The Way to a Man's Heart

Chapter 16

A/N: The image above does not belong to me. It belongs to the person who uploaded iton the internet.

Tee's POV

"What time is my meeting with the owner of this land and building?" I asked my secretary Alice.

"One thirty this afternoon, so you might want to have your lunch brought up to your room instead of going to a restaurant outside the building," Alice advised me. She knew how I would come back late whenever I went out to eat lunch.

"Noted," I said. "Please ask the cafeteria manager to have one of his staff bring my lunch up to my office."

"Will do," said Alice.

I was about to walk towards the elevator to go up to my office when she called out.

"Oh by the way, for your info, it will not be Mr. Thanatchai Kreepolrerk who will be meeting with you this afternoon," she said. "He cannot make it today so he is sending his son Tae to meet with you to discuss the new rental rate for this building and to sign a new contract after you have reached an agreement."

Damn! I would have preferred to meet with the old man. Although I had not yet met his son Tae, I felt anxious about meeting with the younger Kreepolrerk because the next generation of any family business is usually more aggressive and more greedy than the older one. I feared that I would have a harder time negotiating with him to keep the old rental rate instead of increasing it for the upcoming year. Oh well ... good luck to me. I will have to keep my fingers crossed.

I wasn't disappointed with the Gai Lan in Oyster Sauce served on a bed of fragrant rice. The ice cold coconut juice complimented my lunch. I did not make a mistake in choosing who would be the concessionaire for my company cafeteria.

I had enough time after brushing my teeth in my private bathroom inside my office, to go through the lease contract. The figures for the monthly lease was left blank until we could decide upon the amount.

I had just finished reading through the renewal contract when Alice buzzed me.

"Tae Kreepolrerk is here to see you," she announced.

"Send him up to me," I instructed her.

A few minutes later there was a soft knock on my door.

"Come in!" I called out.

My door opened and in stepped Mr. Tae Kreepolrerk.

I looked up from reading the contract to greet him.

Cue the soft heavenly music. Cue the gently breeze that softly blew the tendrils of hair from my forehead. And then cue the sharp grating music that brought me back to earth.

"Mr. Jarujitranon?"

Shit, how long had he been extending his hand to me.

I quickly accepted his hand for a brief handshake.

"Please sit down, Mr. Kreepolrerk," I said, quelling the embarrassment I felt at my spacing out for a few seconds.

"Tae, just call me Tae," he said as he took the seat right in front of my desk.

"In that case, just call me Tee," I responded with a smile.

"Tee it is," he agreed, nodding his head.

He opened his thin briefcase and took out a thin sheaf of papers which I assumed was the lease contract for this building that I was renting for my company.

He set the papers down on his side of my desk before saying, "So the current rental for this building is ... (he named the amount). And to renew this contract, we will be starting with the new monthly rate of ... (he named the new figures)"

Before I could even state my case of why I would like for the current rate to be retained, he quickly said, "But if you find the new rate to be exorbitant, we could negotiate for a lower amount."

"Actually I was hoping that we could retain the current rate," I said, my voice sounding hesitant, already expecting him to turn down my request.

"Alright, let's do that," he said.

I couldn't hide the pleasant shock I felt because I had expected him to put up an argument.

He pushed the sheaf of papers towards me.

"I'm easy to talk to," he said with a friendly smile. "Sign on the bottom part of the third page and I'll be out of here in a flash."

I picked up my pen and signed on the bottom page of the contract.

"Thank you so much," I said as I pushed the papers towards him so that he could sign beside my name.

"Are you free tonight?" I asked without thinking.

"Huh?" he was taken by surprised as much as I was by my bold question.

"I would like to treat you to dinner," I said. "... to thank you for agreeing to the current rate for this year's lease contract."

"You don't have to," he started to say and my heart plummeted in a downward spiral.

But then he added, "... but I would very much like to accept your invitation."

"Great!" I exclaimed. "If you're not allergic to seafood, I would like to invite you to try the newly opened Wild Caught & Grilled seafood restaurant just outside Bangkok. It might be a bit of a drive from here but it's worth the trip."

(A/N: The above name of a restaurant was just made up. I'm not aware if such establishment really exists.)

"I'm sure it will be," he said.

I walked him to the elevator where we shook hands once more.

"See you there at seven tonight," I said before walking back to my office.