Zaria waited a moment to see if anyone else was going to speak before clutching the new phone to her chest and shuffling sideways toward the door. "Well, then, I will be going. It is late, and I am sure I have taken up enough of everyone's time. I know that someone here has this new number, so please do contact me if there is anything I can do." Then, she ducked out of the room with a sigh of relief.

The large open-plan office area was suspiciously quiet. All the heads that were popping up like meerkats before were tucked down with chins against chests. They seemed to be making a conscious effort not to make eye contact, so she walked straight to the elevator without acknowledging anyone. As she pressed the button to go down, she felt the phone in her hand vibrate. Looking down at the screen, she could see there was a new message. She slid the bar to unlock the phone and opened up the messaging app. The only sender on the screen was labeled Big Boss Gu, and there were 25 new messages. Blinking rapidly, she opened the conversations, and by the time stamps, she could see that most of them were from before she arrived at the company. She skipped those and went straight to the most recent one.

Big Boss Gu : Where are you going?

Zaria looked back, but the door to the lab was closed, and the blinds were still shut. She looked back to the phone again, typing out a short message.

Zaria: Into the elevator.

The '...' showing a message being typed appeared and disappeared twice before a new message came up.

Big Boss Gu: Wait there.

Zaria watched as the numbers on the display over the elevator doors quickly ticked upward toward the floor that she was currently on. As soon as the doors slid open, she stepped on, whirling to press the button for the ground floor. She jumped when she found Gu Cheng directly behind her. Swearing loudly in her head, she nodded politely and stepped back into the corner to allow the imposing man and his assistant to get on.

"CEO Gu, were you also needing to leave? I definitely would have held the elevator for you more graciously if I had known." She pasted on a polite service smile and clenched the phone in her hands in front of her waist.

"I am certain you would have," he replied, a sardonic tilt to his eyebrow. "What are your plans after leaving here, Miss Joseph?"

The elevator doors slid shut, but no button had been pressed, so it stood still for that moment. "CEO Gu doesn't need to worry about me," she said, not letting her smile dip. "I have everything I need to get by."

He stared at her for a moment before pressing the 'open doors' button and turning to Mo Ye. "Assistant Mo, I find that the elevator feels a bit crowded. Would you mind waiting for the next one?"

Mo Ye blinked only once before smoothly stepping off as soon as the doors opened. "Of course, sir. Should I go to your office when the next one arrives?"

"That would be fine," Gu Cheng responded, pressing the button for the top floor and moving so that his back was against the same wall as Zaria. When the elevator began to move again, he spoke calmly, irritation buzzing at the back of his voice. "Miss Joseph. I understand that you do not want help from me. I would like to point out just a couple of things, and then I have a proposition for you."

He paused and waited for her to acknowledge that she was listening. "First, you are injured. If you sleep outside, not only will it be uncomfortable in your present state, but you will not have any way to defend yourself if something were to happen. Crime may be low in City C, but I am sure that you remember your previous landlady was mugged just a week ago. Second, Chiu Leong has all of your things, so if you were to go off on your own now, you would be doing so with only what you have in your pockets."

Zaria winced. She had forgotten about that part. "I have a working phone now, I can contact him to get it all from him!"

"If you would hear me out." She nodded, and he continued. "As I understand it, you have no future source of income, not without valid papers to work in any reputable business. I currently could use someone to assist me with the more mundane parts of the day. Assistant Mo is juggling all of my businesses and keeping everything moving well, but outside of Shooting Star, I have no secretary to do all of the other daily tasks. I can offer you a very limited position as my junior assistant, and you will not have to worry about papers for now. I can pay you with a small apartment in one of my buildings and enough to afford meals and other supplies you may need."

Zaria was quiet until the elevator dinged, letting them know that they had reached the top floor. The doors slid open. "Wouldn't you get in trouble for employing someone without papers? Director Chiu told me that the government is cracking down on illegal workers..."

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

"Officially, you will be an intern, unpaid. A perfectly legal training program that prepares you for other work. You will not receive an official paycheck until we have gotten your new papers, which you will need to have at some point anyway." Gu Cheng spoke as he stepped out and walked toward his office. Zaria found herself following him but stopped once she was in the open waiting area. When he realized that she was not right behind, he stopped and looked back with a frown. "Miss Joshua, are you coming?"

