Turning Of the Tide by Diana Sander

At the Turner Corporation, Joseph and Christina had just stepped into the private elevator when Joseph's phone rang. The elevator door closed, and the signal was lost, the ringing stopping almost immediately.

Christina held Joseph's wrist and tidied his curly hair as she stood next to him in her high heels. Christina looked up and said, "Call back later." She didn't even ask who had called.

Joseph smiled warmly and beautifully at Christina's trust in him. "You didn't even ask who called me, and you're not worried at all." Christina smiled back and said confidently, "You won't like anyone other than me, right?" "Ms. Yamin, | like your confidence." Joseph couldn't help but lower his head and peck the corner of Christina's mouth carefully.

After they kissed, the elevator doors opened. The two of them straightened their clothes and cout seriously as if the flirtation in the elevator just now was nothing. Joseph followed Christina to the office.

Christina took off her jacket and helped Joseph take his jacket off as well. She hung both their jackets on the coat hanger and sat down. Joseph sat on the edge of the table and played with Christina's hair with one hand.

He returned the call, and the person on the other end of the line said something. The corners of Joseph's mouth curled up, and he simply instructed, "Protect her well." The call ended, and Christina guessed, "The call was from the bodyguard protecting Leia." Joseph's lips curled into a smile. His fingers were still curled around Christina's curly hair as he asked gently, "Guess what he said." Christina had no answer to this question and honestly shook her head. "I don't know." "Chris and Leia are already dating. The two of them kissed last night and did the sthis morning." Joseph smiled as he watched Christina's reaction.

Hearing this, Christina's calm face revealed a trace of surprise. A few seconds later, Christina asked, "The two of them are in a secret relationship?" If it wasn't a secret relationship, Christina couldn't think of a good reason why she wasn't aware of this. She was sure that her mother didn't know. Otherwise, her mother would have called to give her the good news.

Both Joseph and Christina had the sthoughts. Joseph had always felt that Christina was brilliant and could always analyze and make judgments quickly. "I think so. Leia probably wanted to try things out with Chris first, so she suggested they keep it a secret. There's nothing wrong with that. Don't worry, Leia will like Chris’ kindness, straightforwardness, and innocence.

Christina nodded in agreement and respected Leia's idea. "Then we'll pretend that we don't know. We won't ask or disturb them. It's indeed inappropriate for my mother to know about it since they've just gotten together. My mother will directly charge over there. If we're too enthusiastic, it will backfire. I'm not sure if Leia would like this kind of enthusiasm. Let's wait for a while.

"I'll tell Mom another day. There's no hurry. Chris has to learn to maintain his relationship on his own." ‘Marriage would last a lifetime, so no one else could help. Even if others helped at the beginning, Chris would still have to figure out how to maintain his relationship on his own." Joseph thought. They could help with sthings, but not others.

That night, after working overtime, Chris went straight to Yamin Group. Many employees had already left, and there were only a few people in the main lobby. Chris did not get out of the car, afraid he would be too conspicuous.

The car was parked in a parking lot. Chris sent a message to Leia, telling her which parking space he was in and what color his car was.

Little did he know Leia had already memorized his car's license plate number.

About ten minutes later, the door of the front passenger seat was opened. Leia was not wearing a mask and openly got into Chris' car.

Chris turned around, looking into his rearview mirror like someone with a guilty conscience. Chris asked, "Aren't you afraid?" Leia lowered her head and fastened her seatbelt with a gentle smile. When She was with Chris, she could easily put down the usual front she put on at the company. "Afraid of what? Being found out? We don't have to hide it deliberately." Leia felt that otherwise, this would be too unfair to Chris. This was the decision Leia had made after speaking with Quinn this afternoon. They were not doing anything shameful and just wanted to try it out for stand understand each other better.

Hearing this, Chris was delighted. "Can we make it official now?" Leia smiled. "Let's go with the flow." Chris understood what Leia meant. They wouldn't announce it but they wouldn't intentionally hide it either. If their relationship happened to be found out, they wouldn't deny it. Chris wasn't stupid. When Chris was studying, he read quite a lot of books and understood things quite well.

