The Indifferent Ex-Husband Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate

After hanging up, Sophia was a bit on the fence.

She hadn't expected that taking a few days off would throw a wrench in someone else's work.

She's always been the type to respond better to sugar than vinegar. If Kent had laid down the law and said no toff, that she

had to be back at the office tomorrow, she might've just gotten her back up and walked out. But Kent, taking a more roundabout

approach, had asked her nicely. Then after they hung up, he even sent her the revised proposal, which screamed urgency and tight

deadlines. Ditching him now would be pretty uncool.

Sophia mulled it over, figuring she could pull an all-nighter on the proposal and catch sz's on the plane tomorrow. But before

she even got her laptop up and running, Susan video-called her.

"l can't make it after all."

As soon as the call connected, Susan sounded bummed out, "The girl covering forbailed, and now the boss won't letleave.

He says there's another girl coming for an interview on Monday, and he wantsto stick around a few more days to get her up to

speed."

Sophia was speechless.

Seeing the still somewhat frail look on Sophia's face, she said, "You're not exactly back in fighting form yourself, so maybe it's best

to rest up at hfor now. I'm worried you won't hold up with the long flight and all."

"But Theresa." Sophia frowned, worried about disappointing her.

Susan replied, "lI haven't told her yet, and she's still got spreschool classes to finish. Might as well use this tto wrap those

up."

Then Susan turned the camera to show Theresa, happily engaged in her early learning class, not noticing the conversation

between Susan and Sophia.

Watching Theresa's beaming face, Sophia nodded after a second, "Alright."

It just so happened that the project was about to kick off, and she figured she wouldn't have much free tto spend with Theresa

even if she brought her home. Better to wait until the project was in full swing; she'd have more downtthen.

"Take it easy and don't overdo it," Susan advised, "Take good care of yourself."

"Will do, and you guys take care too."

Sophia smiled back, asked a bit about Theresa's well-being, and then ended the call.

Bright and early the next day, Kent rang Sophia up to ask what tshe was heading to work, offering to pick her up.

Kent's eagerness threw Sophia for a loop.

"Do you really need to?" She couldn't quite grasp what Kent was getting at. "I can just grab a cab later. No need for you to go out

of your way."

"No worries, it's on my way."

Kent chuckled over the phone, already slickly getting into his car and heading to Sophia's place.

Brandon had tasked him with taking Sophia to the airport, and at this hour, he'd rather not go to the office and risk running into

Brandon—it wouldn't be easy to explain.

Kent wasn't sure if Sophia was heading to the office or the airport. He thought it best to meet her at the entrance of her building—

either way, he'd be doing his duty. It was a solid plan. He could advance or retreat as needed.

Kent called Sophia only after he arrived at the base of her building.

Not wanting to keep Kent waiting, Sophia quickly got her things together and hurried down.

When Kent saw her, he instinctively glanced behind her. No luggage in sight. His heart, which had been up in his throat, settled

down a bit. He greeted her with a smile and, with a particular touch of eagerness, opened the car door for her.

His appeasing manner only confounded Sophia further.

On the way, Kent was in high spirits, maybe too much so, as he slipped, "Ms. Yearwood, why are you planning on heading to Wye

City again?"

"Huh?" Sophia raised an eyebrow at him, "Who said that?"

Kent metaphorically slapped his own mouth for that slip.

"Kent?" Sophia called his nagain.

Kent laughed awkwardly, "Mr. Crawley had askedto take you to the airport."

He couldn't help but steal glances at Sophia in the rearview mirror, seeing her frown slightly, he felt a bit uneasy. "What's the

matter?"

He was worried he might've screwed up with good intentions.

Sophia just smiled, "It's nothing."

She hadn't told Brandon about her plans to fly to Wye City, and she wondered how much he knew and how he found out.

Without revealing that he knew about her trip to Wye City, he had arranged for Kent to take her to the airport. This detail touched

Sophia.

In sways, Brandon was indeed a very attentive person.

He had a good sense of boundaries.

He said he wouldn't disturb her, so he didn't chimself, but he made sure to accommodate her inconvenience by specifically

arranging for someone to take her.

Kent couldn't read Sophia's poker face and was all over the place emotionally, regretting his big mouth and unsure if Sophia would

feel let down or upset that Brandon hadn't cin person.

Thinking this, he blurted out, "You know Mr. Crawley's usually swamped with work."

Before he could finish, Sophia cut in with a smile, "I know, it's okay, I'm touched. Please thank Mr. Crawley for me."

Kent didn't say anything.

Kent vaguely felt like he was digging a deeper hole for Brandon and couldn't quite pinpoint where he'd gone wrong. He drove to

the company's underground parking lot with a heart full of turmoil and watched Sophia smile, thank him, and step out of the car,

following her until she entered the elevator.

He went straight back to his office, his mind preoccupied and not watching where he was going. He bumped into someone right

outside the office door.

"Sorry."

Kent apologized, but before he could even look up, Brandon's deep voice was already overhead, "What are you doing here?"

Kent instinctively looked up to see Brandon holding a cup of water, frowning slightly, "Didn't | tell you to drop Sophia off?"

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