Chapter 15: Chapter 15. Medical Problems
Ch 15 - Medical Problems
Lily was still wondering how Kevin happened to know Mr. Cook so well. It just didn't make sense to her. After expressing her doubts to her husband, Lily paused for a moment and picked up the remote control to turn on the TV. "What kind of person is Mr. Cook anyway? Why would such an important man have the time to chat with you for so long? " Kevin shrugged in reply. He really couldn't tell her, not yet. "Go and make me some spaghetti, would you?. I haven't had dinner yet." Lily turned on a popular reality show and watched it while she swiped through some social media posts on her phone. Kevin answered, "Sure, Lily." Then he turned around and headed into the kitchen. He had just put the pasta in the boiling water when Dorothy got home. She saw Kevin cooking in the kitchen and she remembered what Kevin had said to her on the phone earlier in the day. Her expression turned very serious. "Dammit!" Dorothy groaned. Seeing that Kevin hadn't responded to her, Dorothy kicked off her dress shoes and stomped across the room to sit down next to Lily. Lily gave her a puzzled look. "What's wrong? You look like you're mad at someone." Dorothy replied, "Who else could it be? Someone here doesn't know how to show gratitude." Dorothy motioned with her eyes toward the kitchen and Lily immediately understood. Kevin had probably done something else to piss her off. Lily leaned in toward her mother and whispered, "What's the matter? You can tell me, Mom. I'll have a talk with him if it helps. " Dorothy noticed that Lily was whispering so Kevin wouldn't hear. Until recently, she didn't seem to care what her husband thought. But Dorothy also realized that it was thanks to Kevin that Lily's company's financial crisis had been resolved so quickly. Sighing, Dorothy patted her daughter on the hand. "It's because the in vitro didn't work. I'm guessing that his family has some kind of genetic issue. I mentioned this to him and asked him to bring his parents in for a checkup." Dorothy shot an irritated look towards the kitchen as she spoke. "Kevin told me that he wanted me to do a checkup along with everyone else. What did he mean by that? Does he think the problem is with me? " When Lily heard her mother bring up the test tube baby topic again, she got impatient. "Uh. Mom, can you not rush things? I have so much going on right now. How could I possibly think about having a baby in the middle of this train wreck?" Dorothy's eyes widened, "You're still not in a hurry? You've been married for over two years! The in vitro's already failed three or four times, and you're not in a hurry? The last time your dad called, he asked me about it too. If you're not in a hurry, then you can tell your dad the next time he calls. I don't want to have to talk to him about it again. Not until you have some good news." "Let's not talk about this right now." As soon as Lily finished talking, Kevin walked out of the kitchen with a big platter of spaghetti and meatballs. She watched Kevin put the pasta on the table and then bring out some plates and parmesan cheese. Lily ignored Dorothy's sour expression and said to Kevin, "You don't need to bring your parents here tomorrow. We can talk about the checkup later." Hearing her daughter say this, Dorothy grunted and stood up to go to her room. Kevin smiled at her, "Okay, whatever you say, Lily." After eating and then cleaning up, Lily lay down on the bed. Kevin, who was doing some stretches on the floor, turned on his side and used his hand to support his head while he stared at her beautiful side profile. "Lily, if Grandma Jones calls you tomorrow and she asks you to talk about the deal with Williams Media, don't agree with her right away. Just let her wait." Hearing Kevin say this, Lily frowned and turned her head toward him. With a puzzled expression, she said, "I don't think we need to worry about that. Grandma has already handed it back to Jason. Why would she ask me again? Why do you always say such strange things?" "In any case, remember, if she asks you, just don't agree right away. Promise me you'll sleep on it." Kevin didn't worry about Lily's impatient tone. After saying that, he went to bed and quickly fell asleep. Lily reluctantly reached out to turn off the light. Then she also lay down and went to sleep. The next day, after Lily left for work Kevin headed over to his office at Williams Media. This was the life! Kevin really liked being a CEO. Since Ms. Wilson was such an organized chief of staff, all that Kevin had to do all day was drink lattes, read a little, and sign contracts. Ms. Wilson knocked on the door and walked in. "Mr. President, the Jones family has sent someone over to discuss their arrangement with us. It's a woman named Matilda Jones." Kevin thought to himself that the pink suit Ms. Wilson was wearing added a nice splash of color that contrasted with all the earth tones that surrounded him in his office. Kevin took a sip of his latte and answered dryly. "Please ask her to leave." Grandma Jones really was an interesting character. He had clearly told her to send Lily, but instead she had sent Matilda to discuss their partnership. What was that all about? Like Jason, Matilda was also one of the favorites in the Jones family. And she definitely wasn't used to being told no. In any case, she wasn't prepared for the embarrassment of being asked to leave the Williams Media corporate offices without seeing the CEO. When Matilda returned to Grandma Jones, she told her what had happened. Her grandmother was really pissed off at the news, but she reluctantly agreed that it was time to call Lily. * Lily and Dorothy were out shopping on Michigan Avenue while all this was going on. Because her husband was coming back from an overseas trip in a couple of days, Dorothy wanted to find a nice outfit to wear to welcome him home. While they were looking at Gucci's in one of the stores, Lily heard her phone ringing inside her purse. She pulled it out and was surprised to see that Grandma Jones was calling. She and