"How was your day?", ruffling my hair, Feng asks. I'm laying my head on his lap as we are watching some random TV shows. It has become a habit of ours ever since we have moved into this apartment.
"Same as usual", circling the hem of his shirt around my index finger, I look at the TV screen but my mind is surely somewhere else.
"Ever since you've come back from your interviews, you're putting this about-face. What happened? Again no luck?", he would never fire me. He is always imposing on my generosity.
"I got a job in Geon corporations", in a monotone, I tell him. My mind is still submerged in the thoughts of that bastard. He told me that I can start tomorrow without sparing me a glance as if he was seeing me for the first time. How rude.
"What! That's amazing news!", godammit...I swear if Feng and Nari continue screaming in my ears, the time is near when I'll be deaf.
"Chen Feng!", I lift my head from his lap while covering my ears with both hands.
"Let's celebrate!", he claps his hands together. Getting up from the couch he reaches his hand out. My eyebrows shot up to which he gestures me to hold his hand. As soon as I place my hand over his, he pulls me up and starts dancing.
"Alice got a job! Dumb-witted finally got a job!!", his windshield laugh echoes in the whole apartment. I wish he finds someone for himself soon. I don't want to be the reason for holding him from the love life.
"Fennie stop", if you're feeling down, listen to Feng's laugh. You will be a laughing mess I bet. After spinning me around he settles me down on the couch.
"You're too much", I shake my head while laughing. People have mistaken us as a couple when we go on grocery shopping. However, we never gave it a thought. Not every relationship is intimate and romantic. We are more than friends for each other, a family, and that's all I need to keep myself sane in this insane world.
"Ethereal? I know I'm the most handsome man in this world after all", putting the index and middle finger on his cheek, he admires his features and he sits next to me.
"Let's eat out, huh?", he suggests more like telling me his decision.
"The hotel was packed tonight. I wanna rest", it's already ten and I've to get up early tomorrow for my first day of job.
"Okay, but I'll not let this one slide. You owe me a treat", Feng is twenty-four but sometimes he acts like a four-year-old. When we finished university together almost a year ago, his parents had face time with him on graduation day. They asked him to visit them in Guangzhou but he openly refused, saying that he can't leave me alone all by myself here in Beijing. I even argued with him that I'd be fine. He didn't budge a little. And he calls me stubborn.
His parents also invited me to their home. But how would I go to the city where my mom had been busy for years living her life with another man? I just didn't want to face her back then. The thing that she didn't call me to say a plain congrats got the best of me. From then on, I decided to let her go. If she's happy in her life, I should also be living mine without abandoned memories.
Feng knew the reason behind my refusal so instead of visiting them in Guangzhou, his parents came to meet him here. They stayed with us for two weeks before leaving back for their hometown.
"Okay, sleep tight", I walk to my room. After doing my night routine, I plopped in my bed under the fluffy blanket.
Feng's POV
Just as I lie down in my bed after brushing my teeth, I see Alice cracking the door open.
"Can I sleep with you?", she asks, standing there with a sulky pout. I tap on the place next to me. What could it be this time? She can't sleep when something is bothering her. She would always end up snoring softly while cuddling me. Maybe job excitement? I brush off my thoughts and cover her with the blanket. She places her arm around my waist as I start caressing her hair.
"Sweet dreams, Feng", her eyelids closed, hands pressed against my chest.
"Good night, Alice", you might call us the cheesy and lousy type of persons who are always clinging onto each other but---whatever never mind. Call us whatever you like to.
Morning
"Shut it", Alice groan burying her head under the pillow when I woke up with a ringing bell of a call.
"It's your phone", I roll over to the other side of the bed to grab it from the nightstand.
"Hey...you don't have to call this early in the morning", rubbing my eyes I look at the caller ID but it was an unknown number.
"Morning? The sun is already up. People are off to work. And you're calling it morning? Anyway, Can I speak to Miss Alice?", who's this Mr Attitude?
"Feng, who's it?", her muffled voice reaches my ear from under the pillow.
"It's her first day of the job and she's already late. Can you please confirm for us if she's coming?", holy mother of...!
"Alice! Wake up! This is from your office", she went gobsmacked when I mentioned her office. Getting up from the bed, she disappeared from the room at the double. The person from the other side declined the call. I also get up and walk to the kitchen to make breakfast for us. As I was pouring the banana milk into the glasses, Alice arrived struggling with heels, tying her hair in a loose ponytail.
"Why do you look like a pig who's trying to fly?", as soon as I cracked up, she gave me a confused look as if asking what I'm laughing at.
"Why are you wearing those?", I point my finger at her shoes, still chuckling.
"Isn't this what I'm expected to wear in an office?", she drinks her banana milk from the glass all at once.
"Give me five minutes. I'll make your breakfast", I take her glass to pour more milk to which she shakes her head.
"I'm late as f*ck. I'll get going now. Wish me luck", she walks to my side. She's looking gorgeous in the suit and damn! Gotta say that she never wears heels but they look so damn good on her!
"With a temperament like yours, you won't need any luck, your boss might do", I giggle seeing her getting all annoyed.
"Just kidding little brat. Trying to fit in the office atmosphere is gonna be kinda challenging for you but you've got nothing to be afraid of. I know you will do amazing!", I pat over her head. Her face lightens up hearing my words. That's all you need to drive energy into her. Just say her some motivating words then she has got all the potential to do everything.
