Did you see her walk in with him this morning?"
"Not just walk in—she arrived in his car! They're practically begging us to talk."
"Weren't they leaving Friday in her car?"
Emma gritted her teeth as the office gossip reached her ears. Subtlety had clearly been left in the dust. She focused on her computer screen, but her mind kept replaying the morning's fiasco—an inadvertent spectacle she and William had staged for their eager audience.
That Morning.
Emma groaned, slumping in the plush seat of William's sleek Porsche.
"This is exactly what I wanted to avoid," she muttered, arms crossed. "Now everyone's going to talk."
William glanced at her, his smirk annoyingly smug. "You're overthinking."
"No, I'm not!" she snapped, swiveling to face him. "First, there's Friday with you waiting at my car, and now this—arriving together in your car?"
He chuckled, a deep, infuriating sound. "So let them talk. What's the harm?"
Emma shot him a withering glare. "Easy for you to say. You're not the one who'll get accused of seducing their boss for a promotion."
William pulled into the office parking lot, his smirk softening into something that almost resembled concern. "Emma, you're one of the hardest workers I've ever met. People know that. So relax—or we're going to be late, and that'll really get them talking."
She sighed, dragging her feet as they entered the building, a sinking feeling settling in her gut.
The moment Emma reached her desk, Marissa and Eli pounced.
"So," Marissa began, leaning over Emma's desk with a grin as wide as the Grand Canyon, "care to explain how Friday night's 'It's an emergency!' turned into this morning's Porsche parade?"
Eli held up his phone triumphantly. "Don't even try to deny it. The receipts are in."
On the screen was a photo of Emma, unmistakably behind the wheel of her sedan, with William lounging in the passenger seat.
Emma's eyes widened. "Where the hell did you get that?"
Eli grinned like a cat with a cornered mouse. "The Gossip Group Chat. Someone snapped it Friday night. Check the caption—'Sleeping her way to the top.' You're building an army of haters."
Marissa arched an eyebrow. "And then there's this morning. A Porsche? You're not exactly flying under the radar, Emma."
Emma groaned, burying her face in her hands. "I can't catch a break, can I?"
Eli leaned back, arms crossed, smug as ever. "Oh, come on. You've only got yourself to blame. First, you 'kidnap' the boss Friday night, then waltz in with him on Monday morning. What did you expect?"
"Spill it!" Marissa chimed in, her eyes sparkling with mischief.
"We're dating," Emma mumbled, her voice barely audible.
"OMG!" Marissa squealed, while Eli's grin widened.
Eli leaned closer. "So what base of dating are you on? Kissing...? Necking? Petting?"
Emma froze, she couldn't says livin in together kind of phase. She nearly blurted out the truth, but she caught herself. "Uh.. Well...." She made a zero with one hand and inserted her finger from the other, a deadpan motion that sent them them into fits of laughter.
"Oh my God!" Marissa all excited.
Eli raised an eyebrow, his smirk turning wicked. "Okay, but real talk—how's he… you know down there? Huge?"
Before Emma could respond, a familiar voice cut through the chaos.
"Emma."
Emma turned to see Patrick, holding a file and looking mildly uncomfortable.
"and Ms. Nigel," he added, glancing at Marissa. "I need the weekend campaign results on my desk before lunch."
Marissa nodded, but the second Patrick walked away, she whipped around to Emma. "Since when are you on a first-name basis with Patrick?"
Emma deflected she doesn't want to elaborate any further how crazy her weekend was, swiveling back to her computer. "No comment."
Later, as Emma goes to the Finance Department and handed Patrick the file, when a voice sliced through the air like a knife. "Well, isn't she helpful?"
Emma froze. She didn't need to turn around to recognize Eve, Patrick's sharp-tongued wife.
"Eve," Patrick began nervously, "Emma's just here to drop off some numbers."
"Oh, I'm sure," Eve said, her tone dripping with sarcasm. "She's always so… diligent when it comes to managers."
Emma clenched her jaw. "I'm just doing my job."
Eve's smile didn't reach her eyes. "Is that what they're calling it now?"
Patrick stepped in, his voice tight. "Eve, enough."
But Eve wasn't done. "Ambition's important, Emma. But targeting taken managers? Not the classiest way to climb the ladder."
Emma's cheeks burned with anger. "For the record, William's single. And I wouldn't make a scene in the office, unlike some people."
She hadn't even realized until that moment that she didn't actually know if William was single. But then again, he wouldn't have asked her to be his girlfriend or live with him if he were taken, right?
Eve's smugness faltered, but she recovered quickly. "Oh dear, You doesn't have any idea. Beside me making a scene? No dear, I'm just stating facts."
Emma's gaze didn't waver. "Maybe you should focus on how things look in your life before meddling in mine."
Eve's face turned scarlet, and she rounded on Patrick. "How dare you! You bitch!!"
Patrick grabbed her arm, his voice low and firm. "That's enough. Let's go."
He nods at me Emma apologetic and he dragged his wife away, Eve shrieked, "You'll hear from HR!"
Emma was left there in the office. She waited until she can no longer hears Eve voice and antics.
She walks back as she sat back at her desk, shaky and drained. Between Marissa and Eli's teasing, Eve's venom, and Patrick's awkward attempts at peacekeeping, Gossips and hate stares, The Morning with William, the day had officially spiraled, and it was just half of the day.
And then the phone rang.
"Hello, this is Emma speaking. How can I help you?"
"Ms. Dee, this is HR. Could you come by after lunch?"
Emma hung up, her stomach sinking. HR? She sighed this is getting more and more way out of hand.