Chapt 3: a Boss

Sunlight streamed in from behind the curtains. The large glass windows allowed the room to be bathed in the warmth of the morning sun.

Ivory wriggled slowly, trying to relax her stiff muscles.

She let out a soft squeal as she felt her bones being crushed to a pulp. She looked to her side, but Max was not there.

Where was he?

"Good morning," greeted a man in his rich baritone voice. If people didn't know, they might think he was in his thirties, but he wasn't yet.

"Hey ... sorry, I slept like the dead. Are you going to work?" Ivory answered with a nod from Max.

The man sat down near Ivory, who had risen after wrapping the blanket around her chest. It must have been Max who put that thing on her when she fell asleep last night.

After reaching their 'release', she felt drained and sleepy, then unconsciously closed her eyes.

"I'll keep my promise." The man handed Ivory a brown envelope. "I'm not paying you as a prostitute; consider this a form of gratitude."

"What about the curse?"

Max spread his arms, showing that he was already fully human.

"Miraculous, isn't it?" Max proudly praised his state of being a perfect human being.

Usually, Max would wake up with wolf fur splattered all over the place and feel tired all day. Then when night fell, even though he was not in a state of lust, he would transform into the form of a horrible monster.

There was no one to tell him what was happening to him.

Neither his father nor mother, his twin sister, or even an elder in his family only gave him the advice to look for a silver-haired girl.

Now that he knew he was back to normal, he was delighted. Hence, Ivory's well-deserved thanks.

The girl accepted the envelope from Max's hand, thanking him afterward. After all, Max had also done his part. Ivory deserved to thank him for showing her what making love felt like.

Although she still feels the pain now, Ivory still remembers how pleasure it was last night.

"You don't have to drive me. Go to work; I'll go home by myself," said Ivory, who asked Max to drop her off at the shop. She didn't want anyone to know where she lived.

Ivory wanted to enjoy her time alone without anyone knowing where her house was, what she did, and how she lived.

"Alright, if you want that. After this, promise not to tell anyone, and we can't meet again." Max emphasized one crucial thing Ivory had to do after getting what he needed.

"What if fate brings us together again?" asked Ivory.

"Think of it as fate. But you still have to remember your limits. Do you hear me?"

Ivory neither nodded nor shook her head. She just wanted to get home and leave for work in the morning. If she had to choose, she would instead look after the shop than work.

"Uh, what's that guy's name? Why didn't I ask?" muttered Ivory, monologuing. "Ah, never mind ... we won't meet again anyway. So forget it."

***

Ivory had arrived at the office earlier than usual. She began to set up her work supplies and started by cleaning the janitor and the restrooms, the first things that the employees would come to when they arrived.

She had finished her work in the janitor and restrooms. Now it was time to clean each cubicle and the boss's room.

Usually, she would never enter the boss's room, as a special team was appointed to do so—a kind of elite group with a higher caste than the other cleaning troops.

Moreover, only Ivory's class is a part-time employee.

"Ivy, after this, you clean the boss's room. Be careful because our big boss dislikes when things on his desk move."

One of the cleaning staff, who was at a higher level than Ivory, came and gave her the task.

"But, Jane, can't I go into the boss's office? I'm only a part-time worker." Ivory replied while drying her hands after fixing the broken faucet.

She could have asked the maintenance staff for help, but they must not have come this early.

"This is a mandate from above. You can get promoted if you obey. And our boss is a player, so don't let him ask you to be his bedmate."

"Huh? What? You must be joking! Are there men like that?" asked Ivory, incredulous.

"That's the truth, Ivy. He always asks for some women to be brought to his room, but the women will come out of the room in various states."

Ivory listened to the story that Jane was telling. However, she could not believe there was a man with such a temperament. Although Ivory had never had contact with the opposite sex before, her father was not like that. His father was very loyal to his mother.

"What is various, do you mean?"

Jane shrugged.

"Some get angry, some faint. Hmm ... I wonder if our boss is so good at bed games that so many of the women have such an amazing reaction."

Ivory laughed at Jane's words. All this time, Jane had been a good friend and coworker to her. She was even like a sister to Ivory. Hearing her say that made Ivory remember what she had done with the strange man whose name she had forgotten.

"I was just about to say that. I don't think I'll believe what you say anymore. You said making love for the first time is painful, but it's not."

Jane rounded her eyes and could not prevent her mouth from opening.

"Did you do it? Didn't I hear you wrong? With whom? Come tell me!"

"Later, when I've done my work. I'll start in the boss's room now," said the girl, then got up and picked up her equipment to start a new mission, cleaning the room of the boss, who was a perfectionist in Jane's opinion.

For this one, Ivory believed the girl's words because Jane had repeatedly received the task of cleaning the boss's room.

"Wait! You'll make me curious if you don't tell me now, Ivory!" squealed Jane, excited.

However, Ivory continued to waltz by without turning around at all.

She repeatedly muttered to herself when she arrived at the door of her boss's office. Her eyes were fixed on the nameplate attached to the surface of the door. She didn't care who her boss was; what was certain was that she now had to start being careful with all her work.

The lure of a promotion, who wouldn't want it? It would help her survive for a long time also so that she could finish her studies that had to be stopped halfway.

Ivory knocked three times on the door, then entered the room after receiving orders from her superior.

She dared not lift her face to see how handsome her boss was. It was just as Jane had said. She still did what she was supposed to do.

"Don't nudge it; you should know the rules!" snapped a voice, unquestionably belonging to the man who had been sitting behind the desk and was busy with the files in front of him.

Hearing a familiar voice, Ivory raised her face. Peeking at the boss's face just a little, it didn't seem to hurt.

She was still moving her hands to clean the table's surface and others, but her eyes continued to investigate what the face looking down with total concentration on the work looked like.

The man finally lifted his face, turned to Ivory, and his eyes immediately caught Ivory's clear blue irises and locked there.

"Ivy?"

"You?"