"Don't wait for me. I'll be off to the hotel after I'm done with the office", tsk, this girl.
"Hey! You think I'd let you work in the hotel? Now that you have got this job, quit already", she gave me a peck on my cheek and ran to the door at the gallop.
"Still, I've gotta talk to my boss about this", slamming the door closed she disappeared behind it.
Tao's POV
I was analyzing the chart of the progress our company has made this year when I heard a knock on the door.
"Come in", I fix my glasses while looking at Alice entering my room.
"Good morning, Mr Wang", hiding the nervousness behind that confident smile of hers, she stops before the table.
"Tao. Call me Tao, Alice. We are age fellows. I came to know about your date of birth while browsing through your documents", she forms her lips in an O-shaped.
"I'm sorry for butting in at your time with your boyfriend but I-", her interrupted soft chuckle doesn't let me finish.
"Boyfriend? Feng isn't my boyfriend. We are friends. Best friends, Mr Tao", but friends don't know the way you taste. Do they? Well, if they are friends with benefits.
"Oh, but it seemed like...", reminiscing the earlier conversation with her boyfri--I mean friend I paused.
"But what? Don't friends sleep together?", Junho and I never slept together. God, I would rather get lost in the forests of Amazon than sleep in the same bed as him.
"I see. Well, you should head up to Mr Geon. He must be a little angry for you arriving late on the very first day", Junho and I are best friends for years.
A few days ago he was over the moon about planning the proposal for her girlfriend, Xiu. They had been together for two years. Ever since she has rejected her proposal saying that she's not ready for something big like marriage yet and she doesn't have any intentions of stepping up their relationship from dating. Junho has turned more into a choppy person. He was never like this before. This heartbreak has affected him to the core. That's the reason why I hired a female assistant this time.
His last personal assistant got married and apologized that he wouldn't be able to continue his job as he was leaving for the states with his wife. Junho has restricted his interaction with parties either. Yesterday when Alice walked out of the office he had rather a very confused look plastered on this face. Upon me asking, he told me that he felt as if he had seen her somewhere else. He shrugged it off saying that maybe at some meeting with other companies but I told him that it is her first time working in an office.
"Go to floor 17. There's only one room on the floor", I smiled looking at her as she thanked me before leaving my room.
Alice's POV
"Can I come in, Mr Geon?", I muster up every fraction of courage in my body and enter the room when he gestures me to come in.
"Well, Miss Alice, better late than ever, huh?", he half-closed the lid of his laptop.
"I'm sorry, Mr Geon. I won't be late again", he has a whole different demeanour as compared to the night when he was at our hotel. Not to mention that he was rude as a cunt but now his eyes seem losing the sparkle of being alive.
As if devoid of emotions.
"When were you supposed to be here?", he asks getting up from his seat.
"Sharp at nine", I reply. What's this uneasiness in my stomach? He was bossing around me in the hotel too, but I wasn't standing on his grounds that day. What a f*cking amazing fate I've got!
"And what time are you arriving?", my heartbeat sped up as he starts walking towards me. Is it only me or somebody had turned on the heaters in the room?
"E-eleven", why is he creating a storm in a teacup! I'm just an hour late. Okay, two.
"Come in", he stops a couple of feet from me.
"Here are the documents you asked for Mr Geon", a tall man with very long legs holding a stack of documents entered the room. He's filling out in his clothes just way too perfect. And his chest muscles are just...whew!
"Take these to her table. Create a list of all persons in these files and forward it to me. And do I need to mention that it has to be in soft form?", his brow shot up waiting for my response.
I quickly shook my head.
"Good", the other boy leaves the room. I also step back to leave when his husky voice makes me to a standstill.
"And next time keep the schedule in your mind before putting up any plans with your boyfriend", he stressed over at 'boyfriend'. Why on earth everyone is mistaking Feng as my boyfriend!
"But Feng is---"
"You may leave now", a*shole! If he thinks Feng is my boyfriend then he can keep thinking this way. As if I care about what he thinks and whatnots!
"Okay", once coming out of the room I release the breath I don't know I was holding. What he's got in that skull? I doubt if there's a brain or a rock functioning---
"Mr Geon is a strict type of person when it comes to working. You will get used to him", the same boy smiles revealing dimples on either side.
"Let's go. I'll walk you to your table", I follow him into the elevator. He presses on the 16th floor.
"Here", after some moments of awkward silence, we walk out to my supposed to be a new table as he puts the files down on the table. Other employees are working on their computers.
"I'm Bingwen. If you've any trouble regarding your first task, don't be shy", shy and me? Oh, come on man.
"Thank you, Bingwen", I smile as he smiles back and walks toward his table.
I'm falling for his dimples, God!
I take my seat and start entering the names and their relevant details in the list I've created in Microsoft Excel one by one. This is a cakewalk for me. I've done this many times in my years of university. If this is what I'm going to do here, I'm up for this place all my life! I emailed the list to that asshole after half an hour. It took me this much time because the records I entered were one hundred and fifty, to be exact.
"What? Alphabetic order? Couldn't he have told me this before", I groan seeing the email he just sent me.
"Let's give the devil what he wants", I smile to myself. This is my way to work. If something pisses me off and I still have to interact with it, I normally curse for a few minutes until my anger goes down.
"Devil who?", Mr Wang? Let's just sit and enjoy me getting fired with an Americano, topping of whipped cream. Ain't a bad idea I guess.