His Naughty Lessons-Chapter 165: Popular Vice President

** Harper **

Harper made a short stop at her room and dabbed a thick layer of concealer on the mark on her neck. On her way back to the atrium of the clubhouse, she texted Eli a quick message about having to attend the evening event. She hoped that the change of their usual schedule wouldn’t upset him — she did promise to make it up to him tonight, but now, she was already cutting their precious time together short by at least an hour.

Eli’s reply to her message was prompt and succinct: [ Ok, I’ll be there too. ]

Harper waited for a few seconds, wondering if he’d have anything to add. He didn’t. A small tinge of disappointment pulled at the edge of her mind. He didn’t send those rows of hearts like he had the last two days ... Was he unhappy about her last-minute change of plans?

She didn’t have much time to think about it though, because as soon as she arrived at the atrium, Lindsey and Naomi spotted her and waved her over to their cocktail booth.

"I heard everything went super well for you girls today," Naomi chirped. "Way to go! Much better luck than mine."

Lindsey giggled, then explained to a puzzled Harper, "Naomi was just telling me about her presentation being extensively drilled by her counterpart at Sterling. Every possible question about marketing unpredictability has been asked. She said it was like a slaughter scene—"

"Hey, don’t say that too loud." Naomi hushed her coworker. "The butcher might pass by us anytime and hear it! It’ll really become a slaughter scene then."

The three of them chuckled together.

"Anyway. So Harper, which corner have you been hiding for the past couple of evenings?" Lindsey changed the topic with a curious glance, sliding a champagne flute into Harper’s hand. "We kept looking for you. Were you so busy making new friends that you didn’t even have time to come hang out with us?"

"..." Ugh. Why was everyone suddenly looking for her the one rare time that she decided to sneak away from a group activity? Since when had she gotten so popular?

"Why, of course not!" Harper exclaimed. Resisting the urge to facepalm, she wondered how much she should share to continue dropping hints about her new relationship without making it sound too scandalous. "I was ... well, spending most of my time away from the big crowds. As in—"

"As in, with some special small crowd such as the one over there?" Naomi gave her a meaningful expression and nodded in a direction somewhere to their right.

Harper followed Naomi’s gaze. Oh, apparently the marketing girl had completely gotten the memo by now, because she was looking right at the huge fountain at the center of the atrium, where Eli was standing and chatting with a small crowd.

It was hard to see his face with his back turned partially toward them, but Harper had no complaints about enjoying the view of his side profile like this. He was wearing another Hawaiian shirt today, dark blue with a white hibiscus pattern. It didn’t look nearly as wild and sexy on him as the red one he had worn yesterday, but it fit perfectly into the occasion, giving him a more sophisticated yet still bold vibe, and the color contrasted perfectly with the warm tan of his skin, bringing out the masculine edge of his features.

Harper felt a smile beginning to tug at the corner of her lips. But then that smile faded a little when she finally spared enough attention to notice the people gathered around him.

They were all young women, each one dressed prettily, circling Eli like a bevy of butterflies. Some of them were surreptitiously shuffling each other to get closer to the center of the circle. Some of them were casually tossing their hair or batting their thick lashes. Then at some point, all of them laughed, probably because the guy at the center said something funny, although Harper couldn’t hear it over the live band playing behind her.

"Oh, is that the Sterling Trust group over there?" Lindsey commented as she followed suit to look over at the fountain. "I only recognize the vice president Harper introduced me to last time. He looks popular."

... Harper wasn’t quite sure if she liked that observation.

She had known for a while now that Eli was a chick magnet. Many people, including himself, had repeatedly reminded her of the fact. But to see it in live action ... still felt a bit different from what she expected, and she couldn’t help but remember the old conversation with May about "Mr. Perfect" and "textbook-level flirting skills" ...

"Yep, pretty sure all of those ladies are from Sterling’s marketing and finance departments," Naomi was saying to Lindsey. "I’ve seen them around in meetings, and they all seem to like clinging to their young boss. Not surprising though — can you really expect a guy like that to not be popular?"

In a somewhat furtive way, Naomi gave Harper a slight nudge on the elbow, darting over a look that said "watch out, you’ve got competition".

Harper was wondering if she should chuckle or sigh or roll her eyes at that when Lindsey exclaimed again, "Oh, what about that new one, is she from marketing or finance? Don’t you think she’s a bit overdressed for casual socials?"

Harper and Naomi turned their eyes back to the fountain, just in time to see a new girl sashaying toward the small crowd. Like Lindsey said, she definitely stood out with a high slit sparkly cocktail dress, and when the group saw her approach, even Eli looked ... stunned.

As the bevy of butterflies automatically parted a path for the newcomer, she held out her arms to Eli, in a manner that seemed completely easy and familiar. The two of them exchanged a tight hug — with Eli still looking dazed — followed by a kiss on the cheek.

"..." Harper stiffened. This wasn’t yet another Vanessa, was it? Could her luck at public gatherings involving Eli’s presence truly be that bad?