Chris started the car before he turned around and asked, "What do you want to eat?" Leia answered, "This is your area. You decide and I'll go with you." Chris liked Leia's way of speaking more and more. Leia was speaking very seriously, but it always tugged at his heartstrings. "Alright, then I'll bring you to eat sspecialty dishes," Chris said.

As soon as the car started, Leia remembered the incident where Chris had cut off other cars to enter the lane.

Leia turned and reminded Chris, "There are a lot of cars at night. Don't cut into other lanes." "What?" Chris asked, wondering how his girlfriend had known about this.

Leia turned around and saw the confusion in Chris' eyes. Leia smiled and explained, "Last year, you cut into my lane, right in front of my car. | remembered your license plate. You overtookand cut in." This was a little awkward. Chris rubbed his nose with one hand to ease the awkwardness. Chris did not expect his bad habit to be known by the woman beside him. "I only have this bad habit. As well as maybe smoking a few cigarettes occasionally. | don't even smoke a pack a month. Can | call you Leia?" Leia answered, "Sure, you can callwhatever you want. It's not safe to cut into other lanes. Safety first when driving." Chris nodded and listened. "Okay, I'll listen to you. I'll take note of this in the future." Since Leia had made this suggestion, Chris had been driving obediently. Even if there was a truck in front of him driving at a snail's pace, he would still foolishly follow behind at a speed of 12 mph.

The half-hour drive to the hotel took them an hour and fifteen minutes. This was the most regulated drive Chris had ever taken, but he was in a good mood since he enjoyed being in Leia's company.

Over more than an hour, Leia watched Chris multiple times. Chris could not help but laugh a few times, and Leia felt she had not chosen the wrong person or made the wrong decision. Leia even felt she did not need to worry about how things would turn out, and it was enough if they were happy.

When he got out of the car, Chris stood at the side and waited for Leia. He did not help her to open her door.

After Leia got out of the car, she walked around the back of the car and to Chris’ side. Leia held Chris' hand, and the two of them interlocked their fingers as they walked inside and arrived at a private room.

As Leia held his hand, Chris' heart was racing and he was extremely happy.

Without closing the door properly, Chris gave the menu to Leia. Leia ordered several dishes and asked Chris what he wanted to eat. Chris added a few more dishes, and after they finished ordering, Leia handed the menu to the waiter.

After the waiter left, only the couple was left in the room. Chris and Leia chatted about sthings that had happened in the hospital today and talked about Kimble's ex-girlfriend asking Kimble for sbreakup fees, as well as sother matters.

After hearing this, Leia frowned slightly. "Did he give it to her?" "No, he doesn't have the money either. He's someone who spends all his monthly salary, and he spent a lot on this girl. If she had not asked Kimble to buy a villa, they might not have broken up," Chris said.

It was difficult for Leia to comment on someone else's relationship, but it was obvious that the girl was after something in this relationship. Leia did not hide her thoughts from Chris. "I think this girl has more than one boyfriend." "You're right. Kimble only found out today that she had been cheating on him. This woman has a total of three boyfriends, and she was dating all of them at the stime." Chris said.

Leia nodded. "This is probably not her first tdoing something like this. The fact that she could see them all at the stwithout them meeting shows that she had planned it. She's quite meticulous." Before Chris could say anything, the door was suddenly pushed open. Frank leaned lazily against the door and glanced around the private room. Frank stared at Chris with a faint smile and a teasing look in his eyes. "Having a date? What a coincidence, I'm having a date with Ava here too." Frank said.

Chris wanted to ask Frank what kind of date he was having with Ava, considering they'd already been married for so long.

Frank and Ava, who had just finished eating, had been about to leave when a voice caused Frank to stop in his tracks. Frank had paused at the door for a few minutes.

Ava poked her head out from behind Frank and looked at the scene in front of her in disbelief. "You... are dating?" 'l should have checked my horoscope today," Chris thought.

Compared to Chris, Leia was more open. Leia smiled and invited, "Do you want to cin and eat together? Sit with us for a while." Ava did not want to disturb their date. She guessed that they had just gotten together and wouldn't want to be disturbed, much like how she had felt when she had first started dating Frank. However, Frank was a rebellious person who enjoyed . Frank held Ava's hand and walked towards them. "I guess we can't turn you down." Ava and Chris were both speechless.

