“See you soon.” After he disconnected the call, Seraphina stared at the phone in her hand, pondering her easy capitulation. She felt overwhelmed by a feeling of uncertainty and confusion. What on earth had she gotten herself into?
ChapterTwo
EVAN
This morning Evan woke up and decided this would be the day he reached out to Seraphina. Getting her to agree to come out to lunch hadn’t taken the amount of effort that he expected, which was good. The real arduous task ahead would be to get her to forgive him for propositioning her. It had taken him months to see his proposal as she had viewed it, but he had eventually understood the optics. She wasn’t a mind reader. There was no way for her to know he would have funded the Visionary Advancement Institute (VAI) regardless of her decision. VAI had helped him acclimate to the loss of his vision. He owed the institute for helping make the transition as easy as possible.
Three years ago, Evan had begun to experience blurry vision. He’d been in the middle of a product launch and put off seeing a doctor. Finally, when the blurry vision became more frequent and blind spots appeared, he relented and visited an optometrist. The news had been shocking. Evan had thought he’d be given some glasses and sent on his way. Instead, he was diagnosed with two eye conditions. Macular Degeneration and Retinitis Pigmentosa. Whatever little vision one of the eye diseases left behind, the other would claim. Leaving him with little to no vision. At best, he would be able to discern an image was there.
Evan accepted his fate but was determined not to lose his quality of life. He sought out the best resources. VIA came up repeatedly in his research. They were a non-profit organisation that garnered a stellar reputation for its state-of-the-art innovative methods.
Many articles had been written about the assistant director, her abilities, and her accolades. He’d wanted the best. When she wasn’t available, he’d pushed and made it happen. Evan had almost regretted it when he first met Seraphina Lewis. He wasn’t prepared for how young she was. How could she have so much experience? It turned out that she was academically gifted and finished her Masters when she was barely out of her teens. Plus, she had a personal investment in the blind community. Both of Seraphina’s parents were non-sighted.
Working with her as his sight deteriorated made things more tolerable. More than tolerable. Spending time with her got him through the rough times. Although Seraphina’s help was amazing, it also made things difficult for him. Evan wasn’t the kind of man to sit back and not go after what he wanted, and the more he spent time with her, the more he desired her. Their dry sense of humour, and drive to succeed, complemented each other well. Despite their working arrangement, the only issue he foresaw was introducing her to his… proclivities. He determined he’d cross that bridge when he got to it. Seraphina was the consummate professional. So, he had ensured their working relationship had a definitive end date. Then he went after her and fumbled the situation.
This was his chance to make it right. When he called, he was en route to her office. So, Evan arrived before the fifteen minutes, but he waited. At that exact time, he sent her a text letting her know he would wait at the front of the building. He knew, given his circumstances, that Seraphina would have been fine with him remaining in the car, but the gentleman in him wouldn’t allow it. His driver alerted him the moment she walked out of the door.
“Evan, the lady is walking towards us.”
“Thank you, Ernest, please open the door.”
“Evan, Ernest, it is nice to see you both,” Seraphina greeted. From her voice, he gauged she was half a foot away.
“Seraphina, thank you for agreeing to come to lunch. If you would like to get into the car, Ernest will drive us over.”
“Sure.” The street was busy, and he couldn’t pick up on the sound of her movements from the other sounds around him, but she touched his hand as she brushed past him. “I’m seated in the car and have moved over to the left.” Evan smiled. He’d missed the efficient way she informed him of things. In other situations… more intimate ones, he imagined, that trait might be relevant. The thought immediately brought a response from his body. He was getting ahead of himself. He slid into the backseat beside her. The light scent of strawberries and caramel greeted him. Whenever he smelled her, he associated her with cotton candy.
“I’m closing the door now, Evan.” Ernest and the members of his staff who worked closely with him had gone through extensive training with VAI.
“Again, thank you for agreeing to have lunch with me. I hope Fusion is okay.” Evan remembered how much she had liked the restaurant. In the past, he’d overheard her struggling to get a reservation to take her friend there for her birthday. He’d ensured that she got the reservation. His only regret had been he couldn’t accompany her. He could finally remedy that.
“Yes, of course. It’s a great restaurant.” He could hear the uncertainty in her voice. Seraphina was probably wondering why she accepted the invitation and what he wanted. Evan was horrible at small talk, but he wasn’t ready to address the elephant.
“How have you been Seraphina?”
“I’ve been well. VAI keeps me busy. And you, how have you been Evan?” He took that as a good sign that she hadn’t reverted back to calling him Mr. Yang.
“Like yourself, work has been keeping me busy. In addition, I’ve integrated some new technologies to make life more manageable.”
Seraphina became immediately animated, asking questions about what they were. Some she had heard of, while others were new to her. In her role, she worked to stay abreast of this information and ensure the data was shared with the blind community. His concern that their communication would be stilted was unwarranted, as it was the most natural thing to speak with her. Even after a year spent apart. That was a good sign. This time, he could build a personal relationship with her.
They ate in a private dining room. Knowing the owner, Chef Aaron Ma, had its perks.
“Would you like me to read you the menu?” Seraphina asked. He couldn’t help but agree. She read from the menu, then stopped. “Why do I get the impression that you aren’t paying attention?”
“I’ve already decided what I want.”
“Oh, you could have just stopped me at any time.”
“No, not while you were reading. Before I got here. I knew exactly what I wanted.”
“Oh.” The one word was packed with so much meaning. Good, it was exactly as he intended. She remained silent for a while. It was something that Evan was still getting used to. Being in a room when the other person wasn’t talking. Before the loss of sight, it wouldn’t have bothered him. In fact, he would have preferred it. It was only after his sight was gone did he realise how heavily he relied on it. The wealth of information it provided him. How it aided him in being the shrewd businessman that he had become. “Gosh, I’m sorry. Everything looks so good. I’m having a hard time deciding what I want.”
“I could help you. You can tell me what you are interested in, and I could help you make your selection. Or… you can let me decide what you should have.” Her breath hitched ever so slightly.
“You can select.” Her answer was breathy. How very perfect.
“It would be my pleasure to give you what you want.” Evan smiled internally. Her reaction to his declaration was a sharp intake of breath.