Dorothy looked at each other for a second before Lily answered. She put the call on speaker, "Hello, Grandma?" On the other end, Grandma Jones sounded a little awkward, "Lily, grandma wants to ask you for a small favor." A favor? What kind of thing could make this usually arrogant and self-reliant woman use the word "favor" ? Dorothy couldn't keep from sticking her nose in, "Auntie, don't be so polite. If there's anything that Lily can do to help, just tell her." Lily gave her mother a dirty look but kept quiet and waited for Grandma Jones to speak. "It's about the partnership with Williams Media. I plan to let Lily handle it. She needs to go over there again tomorrow to meet with them in person. Try to get the packaging deal with their new client, Britney Davis, as soon as possible." Grandma Jones had it all planned out. However, what Kevin had said the night before popped into Lily's mind. Before Dorothy had a chance to speak, Lily quickly took the phone and turned around, "Sorry, grandma. Since you already handed this over to Jason, I feel that it's not right for you to make a sudden change in the middle of negotiations. You really should let Jason take responsibility for the entire process. I still have a few things left to do today. Gotta go now. Bye, Grandma." Lily hung up the phone abruptly. Dorothy looked at her daughter in disbelief. "What the heck are you doing!? Do you know what she could do to us?" Dorothy couldn't believe that Lily was willing to throw away such a golden opportunity! Lily ignored her mother and walked out of the store holding her phone in one hand and her bag in the other. Dorothy wanted to follow her out, but she was still trying on clothes and didn't want to set off the security alarm and be accused of shoplifting. She stamped her foot in frustration. Lily found a bench and sat down. She thought for a while and wrote a text to Kevin. * Kevin had just gotten a call from his friend Cook and was planning to have lunch with him. But before he put down his phone, he saw Lily's message. "Grandma Jones just called. She said she wanted to let me take charge of Williams Media. I turned her down. What should I do next? " Kevin grinned. At least Lily was listening to him now. "Don't worry. She'll call you again soon, but you still shouldn't agree to anything until she offers you a good deal." After hitting send, Kevin put his phone in his pocket and headed out to lunch. He rode his scooter all the way to the Witsler Hotel. When Lily felt her phone vibrate, she quickly checked her messages. When she saw Kevin's text, she felt a lot more at ease. * On the other side of town, Kevin arrived at the Witsler Hotel, and was happy to see that Cook already had a table full of food waiting for him. "Hi Kevin Have a seat." Cook pulled out a chair for his friend and sat down next to him. He nodded to one of his assistants, one of the men in dark suits who usually followed him around. The man walked over to them with a covered tray. Kevin smiled as Cook opened the silver lid and took out a small velvet box. He was acting very mysterious. After his assistant walked away, Cook quietly put the box in front of Kevin. "I prepared this especially for you. It's a valuable item that I've kept for almost four years now." "Mitch, you've already given me a wonderful gift. I just can't accept anything else." Kevin politely pushed the box across the table to Cook. Cook shook his head and grinned as he pushed the box back to Kevin. "This thing is useless to me. I'm in great health. But you used to look pretty weak, so I tracked down this remedy just for you.and I'm glad I finally have a chance to give it to you. " Before he was finished speaking, Cook's phone suddenly rang. He answered with an abrupt, "Yeah." As the call went on, his expression got more and more serious. After finishing the call, Cook gave Kevin an apologetic look. "My friend, I'm afraid you'll have to finish this meal by yourself. I have some urgent business to take care of. Please accept this. Consider it an early birthday present. " Kevin smiled and nodded. "I got it, Mitch. Now hurry up and do what you've gotta do." He paused and added. "Thank you for the gift." "Okay. Let's get together another day, when I'm not so busy." Then Cook hurried out. Kevin looked at the little box on the table and shook his head. He picked it up and put it in his pocket. "Sometimes I just can't figure that guy out." he thought. Then he turned his attention to the delicious meal in front of him. Since he was eating alone, he didn't have to watch his manners. After Kevin finished lunch, he checked in with his office, but they didn't have any work lined up for him, so he headed home. When he got there, he took a shower and put on some more casual clothes. Then he pulled Cook's gift out of his pocket. As soon as Kevin opened the box, a light fragrance wafted through the air. As Kevin contemplated the smell, it seemed that his head was oddly clearer than before. In the middle of the velvet box was a pill the size of a small marble. Actually, it looked a little like a jelly bean, and the aroma definitely was coming from it. Kevin remembered Cook saying that he was looking a little gaunt, and he couldn't help muttering to himself, "Could this pill actually make me stronger? It sounds like science fiction to me. Maybe Mitch has been tricked by someone." Then Kevin recalled that Cook had said that the medication, whatever it was, had been prepared three or four years ago. He didn't know if it had expired, so he was hesitant about taking it. Kevin really didn't know what to do. He didn't want to disappoint his friend. But was that a good reason to take a four-year-old pill? On the other hand, he did find the aroma somehow relaxing and enticing. Kevin finally decided to take the pill. He placed it in his mouth and reached for a glass of water to help him swallow it. Before Kevin could drink the water, the pill seemed to melt in his mouth and then it flowed down his throat. Kevin furrowed his brow. He was a little worried and began to regret what he'd just done.