For the fifth time since her boss returned from lunch, Zaria Joseph consciously unclenched her jaw. When Gu Cheng came off the elevator and snapped at her for not having tea ready for him, she forgave his manners. Assistant Mo hurried after him, stopping to whisper to her that the boss was in a bad mood because his lunch meeting with his grandfather had turned out to be a marriage meeting. The handsome glacier had completely ignored the young girl and started a fight with his grandfather before storming back to the office. Shrugging it off as 'rich people problems', she hurried to the little kitchen and prepared a cup for both the boss and his assistant and then went back to work going over business proposals.
Less than a half of an hour later, when Gu Cheng snapped at her for not having an edited proposal on his desk, she politely pointed out that he had not given it to her yet and then took it to work on immediately. Working quickly, she was back in his office before the hour was over, handing it to him directly. He gestured for her to come around to his side of the desk, pointing out problems that she missed. When she leaned closer to see what he was pointing at, he snapped at her again for being too absentminded while she was working. His voice was hoarse, and she assumed that he was coming down with a cold. He snapped at her again for offering to go and get something for him. She waited patiently until she was back at the desk that would normally house a secretary before rolling her eyes and going back over the proposal again.
For the past month since accepting the position as junior assistant to CEO Gu of the Gu Corporation, Zaria spent every day trying to keep her mercurial boss content. Thanks to the advice of Director Chiu she decided to separate herself more from the people around her so that she would not embarrass herself or her boss by doing something because she didn't realize it could be taken differently than she intended. She no longer volunteered information about herself and always comported herself with a cool and professional demeanor. There were many times that she had to excuse herself when her boss was being exceptionally obnoxious, so that she could go and swear at him in private, but she had yet to break character and she was proud of herself.
Two weeks after beginning her new job, the paperwork for a temporary work pass came through. She thought that that would be a much bigger issue than it was, especially after she told them that she no longer had a home address, that her old one did not exist. Mo Ye input the address of the apartment that she was staying in, and when a background check using her fingerprints and DNA came back clean, she was issued a temporary workers ID number by the government. With that, and a trip to a bank recommended to her by Director Chiu on her break that same day, she was able to open up an account to receive her paychecks in.
The trip to the bank was quick, but she still barely made it out the door before Gu Cheng was sending her messages asking where she went and when she would be back. That he needed a file from the land assets division brought up. Mo Ye was on an errand and unable to do it. She was beginning to suspect that some of the tasks and crises were having their importance exaggerated to keep her on her toes, but Assistant Mo assured her that he was also on call 24 hours a day.
Zaria pulled out her phone to check her banking app. Her first paycheck was due to be deposited by the end of the work day, and she distracted herself from Gu Cheng's irritating manner by planning out things that she would be buying. It would be good to buy some more food, even before buying supplies for her trip. Her meager supplies from weeks ago were long gone, and she had been forced to spend the last little bit of money just to buy noodles for cheap meals.
Eating with her boss every dinner seemed like a bad thing to do so she made an excuse every night after making his meal and excused herself. How would his fans react if they knew that she was eating with him in his apartment? He was not happy with this explanation, but it was the only one that she felt comfortable giving. Every day since the first night she excused herself, it seemed as though Gu Cheng was working extra hard to be in her way and get her attention. The snappishness was out of character.
Pain in her jaw from all the clenching over the last couple of hours made her think fondly of her painkillers at home. It had been a while since she needed to take any, the pain only reaching a dull throb when she overworked herself. Director Chiu believed that her cast could most likely come off sometime in the next week, but she would have to remain very careful with using that arm, and possibly even need to wrap it for a while.
From the large side pockets of her wide legged trousers, the cheeping of small birds alerted her to a message. A headache was forming behind her eyes already, the pressure growing when she saw the tag Director Chiu on her screen. She sighed and opened her phone to read his message.
How are you feeling today?
"Long day."
Why don't you let me take you out for dinner tonight? You can tell me about it.
Zaria grimaced and closed her phone with the message left on read. Every day in this world made her feel like she was in a novel. The black robed mage mentioned that the holes in the barriers between other universes and her own let in sounds and images, so it wasn't beyond belief that someone received their inspiration when writing their romance stories from this universe. How many other common novel tropes were actually inspired by other universes leaking through the barrier? Was this the universe that would have her getting killed because she stood in the way of the powerful male lead and his true love? Besides, even if she was interested in just a little light fun and casual flirting with a handsome young doctor, this universe definitely did not treat women well if they were not careful with their image...
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The ding of the elevator arriving on the floor pulled her attention from her own musings. An angry looking older man exited and stomped up as though to bypass her and storm into Gu Cheng's office. She stepped in front of him quickly, a polite smile plastered on her face. "Can I help you, sir?"
"Get out of my way." The old man used his cane to push her to the side, knocking her into the wall at the side of the door. With a thump, her cast hit the hard surface, and a pained groan ripped from her lips. "I barely hit you. Are you going to pretend to be injured now to make yourself look delicate for your boss?"
"Grandpa!" Gu Cheng stormed out of his office, pushing past the old man and rushing to Zaria's side. "Miss Joseph, are you alright? Did you hit your arm? Where is your medication?"
"There is nothing wrong with her arm, I barely hit her," the older man grumbled, trying not to look guilty as he peered around his grandson.
