As the shiny black SUV pulled out of the underground parking garage, rain began to patter on the windshield. Zaria tilted sideways to see the clouds over the car. "How long was I there? It was clear blue skies when I arrived at your office. To turn into this..."
Jagged white light split the sky overhead, followed by a crack of thunder a second later. The storm intensified, the wipers flicking back and forth quickly enough that they became a blur in order to keep the window clear. The cars around them were driving slower to be safe in the torrential downpour, and traffic was down to a crawl.
As they passed through one intersection, a car came racing through the red light of the crosswise street. Gu Cheng slammed his foot down on the brakes, narrowly missing being hit by the little sports car. A long moment passed before there was a subtle clearing of a throat. Beside him, Zaria was awkwardly looking down at the arm that was thrown across her chest like a restraining bar. Gu Cheng coughed and withdrew his arm quickly. "I am sorry, I wasn't thinking..."
He looked distracted as he put both hands on the wheel. The intersecting car was long gone, and the ones behind them were beginning to give impatient honks. They rolled through the light and continued the slow road ahead.
Zaria was not sure what she should say, if anything, as they drove along. She decided to stay quiet unless spoken to and looked out the passenger window at the water making rivers down the glass. The tall buildings slowly gave way to shorter office buildings and shopping areas. Eventually, those too fell behind them, and they entered what seemed to be a large residential area full of luxury apartment communities and single homes.
The traffic was much sparser as they turned onto the uphill drive of a stately apartment building. Gu Cheng drove the SUV into a nicely landscaped parking area lined with Cherry Blossom trees, parking in a corner with marked off spots. The shift was put into park, and the car turned off. He tapped his fingers on the steering wheel, leaning forward to see out of the windshield.
"I don't think this rain is going to be stopping any time soon," he said in a low voice.
Zaria reached across her body for the belt release button. Gu Cheng beat her to it, pressing the button and carefully reaching across to guide the belt back on its track. A cool smell, like mountain snow and fir trees, entered her nose. She held her breath until his arm was back on its side of the car, slowly releasing it in what she hoped was not an obvious manner. She pointed across the parking lot toward a covered walkway. "Is that the entrance we need to use?"
"Mm." Gu Cheng reached behind her seat,pulling a small black umbrella from a pocket on the back of it. "Wait here."
He opened the driver's side door, pressed a button on the side of the umbrella to open it up, then stepped out and shut the door, all in one fluid movement. A few seconds later, the passenger side door opened, and Zaria stepped out under the shelter of the umbrella. She noticed that the umbrella was being held so that she was covered completely, but her new boss's arm was being soaked by the rain. When she tried to step away more so that he would be more comfortable under the shelter, the umbrella followed her and exposed more of his body. "What are you doing? Put the umbrella back over yourself."
"I only have one, we have to share it," he responded, transferring the umbrella to his right hand for just a moment so that he could pull her closer and then moving it between them once more. "Stop moving away, or we will both end up wet."
With a polite smile, Zaria said, "Please forgive my impoliteness, sir, but you are my boss, and I can't let you give me most of the umbrella. I will meet you over there." Then she took off at a run toward the covered walkway, tucking her cast under the hem of her shirt.
Behind her, Gu Cheng sighed in exasperation before following her. With his much longer stride, he arrived less than a minute later, scowling at her drenched appearance. "That was completely unnecessary," he admonished her as he shook out the umbrella and closed it.
" I can't let my new boss get soaked just so that I can avoid a little rain," She said, fighting the urge to shiver. The rain was much colder than she thought it would be, and even though she was only out in it for a short while, she was completely soaked through. She pulled the fabric away from her front so that it would not be plastered against her anymore.
"Idiot." Something warm landed on her shoulders, and she looked up in surprise. Gu Cheng was looking past her while he buttoned his suit jacket around her so that it would not fall off. "If you stayed under the umbrella, I would have had a wet arm, and neither of us would have ended up looking like a drowned rat."
Zaria bristled at the insult, sticking her tongue out at his back as she followed him toward the entrance. "I don't look like a drowned rat," she muttered darkly to herself.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
Gu Cheng avoided speaking to her or looking at her as he marched them into the elegant lobby and straight to an elevator. The lobby attendant quelled under his glare, stammering out a greeting and trying not to stare at the small woman who followed him. Her curls were dripping water onto a suit jacket that he recognized from the ads of a high-end designer, and her arms seemed to be trapped inside. He pulled out his phone to take a picture of the wet beauty but froze in place when CEO Gu glared in his direction again. The elevator doors slid open, and the two people walked inside and were out of sight.
