Charles is once again witnessing just how hopeless Adrian is. 

“What do you keep looking at, President?” he asked but only after he already threw the ball in his direction. 

Since Adrian wasn’t looking, the ball ended up smacking him straight in the face. The throw had been a little too hard that it made him take a couple of steps back. Wincing, Charles quickly uttered an apology. 

“Sorry, Sir. I didn’t know you’re still not finished staring at Ma’am Cassidy…” he said, though he sounded somewhat half-hearted.

“But with all due respect, I just must say this – if I were Asher, I would’ve already called you an annoying leech.”

Adrian growled under his breath while he rubbed his cheek. He picked up the ball from the ground before shooting Charles a glare.

“And if you were Asher, I would say that I could stare at Cassidy as long as I wanted to. She’s my wife, after all. Unlike certain people, I actually admit my feelings,” he huffed.

“Well, I advise that you don’t overdo it – if you don’t want to get hit by a ball every time, that is. Didn’t Ma’am Cassidy herself suggest that you play with us for a bit? You really should listen to her and Asher and focus on something else,” he reminded him.

“What’s there to play, anyway? That guy should be here with us if he is going to talk that big.” 

“There’s a net over there. Maybe we can use it? I myself don’t really play that much, but it’ll be nice to try so every now and then. You know, Asher does make sense sometimes.”

Yet, despite everything Charles said, Adrian was not letting up at all.

He just continued to stare off in a daze, too distracted by his wife who was doing her own stuff a few meters away. She’s by the shore right now, building what appears like a sandcastle with the children. It seems to him that she’s doing well on her own, unlike her husband who badly wants to be with her again even though they’ve just parted ways a few minutes ago. 

At this point, Charles could no longer fully understand Adrian.

He isn’t sure what it feels like to love somebody that much. It’s almost as if it’s not love at all – it’s something stronger, something beyond extraordinary. It’s so powerful it’s daunting. Still, he’d be lying if he said that he didn’t want to experience that someday.

For now, however, Charles has to make Adrian snap out of it and produce some sort of evidence to show to Cassidy and Asher later when they ask about what they did.

“Oh, I know! How about we make a bet?” he suggested, finally coming up with an idea.

“Huh? What bet?” he blurted out, surprised. 

Adrian didn’t really find it interesting, but he decided to just play along. He didn’t want to hear Charles telling him again that he was too attached to Cassidy, which he was. 

Then, suddenly, he came up with an idea of his own. 

“Okay, then. I accept the challenge, Charles. Let’s make a bet. If I win the match or whatever it is, you have to take Olivia out on a date…” Adrian proposed with a smug smirk, causing Charles to fall in thunderstruck silence. 

“How does that sound? Do you accept?”

He hesitated. Of course, he would. That’s just too out of the blue. Even still, he’s not going to let him off the hook. Now that he actually found something he could enjoy, there’s no way he won’t see it through. Besides, this would also help him out with his love life somehow.

But then, just when Adrian thought that he had this in the bag, Charles suddenly made his comeback and gave a proposal as well.

“It’s on. But if I win, I’ll take Ma’am Cassidy out for a date whether you like it or not,” he declared, and he froze in astonishment for a moment but eventually nodded. 

“And if I win, you take Olivia out on a date whether you like it or not,” he said again, making sure that he would not forget. 

“Fine. Deal, then?”

“Deal.”

—

It was an easy game – on Adrian’s part, at least.

As if he would let Cassidy go out on a date with another man. Even if he’s beginning to trust that Charles is no longer into her, he will never allow it. Ever.

“You’re being unfair, President,” he somewhat whined to which he just smirked in amusement. 

He noticed Charles getting tenser and tenser as they made their way back to the others. Adrian tried to keep a blank expression, but each time he got a look on his flustered face, he felt like teasing him for a bit more. When they finally got there, he approached Cassidy and stood next to her, but his eyes never left him. 

He grabbed her hand before he decided to give the situation a little push. She turned to him with a baffled look. 

“Hey, Olivia…!” Adrian called out, making Olivia and everyone else look at him.

“I think Charles over there has something he wants to ask you.”

Right then, Charles immediately sent him a glare. But Adrian didn’t care. 

He only watched as his face turned red. This is what he gets for challenging a Millicent.

“Yes…?” Olivia soon spoke up with that sweet voice of hers when Charles still had not gotten a word out to her. 

“What is it? Do you have something you’d like to say?”

Adrian gave Cassidy’s hand a squeeze as he stared at Charles who had kept silent. 

Instead of answering, he found him scratching the back of his head sheepishly. This secretary of his has always been the calm and composed one. It’s rare to see him acting this way, which only shows that he’s really serious about this. 

“Well, you see… There’s, ummm…” Charles began, trying to stay cool. 

“There’s this really cool movie that’s coming out this weekend. I was wondering if you’re not too busy. We can go and watch it together if you want.”

“That would be wonderful…” Olivia beamed, pleasantly surprised. 

“I would love to go.”

Adrian nodded his head to himself as he saw his face light up then. Charles then started to chuckle as he continued to stand there in front of Olivia. 

He’s now acting completely different from the way he’s acting around him moments ago. It’s like seeing a fresh side of him.

Hopefully, things will work out between the two of them. He really doesn’t feel like going abroad without seeing some results, especially after he realized that this whole thing was actually quite fun to watch.  Being a matchmaker is not that bad after all. It makes him happy to see his family and friends happy. 

“Seems like they’re all going to be just fine.”

“Yeah. Seems like it. With this, we can leave without any worries.” 

Adrian looked to the side and made eye contact with Cassidy – neither resisting a smile.