'As a good friend, I know an energetic young man like you the best. I have numerous collections, I can reccommend you the one, which the female star has the similar look as the prettiest girl here in your opinion.'
Pheonix Lou was dumbfounded, her face turned as red as tomato. Is he talking about porn?
Sean Morris appeared out of nowhere, smacked that male colleague head, as he yelled at him, 'Don't litter my assistant's mind with your pervert thoughts!!'
The man groaned in pain and argued, 'You are no fun! It such a waste to spend time on games like you!'
'You think you're so fun? Why you never had any girlfriends, then? Oh, maybe the girls are afraid of a pervert!' Sean Miller didn't back down.
'I just don't like being in a relationship! While you are probably a good looking gay!'
'I'm not a pervert like you, doesn't mean I'm a gay! Even if you like being in a relationship, no girls would like to be with a dirty minded man!'
'You..!!!!'
Even though they bickered, it was more like joking to the eyes of others. Everyone laughed at them, including Pheonix Lou. The room filled with cheerful atmosphere. They stopped their arguments when the food was served.
Pheonix Lou excused herself to go to the restroom. She was anxious to find a restroom where her gender wouldn't be questioned. Unfortunately, Every restroom in this building seemed to be occupied with some people. The karaoke place was undoubtedly very popular.
Meanwhile, Desmond Claude, who happened to be in the same karaoke place as 101 Studio's employees, had just finished his business deal with another company's representative.
'Ah, sorry Chairman Claude, something suddenly come up.... We're afraid we have to leave now.' The representatives from the other company bowed deeply before they left Desmond Claude and Luke Tyson in the VIP room.
Without no more thing to do in the room, Desmond Claude also proceeded to leave the place.
Desmond Claude was not in a good mood either after he parted with Pheonix Lou this morning. He unknowingly began to be grumpy, whenever he hadn't heard a word from a certain someone. He thought she should realized that it was part of her job as his girlfriend.
'I have told her, but why she didn't understand?' He grumbled in his heart.
In the long corridor, Desmond Claude and Luke Tyson saw a young man, whose face was beautiful, was walking back and forth near the restroom.
'CEO Claude, isn't it Miss Lou?' Luke Tyson said.
Desmond Claude confirmed what his assistant saw. His emotion got better although any changes in his mood was rarely shown on his face.
Their distance got narrower until his manly figure was a few steps from Pheonix Lou, while Luke Tyson nailed himself not too far behind the CEO.
Pheonix Lou stunned by the dominant presence.
'Um... what a coincidence to meet you here, CEO Claude, Assistant Tyson!' Pheonix greeted.
'Why are you walking back and forth in front of the restroom?' Desmond Claude asked in his usual cold tone.
'Um... that's... um...' Her fingers were curled restlessly. 'I...'
'How should I explain? This is embarassing!!' Pheonix Lou screamed at her heart.
People were constantly passing by, went in and out of the restroom. Desmond Claude took a look at the situation and quickly understood what troubled her.
He grabbed her shoulder and took her to follow her. Pheonix was puzzled that she looked at Luke Tyson behind her for several times hoping the assistant knew what his boss had in mind.
Returned to the empty VIP room, Luke Tyson dare not to follow inside as he stood in front of the room.
Pheonix Lou anxiously asked, 'why did you take me here?'
'The toilet is in the corner. I will wait here.'
Desmond Claude said briefly.
He helped her? He was... nice, Pheonix thought.
She had held her bladder for long, she shyly went to use the toilet.
A moment later, she thanked Desmond Claude for letting her to use the restroom in the VIP room.
The calm figure replied lazily to her. 'Is that how you thank your boyfriend?'
Oh, God! It was just a toilet matter and she had thought that he was a nice guy. Wasn't 'thank you' word mean nothing for him? Why he had to take every opportunity?
'How else?' Pheonix Lou looked annoyed.
'You have to report to me when you go somewhere and after work! Also, you should text me every 3 hours.' He blurted out.
'What?! No, way!'
'You can choose, to do it or you can stay here with me the whole night... we can do some stuffs like...'
The way Desmond Claude said it was intentionally making her thought of something inappropriate. He was a man who knew well how to turn situation into his liking.
'Ugh, okay, I will do it...! Now, i have to go...' She left the VIP room without taking another glance.
Pheonix Lou got frustated talked to Desmond Claude, which she always ended up doing what he wanted. His lips curled up watching her disappearing figure.
Back to the room, where her colleagues were having a wonderful time, one of them came to her.
'Hey, why did you take so long? C'mon we're going to have a toast!'
'Sorry, the restrooms were all full.'
The night was getting late. The 101 Studio's employees had already been in front of the Karaoke Place, they said 'bye' to each other and some were looking for a cab.
As Pheonix had promised to report regularly, she typed to Desmond Claude that she was going to go home.
'Wow! That's the chairman of Claude Corporation! He is so handsome!' One of 101 Studio's female employee shout in adoration.
Pheonix spontaneously looked at the handsome figure not too far from them. Why was he still here?!
She bit her lower lips and pretended to be busy at her phone. Still, she could feel his gaze was on her.
'He was far better in person! How lucky to see him here!' The other female colleagues of Pheonix Lou whispered.
Miss Jones just let a long sigh and smiled at the girls.
