Page 80 of See You at the Sunset

Here the desks were made of glass and the chairs black leather, and vibrant modern art hung on the walls. There was nothing that made it clear this was a real estate office. And honestly, Jia wondered if that was the only business being conducted here.

She didn’t want to believe the worst of Matthew Singleton, or her parents, for that matter. But she’d made all kinds of scenarios up in her head that ranged from fraud to kidnapping to mob-boss shit. Okay, so she had an active imagination and had read a number of highly entertaining romance novels by the pool this summer.

“My name is Jia Chung. I’m here for a meeting with Matthew Singleton,” she answered.

“Yes, he’s expecting you. Let me take you to the conference room. And can I get you anything to drink? Sparkling water, Poppi, iced vanilla latte?”

Those felt like very specific offerings to Jia, but she declined nonetheless. A part of her wanted to warn the young woman that over-the-top acts of service didn’t always cut it in the corporate world. She was evidence of that. But all goodwill left Jia’s mind the moment she walked into the room and saw her parents sitting at the conference table next to Matthew.

Jia did not have a contentious relationship with her parents. She loved them, actually. But she had determined that she would do everything in her power to fight them on behalf of Mimi. Maybe she’d never really been able to stand up to them for herself and her own needs and wants for her life, but she would do it for her grandmother.

She walked around the table and bent down to give her father a back hug and her mother a kiss on the cheek. Despite this awkward and frustrating situation, as their only child she would not let them dismiss her.

What she did not do, however, was even acknowledge Matthew. Petty, maybe. But Jia was pissed. She couldn’t believe she had gone out on a date and wasted flirting energy on this guy. Nope, any and all pleasant thoughts had burned todust the moment she realized what a snake he was. Even before all romantic thoughts had been taken over by one Henry Shin.

It hurt to think of him now. She missed him. She was certain he’d want nothing to do with her. First because of the lawsuit. Second because of Dennis’s accident. And that was clear because she hadn’t heard from him since she’d left the offices of the Bakerson’s Group for the last time.

“You didn’t come with your grandmother?” Jia’s dad asked.

“No, she said she’d meet me here. She had something she needed to do beforehand,” Jia answered. She, too, thought it odd that Mimi would want to come to the meeting separately. But she trusted her and knew she’d get there in time.

Just as she finished that thought, she heard the voices out at reception. Voices? More than just Mimi’s?

Jia turned around and being directed by the receptionist into the conference room was a woman she’d never seen before, Mimi right behind her, followed by the most gorgeous person Jia had ever laid her eyes on, Henry.

“Mother, what are you doing bringing a bunch of strangers into our business?” Jia’s father asked.

“Seems you were the first to bring a stranger into family stuff, no?” Mimi answered, nodding her head in Matthew’s direction. Point, Mimi.

“What are you doing here?” Jia whispered to Henry.

He lifted the side of his mouth into a small smile, gently touched her elbow as he passed, and went to introduce himself to her parents.

Her parents!

“Hello, I’m Henry Shin.” He reached out his hand and shook her father’s. And then her mother’s. He offered his handto Matthew as well. Henry was much more generous than Jia could ever be.

“What are you doing here, Shin?” Matthew asked.

“I’m serving pro hac vice for Hadley Bellinger.” Henry turned to the woman Jia didn’t recognize.

“Mimi,” Jia leaned over and whispered to her grandmother, who had taken the seat next to her, “who is Hadley Bellinger? And what is Henry doing here? What the heck ispro hac vice?”

“Okay, so it’s like this. I needed Henry’s help, but he can’t practice law in California... yet. So he called a law school friend, Hadley, and she agreed to take my case, and he gets to help her due to some California law that allows it. Isn’t it great?” Mimi’s voice was filled with excitement.

Jia looked at Hadley Bellinger. She was in a perfectly tailored shift dress with an unbuttoned double-breasted blazer over it. She was pretty. But moreover, she just had the air of a badass. Jia liked her for Mimi.

But she took one more look between Hadley and Henry. Stern, serious expressions, the both of them. No spark or chemistry that she could detect. She felt better. Henry might not want Jia. But she could tell he didn’t want this Hadley person either. Jia knew what it looked like when Henry Shin was attracted to someone. She’d seen it firsthand. It had taken her breath away.

Okay, nothing to be jealous about here. Now they could all get to work.

“Hi, Jia,” Hadley said. “Nice to meet you. You ready to kick some ass?” Oh yes, Jia liked her a lot.

“You know it,” Jia said.

She turned to Henry and gave him a nod. She trusted him.And she trusted his recommendation of his colleague Hadley to fight for Mimi. That was all that mattered right now.

“Okay, Mimi, do you want to explain what this is all about?” Jia’s mother asked, waving her hand over the table as if everyone there wasn’t present because of her parents’ doing.