VII

Upon returning home, Zen received a chat from his superior and crush, Emma Claire. She had just now informed him that she had a severe case of cold wherein she coughed for the whole day so she didn't go to work.

Zen felt worried so he sent her a get well message and told her about the great news when she asked about how the presentation went.

[Look Zen, I'm really sorry for being absent. My throat had to hurt like hell that I couldn't even talk for a second.]

[No worries, Emma. Hope you feel okay by tomorrow. Please get plenty of rest and drink lots of fluids.]

[So how did the presentation go? The boss was probably infuriated with you, wasn't he? I totally understand cause I got yelled at when I presented the first time.]

[Err.. Actually, it went well.]

Emma couldn't believe her eyes when she saw the text message so she requested a call from Zen which he happily obligued.

"What do you mean by 'went well'? Did you at least not piss your pants?" She laughs.

Zen awkwardly laughs as well but he replied seriously. "No, it really did went well. I managed to present the project properly and even the boss said that he liked my opinion about it."

"He what?!" Emma then fake coughs to fix her increased pitch.

"Are you freaking serious right now, Zen? No kidding at all?" She says with a little tinge of sarcasm but Zen has failed to notice because he likes the gal.

"Yeah. He even asked me to submit a report tomorrow."

Emma stops laughing because she is now starting to take Zen's words seriously. She still couldn't believe it but the sincerity in his tone made her otherwise.

"Well... if it's true, it's probably because I'm your mentor, right?"

Zen felt awkward about Ms. Claire's statement but he still couldn't deny the fact that Emma did teach her a few things. Though the times where she sincerely taught him can be only counted with fingers.

"Yes haha." Zen laughs with a little bit air of awkwardness.

"So how about it? Put a good word of me in your report and maybe also say a few good stuff about me when you get a chance to talk to him tomorrow. Isn't that nice?"

Zen pauses for a while, "I thought you said that Mr. Claude is weird."

"I did? Well maybe I did. But still, isn't he handso- I mean, our boss? I still respect him for that though."

'Right.'

"Alright, I'll do as you wish. Anyways, are you still okay? You've been talking for a while now, your throat must have been hurting."

"Ah... keugh eugh. I'm still coughing but thanks for worrying. Bye, I gotta go now."

"Okay. Bye and sweet dreams." Zen was still waiting for a 'sweet dreams' back but Emma had already ended the call.

Honestly, Zen is growing suspicious about Emma's true feelings about him but he chose to remain oblivious because he could he wrong.

The Next Day.

When Mr. Alfonso arrived at the office, he sees Emma looking as gorgeous as always.

"Good morning, Ms. Claire!" He enthusiastically greets her. When she saw him she swiftly goes up to him and links her arm to his, making her huge, well-rounded breasts touch his arm.

"Hi Zen! You haven't forgotten about it, right?" Zen couldn't focus on her words because the he's way too feeling the physical touch of her breasts to his body.

He blushes crazily, like a huge red tomato ripening up. "E-Emma, your chest!" He didn't have the courage to look at her bare chest due to her v-neck top and quickly looked at the opposite direction.

Emma, pretending to have just realized the results of her silly action, moves away. "Sorry about that, teehee." She acts cutely and imitates the common actions of a kawaii girl on shoujo animes.

****

Zen Alfonso finished typing on his laptop and had the document printed out. He went ahead and leaves the department. But before he rides the elevator, he sees Emma doing heart poses with her arms for him and even going as far as to wink at him repetitively.

Zen isn't weirded out because what does he know about flirting? He simply thought that Emma's actions were very cute and girly. And he felt a giddy feeling in his heart.

He rode the elevator up to Boss' floor peacefully. Upon reaching the big wooden door, he inhales deeply before knocking.

"Come in." The voice from the inside says and so he did.

He swallowed his formulating saliva before promptly entering the room.

The boss was busy reading himself away with a stack of papers. 'Gosh. Being a CEO sure do take a lot of work.'

"Good day, Mr. Claude. I came here today to deliver my full report."

He was still signing his few papers, some in which he only crumpled and threw to the nearby trash bin.

Zen inwardly sharply inhales, 'I hope mine won't get trashed especially right in front of my face.' He dearly hopes for the best.

The CEO loudly sighs when he puts his eyes away from the thick pile of papers after quickly massaging his hair. "Give it here." Even though his eyes were growing weary after long continuous work hours, he still read Zen's report like it was his utmost priority at the moment.

"Hmm..."

For a few minutes, the boss didn't say a word as he read making Zen sweat in amxiety. "Ah— sir! If there's something wrong with it, I'll quickly patch up my mistakes."

Mr. Claude's jet black eyes land into Zen's. Really, this is the first time Zen has encountered a man that could enchant him with his eyes.

Zen couldn't really quite put a finger on it but to him, it felt like Mr. Claude's eyes were telling him something deeper. Like it was hiding a special story.

Every time he meets his eyes, it always felt like he was trying to communicate with him through his mesmerizing eyes. That or simply Zen was overthinking things because of Mr. Claude's overly handsome looks.

"Are you satisfied with your job?" The CEO breaks the silence.

'Oh. That was random?'

"Err— yes sir. As of now, I am happy with my job."

"I don't think you deserve your position." And with that short statement, Zen's heart immediately sank down below in the deepest trench. It's as if the sky and earth collided. Or meteors started to hit Earth once again. All sorts of metaphors could describe how hurt he was feeling.

Zen looked down at his feet not knowing what to answer, he was starting to feel depressed with tears beginning to formulate in his big lovely brown eyes.

"I'm not finished yet." Mr. Claude says again but Zen was already too disheartened— half-expecting for the boss to say more critical words.

"Rather, I think you have more potential in being a secretary."

Zen looked up, tears accidentally rolling down his rosy cheeks. "What?"

"What do you say? Be my secretary, Mr. Zen Alfonso."