Days turned into weeks, and weeks turned into months. Alex had completely forgotten about his curiosity regarding the beautiful girl with deep blue eyes. Two months passed, and Zunnie still had no idea who resided in the condo down the hall.
On two occasions, she had mustered the courage to go to the door and introduce herself, but each time, she chickened out. She even started taking the elevator more often, hoping to run into her elusive neighbor, but to no avail.
Remembering the kindness shown by the previous neighbor who brought cakes, Zunnie wanted to extend the same warmth to the next person who moved in. However, she couldn't shake the thought, 'Maybe there's no one living there,' and eventually, she forgot about it.
Lately, her office had been receiving positive feedback because her treatment methods proved to be effective. Her patient load had increased to the point where she hardly had time to hang out with Sanua. She hadn't dined out since the day her brother and his girlfriend took her to eat French cuisine. When she finally had a break, Sanua invited her to Club Zen.
Entering the restaurant side of the club, she headed straight to the dining table where Sanua waited. Zunnie wore a light brown blazer over a white sleeveless turtleneck top tucked into red high-waist, wide-leg dress pants. She looked exceptionally classy in her work outfit.
"My heavenly goddess, you definitely go to work slaying," Sanua exclaimed as she stood to hug her.
"Well, aren't you kind!" Zunnie blushed when her fashion-mogul best friend complimented her.
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In a private room at the same club, four people were also having dinner. Natalia excused herself and went to the bathroom, leaving three men in the room.
"So, Zi boy, you're not going to fill us in on…" Juno Langu was surprised to see Alex walk in with a beauty behind him.
"Just a friend," Alex replied, cutting him off. He knew what Juno was up to and hurriedly intervened.
"Are you sure, because the way she looks at you says otherwise."
"What the hell do I care how she looks at me? I said she's just a friend. We knew each other when we were kids. You guys asked me to bring her along. I had no intentions of doing so."
Alex had expected his friends to tease him when he showed up with Natalia. Why else would they ask him to bring her?
Earlier, he received a call from the mansion asking him to pick up documents from his grandfather. When he arrived, Natalia was there. She had been waiting for her driver who seemed to be late, so he agreed to drop her off in the city.
Having overheard the conversation between him and Hunter, Natalia mentioned she was hungry. Upon Hunter's request, he had no choice but to bring her along.
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After dinner, Hunter was walking them to the door when Alex stopped. Hunter noticed and turned around to see what his buddy was staring at. As soon as he saw Sanua Lou, Hunter guessed that the pretty girl dining with her must be the one Alex had asked him about. He smiled and continued walking as he pretended to be oblivious.
Alex had been the last one to exit the private room. He was about to call Secretary Zhang when he saw her smile. He stopped abruptly. He knew she came to Club Zen but did not expect to bump into her there a second time. He took a quick glance in her direction and then acted as if nothing happened. He continued dialing his secretary, who happened to be five minutes away.
Curious about her, he sat in his car and waited for the girl with deep blue eyes and red-brown hair to walk out. He sent Natalia with Juno so he could stare at her some more.
He sat in his car for twenty minutes before the two ladies came out. Secretary Zhang had no idea what his boss was planning. He stared at him through the rearview mirror, a confused look emerging on his face. Just as he was about to ask his boss if he was okay, he heard him say.
"Follow that black Volvo!" Following his boss' command, he hurriedly followed the car.
They had been driving for fifteen minutes, and Secretary Zhang couldn't help but wonder why his boss had asked him to follow the Volvo if he already knew its destination.
Alex's gaze remained fixed on the vehicle in front of them. He was genuinely surprised to notice that the car took the same route to Lake-view. Although he hadn't initially planned to follow her home, when Zhang arrived, he couldn't resist the urge to continue observing her. He sat in the car, watching through the window as she happily chatted with Sanua. The decision to have Zhang follow her was impulsive, but now that both cars were heading in the same direction, Alex couldn't shake off his growing anxiety. Both cars eventually parked in the basement parking lot. He waited until she took the elevator, then got out and rushed to see on which floor she got off.
"Third?" he mumbled as he pressed the up button.
Zhang sat in the car, observing his boss's unusual behavior. Seeing Alex forget he was there, he took his phone and dialed Alex's number. All he said was, "You can go home," then hung up the phone.
Alex got off the elevator on the third floor and stared at the door to his right.
"So, all this time she has been my neighbor?" He smirked, walked to his door, and disappeared inside.