Chapter 87.

Was I scared of becoming truly isolated and alone? Of course I was. I was terrified of that outcome. Despite how I maintained a certain distance between myself and everyone else, just the thought of a situation where I was left in a completely isolated world, where nothing ever changed, all on my own without any sort of entertainment... I didn’t even want to imagine it. If I wasn’t already insane, it would without any doubt be the straw that broke the camel’s back.

Not long after I entered the building, I found my boss. I saw her perfectly, but it seemed like she couldn’t see me at all; I felt in front of me and discovered the door to her office was closed. I gulped down nervously and tapped on the invisible door.

Knock. Knock. Knock...

It was a simple knock, yet it reverberated loudly within the void. The sound overlapped in a crescendoing echo that slightly pained my ears.

She didn’t immediately say anything. Instead, she appeared hard at work with her eyes glued to her desk, diligently reading a report, but a short moment later, she looked up in my direction and said, “You may enter.”

“Oh? Mr. Genovese? It’s rare to see you coming to seek me out. Is something troubling you? Could it be you had a change of heart and missed me so much you couldn’t hold back and wanted to bed me?”

“You’re not wrong.”

“Eh? Sorry, I thought I misheard just now. Can you repeat what you just said again?”

“Can you please spend the night with me?”

She looked at me with her mouth hanging slightly ajar like she was shocked by what she’d heard.

“Mr. Genovese, do you realize what you are saying to your superior right now? Are you really insinuating you want to sleep with me?”

“I do realize what I’ve said sounds crazy and I am fully aware it is completely inappropriate; if you want to fire me I will resign immediately. But before that, please sleep with me- no, I meant, spend the night with me. I never specifically said I wanted you to sleep with me. I just want you to spend the night with me. Just once.”

“Hmm? I don’t know Mr. Genovese. Should I? What is there for me to gain through a negotiation like this with no merit to me?”

“Negotiation? I’m begging you. I’m really at my wit's end and I have no one else I can turn to or rely on.”

“I don’t know, Mr. Genovese. It doesn’t seem like it would be a good idea like you previously mentioned.”

“You… was this why you didn’t push me for an answer about the hallucination I was having back then? Did you expect this would happen and know I’d be left with no other choice but to rely on you in the end?”

“What are you talking about, Mr. Genovese? How could I possibly plot something devious like that? I’m just a simple woman trying to run her business.”

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“You’re anything but a simple woman. You’re just a devil.”

“Devilish woman? Is that how you address the woman whom you are asking a great favor of?”

“What do I need to do for you to agree? Work for free for the rest of my life?”

Her eyes opened up wide like she’d just been given a great idea she’d never thought of before. She suddenly sported an expression that screamed, ‘You’re a bloody genius. Why didn’t I think of that sooner?’

“I was just going to have you promise to always call me by name for the rest of your life when we’re alone together, but I actually like your idea a lot more.”

“V-V-Val. I choose your suggestion. Please spare me of a life wrought of slavery.”

“What? You can’t choose yourself. It’s my choice, you don’t have any bargaining chips you know.”

“Anything but slavery. Val, I’ll promise one more thing aside from calling you by name.”

She narrowed her eyes and shot a daring grin at me, more than eager to hear me out.

“I promise. No matter what it is, just so long as it is not something that would incriminate me, I’ll oblige.”

She raised her index finger, rested it atop her lower lip, and said suggestively with pure interest written on her face, “Then… make my heart skip a beat with a kiss. If you dare that is.”

“That’s-”

“If you fail the first time, you’ll have to keep trying until you succeed. If you say another word before accomplishing this, the deal is off.”

I returned her gaze with uncertainty in my eyes. To begin with, was it really possible to make her heart skip a beat from a simple kiss? Was she trying to scam me here?

When she noticed my hesitation, she placed her elbow on the desk and propped her chin up with her thumb. With a grin, she repeatedly tapped on her lower lip with her index finger provocatively.

Left with no other choice, I approached her and stood in front of what I presumed was her desk.

I leaned forward over her desk and watched as she slowly closed her eyes when our faces were only a few centimeters apart. When I confirmed her eyes were completely shut, I pussied out and pressed my lips against the back of my hand, then pressed it against her lips. It didn’t take long before she opened her eyes disgruntledly and pieced together what I’d done.

“Mr. Genovese, what’s the meaning of this?”

“Were you surprised by my bold kiss just now?”

“You-“

“Were you surprised or not?”

With an annoyed expression plastered all over her face, she wore a deep frown, clearly not amused.

“Yes or no?”

It appeared she’d caught on to what my game was as she struggled to answer me.

“Well?”

“Yeah, yeah. Shut it. I was surprised, but just because I was a little surprised doesn’t mean my heart skipped a beat just now. So kiss me again on the lips. You hear me? The lips!”

“No no no. Your heart skipping a beat doesn’t need to be a literal saying. It can also be interpreted as a metaphor for being surprised. You can’t go back on your word boss. It would set a bad example for all your employees. Also, you never said to make your heart skip a beat by kissing you on the lips, you only said with a kiss; not properly specifying the part of my body you wanted to be kissed with, you can’t just change the rules as you like. If we were to make an analogy, it would be like not providing all the design parameters for something you want an engineer to make for you, then asking for a full refund despite the engineer fulfilling all the requirements.”

“Mr. Genovese. You may leave.”

“Eh? Are you really going back on your word?”

“I’m not. I’ll see you after work. I’m not paying you to stand around here just to do nothing all day.”

“Ah. Right. Sorry.”

As I exited her office I heard when she grumbled under her breath in frustration. “Tch. Annoying. Cheapskate. Con artist. Coward. Beta.”