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"I will handle it Dad you don't have to worry, I will talk to you later," Gina said to her father over the phone before ending the call... she ran her hand through her hair and stood up from her seat... She thought it was Charles who was calling but only became more dampened when she saw that it was called from her father... she had hesitantly picked up the call and he had only ended up adding more pressure when she was already beyond pressurised... if it was possible Gina wished she could just disappear to another planet, but first, she would take Charlie with her so they could be together freely and ignore all of their problems... She looked completely stressed, and eye bags had formed around her eyes... she picked up her phone and checked the message Caroline had sent to her once again... it was a message that continued the time and date for her meeting with Caroline's son... she dropped her phone on her desk and face palmed herself... It was the day already and she had to meet him in a few hours... Charles kept calling her, but suddenly he stopped... a few days had passed already and more than a week since she rejected him and now she had to face what she rejected him for... a knock on her office door caught her attention... "Who is it?" Gina said and got a response from Clara... "Come in," She said after arranging her dishevelled hair and taking a seat... Clara walked into the office with a file in her hand and dropped it in front of Gina... "We need your signature ma'am for the salary approval, you told me to come back today when I asked you a few days ago and I don't think we can postpone it any longer" Clara explained and Gina nodded... she sighed deeply and picked up the document Clara had brought and went through it... Clara couldn't help but notice the state her boss was in... For the past few days, she had noticed that Gina had been acting different... she came too early or too late to work and then left after everyone... it was definitely unlike Gina to work late... she couldn't even concentrate and had her attend to all their important customers... Even now, she looked exhausted... Gina wasn't the best person, but Clara was still concerned because if something affected Clara, it might affect the boutique and then her job... she loved her job too much... she would have never dreamed of the life she had now if Clara had not hired her when no everyone else refused to because of her background... Even though Clara didn't want to admit it, she was worried about Gina... "Is everything alright ma'am" She couldn't stop herself from asking... this caused Gina to sigh deeply again.. She closed the document that she had signed and looked up at Clara, who had concern written all over her face... "How long have you been working here?" Gina asked... "About almost four years now ma'am" Clara responded, wondering where the question was leading to. Gina nodded, and a slight smile appeared on her face... "I opened this boutique four years ago, and you were one of my first employees," Gina said, remembering the time when she had first started her boutique... she was in her third year in college and wanted a bit of independence, a way out for her after college so she wouldn't return to her father's house and the boutique had been her way out... the building once belonged to her grandmother and her father had not paid it much attention when she told him she was going to open a boutique there, but now here she was four years later, about to open a new branch... It had become more successful than she imagined... how could she possibly let go of it now... "Is everything alright, ma'am?" Clara asked, snapping Gina out of her reverie... "Everything is fine, you may go, I'm leaving soon, I have somewhere to be... Tell Joan to give me a call tomorrow, I need her to have the sales report ready by tomorrow" Gina instructed, and Clara nodded, leaving Gina's office wondering what was going on with her... "I can't be weak right now, I have to do it," Gina muttered and stood up... She was going to go on the date and move on with her life... But what Gina didn't know was that life had a way of surprising someone and things were about to take a dramatic twist for her, one that she never expected... ____________________ ____________________ Gina took a deep breath in her car and checked her makeup and hair... she looked beautiful as always... she even changed her hairstyle and dyed her hair black.... she took a deep breath once again before exiting her car but not without reminding herself that she was the one with the upper hand... she couldn't act like she was the one who had more to lose... Caroline was the one who was desperate to get her son married to her and didn't even care about betraying her sister in the process... Her head was held high as she walked into the restaurant... "What was his name, I didn't get to ask," Gina muttered as she walked through the entrance of the restaurant. Well, it didn't matter. She would just have to introduce herself, and then he would, too... She checked her phone for the name of the reservation, and then she was directed to where their table was... "Hi," Gina said when she got to the table, he was staring at his phone and Gina almost sighed, for some reason something about him felt oddly familiar... The slight smile on her face immediately changed into complete surprise, her eyes becoming wide in shock when he raised his head to look at her... His eyes becoming wide too... "Why are you here," Gina said in disbelief... finally finding out why he seemed familiar...