ZAYLEN
I watched three pairs of eyes on me, entirely shocked at my appearance, as if I had manifested out of a UFO with three heads on my shoulder.
Judging by their astonished look, it totally slipped their minds that this was my office and I always worked overtime.
But today, I wasn’t in the mood to work much overtime, so I decided to go home, only to find the guy named James getting sandwiched between two women.
How can boys be so dumb? First of all, you shouldn't cheat. And even if you do, do it carefully. How can you get caught? It just ends up with everyone having bad blood.
Anyway, it was not my business, but I had to step in because it was happening in my territory.
I couldn't tolerate enmity among co-workers. It affected the work environment and work quality; besides, that James guy wasn't even making great reports either, despite having two women in his arms, which made me a little bit curious: what did either of them see in this dude to fight over him?
“What’s going on here?” I repeated.
“Nothing, Zay—”
I sharply interrupted Lara, “Boss.”
“Nothing, Boss,” she corrected herself.
I placed my hands inside my pocket as I firmly said, “Yes, I believe everyone at my office should be on a first name basis. But not everybody can call me by my first name without my permission. And you certainly don't have that permission. So never make the mistake of calling me by my name ever again, okay?”
Lara, James, and Liana—all three of them nodded.
I looked at the messed up situation and understood that James and Lara were caught making out on Liana’s desk. Because James and Lara looked messed up and so was Liana’s desk.
I wonder how someone could do that to an earnest, passionate, and hardworking soul like Liana. She was an asset to my company, though she wasn't specifically aware of that. I was going to make her “Employee of the Year” when the time for it came around the next time. After all, she always served me the best work possible and maintained professional boundaries and etiquette really well.
I cleared my throat and said, “Lara, clear the desk properly. And James, if you don't submit the report in like…” I glanced at my wristwatch, “ten minutes, then consider yourself fired.”
James’ eyes grew as wide as saucers as he rushed to his desk and Lara started cleaning up Liana’s desk.
“I don't expect this kind of inappropriate activity in my territory ever again. This is the first and the last warning from me,” I warned them as they nodded and proceeded to do their work.
Finally, I shifted my gaze to Liana. She was just staring at James and seemed heartbroken.
She took a glance at me and our eyes met. It looked like she was trying too hard to not cry, but her glassy amber eyes — those couldn't lie.
I felt bad for her.
Before I could say anything, her gaze fell on a pair of keys on the floor, which most likely fell during James and Lara’s exploration.
Liana gritted her teeth and grabbed the keys before running out of the office.
I should let her be. She needed some alone time, I assume.
I decided to take the stairs as Liana took the elevator to go to the basement.
“This is why, I don't believe in love,” I mumbled to myself under my breath.
Love was just a waste of time. I mean, look at Liana. She invested her time in love and what did she get in return? Her boyfriend banging her best friend on her desk?
I noticed the way Liana used to look at James — eyes full of naivety and hope for a future one day together. It was staggering how those lively eyes could lose their vibrancy and color so easily. That too, over a worthless, cheating scumbag like James who couldn't keep it in his pants to give his girlfriend some time to prepare for the next step in their relationship.
Liana deserved so much better than that. Maybe it wasn't the ideal way for her to learn the truth of his nature, but I was glad it came out to her before things got more committed between them.
I called Jordan and informed him of the incident. “Keep an eye on James and Lara. Especially James. His work isn't up to the mark already, and now, not even his character. Lara at least tries to complete her tasks on time.”
“Okay, Boss.”
I rolled my eyes as I corrected him, “It’s Zaylen, you idiot.”
Jordan chuckled over the phone. “I know you are my friend, but I am dedicated to my work, you know? I respect you as my boss and I am extremely good at maintaining professional boundaries.”
“Shut up. Your shift is over. No need to maintain that boundary anymore,” I deadpanned. “I just rather feel like hurling whenever you show me your fake respect.”
“You know, bro, nobody believes we are friends. At this point, I end up not trying to make people believe. Even our colleagues think I am bluffing if I ever mention to them I was hanging out with you. To be frank, they are more likely to believe I befriended a violent lion in the zoo.”
I furrowed my brows at his words. “Why? What’s wrong with me? Why can't I be befriended but a stupid lion can be?”
“It's just the way you look at everyone. No, it's not even looking. It looks like you are throwing daggers into somebody’s soul. Your aura screams terror as if you would bite their heads off if they made any mistakes. These are not my words, though. It's what your employees talk about you,” Jordan informed me.
I continued talking to him as I made my way to my car. It was when I saw Liana standing in front of her car, just staring at the windshield. When I took a closer look at her, she was crying silently.
“Jord, I’ll call you back later,” I told him and cut the call.
Feeling pity for Liana, I approached her. Standing behind her, I watched her from the reflection of her windshield — her eyes shut closed with a hand covering her mouth to stop the sobs from escaping her.
All of a sudden, when her eyes opened, she saw my reflection on the back through the glass.
I thought she would wipe her tears and try to be normal as her boss stood behind her. Instead, she removed her hand from her mouth and burst into more tears.