Luke Tyson who had been following behind Desmond Claude, turned his steps towards the crowd of 101 studio's employees.
Everyone paid attention to Luke Tyson coming, they were confused, but still made a way for him. Pheonix Lou tightened her hands on her phone.
'Ex-secretary Lou, it's a coincidence to meet you! Can you come with us? The CEO wanted to talk to you.' Luke said as he stopped his legs a few steps from where Pheonix Lou was standing.
Pheonix Lou looked at Luke Tyson's smiling face, she blinked and forced a smile. 'Ah... Assistant Tyson, it's indeed a coincidence! I'll come with you.'
She didn't want to attract more attention by rejecting Luke Tyson. She bowed to Mrs. Jones and her colleagues, then followed Luke Tyson.
Her colleagues were dumbfounded, they stared to each other in questions.
'S-s-she knows the chairman of Claude Corporation??'
'The man addressed her as Ex-secretary, didn't you hear it?'
Miss Jones was the only one who wasn't surprised as she explained to them. 'Pheonix Lou worked as his secretary before our workplace.'
Some of the girls couldn't be more happy by what Miss Jones said. They definitely would ask Pheonix Lou about the handsome CEO tomorrow, they might get a chance to know him privately too.
Desmond Claude commanded Pheonix Lou to get into the car, he intended to send her home. He guessed the girl must have been drinking a little, her face was slightly pink, it made him worry. Considering they were in public, she obediently got in the car. The car soon made its way.
'Why were you still there?' Pheonix Lou stared at the man beside her.
Desmond Claude simply answered, 'We happened to be in the same place, I have time to wait for you until you're finished.'
Pheonix Lou didn't say anything. She was suspicious. Did he intentionally be kind to her so he would ask for another things as a gratitude for what he did?
Desmond Claude ignored her suspicious eyes, he was truthfully enjoyed her companionship, moreover, he noticed she would go home late at night alone, so he decided to take her home. For sure, his expression had no trace about what was going on in his head.
Pheonix Lou pouted her mouth, her arms crossed. She sensed there was something he hid.
A smile appeared in Luke Tyson's face who was quietly sitting in the front. Being with Desmond Claude for a long time, he noticed something unusual about his boss towards his ex-colleague, he acted silly in front of her and he treated her rather special.
In Luke Tyson's opinion, Pheonix Lou was a breathtaking girl with a bright personality, she was hard working and not materialistic. The possibility for the CEO to like her was enormous.
There was so much about Pheonix Lou that Desmond Claude noticed more than what Luke Tyson's could mention. Yet, his heart was still complicated.
The weeks passed by since that day. Pheonix Lou had been in contact with Desmond Claude and once in a while they would go on a date as they were tied by a contract. By talking and spending time frequently, they got to know each other better although the interacted like the usually did.
Due to the efficiency of the media, private information about Pheonix Lou tickled the public's curiousity. It made Pheonix Lou's maternal uncle worried about her from time to time. Fortunately, her disguise had saved her countless time.
The CEO of Claude Corporation had anticipated the issue, as he always meticulously kept Pheonix Lou's identity as safe as possible. He even dodged the question relating to it smoothly when he got surrounded by reporters.
Even though Desmond Claude was a very busy businessman, he never delayed or neglected things, when it came to Pheonix Lou.
Since Pheonix Lou was getting better at her new job, the tasks given to her increased rapidly. She was happy, though. Her colleagues were all very nice and they would tell a joke to one another to ease the tension in the office, especially Sean Morris.
The thing was, Pheonix Lou didn't know how well Desmond Claude treated her, compared to the others and she also dared not to mistaken his kindness and gentleness despite the man had made her heart thumped several times. In her point of view, they got together solely because of the contract.
It was a hectic afternoon in 101 Studio. Everyone was focusing on what they have been doing, Miss Jones was called by the director, and Sean Morris had been in a meeting with a client like the senior designers.
Jerry Cox went to Pheonix Lou who had been checking the material's sample to show to Sean Morris later on.
'Hey... do you have time?' He asked hesitantly.
'Oh, Mr. Cox, what can I help you with?' Pheonix stopped what she was doing.
Jerry Cox was the only one here who seems a little bit different, although the others didn't bully him or discriminated him, he was the only one that the others kept their distance from. Maybe that was why he was timid.
'Um... I am not feeling well, but I promised a friend in 30 minutes. Can you come in my place to tell him, I'll meet him another time?' Jerry Cox began to cough as he pleaded.
'S-sure, why not?' Pheonix Lou agreed.
Jerry Cox thanked her many times before he told her to meet his friend through the studio's backdoor, it led to a road where she used to got off from Desmond Claude's car. Jerry Cox then informed her he would go home to rest.
15 minutes later, Pheonix Lou texted to Desmond Claude as it had been 3 hours since her last message as she walked to the back door.
'A colleague wanted me to tell his friend that he was sick and went home early.'
Desmond replied her, 'He could have just call his friend.' The cold CEO even used an angry emoticon.
Pheonix Lou didn't read his message. She slipped the phone into her pocket, she opened the back door, but, she saw no one. Then walked a few meters while her eyes explored her surroundings.
'Where is Mr. Cox's friend?' She muttered. 'Did his friend know me?'