Ava turned around and looked at Frank in confusion. Frank smiled and pulled Ava to sit down, leaning lazily against the back of the chair. "It's rare to meet you. Let's have a short chat." Chris frowned and glared at Frank. Chris' gaze was completely unwelcoming and was a signal for Frank to leave.

However, Frank seemed to be blind, sitting there with no intention of leaving. Instead, Frank seemed to want to start a conversation.

Chris felt an internal turmoil, feeling like it was so difficult for him to just go on a date.

Their date suddenly beca four-person meal. Frank and Ava had already eaten so it was no longer considered dinner. It could only be considered supper.

The waiter served the dishes, and Chris handed a fork to Leia. Leia took it and handed the fork to Ava. Ava waved her hand and said politely, "Leia, we've eaten already." Chris glanced at Frank coldly, indicating that he could leave after eating. Frank smiled and said, "Take care of the girls while they eat. Don't stuff your face." Frank cursed silently. If Chris continued eating like this, the girlfriend he had just gotten together with would be driven away. Frank felt that at the very least, he had put seffort into making sure that Chris wouldn't lose his new girlfriend in a short period.

If anyone asked what it felt like to have a friend who was single at an older age, Frank would say that it was enough to make a married man like him worry.

Frank and Ava stood up to leave before their seats had even been warmed. Ava kept scratching Frank's palm under the table, signaling him not to disturb Chris and Leia's date.

Frank had not wanted to disturb them, he had just wanted to take a look. "We're leaving. Both of you should eat." Leia spoke, "Goodbye, Ava." Ava was led out by Frank. Frank turned around and smiled. "Leia, best wishes." "Thank you," Leia responded.

Frank walked to the door and sent a message to Chris, saying, [I know you are treating her to a meal, but anyone else might think she's the one paying. You won't starve to death by eating less. At least peel sseafood for her. | don't plan to help you with a love confession a second time.] In the private room, Chris, who had just finished reading the message, had a dark expression on his face. Chris deleted the message, knowing he could not let Leia see this message.

After deleting the message, Chris hid his phone in his pocket.

Ava asked, "What did you send Chris?" Frank kept no secrets from Ava. He handed her his phone for her to take a look. After reading the message, she asked, "Is Chris not meticulous?" "All men are like this," Frank responded. The reason Chris had been single for so long was probably because he only worried about his survival.

In the private room, Chris spoke, "I'm sorry, Frank is just like that." Leia didn't mind. Instead, Leia was happy for Chris. "It's not a bad thing. It's not easy to have a few good friends in your life. | can tell that they care about you very much." Chris did not refute this. He smiled and listened to Frank's advice, helping Leia peel the prawns and carefully removing the veins for her.

After peeling the prawns, Chris began to pick at the fish bones. After picking out the fish bones, Chris started to peel the other seafood. After he finished peeling all the seafood, Chris started to take spasta.

Looking at this scene, Leia felt a warm feeling in her heart. It was as if a mouthful of honey had been poured into her heart, and it was very sweet.

A full plate of prawns was placed in front of Leia. Chris slowly placed the other seafood in front of her and Leia spoke, "Thank you." Chris bluntly stated his shortcomings. "I'm a straightforward person and I'm not very proactive in many things. If I don't do well, just telldirectly. There's no need to beat around the bush to try to remind me. Just like the matter of my driving. I'll correct my shortcomings." Chris felt he could do anything, as long as they were together.

Leia saw the worry in Chris' eyes. He seemed to be afraid, and she smiled and comforted him. "You're good.

Everyone has flaws. | have them too. No one is perfect. No one can do everything perfectly. I'm looking for a boyfriend, not an artwork. There's no need to be so perfect. Someone like you is real." From Leia's point of view, being too perfect did not feel real. It was very unreal. No one was perfect. If they were, it was all an act.

Upon hearing Leia's words, Chris' anxious heart relaxed. Chris smiled and asked Leia to eat.

Leia gave Chris a portion of the seafood in front of her. She did not want to waste the seafood that Chris had worked so hard on.