The sight made my insides twist into knots. After all, I hated seeing women cry.
Not knowing what to do, I took out my handkerchief from my left pocket and handed it to her.
She quietly took it and started wiping her uncontrollable tears.
“Umm…” I cleared my throat. “Do you want me to drop you home?”
She shook her head. “I have m-my… car…” she said with a broken voice.
I had a feeling leaving her alone in a miserable state might be risky tonight. You never know what the human mind might be conjuring up, and even if she did look tough, who knows what thoughts might cross her mind and she ends up doing something impulsive? What if she did what my mom did? No, no!
“That’s great. I left my car keys in my cabin and I am too lazy to go back and bring them again, especially at the cost of seeing James and Lara’s face again for the night,” I reasoned, “So… can you drop me home?”
She seemed to be taken aback at my question. Her tears dried out as she clutched the handkerchief. “I… Boss…”
Before she could deny it, I arched an eyebrow and asked curiously, “Are you saying you cannot drop your boss home?”
She stayed quiet, unsurely.
“Liana, I'm sure I don't need to spell out to you what happens when you get on your boss’ bad side. So what's it gonna be?” I tilted my head slightly, looking into her eyes. “Are you going to deny helping me?”
Her eyes went wide as she vehemently shook her head. “No, no. Of course not!” She opened the passenger door and said, “Please take a seat, Boss. I will drop you home.”
I chuckled lightly at her one-eighty shift and sat inside her car. She also settled into the driver’s seat.
I extended my hand and said, “My handkerchief?”
She pushed my handkerchief into her purse as she told me, “I will wash it and then return it to you. Don't worry.”
As she was inserting the keys inside, her eyes fell on a pendant hanging on the rear view mirror.
Huffing out an annoyed breath, she grabbed the chain and tossed it out of the window. With that, she started the car and drove out of the parking lot swiftly as I watched her in amusement.
However, I got sort of terrified when I noticed she was crossing the speed limit on the road with an angry look on her face. While I wasn't scared of a little bit of speed, her mental state was the one that was concerning.
God knows what she would have done if she were driving alone — most probably getting fined by the cops for speeding.
“Drive safely. I don't want to be the victim of the rage against your ex,” I commented, seeing her hot temper.
“Yes, you are right. The only victim should be that asshole — a victim who would die the most painful and pathetic death ever,” she gritted out.
I almost laughed out loud at that remark but managed to control myself and said, “Still, let's be careful. Destiny is a strange thing. You and I might be the ones to end up in a car crash. We don't want that, now do we?”
She mumbled something under her breath, probably annoyed at my nagging, as she slowed down the speed and said with a tight-lipped smile, “As you wish, Boss. I will now drive at a speed that will make sure you get home safe and sound without a scratch.”
“Spoken like a true loyal employee,” I encouraged her.
She nodded her head firmly as she forgot all about James and was busy driving within a reasonable speed range, currently slightly mad at me for not letting her be at peace.
A small smile appeared on my lips. She seemed like a soft-hearted and gullible yet very responsible and strong-headed person — exactly what Jordan said.
LIANA “Where to now, Boss?” I inquired, not knowing his full address. He had just told me the area he lived in, not the exact location. “Which block do you live in?” “Well…” Zaylen twitched his lips as he thought. “Keep going straight for a bit.” I kept driving according to his instruction, and when we were passing by a park, Zaylen spoke up abruptly, “Stop here.” Immediately, I hit the brakes. “What happened?” He shrugged and opened the door. “I want to take a walk at the park for a while,” saying so, he stepped out of the car, leaving me alone and absolutely clueless. Should I leave him here? I was assigned to drop him home, which I had done already—technically. But surely, the park wasn't the place he called home, was it? So in other words, I still had to stick with him. Instead of waiting inside and getting bored, I decided to follow him. Looking up at the dark sky, I thought I would spend the entire night crying in my bed with a sad tub of ice cream in my lap. But here
ZAYLEN “So if you don't mind, I would like to ask you something again, Zaylen,” Liana started after I told her to start using my name from now on. She had a hesitant look on her face. “Yeah, sure. Ask me whatever you want,” I gave her permission. She looked into my eyes and asked skeptically, “Why do you really want to help me?” “I already told you my reason, didn't I?” I shrugged. “No, no, there has to be a legitimate reason. It's not charity that you don't need a reason for. You agreed to take revenge!” she pointed out, her voice slurred. “Plus, I'm pretty sure it's not just out of goodwill.” “What? I don't look like a person who has goodwill or does charity?” I teased, which seemed to have caught her off-guard. “No… that's not the case. I mean… you know what I mean!” she rambled. “Now tell me the real reason why you would help me.” Getting curious, I took a closer look at her face. Her eyes were a little unfocused due to the alcohol getting to her head, but they were red an
