The Mistakes We Made Together

Chapter 3: Office

The Brown family's mansion had a large courtyard. Near the gate, there were several lush banyan trees, and Benjamin's car was parked in the spot closest to the outside.

Cars used regularly at home or for commuting were all parked here, while some less frequently used sports cars and off-road vehicles were kept in the underground garage.

As Benjamin grew older, and having spent the past two years abroad, those sports cars of his that had once been at home were now tucked away in the basement of the side building, no longer parked here.

When they reached the car, Benjamin told her to wait a moment, then walked toward the shade of the trees and lit a cigarette.

Standing about seven or eight meters away, he smoked while bowing his head to type with one hand, replying to his assistant's messages. With nothing else to do, Emma stood by the car, her hands hanging at her sides, watching him quietly.

Benjamin didn't usually smoke much. Earlier this year, she had stayed in New York for two weeks and hadn't seen him smoke more than a few times.

After waiting for a few minutes, Benjamin extinguished the small flame at his fingertips, tossed the half-smoked cigarette butt into the trash can, and walked back.

He hadn't even finished half of the cigarette.

As Benjamin drew closer, Emma averted her gaze from him, turned slightly to the side, and lifted her hand to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear.

Noticing her movement, the man walked around her. When he headed for the driver's seat, he let out a soft, mocking chuckle.

Resting one hand on the driver's side door handle, he looked at her standing still, his tone laced with a hint of sarcasm: "Waiting for me to invite you in?"

Emma took a very light breath, lifted her eyes to glance at him, didn't argue further, stepped around the car, and walked toward the back seat.

Before she could pull the door open, she heard Benjamin's flat, emotionless voice: "Sit in the front."

She released the door handle, changed direction, took two steps forward to the passenger seat, pulled the door open, and got in.

Benjamin didn't hurry to get in, he wanted to let the smell of smoke fade a little first. He waved his right hand which used to hold the cigarette, lightly in the air a few times. Then lowered his eyes to see the person in the car already fastening their seatbelt.

She looked a bit thinner than the last time he'd seen her. She was wearing a loose-fitting professional suit, the sleeve of her right arm rolled up slightly, and a delicate women's watch on her wrist.

That watch was from the same series as the one on his wrist. Except him was an older model from a few years ago, while hers was a newer style from the past two years.

Her face showed little expression, gentle yet distant. By nature, she had a soft, delicate appearance; even when she ignored people, she never looked too harsh.

She was beautiful, but when she was being stubborn, she was really stubborn.

After waiting for a moment, when the smell of smoke had faded enough, he finally pulled the door open and got in.

The company wasn't far from home. It was barely 8:30 now, even driving slowly, they'd make it on time. The car started, turned, and drove out through the gate.

Benjamin was the first to break the quiet atmosphere.

"Sophia wants you to work with me at FSAN first," he said in a flat tone. Perhaps from the cigarette he'd just smoked, his voice carried a faint hoarseness.

Emma hummed in response, raising no objections.

Sophia had always been kind to her. Most of the Brown family's core businesses were handled through FSAN. Sophia had wanted her to join FSAN a long time ago, but since Henry hadn't mentioned it, Sophia hadn't brought it up either.

Now that Benjamin had taken the initiative to ask her to come over, Sophia would definitely be happy.

Emma smoothed out the wrinkles on her pants, frowned slightly, and still voiced her concern: "Will I be a secretary forever?"

Benjamin seemed not to pick up on the hesitation in her tone. The traffic light at the intersection turned green, and the car pulled forward.

"Start as a secretary first. If you do well, you can move up to deputy general manager."

Emma felt a touch of helplessness. She took a breath, looked up, averted her gaze to the side, and her eyes fell on the outside through the car window: "I'm not thinking about a promotion."

"Then what do you want to do?" Benjamin asked with a lazy laugh.

What did she want to do?

Emma let out a heavy breath, her shoulders slumping a little, sounding powerless: "Can't you not keep me at FSAN?"