"She has a broken wrist. Her shirt hides her cast," Gu Cheng snapped back at him before lowering his voice. "Miss Joseph, say something, are you alright?"
"I am just dandy," she said through gritted teeth and a polite smile. "If you'll excuse me, I need to get some more work done." 'So that I don't kill my boss and his progenitor,' she added in her head.
To the side, she could hear the two men enter the large modern office, arguing all the way, but she focused on her computer screen so that she wouldn't have to listen to their conversation. She had no idea why the office door was left open every day now, but it made privacy a distant memory. She went over the emails containing digital copies of a few proposals, marking the changes that were made so that they could be forwarded on to her boss. The low ache in her arm was traveling upward and joining her headache where the neck met the shoulder. Just in case she had brought the container and forgot about it, she checked her top drawer to make sure she did not have any of the pain medication."Why do people keep hitting my arm?"
The elevator dinged and let Assistant Mo out when the doors opened. He walked toward his office but paused when he saw the pained look on her face. "Miss Joseph, are you alright?"
"Long day," she replied shortly, forcing a small smile out.
"You are sweating," he said, stepping forward and peering at her face. "Do you need to leave, Miss Joseph? I can handle anything that you are doing if you need to go home and rest."
"I'll be fine. There are only a few more hours -" her answer was interrupted by the ringing of a phone. She looked at Assistant Mo expectantly, but he gestured at her phone that was lying on her desk, its screen lit up. "Oh, that's me," she said, exhaustion and pain pulling lines across her forehead. She picked up her phone and grimaced at the name before silencing the ring.
"I can leave if you need to call Director Chiu back," he said quickly.
"No, I can't deal with that right now. I would love some painkillers, though. Is there any chance you have something in that magical desk of yours?"
"Why is Chiu Leong calling you?" They both looked up at the frigid voice of their boss. Zaria closed her eyes and counted to ten, hoping that he would be a hallucination and gone when she opened her eyes again.
There was no such luck. "I apologize for having a personal incoming call while I am at work, sir, but I did not answer it. Did you need something?"
"Assistant Mo asked if you needed to go home? Get your stuff ready, I will take you. Just ignore Chiu Leong." Gu Cheng stepped out into the waiting area, fastening the buttons on the front of his suit jacket.
"Sir, don't you have someone in your office right now? Please deal with that, and I will let you know if I would like to leave early." Zaria curled her fingers around her specially ordered keyboard to keep from rubbing her temples.
"That's right, deal with me, Ah Cheng. What is wrong with Su Yin? She is a pretty girl." The polished wooden cane reached out from behind Gu Cheng and smacked him in the leg. "I am getting old, and I want to hold my great grandchild."
"I have told you that I have someone else that I like. I have no interest in any of these girls you keep putting in front of me." Gu Cheng turned to argue with his grandfather.
Zaria sighed and dropped her head until her forehead rested on the desk. Behind her, she could hear the two Gu men arguing, and Mo Ye was trying to ask her questions around them. The phone on her desk began to ring again, the vibration against the wood making her forehead buzz. With her eyes closed, she reached out and pulled the phone to her ear. "This is Joseph Zaria."
"Miss Joseph! I am glad you picked up," a cheerful and flirtatious voice sounded in her ear. "Are you ready to let me take you out tonight? I was thinking we could do dinner and catch a movie afterward."
"I'm sorry, Director Chiu, this is not a good night. Thank you for thinking of me -" Zaria sat up when the phone was pulled from her hand.
"Chiu Leong, stop bothering my assistant while she is at work. I am sure you have some nurses you can ask out if you have so much free time." With a scowl, Gu Cheng hung up the phone and handed it back to her. Zaria stared at him with her mouth open, snapping it shut when she felt heated words trying to come out. She stood up, snatching the phone from his hand and walking past him toward the elevator. Gu Cheng started after her. "Where are you going, Miss Joseph? I still need those proposals on my desk."
"I'm sorry, sir, but I need to leave before I say something that I will regret. If you will excuse me." She pressed the button on the elevator, waiting for the doors to slide open before entering.
"Let the little vixen go and finish explaining to me why Su Yin is not good enough."
Zaria bit her lip, but the new pain was not enough to keep from turning around. "Look here, you wrinkly old turtle -"
"Whoa, whoa, Miss Joseph, why don't I go with you to get that thing you were going to get," Mo Ye stepped between Zaria and the old man, nudging her toward the elevator.
"No, let her finish her insult. Let's see how she was raised." Grandpa Gu stepped around his son, who was burying his head in his hands.
"I was obviously raised better than you. Have you said even one polite word to your own grandson since you got here? He is carrying your family name and businesses on his shoulders alone, but you can't spare a nice word because you are too busy pimping him out!" Zaria pushed against the arm that was trying to strong arm her into the elevator. "My grandmother would have already knocked you on your geriatric ass the way you are talking to your own family!"
"And where is your grandmother now? Maybe I should talk to her and tell her about her hoodlum granddaughter." Gu Cheng put his arm out in front of the old man to keep him from advancing within striking range of the angry woman.
"She is dead," she spit out as she stumbled back into the elevator, her energy leaking out of her, "just like the rest of my family."
The three men froze and stared at her from outside as the elevator doors slid shut in front of her.