upset. Perhaps it was because he had treated her so well before that she had now grown to expect too much of him. After work, Charles still stayed in his office. Sarah called him, only to be told, "You can go home first. I still have work to do." Holding the phone, Sarah tried to hide her sadness, asking, "Charles, do you know what day it is today? "What do you mean, what day is it today? September 1st, Teachers' Day? No, Teachers' Day is on October 1st. The Mid-Autumn Festival? No, it's not. The Mid-Autumn Festival is in a weeks' time. What day is it today, then?" Understanding that he had completely forgotten, Sarah was heartbroken and said, "Nothing. You are so busy, and I won't disturb you anymore." After hanging up the phone, she went home alone. Once she was home, Sarah sat down on the sofa. Seeing the empty room and the clock on the wall, she felt even lonelier on this birthday than in the past. She had never expected anything before, so it was not so sad. This time, however, she had expected something from Charles, and he had let her down. Sarah checked the clock on the wall; it was nearly 20:13, which was the time that she was born. Obviously, it was a time that should be full of happiness and excitement, but she was still alone. She felt so disappointed. The minute hand finally pointed to thirteen. Suddenly, Sarah's phone rang. Could it be Charles? Did he want to give her a surprise? Thinking this, Sarah excitedly picked up the phone, only to discover that the caller was not Charles, but her younger sister. The only one who always remembered her birthday was her sister. She pretended to be happy as she answered the phone, "Hello, Sophia." "My dear sister, happy birthday to you! Well, I always call you at the right time, aren't I so considerate? Ha-ha!" Hearing her sister's laughter made Sarah smile slightly, "Yes, you are very considerate. Ha-ha." She felt so warm when she was on the phone with her sister. However, as soon as she thought about Charles, she was suddenly overwhelmed with sadness again. At this moment, to Sarah's amazement, fireworks suddenly burst in the sky outside the window, displaying a message, "Happy Birthday Sarah."