Chapter 5

Ashley stared at the figure of her sleeping boss beside her with her jaw slacked and agape, eyes wide and unbelieving. In a few moments of silent shock, Ashley yells out after blinking her eyes dumbly.

"What the fuck?!" The sound seemed to be loud enough to bother her sleeping beauty of a boss as the woman stirred awake, groaning at the loud noise.

"Ah, tone it down." Veronica mumbles as she pulled the blanket on her body, further up with her hands, enough to hide half of her face. She sighs in satisfaction when she feels she's buried enough in the sheets, smiling as she lets the warmth cover her.

"Ms. Reyes! Do you-"

"Mmm, just… give me the… files… later…"

"MS. REYES!" Ashely yells as she kneels up, trying to wake her boss up properly, finding the task to be difficult. She groans as she lightly shakes Veronica's arm, pulling the blanket away. The latter finally opened her eyes, slowly sitting up as she yawns. She slowly turns her head towards her assistant, eyes still trying to adjust to opening.

"Oh, Miss… Johnson. What are you doing in my room?" Veronica asks as she rubs her eyes, voice hoarse and slightly deeper than usual. Ashley scoffs at her words before replying.

"This is my room! What are you doing here? Do you remember what happened last night?" Ashley queries as she folds the sheets. She opens the curtains, letting the bright light from outside shine in. Veronica blinks harshly at the brightness before answering with a yawn.

"I do not know. I went home with a brunette last night…" Veronica mumbles, trailing off as she looks at Ashley. Her eyes and mouth opened in realization a few seconds later on. "Oh, you look like her."

"Maybe that's because I AM her," Ashley says, before sighing. "Listen-"

"Oh… Did you like it?" Veronica asks, cutting Ashley off. The latter tilts her head to the side with confusion, eyebrows furrowed.

"What?"

"The sex. Did you like it?"

"WH-WHAT?!" Ashley yells as she steps back, looking at her boss with wide eyes. The woman just lazily raises an eyebrow to which her assistant shifts her eyes, glancing everywhere but her boss's face before replying with a small voice. "Well, y-yes."

"Alright. Then, let's keep doing it." Veronica says as Ashley stares at her with wide eyes. She speaks about the topic so conversationally, as if she was talking about the weather while Ashley was on the verge of losing her mind. "After work, you can come over mine. You've always wanted me anyway, right? Don't you want to-"

"YEAH, BUT HOW DID YOU KNOW?!" Ashley yells, interrupting her boss as she turns her head to face her, making the woman see how pink her cheeks are. Veronica looks at her embarrassed assistant, who curls her hands into fists with unexplainable eyes, before cocking her head to the side.

"Oh, didn't you want me to know?"

"N-not really," Ashley says, looking away once again. "But anyway, are you sure about this? Won��t it make things awkward around work?"

"That didn't stop you from touching me."

"A-ah right, I guess not." Ashley says, finally being quiet as her eyes shifted towards her boss slowly. She pursed her lips as she watched her boss wrapped around in her blanket, head drifting to the side sleepily before jumping up again to stay awake. She found the sight adorable, and she struggled not to voice it out. Veronica felt a powerful gaze by her side, making her turn her head to the former.

"What?"

"It's n-nothing. Do you want to stay for breakfast?" Ashley asked, heading towards the door.

"What time is it?"

"Um… It's 9:30 am right now."

"Hmm, alright." Veronica says as she lies back down, flopping on to the bed. She pulls her blanket up, face not visible as she hides and buries herself in it. She closes her eyes underneath the sheets, sighing in content as she prepares to go back to sleep.

"Ah! Wait…"

"What is it now?" Veronica retorted with a muffled voice, groaning as she resists the urge to throw the clock on the bedside table towards her assistant. Maybe she should throw the table instead; that should get her to shut up.

"Err, I don't know how to cook."

"Huh? Then how the hell do you eat?" Veronica blurted as she peeked her head out of the blanket, making only her eyes visible.

"I don't really eat since I'm on a diet most of the time. If I do, I just buy food on my way to work, but it's Saturday and the shop's so far away…" Ashley trailed off, fiddling with her fingers as she does so, awkwardly looking somewhere else as to not face her boss. Veronica glared at her before slowly sitting up, scratching her head as she got up.

"Fine." She sighed with her entire chest, her shoulders and back slumping down as she stood up. She headed out the room, her assistant trailing behind her. "I'll cook."

"O-oh! Really? You know how to?"

"Yes," Veronica answers, grabbing an apron hung on the side of the refrigerator. As she put the apron on, she looked at Ashley, eyes and face puffy from just waking up, but her irritated gaze not faltering. "Go sit down if you're not going to make yourself useful."

"Can't you teach me?" Ashely asked with a pout as she hops on the table beside the sink. Veronica sighs once more before answering with a roll of her eyes.

"Fine. It's a hassle to find a new assistant if you die burning your apartment down, anyway."