ZAYLEN My eyes widened in shock, my breath caught in my throat. Before I could react, she pulled away herself and slumped her head on my shoulder, lulling herself to sleep. I was left flabbergasted at her action. It took me a whole minute to come back to reality. I let out a sigh as I mumbled, “Drunk people really are the worst.” I looked down at the girl on my shoulder and ended up chuckling. “Pretty sure you won't remember this, will you?” I stood up with her in my arms. “I will let you off the hook for that peck because you are drunk and heartbroken. Anyway, let's get you back home.” It was after I reached her car that I realized I didn't know where she lived. “Guess I'm going to have to take you to my place,” I said to her knocked-out self. I put her in the car and called the maid to prepare a guest room for her. Once I got home, I laid down Liana on the prepared bed and took off her heels before covering her with the duvet. I was used to putting drunk girls to bed, thanks t
LIANA I knew nothing, but all I knew was, I had to run away from here now. I grabbed my phone and purse and put on my heels. Before leaving, I glanced at my messed-up self in the mirror and it didn't at least look like we did anything else last night, despite my haggard state. But now was not the time to be bothered with that. As I got out of the room, it just occurred to me how rich my boss actually was. His mansion was huge, and it had a vintage vibe as well. I had no idea he came from old money. I mean, of course, I knew Fournier has been a long-standing brand with a reputable history. Who could have guessed we had such a similarity in the type of place we grew up in? I told my dad to keep the mansion vintage, but no, he had to renovate it to become modern. Well, whatever, not like he ever listened to me. Shoot! Now is not the time to compare our mansions! On my way down the stairs, I noticed a big painting, which made me pause again. It was of a woman with long white hair st
LIANA Zaylen and I walked out of the elevator together, earning a lot of stares. Definitely, everyone was wondering why the boss was using this elevator while the smart ones started working more after realizing the boss was on a round now. As Zaylen started roaming around, I went to my desk—I disliked this desk now. The image of James and Lara having sex appeared in my mind. Moreover, my desk was near theirs since we were all in the same department. Nevertheless, I kept my bag on the chair unwillingly. Lara seemed to be at a meeting today because her desk was empty. Sighing, I thought I should get started on work as soon as possible since I was already late to arrive. James appeared in front of me all of a sudden, making me scrunch my nose in disgust. As if my morning couldn't get any worse! “Hey…” James greeted him, but I ignored him and took a seat. I thought James would move when he would notice I was ignoring his existence. But boy, was I wrong. “Liana, can we talk pleas
LIANA With a genuine smile on my lips, I followed Zaylen to his cabin. Thank God, I don't have to hear that stupid James’ blabbers anymore. “You misunderstood,” “I love you,” blah blah blah. Once I stepped into Zaylen’s neat and clean cabin, he instructed, “Please take a seat.” I took a seat and asked, “So what did you want to talk about?” Zaylen sat on his office chair and crossed his arms against his chest. “Since I agreed to help you and I don't like to delay things, I need to know. Do you have any plans ready on how to take revenge against James and Lara?” “I am still thinking,” I said, biting my lip a bit. “Do you want me to take your revenge in one-shot?” he suggested. “I can fire them and give them a terrible recommendation, making sure they don't end up with any decent job anytime soon, or not even in the coming twenty years minimum.” His revenge plan was really tempting, knowing he has the power to do so. However, I didn't want things to end so easily. So I annou
LIANA The two of us turned to look, only to find it was Jordan. “Oh, I didn't know Liana was here.” Jordan walked to us and gave me a greeting smile. “I hope you are doing well.” I gave a small smile to him. “Yes, I am.” I was about to ask him how he was as well, but a thought occurred to me, “Wait, why did you say this to me just now?” He usually started by asking how I was, today it was as if he knew I was having a hard time. “Oh,” Jordan glanced at Zaylen and said, “Zay told me what James and Lara were up to last night.” “I see,” I mumbled. “Wait, Zay? Are you two actually close?” “See, I was not lying when I said I was friends with the boss. But none of you ever believe me.” Jordan shook his head in disappointment. “I believe you now.” I chuckled. “Now that I know what Zaylen is really like, I can see why it's not impossible to befriend him.” “See, he's not the monster you all claim him to be,” Jordan said, grinning proudly. “Excuse me? You all talk behind my back like
LIANA Zaylen and I decided to go out for dinner tonight — obviously to discuss our revenge plan. Nothing more than that, no matter what Jordan said. It wasn’t a date. Once, I got out of Zaylen’s office, Jordan called me from behind. “Liana, wait.” “Yes?” “Actually, Zay texted me this morning and told me to change your desk. I forgot to mention this just now. Anyway, so your new desk is near Sara and Kiara,” Jordan told me, while I arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, I know, they are in a different department.” “Wouldn't I be far away from my team?” I asked in concern. “Close enough to the others on the marketing team but far away from those two cheaters,” Jordan clarified. “Thank you for that. Really, I mean it.” I was so relieved, and it must have shown on my face as Jordan talked further. “Yeah, I can imagine what a nightmare it must be to work on that table where—you know what? Let's not talk about trash and let me guide you to your new desk.” I laughed lightly as he started walking