Yours, Until Needed
Chapter 83: Schedule

Chapter 83: Schedule

Our conversation kept ringing in my head, and only when he asked something striking did my consciousness return to the world.

"I learned that he was your childhood sweetheart? So when you both showed up, I was astonished. I thought such a thing would be impossible."

He’s definitely not that sweet anymore, but he’s surely tightening his grip on my heart.

But instead of saying that, I just gawked at him before coming up with something.

"The thought also didn’t cross my mind. And I’m sorry too, Grandpa, because I knew what kind of relationship you hoped Lucian would get but still pushed through with this."

There’s suddenly guilt as I feel like I’ve taken his chance at recovery. Maybe he needed someone that could jumpstart his heart.

Grandpa just laughed at my apology, which made me look at him.

"My dear, there is nothing to apologize for. Lucian is yours now. Maybe had always been yours. We don’t even get the luxury of tasting food that he’s cooked. Lily over there is just too young to know how rare this is."

"What? He doesn’t cook for you guys?"

"No. In his brain, making money for us should be more than enough." Grandpa just laughed at the thought, and I was just left dumbfounded.

Even when Lucian served the steaks, I remained catatonic.

"Have you gotten even dumber?" Lucian finally asked, and all I could do was gape at him.

I couldn’t even muster the ability to quip back because of how emotionally distressed I was.

Lucian was unreconciled and even cut my steak into smaller pieces, which earned him questioning looks that I also overlooked.

So, with this much stress, I decided to eat what was on my plate and whatever Lucian placed there. I even ate all the vegetables without being picky.

"So, you are sick." Lucian decidedly diagnosed me after my eating stint.

Maybe? I think so, too.

My conversation with Grandpa ended with him telling me about his new lease on life and how Lily’s birth woke him up from his wallowing.

Because of this, he always felt he had wronged Lucian and was only able to be a proper Grandfather to Lily.

So, in an attempt to compensate, he’s been nagging Lucian until the guy found him too annoying, like how he was now sneering at Grandpa’s attempt to lessen his working hours.

Anyone else would rejoice at this opportunity, but my demented husband felt like he was under attack, like touching his work hours was his bottom line.

"That’s impossible. The deadlines are very tight, and I don’t want a repeat of Sollen’s tactics for this project."

"Your deadlines are tight because you keep on tightening them. Any more and Oliver will need to work with a ventilator." Grandpa insisted, which, frankly, was within the realm of possibility with how much work Oliver has to handle.

So I thought of something. Maybe this could work.

"Grandpa, may we borrow a Project-in-Charge (PIC)? It won’t be for too long." I suddenly interrupted the heated conversation.

"You need a PIC? What for?" Lucian scowled at this new development that he’d never heard of.

"For an ocular. We need to do one before the actual project starts, and it would be beneficial if we have someone with the technical knowledge with us."

"Then why a PIC of all people?" He added, still unconvinced.

"Aren’t you too busy? You just said you’re neck-deep in work. So a PIC would be the next best thing." I looked over, meeting his gaze.

There you go, you big baby. Now choose.

Rina’s head kept on bobbing, and she’s masking her surprise because, yes, I just invented that shit. But Grandpa was adamant about forcing Lucian to take breaks, and it was all that I could do that would still be sort of productive. Sort of.

"Why would you even need to go when it’s all on schedule?"

"Because only irresponsible owners would not visit their project sites."

"Move it to when I’m available." His scowl was deepening; he now looked like a grumpy cat.

"No can do. As you said, the deadlines are tight, and in our case, no one could replace us for this." Our employees were new, and asking them to do that alone would be pointless.

From my peripheral vision, I could see their heads going back and forth as they zoned in on our "argument." All they needed was a bucket of popcorn, really.

"Fine. Tell Dean to stand in for a few days." Lucian practically growled.

He’s probably really angry, but he’s leaving us with no choice. Also, I’ve seen the schedule myself. I know that Lucian’s just being too hard on himself.

The guy started on the necessary permits before taking this break. And that was right after they got the Notice of Award, not even after the Notice to Proceed.

He was way ahead of schedule.

I couldn’t help it. I rubbed his chin like I would a cat.

"Thank you," I said as I smiled at him.

Good, kitty.

That night, the kitty decided to vent his anger on poor little me.

By midnight, I had an inkling that I would wake up with a back worse than that of a geriatric.

But that wasn’t the difficult part. What was challenging was that I wasn’t sure about the noise insulation of these giant glass panes. So I’ve had to stifle everything like someone having a tryst with a lover.

"Hey, isn’t this too much vengeance?" I asked in between stifled moans.

But this guy just continued his relentless probe. Given how he’s upping his performance, you’d think he was being starved.

"Too much? Since when have you considered too much of anything."

Yep. Definitely still angry.

I wrapped my arms around his neck, my hand combing through his hair as I pulled him in for a kiss.

"It would’ve been best if you could come. That would also feel the safest." There was also that because I have been experiencing weird things lately.

Lucian hovered over me, close enough, but without letting me carry his weight.

Is this how he maintains those abs? I wondered.

"Stop being reckless. There’s no need to do such unnecessary things." He paused his movements just to stress his point.

"I wasn’t. That’s why I asked for backup." I defended my decision.

"You call a random PIC your backup?" Lucian’s face soured again.

Cute.

"No, I was hoping my husband could back me up," I said as I smoothened his furrowed brows.

It really would’ve sucked if he didn’t come. But fortunately, he tried accommodating us. Now I just have to pay for the price.

"Don’t think that’s going to get you out of this." Lucian sucked on that space on my neck that he liked so much.

This and more went on til morning. By then, I was just praying that breakfast could be delayed.

"Just sleep. I’ll have the food sent up once you’re up." Lucian tried placating my anger.

"That’s just announcing what we just did!" I tried kicking his shin, but my legs wouldn’t cooperate.

"And you going down there would be a billboard of what we did. You choose."

"This animal!" I threatened him with my fist, only to be hugged closer.

"Sure, now sleep, my little prey."

Damn him!