"Hey!" Ashley yelled with a pout, stomping her foot like a child. They got to work, Veronica giving her assistant simple instructions as she did her own job. The former would keep asking her questions on certain instructions to which Veronica responds with either a sigh, a groan or a roll of her eyes. If she's extra irritated, it's all of the above. Nonetheless, she still helps the woman out, grumbling as she does so.

"So… when did you learn how to cook?" Ashley said as she tried to cut onions carefully as how Veronica told her. Her boss just gives a few moments of silence, focused on cutting her own vegetables before replying, voice monotone.

"When it's none of your business."

"Oh, come on!" Ashley whines as she stops cutting, pouting like a child since she didn't get what she wanted.

"Get back to work," Veronica simply says as she continues to slice the food. She stops after a bit, muttering a question. "Why do you want to know?"

"I'm just curious." Ashley shrugs as she gets back to slicing. Veronica looks at her before sighing. She replies as she brings out a lighter and turns the stove on.

"Fine. I learned it on my own when I turned 13."

"Hmm, good for you," Ashley began as she giggles before continuing. "I can't cook for shit."

"…" Veronica says nothing after that, making Ashley pout at the silence. She remembers the events of last night before going to the bar and her eyes light up again.

"You seemed to be close with Director Clarra last night-�� Veronica cuts Ashley off with a groan, rolling her eyes before she even gets to finish her sentence. Ashley scoffs at her reaction. "What?"

"You ask too many questions. Now, put that in here." Veronica orders as she points to the cut onions, then gesturing to the pan on the stove. Ashley follows her, doing as told. After a few minutes, the two ladies finish cooking, the smell of fried rice and scrambled eggs filling the air, making them hungrier than before. The former nods before turning the stove off. "… Okay, we're done. Set the table."

"Is this your house or mine?" Ashley mumbles with a pout, following her boss's instructions, anyway. Her words were almost inaudible, causing Veronica to question her.

"What?"

"Nothing."

A few days pass and Ashley and Veronica continue their nightly endeavors, which mostly occur at Veronica's house because it's bigger and her rooms are soundproof, making them induce as much sounds as they want without bothering anyone.

Sometimes they come into work together, and that isn't questionable at all. What's questionable, is the hickeys plastered on Veronica's neck or the red rings around Ashley's wrists that bruise. The employees throughout the building have created rumors about the marks on their skin that they see whenever they pass. However, none of them are brave enough to confirm their suspicions since they knew that their boss would be furious at them for asking such an unprofessional question, whilst Ashley is too beautiful so they'd get flustered or clam up before they can even utter a word.

"Good evening, Ms. Reyes!" Ashley smiles, her eyes turning into slits as she opens the door of her boss's office. "Here are the drafts for the designs. Also, this is the schedule for the show and here is the list for the lineup."

"Thank you," Veronica says, putting on a small and tight-lipped smile before looking back at her laptop. Ashley smiles wider at this, happy that her boss is actually starting to make an effort to make a human expression and not act as a robot that knows anger as the only emotion. "Put it on my desk, please."

"Yes, Ms. Reyes!" Ashley answers as she put the folders down on the table before bowing. As she starts to leave, her boss's voice stops her, calling out for her.

"Ah, Ms. Johnson." Veronica says, making Ashley turn around with her usual eye-smile, ready for whatever instructions her boss will throw at her as she leans forward. "Do you want to stay after hours this evening?"

"Huh? For what?" Ashley asks, brows furrowed and confused as her lips formed into a pout. She cocked her head to the side as she stares at her boss with curious eyes. Veronica says nothing and only raises an eyebrow, sending her assistant an all too familiar look that she's witnessed only in the bedroom.

"O-oh, h-here?" Ashley says with reddening cheeks, pointing to the floor as she refers to the office. She raises her eyebrows as she stares at her boss.

"Yes. Do you have a problem with it?"

"Well, n-no. But won't people hear us?" Ashley asks as she looks away, eyes shifting throughout the room. She pouts as her cheeks continue to heat up, making her fiddle with the folders she's holding. Veronica stands up from her seat as she slowly walks to her assistant, heels clicking loudly against the floor as she gets closer, but all Ashley hears is the beating of her heart.

"The walls are soundproof remember?" Veronica says as she stares down at Ashley. The former leans towards her assistant, placing her mouth close by her ear. As she whispers, the latter can feel her breath fan her neck, making her struggle to resist doing a full body shudder. "Unless… you want people to hear you?"

"No! I don't-" Before Ashley can continue with her obvious lies, Veronica walks forward, heading for the door as she cuts her off.

"I am going to the bathroom. Please prepare yourself by the time we're done with work." Veronica says, voice deep as usual but this time, however, it sounds darker and Ashley knows the intention behind it. The latter covers her mouth when her boss leaves the room, breathing out a whisper.

"Damn."