novelxo Chapter 916
If possible, Nathaniel Cooper could deal with those matters through a video conference. Matters which had to be dealt with in person, he would ask for his secretaries to postpone it to the next day. He could then attend to these issues when he was back in the office.
In order to spend more time with Karen Joy Kyle, Nathaniel was doing his best to allocate his time more efficiently.
Nathaniel had insisted on staying at her home to accompany her. Karen Joy felt flustered, thinking of the sacrifice he was making for her. She felt guilty and began to blame herself.
She had always wanted to share some of his burdens. However, not only did she not help him, but was holding him back now. How could she not blame herself?
"Brother Lionel, you can carry on with your work. You don't have to accompany me. I have a lot of friends in Coast City, and they can always spend time with me. Just now, a friend called and asked me if I want to go for dinner with them."
As she was speaking to Nathaniel, Karen Joy turned to the coat rack and handed him his coat. "Brother Lionel, go and deal with your work."
"Your friends are your friends, but I am different." Finally, Nathaniel raised his head from the pile of documents, held Karen Joy's hand in his palm, and tightened his grip, "Karen, I'm staying here not because you need me, but because I need you. Do you understand that?"
Karen Joy was at a loss for words.
She didn't understand.
It was obvious that he was here because of her. How could he twist the scenario around now?
Looking at the silly look on her face, Nathaniel couldn't help but pull her head down and kiss her forehead. "Karen, you can never imagine how important you are to me."
"I've already imagined myself as a core part of your heart! I am so important that no one can compare to me." Occasionally, the playful Karen Joy would indulge herself in some narcissism.
But yet, she was not really trying to be narcissistic, she just trusted Brother Lionel that much. She believed that he felt the same way and that she was indeed the most important person in his heart. "Yes, that's right." Nathaniel pinched her face, picked up the cup of coffee that she made, and took a sip. "It tastes good."
In fact, she had burned the coffee in the pot earlier and added too much sugar to it. It tasted very strange. However, Nathaniel did not complain about it and even asked her to get him another cup. Since Nathaniel wanted more, Karen Joy was happy. She leaned towards him and said excitedly, "Brother Lionel, if you like the coffee I made, I'll make coffee for you every day."
"Okay." Nathaniel nodded and handed a document to Karen Joy. "You're good at languages, how about you proofread this text for me?"
"Brother Lionel, that shouldn't be right." Karen Joy did not reach out to take over the document. "All the documents that you have here are national secrets and highly confidential. It's not appropriate for me, as an outsider to read them."
The leaking of confidential documents could be a huge matter. If those masterminds who wanted to schemed against Nathaniel find out about it, they could make use of this matter to stir up more trouble. Karen Joy had learned to be cautious from her father. Before her identity could be publicly clarified, she had better not touch these sensitive documents, so as not to bring unnecessary trouble for Brother Lionel.
"These are not confidential documents," Nathaniel said.
He was just worried that she would be too bored, so he deliberately picked up some unimportant documents for her to proofread to help her pass time.
Ring, ring, ring-
Nathaniel's work phone suddenly rang.
The moment it rang, Nathaniel knew that there must be some trouble. He immediately picked up his phone and answered, "What's the matter?"
On the phone came Jason Lesley's voice. He sounded very anxious, "Mr. President, there is more trouble. The snowstorm came too quickly this time, we were completely unprepared. Moreover, it lasted for tod long that several provinces have been badly affected to varying extents."
Nathaniel frowned and shouted coldly, "Get to the point."
What Jason said was known all over the country. How could the President of the country not know about it?
During the early onset of the snowstorm, Nathaniel had already instructed for the relevant departments to organize emergency rescues, and he had done his best to protect the people's personal safety and property.
Jason was getting quite sly, twisting his words when speaking to the President! He would first highlight the good news and then share the bad news as discreetly as he could.
As soon as the President questioned him, Jason blurted out, "An avalanche has happened at Misty Mountain. Hundreds of families in several villages at the foot of the mountain were buried in the snow. According to the preliminary statistics, about three hundred people are trapped at the foot of the mountain."
"Are the rescue teams on their way?" Nathaniel asked in a low voice. His chiselled eyebrows frowned even tighter, they were squeezed together so tightly that they almost formed into two vertical lines. "Yes, the rescue teams are already on their way to Misty Mountain," Jason answered.
If the rescue teams had yet to be on their way, he wouldn't dare to call the President.
How would he not know of their President's temper after being with him for so long?
Nathaniel ordered, "Give out my orders. Every life is important, rescue every person they can find, and at the same time, they must ensure the safety of the rescue team."
While speaking, Nathaniel got up, put on his coat while walking, and said, "Arrange for a helicopter. I'll go to the disaster area immediately."
"Mr. President, it's still snowing, and it would be too dangerous for the helicopter to fly over. Do you want to wait for it to ease first? At least when the snow stops, then you can arrange for an official visit and comfort the victims." Jason was really worried about Nathaniel, and thus, he offered such an imprudent proposal.
Upon hearing this, Nathaniel's face darkened. "If the rescue team can take a helicopter, then why can't I? Are their lives not as important as mine?"
Jason became even more anxious. He did not care about his status and retorted, "You are our President. They can get into an accident, but you, sir, cannot. We can't afford for anything to happen to you at all." Nathaniel said, "The people of Country A need a President who would think for them, someone who would create benefits for them, and to make their daily lives better, instead of a cowardly President who hides when trouble arises."
Nathaniel wanted to go to the disaster area not to help in the rescue, but to motivate the people. This way, the probability of rescuing trapped victims would increase greatly.
"Yes, I'll go and see it right now." Jason had nothing to respond to Nathaniel's words, so he had to abide by the order obediently.
Not long after Nathaniel took office, there had been an earthquake at Long Cove. At that time, some people had deliberately spread rumors that because the new president had not received blessings from the former president, his position was bogus. Hence, the earthquake was just a warning.
As for now, Nathaniel had only been in office for only four months, and an avalanche had unexpectedly happened. Avalanches had never been heard of in the history of Country A, hence this disaster severely affected the people in those provinces.
Given such circumstances, there would be more people rallying against the President, spreading more rumors on how he should not be the rightful leader. These rumors would influence other ignorant readers and would prompt them to cause even more trouble.
One rebel may not wield any power, but ten of them would be a significant force. If such contagion were to spread amongst the people, the consequences would be unimaginable.
Having learned a lot from the last experience, Nathaniel knew that he had to take the lead in preventing those people from spreading more unfounded propaganda.