Chapter 156
Eileen was so mortified. She really made a fool out of herself this time!
She wanted to explain to Ophelia what had happened.
But then Ophelia bellowed, “What kind of second-rate phone are you using? Eileen, what on earth are
you doing? Who gave you permission to tweet from Egbert’s phone? Are you that desperate for
everyone to know you two were together on Christmas? What’s your game here? You want the whole
world to know?”
Eileen realized that Ophelia was genuinely pissed.
She was so livid she was starting to talk nonsense.
Eileen was afraid that Ophelia might want her thousand dollars back, so she quickly apologized,
“Ophelia, I’ll change it right now. I’ll turn off the setting that shows the phone model, okay?”
“It’s too late! Everyone already knows!”
Ophelia was trembling with rage. All her hard work had been ruined by Eileen’s single tweet!
She calmed herself down and asked seriously, “Is Egbert with you?”
Eileen glanced at Egbert who was still leisurely sipping his soup and said, “Stop eating, we’ve got a
situation.”
Egbert looked up at her.
Eileen turned on the phone’s speaker and nervously said, “Ophelia, you can speak now, he can hear
you.”
Ophelia took a deep breath, explained the situation to Egbert, saying, “This incident is primarily Eileen’s
fault, not yours, Mr. Reed. However, the public has already started.buzzing about you two having
dinner together over Christmas which might lead to misunderstandings.”
Egbert put down his utensils and casually asked, “What do you need me to do?”
Ophelia breathed a sigh of relief and said, “Actually, you don’t have to do anything. We’ll handle the
online chatter. You just need to refrain from making any statements on your end.”
In other words, Egbert should stay out of it, keep mum, or else things could get worse and even
obstruct their efforts to manage the public opinion?
Egbert glanced at Eileen.
Eileen was looking at him expectantly.
Egbert then said, “Alright.”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtHearing his agreement, Ophelia didn’t say much else. After scolding Eileen, she hung up.
It was supposed to be a merry Christmas, but this mess happened.
Eileen had lost her appetite.
She laid down her fork and got up despondently to wash the dishes.
As she was turning on the tap, Egbert came over, rolled up his sleeves and said, “Let me do it.”
Eileen gave him a look and moved aside.
Egbert washing dishes was a bit clumsy, but he did it thoroughly. After he finished, Eileen dried them
and put them away in the cabinet.
After all the hustling, she checked Twitter again and saw that Ophelia had managed the situation well.
People online were saying that they were together for work, that it was a working dinner. As for why
Eileen used Egbert’s phone to tweet, it was because her phone had died.
Whether or not her phone did die was irrelevant.
But the online comments about it being a working dinner were quite convincing.
{A huge star eating such a humble meal on a holiday, it must be a working dinner!]
Eileen was speechless..
Annoyed, Eileen looked up at Egbert and asked, “Didn’t you find it tasty?”
Egbert, who was peeling an apple for her, whispered, “It was delicious.”
Eileen said, “Yeah, you did finish it all.”
Egbert wasn’t able to explain that he didn’t eat much. It was her who ate most of it.
After slicing the apple, he handed her a piece and comforted her, “Don’t bother with all that stuff.”
Eileen wanted to vent at the netizen, but she remembered that Ophelia had hired him, so she stopped
herself immediately.
Seeing her staring at her phone, Egbert held an apple slice to her lips./
Eileen instinctively opened her mouth and took a bite.
Egbert was pleased.
Eileen chewed a couple of times, swallowed, and another slice of apple was presented to her. She took
another bite.
By the time Eileen put down her phone, she had finished the whole apple.
Egbert cleared the apple peels from the table, took the fruit knife and went to wash it in the kitchen.
When he returned, he saw Eileen looking at him.
He sat down next to her and asked, “What’s up?”
Eileen nudged him, “When are you leaving?”
Egbert wiped his hands with a napkin and casually said, “There’s still time.”
Eileen glanced at the owl clock next to her and said, “It’s late, it’s already past nine.”
Egbert picked up the remote control, turned on the TV and said, “Let’s watch some TV
Eileen deadpanned, “I didn’t pay the cable bill, there’s no signal.”
Egbert didn’t know what to say.
Eileen stood up from the sofa, put on her coat and said, “I’ll walk you out.”
Egbert didn’t respond or move.
Eileen picked up Egbert’s coat and handed it to him.
Egbert glanced at her, took the coat, set it aside and pulled Eileen by the hand to sit.
Eileen sat next to him, puzzled.
Egbert took out his phone, did something on it and in a bit, Eileen’s phone rang.
She picked it up and saw a message from Egbert. It was a Christmas greeting and he mentioned he
had also prepared a gift card for her.
“Wow!”
Eileen was thrilled. She stopped rushing Egbert to leave and started texting:
Oh right, Christmas was a time for greetings and gifts, she almost forgot!
Two minutes later, Eileen posted on Facebook.
Eileen: Merry Christmas, thank you all for the holiday greetings and gifts that you’re about to send me.
You probably forgot because you’re too busy, but I want to thank you in advance, because I know you
won’t forget about me.
After a while, Eileen’s phone started buzzing nonstop.
Ophelia replied: [What are you trying to do?]
Galen replied: [Yeah, I’ve totally forgotten about you.]
Josiah Morgan texted her: [I’ve got a gift card for you too, haha, Merry Christmas.]
Phyllis Sankner texted her: [Eileen, Merry Christmas!]
Bblythe texted her: [Merry Christmas, hope everything’s getting better, Eileen!]
Eileen was moved, she knew she would receive their holiday gifts, and she sent them a bunch of
wishes!
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmThen, her phone rang again.
It was a message from Karin.
Karin: [Ms. Lopez, I got a present for you too. Ms. Lopez, Merry Christmas!]
Eileen was really surprised.
However, Eileen didn’t accept Karin’s gift, because she knew it must be expensive. So, she held back
her pain and typed a line – [You’re still underage, don’t just give gifts to others. That’s your parents’
hard-earned money!]
After saying that, she said to Egbert, “Oh my, Karin is so sweet, I really like her!”
Egbert paused for a bit, and then picked up his phone again.
Soon after.
Egbert texted her: [Merry Christmas, your new gift card will be delivered next time.]
Eileen was shocked.
She thought for a moment, and tentatively said to Egbert, “Bblythe is really nice; I really like her, right?”
Egbert glanced at her..
Eileen added, “Phyllis is really nice, I really like her, right?”
Egbert was speechless.
Egbert sighed, stood up, picked up his coat, and said coldly, “I should go.”
Seeing Egbert like this, she had no choice but to get up and walk him downstairs.
At the entrance of the community supermarket, Eileen thought for a moment and said to Egbert, “Wait
for me here.”
She ran into the supermarket, bought a box of candies with “Merry Christmas” on it, then came out and
gave it to Egbert.
Egbert looked at the box, seemed a bit surprised, “You’re willing to give me this?”
Eileen said seriously, “Of course I’m willing to give you this gift. Sending gift cards is too ordinary, giving
gifts has more holiday spirit, hope you like it. Also, Merry Christmas, Egbert.”
Egbert looked at the girl under the street light, her eyes bright, clear, and flawless.
A gentle smile appeared on his face.”
Then, Eileen zipped up her coat pocket.
Her beautiful eyes looked away, saying with unease, “But don’t be too surprised if you open the box
and find a few of the largest chocolates and most expensive donuts missing. It was like that when I
bought it.”
Helpless, Egbert wanted to laugh.