No words were said during the short trip, nor any when they stepped out into a warmly lit hallway. Two doors stood at opposite ends of the hall with windows lining the outside wall, overlooking the city in the distance. They turned to the right, and Zaria stayed a few steps behind while Gu Cheng entered a passcode to unlock the door. He stepped aside so that Zaria could enter first, then followed and closed the door behind them, locking it with a loud beep.
"This will be your home for now. I had Liu Wen bring basic things like house slippers, sheets and towels while we were busy earlier, and there is a small washer and dryer next to the bathroom that you can do your laundry in rather than washing everything by hand." He nodded toward a small cabinet to the side of the door, and Zaria slid a hand out from under the jacket and opened it to find several pairs of house slippers in different sizes. A few were close to her size, but the others were obviously too large, a large sized men's slipper. She flushed, realizing that Liu Wen was still under the impression that she and the boss were in a relationship where those would be needed.
"Let me get this back to you," she said as she worked her hand toward the buttons of the suit jacket to open it.
"That is alright. You can hang it up to dry for now, and I will get it when I come by later to pick you up at dinner time." Not looking at her, he left quickly, as though chased by a demon. Zaria raised an eyebrow and shrugged before bending over to take off her shoes.
As soon as she stepped out of the entryway, she realized that this apartment was far too luxurious for a mere assistant. The room opened up just past the shoe cabinet into an expansive living room with plush rugs and luxuriant couches. A television that had to be at least 72 inches was on one wall and a bank of windows facing the ocean on the other.
She slipped her socks off and slid a new pair of slippers onto her cold feet before exploring the rest of the home. Two bedrooms, almost the size of her home, were down a hallway leading along the back of the building, each with their own full-size bathrooms. She walked into the larger of the two, her eyes nearly popping out when she saw a king-size, four-poster bed against the wall. Wide windows displayed mountains that bordered the north end of the city. The main bathroom was just as dazzling, but by the time she entered it, her eyes could open no wider, and she was shaking her head at the extravagance.
Zaria finished what she started in the entryway, unbuttoning the last two buttons of the suit jacket and slipping it off of her shoulders. Instantly, she could see why Gu Cheng would not meet her eyes after putting it on her. The light fabric of the top she was wearing that day was nearly see-through and clinging to her curves, the cups of her bra clearly visible beneath. "Lesson learned, Zaria," she said to herself with a self-deprecating chuckle. "Running around in the rain while in front of your boss should only be done if you are wearing layers."
A voice called from somewhere near the entrance, and she hastily pushed her arms into the jacket sleeves and tugged it closed. "Just a second," she called out with one last look in the mirror.
Gu Cheng was standing in the entryway, his shoes shifting back and forth on the tile floor. When he noticed Zaria walk around the corner, he immediately thrust out several neatly folded cloth items. "You should take a hot bath to warm up. I sent a message to Chiu Leong to drop off your items here, but that could be hours. So I brought a set of lounge wear. They will be big on you, but they are clean and have never been worn."
When Zaria hesitated, her fingers gripping the edges of the coat tightly and not wanting to let it go lest something were to show between the collars, he pulled the items back. His normally cold and calm attitude was missing, his movements slightly jerky. "If you are uncomfortable wearing these, then I can go out and buy something. You are right, it would be inappropriate to wear a man's clothing, especially one you barely know..." his voice grew quieter as his words trailed off, and he turned to leave again.
"Uhm," Zaria said, a little too loudly. Gu Cheng paused and looked back. "I didn't say anything yet. I think, I mean, if you are okay with it, then I can accept these. They are just clothes. I know it doesn't mean anything, and frankly, I am very cold and don't really want to wait to take a shower. I don't want you to have to go out and get anything else. That is really not your responsibility, and I think I would be more uncomfortable with the idea of you out in the rain again." She stuck her arms out to accept the items, completely forgetting that she was planning on telling him that she could not stay in such a nice apartment.
His eyes landed on her lips as he handed her the items. His eyes grew dark, and he turned to leave. "Idiot. Next time, don't run around in the rain."
Zaria stuck her tongue out at his back again, relaxing once he was gone. Her body was beginning to shake from the cold of the wet clothes on her skin, so she carried the sweats back to the bathroom and turned on the hot water in the shower so that it would warm up while she peeled the wet clothes from her body. Those were dumped unceremoniously in a pile in front of the sliding glass door. She looked at the cast, then went searching beneath the bathroom counter for something she could wrap around her arm. Luckily, whatever cleaning service Gu Cheng used left behind a few waste bags, and she hurriedly wrapped everything up so that she could step into the steaming hot spray of water.