Laura went to get herself something to eat and went back to the dining area to watch the excitement. She was quite amused by how the guys joked around and how down to earth her idol actually was. When she appeared with her food, Jason took the initiative to help her carry it back to the table and even pulled the chair out for her again.
“Can’t you lot be like Laura? She at least knows how to appreciate my efforts,” Jason said as he glared at his friends.
“Looks like you have been too idle recently. Already making trouble so early in the morning,” a deep voice was heard at the entrance of the dining area and Jason, who had been joking around, paused for a bit and slowly turned to see his older brother.
“James, you are awake,” Jason said and stepped away from Laura, who had been chewing her food while watching them in amusement.
“Mmmh,” James said and dragged the chair next to Laura and sat down. This was his usual seat, and Jason had made Laura sit next to it so that they would be sitting together when his brother came out.
With James’s arrival, Jason, who made the place lively, disappeared suddenly, and the place was filled with silence.
“Sparkling water with ice. A lot of it,” James said when he saw a server walk in his direction. The man turned around and went to prepare what James ordered immediately. James groaned and rubbed his temples as he closed his eyes.
“Hangover?” Laura asked him as she sipped on her warm milk.
“Mmh, did you sleep well?” James asked her, finally turning to look at her.
“Like a baby,” Laura answered with a bright smile. Besides the groggy feeling she had when she woke up earlier, she was feeling fine now.
“That’s good,” James responded, and furrowed his eyebrows before rubbing his temples again. At this time, the server returned with James’s water.
“Can you bring some painkillers?” Laura asked the server, and the man nodded before leaving. As the waiter left, Jason returned and tossed a sachet of painkillers toward James.
“Take these and lighten up. You look like the world owes you a hundred million,” Jason said to his brother. He knew him well and knew that if he did not resolve his headache, he would be the one to suffer.
James took the medicine and downed it with the cold water. When the server appeared at the entrance again, Laura shook her head and pointed at James’s glass instead. The waiter understood and went to get him more water.
As James nursed his headache, everyone else slowly arrived and the place became lively again. When her friend Jen didn’t see anything she wanted to eat, she decided to go fix something up for herself. Seeing James sit with only a glass of water in front of him made her feel bad and she offered to make him tea. Without waiting for his response, she left directly. Laura watched her friend’s departing back and stood up too.
“I’ll go help her,” Laura said and left too. Rachel looked at Laura’s disappearing figure and shook her head in disbelief. She had lived with Laura for five years, and she could count on two hands the number of times she cooked. Now she was taking initiative? It was quite unbelievable.
Laura walked into the kitchen and saw her friend already opening the cabinets as if trying to familiarise herself with where everything was.
“Oh? What’s this? Looks like someone had fun last night,” Laura said and pocked the reddened skin at the back of Jen’s neck. Jen shrunk her head and glared at her friend playfully and quickly raised her collar to hide the hickey.
“What do you want?” Jen finally asked as she took out a medium-sized pot.
“I want to make him tea,” Laura answered and looked at her friend with big green eyes.
“James? I saw you two by the pool last night. How did it go?” Jen asked her, her brown eyes full of teasing.
“Hehehe, I just want to make some tea,” Laura responded, clearly avoiding the question.
“I guess nothing happened. Otherwise, you’d brag about it,” Jen commented with a smile. But she was not too surprised. Even though she had also only met James a few times, she could tell that he was someone that took everything seriously. He did not joke around, now was he super extroverted like his younger brother Jason.
He also wasn’t as amicable as her boyfriend. He knew what he wanted and it was impossible to pressure him into doing otherwise, he was also quite cunning which was a trait that was very useful when navigating the entertainment circles. And with her friend’s simple personality, she was going to be in for a ride.
“Nothing really happened. Are you happy now?” Laura said with a frown, but continued with her task of brewing tea.
“Why would that make me happy? Don’t you know I’m rooting for you? For the first time since I've known you. You are the one taking initiative to chase after someone,” Jen said with a laugh. Laura quickly finished making him some ginger tea and left with the mug.
“No goodbyes?” Jen asked from behind her and laughed again when her friend casually waved at her. James and Laura, it would either work really well, or end up in a disaster, she thought to herself before getting back to doing her tasks.
Laura brought back the tea and silently placed it in front of James without anyone noticing. James looked at her and then the mug in front of him before picking it up and taking a sip.
“Thank you,” James said to her once he put the mug back down. He was already starting to feel some relief.
“Your welcome,” Laura responded and turned to hide her face. She had ended up staring at him and when she saw him lick off the droplets of tea from his lips, her mind fell into the gutter turning her whole face red. She felt that she needed to be saved.
