Chapter 6: Avoiding Or Not?Alena FleurThe next day, I mustered my courage and decided to go to the office.Elian was right; I couldn't avoid him forever. So I got dressed up in a white blouse, light pink suit, and black formal pants and marched out of my apartment with a smile plastered to my face. I wanted to be completely professional.I took the public elevator, instead of the private one. I would take no risk of bumping into Elian today. After all, I had a meeting with him two days later. Until then nothing would require me to see him. Therefore, it was going to be an Elian-free day!I entered my cabin to find Anya arranging my desk."Good morning, Ms. Fleur," she greeted with a bright smile.I smiled back. "Good morning, Anya.""I missed you so much yesterday," she whined and came to give me a hug.I chuckled and returned her hug. "Did anyone give you any trouble in my absence?" I inquired, pulling away from the hug and putting my bag on the desk.Anya was thinking hard, and ju
Chapter 7: Shooting PracticeAlena Fleur"But why?" I couldn't help but ask Elian."Because you said you need something for protection," he simply said."But didn't you say afterward that you were going to keep me safe?" I asked."Let's be realistic here, Ms. Fleur. Even if I try my best and stick with you 24/7, which I know you won't like at all, I can't always protect you. Sometimes, you need to be your own savior. And for that, you need a weapon, no matter how good you are at self-defense," he explained."Wait, how do you know I'm good at self-defense?" I questioned."That's all you got from my speech?" he let out dryly."No, I understood what you meant. But how do you know—""I don't know. I was just saying hypothetically," he clarified.It was still strange, but I nodded my head in understanding nonetheless."So now, can we go? We have to be back soon," Elian urged, walking towards the door, but I remained intact in my place. "What's wrong?""How do I know you are not taking me s
Chapter 8: WeirdAlena Fleur"How can someone be so careless? You were doing so well, and you could have kept that up. But no! You had to go knock yourself in the face. This is why I'm always telling everyone at the office to never get overconfident, but look at you now!"I was holding a bag of ice to my chin as Elian scolded me mercilessly. With how much he was rebuking me, I almost wanted to yell back that it was his fault—his stupid damn charming smile!"It's not my fault, okay? It's the gun's fault," I mumbled with a pout."Of course, it's never your fault. You're the most innocent person in the world," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.I continued pouting."C'mon, let's get you to the doctor," Elian urged."No, it's just a small thing. Look, the bleeding stopped as well." I pointed to the tissue in my nose. "Plus, it's not even broken. Why bother going to a doctor?""How about we let a professional decide if your nose is broken or not?" he let out."No. I'm not going to a
Chapter 9: Déjá VuAlena FleurIt was finally the day before the weekend. I couldn't wait for the day to end so that I could hit the bed and sleep for two days straight.After all that I went through this week, I wanted nothing more than to sleep it off and start afresh.Things were going okay with Elian as well. I tried to forget whatever happened that night, and now, I was successfully pretending it never happened. He was my boss, and nothing else.Right now, the two of us were at the manufacturing facility of Storm Dynamics. It was always me who came to check up on the finished products, but this time, God knows what Elian was thinking, he tagged along.It was an important project. We were sending firearms to the military, so a little mishap could mean our company could be shut down for eternity.I was doing rounds when I noticed a worker taking a box full of rifles in the wrong direction."Hey, aren't they all supposed to load the boxes in the truck?" I asked Mr. Jeremy, who was i
Chapter 10: BrowniesAlena Fleur Elian brought me home after the incident. He also bought the brownies that he promised."Are you going to watch as I take out my spare key, you stalker?" I asked."Why do you keep forgetting I'm your boss and you're supposed to show me respect?" he grumbled and turned around."Well, you don't like it when I call you 'Sir', so deal with it," I said and kneeled down to take out my spare key from under my neighbor's flower pot. I didn't keep it under my flower pot because of the high chances of getting robbed as a single lady."There are other ways to show respect, you know?" Elian said."I will show you respect when it's needed. Right now, I see no need," I replied."I think I deserve respect more than ever now. How many bosses do you think will bring their employees back home and buy them brownies?" he pointed out."Nice bosses would," I retorted and opened my apartment door."So you're indirectly saying I'm nice now?""Once in a while, you are," I sai
Chapter 11: Fugitives Alena Fleur"Pack your essentials," Elian said urgently after he finished a few important calls."What?" I put down my fork and brownie plate and stood up in utter shock. "Why would I do that?""I don't have time to explain, Alena. We need to run away." This was the most panicked I had ever seen him."Run away? Where? Why? I don't get any of it."He grabbed my shoulders and said, "Alena, just listen to me, okay? We have no other option except running, so just go and pack your essentials in five minutes.""I don't know what happened. But doesn't running away mean we are guilty?" I tried reasoning."Yes, but they won't give us any chance to explain. The orders are to shoot at sight. You and me."My heart clenched at what he said. "What?" I asked, staggered. "That's not possible. I never did anything to deserve an order like that. Surely, the cops aren't that bad—""They are. You just don't know because you have never had to face them like that. I'll explain everyt
Chapter 12: Conspiracy Alena Fleur"So where are we right now?" I asked, looking around the lounge area of a fancy apartment complex."Somewhere safe," Elian replied and walked towards the elevator.I followed after him without question.We had managed to get rid of the police cars which had been chasing us, and after that, we were right now at this unknown place. I was sure this wasn't where Elian lived. I had been to his mansion once before.We reached the top floor of the building and got out of the elevator.Elian rang the doorbell of the only unit there, and soon, the door opened up to reveal a familiar figure."Hello, brother," Lance greeted with a welcoming smile. When his eyes trailed towards me, he added curtly, "And his employee.""Hello," I mumbled, still not sure why we were here."Hey, thanks for letting us crash," Elian said and entered without hesitation."Anytime, Elian," Lance said. "Aren't you coming in?" he asked me."Um, yeah. Thanks," I said and stepped inside th
Chapter 13: Kinda-Girlfriend Alena Fleur"Here," Elian said, putting down Lance's laptop on the coffee table."Are you sure we're allowed to use your brother's laptop?" I asked skeptically as Elian sat beside me and started typing the password."Sure, why not?" he shrugged and let me have the laptop.I shook my head at his brazenness and opened Lance's mail box. I added my email account and logged in, but there were no new mails with any attachments. "Did I not press 'send'?""I wouldn't be surprised if you didn't," Elian responded dryly. "Why don't you check the draft?""Even if it got saved in the draft, it wouldn't be here.""Then where would it be?""In my other account.""Why do you have two email accounts?""So that I can send myself emails," I simply answered. "Why don't you log into that account?" he suggested.I sighed hopelessly. "I don't remember its password. The password is in my phone's notepad.""Well, I guess we are back to square one." He closed Lance's laptop and g