Elaine held her phone but didn’t answer right away.
Seeing that, Marcus casually asked, “Not gonna pick it up?”
She was still trying to dig up some memory of this Professor Clark.
All she remembered was that he and Audrey taught at the same university.
The rest?
Blank.
Just before the ringtone cut off, Elaine braced herself and tapped the answer button.
“Hello, Professor Clark.”
“Little Audrey, what have you been busy with lately?” came his familiar, warm voice from the other end.
Elaine replied politely, “Not much, really.”
That seemed to ease his mind a little as he continued, “So, here’s the thing…
Since we expanded last year, the school’s taking on more students than usual.
Naturally, we need more faculty.
I was just wondering—would you think about coming back to teach?”
So that was his angle—trying to get Audrey back to her teaching post.
Elaine didn’t know what Audrey would’ve chosen, but right now, she had her own mission.
There was no way she could say yes.
“Professor, I…”
“No rush,” Professor Clark quickly cut her off, probably afraid she’d turn him down right away.
“Just think about it.
Let me know later, alright?”
He wasn’t making it easy to give a straight no.
So Elaine kept it vague.
“Alright, I’ll give it some thought.”
“Okay, talk later,” he said, and hung up.
Setting the phone down, Elaine looked up, only to meet Marcus’s eyes.
He looked curious, probably guessed something from her expression.
“Professor Clark wants me to go back and teach,” she explained.
Marcus stared at her for a few seconds then said seriously, “If you wanna go back, just go.”
Elaine shook her head immediately, not even pretending to consider it.
“Teaching’s just not for me.”
Marcus raised an eyebrow, “So being a secretary is?”
Grinning shamelessly, she answered, “Nope.
Acting CEO sounds more like me.”
She wasn’t even kidding.
Once she got Valtros Group back, she would be exactly that.
Sure, Valtros wasn’t nearly as big as Orion Axis Group, but it was still a fully functional company.
To Marcus, though, her response was straight-up wild—like she was fishing for something.
He narrowed his eyes, testing her tone.
“What, you want me to give you a company or something?”
Honestly, that idea never crossed Elaine’s mind.
But hey, if he was offering, who was she to say no?
“I wouldn’t say no to that,” she looked at him with stars in her eyes.
Once again, Marcus realized he was just scratching the surface with this woman.
Who knew what her appetite would be like if they spent more time together?
“Go cook,” he barked, clearly annoyed.
Elaine instantly slumped.
“I honestly can’t.”
But Marcus wasn’t here to negotiate, and she knew it too well.
So she quickly changed tactics.
“Marcus, how about we eat out?”
“Or maybe order in?”
“No nutrition,” he shot back without hesitation.
Elaine thumped her chest.
“Fine, I’ll find someplace healthy.
One sec.”
She opened her food delivery app and started searching.
Then she spotted it—a barbecue food truck!
“This is it!”
Screw the health angle.
Elaine grabbed Marcus’s hand, eyes gleaming.
“Found it!
Marcus, let’s go!”