Breakfast was very lively, and the group of friends ended up spending a long time chatting. Jason and his friends left early because they had plans to attend to, and the others went back to their rooms. Jen and Lucas decided to go take a short walk before they left, and James took Laura with him as well. The two of them lagged further behind the pair of lovebirds as they took in the whole atmosphere of the impeccably maintained garden. “Have you really made up your mind about dating me?” James asked Laura, who had been asking herself whether or not it was okay to hold his hand the entire. “Hm?” Laura asked, not expecting him to ask this. “Our conversation from last night, do you still stand by your words?” James asked and slowed to a stop. Laura also stopped next to him and raised her head to look at his face. His hair was loosely tied at the nape of his neck, combined with the loose white sweater he was wearing. He looked relaxed and easygoing. It was as if he was planning on spen
Laura stared at the man sitting next to her with a shallow smile on her lips. James had called his driver to come and pick him up and decided to drop Laura off at her hotel before he went back to his place. It was rare for him to have a free weekend, so he was planning on making the most of it. “Is there something on my face?” James asked as he turned to look at her. “No, but I can’t help but look at you,” Laura answered honestly. James chuckled when he heard her response and continued to read the script he was holding. He had changed into more formal clothes before they left. He was wearing a beige turtleneck with a black blazer and a pair of black slacks. It was simple, but it made him look both ascetic and sexy, which was very contradictory but somehow worked with him. “Why did we have to leave so early? We could have gone horse-riding,” Laura lamented, as she finally looked away from the handsome man to stare at the scenery outside. “We’ll go ride horses next time. We can also
Movements outside her room woke Laura up. After feeling alert for a while, she relaxed once she determined that it was a familiar noise from the kitchen. She squinted as she clumsily fumbled around her bed to search for her phone. She quickly checked the time and saw that it was 6:30 am. She groaned before pulling the covers over her head. She didn’t understand Rachel at all. Why was she waking up so early even though they were on vacation? She asked herself before continuing to sleep. She only woke up after another two hours and got out of her room. Rachel was drawing on her tablet while enjoying a cup of tea when she heard the door to Laura’s room open. She looked at her half-asleep friend walk towards the kitchen and take out a bottle of water from the fridge and downing it in one go before joining her at the table. Laura rested her chin on her hand as she sleepily watched her friend who had turned her attention back to drawing. “Why are you working during vacation?” Laura asked
Laura walked into Diamond Star’s company building and headed straight for the reception desk without looking around. But from the moment she walked in, everyone’s attention was drawn to her. Even the cute receptionist girls stared at her for a while before hearing what she was saying to them. “Yes, how may I help you?” one of the more experienced receptionists asked Laura, snapping the rest of the girls out of their daze. “I’m going to see James Lewis,” Laura said as she leaned on the desk, her cleavage peeking out the top of her dress. The employee smiled politely and focused her gaze on Laura’s face while trying to maintain her professionalism. “Do you have an appointment?” she continued to ask, feigning nonchalance, but Laura could see her ears redden at a visible speed. “Yes,” Laura answered with a smile, and continued to watch as the other party picked up her phone to call the CEO’s offices. “Please sit down, someone will be sent to escort you soon,” the receptionist said onc
Laura seriously went through the contract offer and would occasionally peek at James, who was holding another document in his hand. The contract offer was quite impressive, the terms were generous and she would be treated like an A-lister. “I’m going to sign under one more condition,” Laura said, drawing James’s attention to her. He put down the papers he was holding to give her his attention. “What is it?” James asked her. He wondered whether his team of lawyers rushed the job and forgot something. “My manager has to be you,” Laura said, and smiled at the subtle expression on James’s face. James was already managing his younger brother on top of managing the company. The only reason he took on the job by himself was because Jason would go overboard with his managers. It had taken him years to find staff that could understand and tolerate Jason’s antics, but the manager position was one that only he could fill, seeing as Jason was also on the board of directors. Now, on top of all
James got closer and closer to her and, as he did so, he could see the anticipation in her eyes. Laura swallowed nervously when she saw a strange glint in his eyes. He was making her feel really nervous. “Take off my glasses,” he said and Laura raised her hands to remove the gold-rimmed glasses and placed them a safe distance away and looked up at him once more. When he held her chin with his hand, Laura slightly parted her lips as she remembered being told to open her mouth. This made James smile even wider before he pressed his lips against her open ones. Laura did not even have the time to get surprised before he pushed his tongue into her open mouth. He moved the hand that was holding her chin to the back of her head to block any retreat as he swept his tongue over her own. Laura felt like a small boat caught in a storm in the middle of the ocean. Her heart was racing from the excitement she was feeling and held on to his jacket as if to ground herself. James wrapped his free ha
“You are going to drink now?” James asked Laura, who was sitting on the opposite side of the table. “Is that a problem?” Laura asked him with a raised eyebrow. James checked the time on his watch to make sure that he was not the strange one here. “You think it’s too early?” Laura asked when she saw him to check the time. “You don’t think it’s early?” James asked her back. It was a little past 1 pm. The only way he would be drinking at this time was as if he was taking a weekend off. “Then I'll drink later in the evening,” Laura said with a smile that made James nervous rather than reassure him. “You can do as you please,” James finally concluded, and Laura’s smile turned into a laugh. “But you’ll have to accompany me later,” Laura said and became silent once the waiter returned with the wine she ordered. “Okay,” James agreed. He didn’t have anything planned for the evening and since he just signed her, they might as well celebrate. “Really? Hey, I won’t be drinking anymore,” La
The first thing Laura did after returning to the hotel room was to dive into the internet to go through different forums. She had overestimated herself because of the previous encounters she has had with men. They had always taken the initiative to approach her and were very eager to please her. She knew if she showed the slightest interest, they would not hold back as James did. So, she wanted to know how to poke holes into his defence. She read everything, from how to make their relationship develop to the next step, to all the tricks she can employ to seduce him. She studied so seriously that she hadn’t even heard Rachel when she returned home. “What are you reading?” Rachel asked as she made a beeline for the kitchen. She had gone out to buy a few things she needed for what she wanted to cook later. Laura didn’t bother answering her and continued to mentally take notes about what she was reading. This made Rachel even more curious, so she snuck up behind her and checked to see w