Anna yawned widely, causing tears to form in the corners of her eyes. She wiped it off and shook her head hard enough to relieve the sleepiness. "I'm sorry. I couldn't sleep well last night," she said before Chelsy asked.As promised, she accompanied her to her favorite boutique to discuss dresses for the party."She imagined the ghost we watched yesterday," Dave sneered.Also, with Dave. He came because there was nothing to do but spend the weekend with her while she decided to meet his cousin.Anna suddenly gave him a sharp glance. Wouldn't he be enough to nag her not to watch horror anymore?Yeah. Although Anna enjoyed it, she would admit that it sometimes scared her into her dreams. But she never felt enough."I thought you couldn't sleep for another reason," Chelsy replied. She took a sip of coffee served by the waiter while waiting for the designer, or owner, to issue the dress reference for the theme, pirate. "Like passionate sex, maybe?" she continued.After that, it was Chels
"Where are we going?" Anna asked as she saw Dave turning the car to the right, heading north of Los Angeles. It wasn't the direction to her apartment, The Byrne Hotel, or Chelsy's, as she said, was on the west side. Then where would they go?"We'll go to the beach and buy ice cream," he answered without taking his eyes off the road. He looked relaxed, riding the streets quite busy on the weekends.If it was her, she would have chosen... nothing. She would curl up in her bed if she had no work or appointments unless she wanted to wander around the city. But she usually used the bus or just walked."Yeah, there's a great ice cream parlor near the beach." Chelsy chimed in from behind. "And maybe lunch because it's already lunchtime."They finished with Nate around lunch. So, without looking at the watch, Anna knew her calculations were correct. That was probably about one.Anna saw a board showing the coast's direction, and it was they were heading. It was quieter but still crowded, and
"How do you feel after separating from him?""With Dave?""Yes. Who else?"They just returned from the airport after dropping him off there. It was a Sunday night like any other night.Anna stared at the road in front of them, pondering the answer. To be honest, she didn't understand the true meaning behind it."Are you feeling sad or anything?" Chelsy asked again, giving an example to clarify her point.Anna thought again. Was she sad?She then shook her head doubtfully. "No.""Then happy?"Her bead moved to the right, a sign that she was thinking. "No.""Angry? Disappointed?""No.""Confused?""No."Then silence.Chelsy was still focused on the road to her apartment. But her face showed she was thinking. "Indeed, you need more time with him.""For what?""Develop feelings for him."Chelsy took the left turn. It was still ten minutes from her apartment."I don't know, Chels. It's hard to predict something like this."Again, it was a matter of the future. Things were still far from th
Anna watched Kate shake hands with Mr. Donahue, the CEO of the Organization. Then they looked ahead, at the camera to be precise, and smiled. It was the opening of a series of activities in the orphanage. Those were handing over donations, lunch, and activities with children.Yeah, it was for media and image creation for the public.Kate clapped as the CEO handed over a large sign, as a donation symbol, to the orphanage. It brought another round of applause, making the situation lively. And didn't forget about taking pictures. The CEO took turns greeting the orphanage's staff, and each person's photo must be taken.They all went into a room and talked. Again, photos couldn't be forgotten in every situation.Anna actually wanted to leave. She was lazy to listen to such talk. Somehow it looked not natural, considering cameras were everywhere. How could they generally act in that situation?But she had to endure to monitor Kate. That was her job and her professionalism. Therefore, she st
"They're so adorable." Those were his first words when the call was connected after she sent her picture with the previous children."I know," she replied, wiping her wet hair with a towel. It was her routine to have a hot shower before going to sleep. She even took a bath if her body was exhausted. It helped her get to sleep faster."How long were you there?""We back at four, so we had five hours there." She then put down her phone and turned it on speaker mode before walking to the wardrobe."You just got home?"She took casual clothes—an oversized t-shirt and pants. "Not really. I just finished my shower." She raised her voice slightly, considering she was a bit far from her phone."How about dinner?""We bought fast food before going home."She started to change clothes when she heard his reply."At least you had dinner."She didn't respond immediately but finished her activity, returned to pick up her phone, and took it with her to sit on the bed. "How about you? You had dinner,
She heard something. Or not? It was so faint that she didn't know if what she heard was real or a dream.Dream?Wait. Didn't Anna say goodnight to Dave before going to bed?Just then, her eyes opened wide. It was like something pulled her from a dream and forced her to wake up from sleep.For a moment, she guessed it was the alarm. But then she realized that her alarm wasn't that loud. She used waves and wind sounds, so it wouldn't jolt her from sleep.Then she spun her head as she realized something. It was her phone. So she immediately took it and took a glimpse at the time. It was past two."Hello," she greeted, still between dream and reality."Hello. Is this really Kate's friend?" replied a deep voice on the other side.Her brows furrowed, and she took off her phone to see who was calling her. That was Kate's number. "Who's this?" she asked suspiciously and worriedly. Someone was holding Kate's phone at this hour. Who was not worried?"I'm from the club. Kate is here but too drun
Anna looked around with her phone in hand. It was apparent she was waiting for someone.“What are you looking for?” Jenny asked, her brows furrowed next to Anna. They had just finished discussing the contract for Kate.“I’m looking for someone,” Anna answered, a little hanging at each word.The frown on her forehead increased. “You know someone works here?” Jenny asked again.Anna gave the nod, but her eyes were still scanning her surroundings. “Yes. She said she would meet me in the lobby.”“Then let’s wait on the couch.”But they just walked a step and changed direction when Anna found the person she was waiting for out of the elevator. “Here,” she exclaimed as she raised her hand to show her whereabouts.“She’s someone you know?”Anna nodded confidently. “Yes.”“Isn’t she the CEO of this company?”Again. Anna gave a sure nod. This time, with a smile when Chelsy got closer to them. “Yes.”“How did you-“ Jenny couldn’t finish her sentence because Chelsy was already close to them.“So
Anna took the package and brought out its contents. It was a small jar containing several cubes encased in yellow aluminum. Yes, she finally bought chocolate after a long discussion with the owner.Surprisingly, the owner was kind. She gave free samples of some chocolates in stock for Anna to try and listened to her every reaction and word afterward. It made her comfortable saying what she wanted, even though she wasn't sure she could put everything in words right. But the owner understood, and that was a plus point.Hence, Anna had no problem waiting for the owner to make the first samples. Then what was she doing now in front of that?A satisfied smile crossed her lips. Somehow it brought her closer to Dave, and she wanted to share it.She picked up her phone, scrolled her fingers for Dave's name, and a call came in just as she was about to touch it. That was Dave. What a coincidence!"I was just about to call you," she said as soon as the call was connected. She still had a bright