Charlene nodded quickly, then turned to York. “Sorry, I can’t make it to lunch with you.”

York smiled warmly. “No worries.”

With that, Charlene left.

York watched her and Kenton walk away, then headed to the cafeteria for lunch on his own.

He hadn’t taken a real break in quite a while.

A couple of days after he met Charlene, his official vacation finally started.

He didn’t see Charlene at all during those two days.

When he got home, his family didn’t realize he was on leave, so everyone was busy doing their own thing and the house was pretty much empty.

Once word got around that he was back, his friend Dalton invited him out for dinner.

Over burgers and fries at their usual diner, Kelvin Scott couldn’t resist some gossip. “Honestly, I didn’t expect Ms. Hawkins-you know, the one Dalton’s into— to be Dr. Kevitt Smith’s PhD student. That’s pretty impressive, actually.”

York didn’t know much about the history of Al development, let alone who Kevitt Smith was.

Kelvin knew that. Truth be told, he’d only learned about Kevitt Smith thanks to Dalton anyway.

York wasn’t really interested in the topic.

But then, as if something had suddenly popped into his mind, he asked, “Between Kevitt Smith and our own Mr. Kenton, who’s had a bigger impact on Al?”

Kelvin shrugged. That was beyond him.

But Dalton knew the answer. “Mr. Wagner, definitely.”

Back in the day, Kenton Wagner had single-handedly made groundbreaking breakthroughs in Al research. He led a team that broke through international tech barriers and helped push the country’s Al industry forward. The guy was basically a legend—foreign competitors were always wary of him. The way Dalton saw it, without Kenton, their country’s Al wouldn’t be anywhere near where it was today. Kevitt Smith was great, sure, but there was just no comparison.

Dalton didn’t exactly like Stewart Ferguson, but he could separate his feelings- Kenton was Kenton, Stewart was Stewart. No need to mix them up.

York rarely asked about things that didn’t concern him. The fact that he brought this up today was a little unusual.

But considering Kenton’s reputation, and the fact that they all knew the guy, Dalton and Kelvin didn’t think much of it.

Once the conversation drifted away, Dalton suddenly grinned. “Oh, by the way, last time I had dinner with my mom and some of the aunts, they mentioned they’re trying to set you up with someone again. Looks like you won’t be able to dodge those blind dates this time, now that you’re back.”

To be fair, York was at that age. His family had been bringing up the marriage thing since early last year.

He hadn’t minded much before wasn’t opposed, but didn’t have any strong feelings about it either.

But now…

He lowered his gaze, not responding.

That night, York had barely spent any time with his family before his phone rang.

His vacation was suddenly cut short, and he had to rush back to the base.

He wasn’t sure if Charlene had already left the base or was just busy with something else.

Three days later, after another mission, York returned to the data center, but Charlene was nowhere to be seen.

A couple more days passed. Still no sign of her.

Finally, four or five days later, after another assignment, he spotted Charlene in the cafeteria, hunched over her meal.

York paused, watching her for a moment.

Then he walked over and sat down across from her.

Charlene looked up and smiled. “Back already?”

“Yeah, just got in,” he said, meeting her eyes. “I didn’t see you last week. I thought maybe you’d left the base.”

Charlene shook her head. “Nope, I’ve been around. Just not holed up in the data center.”

York nodded, then asked the question that had been on his mind. “So, when are you heading out this time?”

Charlene assumed it was just small talk. “Tomorrow.”

York blinked in surprise. “That soon?”

“It’s not that soon, really. I’ve been here over ten days already.”

As she finished up her meal, Charlene dabbed her mouth with a napkin. “Alright, I’m done. Take your time—”

Before she could get up, York suddenly blurted, “So, uh, Ms. Ross, do you have a boyfriend?”

Charlene was caught off guard, totally not expecting that.

Before she could respond, York went on, “If not, what do you think about me?”

He realized how abrupt he sounded, but honestly, with his crazy schedule and Charlene not coming to the base all that often, chances for them to run into each other were rare. Who knew when or if they’d see each other again? If he didn’t speak up now, someone else might.

It took Charlene another moment to realize he was actually asking her out.

Seeing how shocked she looked, York quickly added, “You don’t have to answer right away. I just thought, if you ever want to date or settle down, maybe you could consider ”

“Sorry,” Charlene interrupted, suddenly flustered. “Thank you, really, but I’m… I’ve already been married.”