“Why do you think that’s interesting?” I raised one eyebrow


    She smirked, grabbed her coffee cup, and walked by me. “No reason.”


    Then, she left the break room, leaving me with unanswered questions and the faint whiff of her strawberry scented perfume.


    At the end of the day, Alexander called Gai and me into his office. My feet dragged as I walked toward his corner office. I already knew what this meeting was going to be about.


    Gai and I sat down, and Alexander stood, leaning against the back of his desk, and crossed his arms. My throat dried when I noticed the fabric of his shirt straining against hisrge muscles.


    I shifted in my seat and scolded myself. I needed to get a grip.


    “As I’m sure you both have seen in my schedule, I will be traveling to Ld on Saturday,” Alexander said briskly. “Gai, you will apany me to Ld and Olivia, you will handle any work emails thate through. Understood?”


    Gai and I nodded.


    I ignored the way my heart fell. I shouldn’t be surprised that Alexander didn’t want me to join him for this trip. Why would he want to bring me along for his second date?


    I had already witnessed his first.


    0.00%


    *Olivia*


    “Good, now that Saturday is squared away, let’s talk about tonight.” Alexander said and pped his hands once.


    The sharp sound made me jump. What did he mean tonight? Did he have another date with Naomi? Was he going to force me toe along tonight to rub it in my face? I crossed my arms, raised my chin. and met his dark eyes. I wouldn’t babysit him on another date. I would refuse this time.


    “I’m going to need both of you to workte tonight,” Alexander announced. “We have a few deadlines that we need to meet for some of our VIP clients. Gai, will you please order dinner for the three of us? Whatever you two would like is fine with me. Olivia, bring yourputer to my office, we have a lot of work to get done before we can leave tonight.” We nodded and stood up. Despite my exhaustion, I was surprisingly alright with workingte. Sometimes, I prefer it. I liked it when the office was dark and quiet and there was no one to disturb me as I concentrated. There was no one to gossip about me either.


    When Gai and I were out of earshot of Alexander’s office, she let out a low groan. “Depending on what kind of mood he’s in, Alexander will probably keep us here until midnight. Maybe eventer,” she warned me. “One time when we were working on a big project, he had me here until three in the morning. I just slept on the couch in the waiting room and wore the same clothes to work the next morning.”


    I shrugged. “That’s alright. Nothing another cup of coffee can’t fix.”


    Gai and I shared a smile. In the break room, I poured myself a jumbo- sized cup of coffee. My stomach was fluttering with nerves. A small part of me was anxious about being alone with Alexander in the office. What if he asked me for tips for his date on Saturday? I couldn’t handle that. At least Gai would be with us tonight.


    26.51%


    11:47


    Charter 187


    24 out


    As I researched something for Alexander in the copy room, I finished my coffee. But that turned out to be a mistake. My stomach rumbled, something it did when I drank my coffee too quickly. When I came back upstairs, I found Alexander and Gai in one of the big conference rooms. Takeout Chinese food containers were spread across the sleek ss table. Usually, I loved Chinese food, but the sight of the congealed noodles and zed chicken made my stomach even queasier.


    “Come sit and eat,” Alexander said. “You have to keep your strength up. It’s going to be a long night.”


    “Told you,‘ Gai mouthed behind his back.


    But I couldn’t even find humor in her joke because my stomach was so upset.


    With no choice, I sat next to Gai and pulled a container of white rice to me. After a few small bites, I had to push the dish away. I couldn’t even


    handle rice.


    “Are you alright, Olivia?” Alexander asked as he twirled noodles around his chopsticks. “You’ve barely eaten anything.”


    “Oh, I had a few cookies that someone left in the break room when I was in there refilling my coffee,” I lied.


    Just the word ‘coffee‘ made my stomach jolt in protest.


    To make sure that Alexander or Gai didn’t think that I was sick, I forced myself to eat a couple more bites of rice. But this made bile rise to my throat and sweat bead down my face. I was terrified that if I moved even an inch, I was