Zaria studied the light grey carpet under her feet. She considered just politely accepting to keep their interaction civil. Everyone she had met in this world so far, besides Gu Cheng, had either been horridly polite or venomous. Not being honest seemed wrong. She decided to be herself for the moment. They were alone, at least until Mo Ye caught up, and she needed to know, "Why are you offering this? You really don't know me, and you owe me nothing. And... you really don't seem to like me very much."

Gu Cheng slid his hands into his trouser pockets and appraised her. "I find you very annoying. But I have never said that I do not like you. Your fortitude is admirable, as is your desire to not be beholden to anyone. It is a very rare thing to see in a woman, and I find it interesting. Your ability to be polite even when frustrated will be needed, and I believe the biggest concern would be that you will not be able to hold your tongue in front of others if I say something that you don't like. Professionalism must come first. You would need to hold back your own dislike for me, so if you feel like you can't do that, then it would be best to speak up now."

He watched as her eyes tracked some invisible line in the carpet at her feet. For a rare moment, her emotions ran across her face unchecked. Anger, sadness, and hope all plucked at something in his chest, but it was the distress that made him lift his foot to step forward. Before he could approach, the different emotions smoothed away, and her face was a polite mask when her eyes met his. "I don't know that I can do whatever the job will require me to. Perhaps you can ask me questions like you would in an actual interview. If I can't do the job and I know it, then I will decline. If you feel like I will not be able to do it to your liking, then you can decline."

There was a hint of approval on his handsome face and a loosening of his broad shoulders. "I think that is a good idea. If you would follow me into my office?"

Zaria nodded and followed him, her eyes tracing the broad shoulders. The shirt was well made, hence the fabric was thick enough that nothing showed through, but from the way that it clung to his shoulders and biceps as he moved she could tell that he worked out daily. She recalled someone, Liu Wan the secretary perhaps, had mentioned that he retired from the military within the last year or so. It looked as though he kept up with his physical fitness after leaving. Her eyes drifted downward to follow the body line as it narrowed at the waist, which was wrapped in an exquisite looking leather belt. Her eyes drifted lower, and she shook her head harshly, looking away quickly. She had never been one to idolize muscles, but she told herself she would be a hypocrite if she didn't acknowledge that his were very nice from what she could see.

By the time they stepped into his office and she was directed to a seat in front of the glass topped desk, her face was no longer hot and she was able to politely smile as she met his gaze. When the questions began, she was not surprised that they had nothing to do with her work skills at first.

"Miss Joseph, why are you in City C, and how long do you plan on staying here?"

"I was pulled away from my home by bad luck and circumstances and was on my way back home when I ended up stranded here," she answered honestly, if vaguely. She thought about what little she understood about the explanation given to her about the pendant. There were no obvious displays of 'magic' in this universe, but she had the feeling that it was working nonetheless. Did that mean there was not large amounts of it for the pendant to pull in? "Getting home is not quite as easy as getting on a plane, so I have to wait until I get notice that I can leave. I do not know when that will be, unfortunately. I doubt it will be as early as next week, and it could even take a year. I am sorry, but I really do not know. "

Gu Cheng picked up a pen and twisted it between his fingers. His long legs stretched out beneath the desk and crossed at the ankles. "Are you willing to talk about what it was that stranded you here?"

"I am sorry. It is very complicated, but I can promise that it has nothing to do with anything illegal or anything that will come back to hurt your companies. It is complicated but personal." She looked up directly into his eyes. For someone who clearly liked to be in control of all things, she was sure that refusing to answer him would be enough for him to send her on her way. She was quite surprised when he merely examined her face for a long moment and then continued on with questions about her education and work experience.

Gu Cheng watched her facial expressions as she answered. Beyond the occasional tightening around her eyes, she was good at keeping her professional demeanor. Not willing to share something that could end up being detrimental to his companies would normally have resulted in an immediate ending to the interview if it was led by the employees of the Human Resources department. He could not say why he trusted her, but he did. It could be because she seemed to have such difficulty lying. It was more likely she would avoid the topic so she would not feel forced to lie.

Those first few days after the hotel when he was pouring all of the resources that he could while still being discrete looking for her, he had checked all wanted and missing reports from around the world that were even close to what he remembered as her description. Those had been checked again when a picture of her was taken secretly once she was found at the little clothing shop. There was nothing about her in any record that he could find. According to every official record and every rumor source, she did not exist. She was a ghost. And yet...he trusted her.