"No," Benjamin replied firmly, giving no room for negotiation.

She turned to look at him, her brows furrowed in confusion: "What's the point of keeping me here? I didn't even major in this field, and I don't know how to be a secretary."

Her voice was clear and crisp; even when she spoke calmly, there was a hint of coldness to it.

Their luck wasn't great that day. After one red light, several consecutive intersections had red lights too.

Benjamin brought the car to a slow stop, leaned back slightly, his expression relaxed as he stared at the countdown on the red light ahead: "Help me out here. I'm not familiar with FSAN's internal affairs."

After a few seconds, Emma looked away. She knew there was probably no point in arguing further, and her expression returned to its usual calm, unruffled state.

The drive from home to the company took no more than ten minutes, and they arrived shortly before nine o'clock.

The car pulled into the underground parking lot. Emma and Benjamin walked one after another toward the elevator bank.

Since they'd been siblings long ago, she'd never liked walking side by side with him. She would always lag two or three steps behind, walking slightly to his rear. Occasionally, she'd look up to see his straight, unconstrained back or the texture of his clothes.

Later, after they'd had a fight, she avoided walking side by side with him even more.

There was a meter between them until they reached the elevator bank and stepped inside. From the second basement level to the first floor, the elevator doors opened, and a senior executive from FSAN stepped in.

This executive was a veteran employee of FSAN, holding original shares in the company. He was around Henry's age. When Emma was a child, she'd even gone to his house to play with Sophia's family and called him Uncle Daniel.

When Daniel saw the two of them, he greeted them: "When did you get back to the country, Benjamin?"

"A few days ago," replied Benjamin. His office was on the sixteenth floor; he lifted his hand to press the button for Daniel's floor.

Daniel had been in a nearby city a few days earlier and hadn't run into Benjamin at the company. Today was the first time they'd met since Benjamin's return.

After exchanging a few words, Daniel turned his head to look at Emma behind Benjamin, his tone warm: "Bringing your sister along?"

"Mm," Benjamin glanced at the numbers on the electronic display, "The family wants her to get some experience at the company."

The elevator was spacious, but the three of them, each keeping a half-meter social distance from the others, almost filled the entire car.

Hearing Daniel mention herself, Emma turned her gaze toward him, politely nodded slightly, and called out, "Uncle Daniel."

Daniel nodded back at her, but after all, she wasn't a blood relative of the Brown family. His words and gaze didn't linger on her for long; he turned back to Benjamin and started talking about company matters with him.

Finally, they reached Daniel's office floor. The doors opened, Daniel said goodbye to the two of them, and stepped out.

The twelfth floor, was still four floors away from the one they were heading to.

As the elevator doors closed, Benjamin took hold of the wrist of the person behind him and pulled her to his side.

Emma struggled slightly, her tone a little flustered: "We're in the elevator."

Benjamin smiled. He was wearing a black shirt, one hand tucked into the pocket of his suit pants, while the other released her wrist.

He'd always had good posture; even in this stance, he still looked tall and straight.

"We are in the elevator, so I'm just having you stand next to me," he said.

The elevator was quiet. For some reason, maybe because he hadn't fully woken up in the morning. Benjamin's voice remained hoarse, as if he hadn't slept well the night before.

He tilted his head back, continuing to watch the numbers jump upward. The second before the doors opened, he said, "Your workstation is in my office."

Emma knew that some senior executives' secretaries worked in their bosses' offices, but that was usually only for the same gender, and even then, it was still rare.

Everyone needed personal space.

They had just stepped out of the elevator and hadn't yet turned the corner to head down the corridor.

Without thinking, Emma reached out and pulled him back: "What do you mean?"

Benjamin was jolted to a stop. He turned around, looked at her for two seconds, his voice steady: "Do you need me to explain it to you?"

"Your workstation is in my office, so you'll be working in my office." he said, looking straight at her.

After speaking, he turned around and started walking, leaving Emma with nothing but his back.