Strong For Both of Us

Niko held Shen Shu on one side of his body with his arm around her shoulders, her scent hitting him. She smelled like rosewater and ivy. She wrapped an arm around his middle as they sat to watch the rest of the movie.

Niko felt her relax as she rested her head on his chest, making him relax. Shen Shu would soothe him even if he were the one comforting her.

She does not shake from fear anymore. She occasionally shuts her eyes and bunches a hand on Niko's shirt, but he'd caress her arm, and she'd feel better.

Halfway into the movie, Niko does not remember when he shut his eyes or when the movie ended or when the screen had turned off, but he wakes up sweating in the dark. Shen Shu is lined up against him with an arm and a leg draped over his body. They both burn from body heat on the couch. He gazed at her as she slept peacefully.

Sweat clung to her hair and neck, so Niko put some distance between them.

Shen Shu whimpered in her sleep as if she did not want him to leave her. When she holds him tighter, she smiles while still asleep and relaxes.

Niko combed through her hair with her hand, feeling the soft threads slip between his fingers. She moved slightly again. He stopped, not wanting to wake her.

When he felt her breathing deepen, he combed through her hair again. He could do this all day, all night, forever if he could—if he were allowed. But he settled for this moment, in the dark, where no one can see them when no one can know.

Niko fell asleep again, and he woke up before the sun came out in the morning. He slipped from her gently, and he put pillows on where his body was, and she clung to them.

He showered and changed before he went to work.

Niko spots Ye Huan hyper-focused on her game on his way to his office. He passed her, and she said, "Hey, Boss Shen."

"Hello," he responded.

She looks up at him. "Oh. I thought you were—is Shen Shu here?"

"She should be here soon," Niko told her. But he does not say that she's still sleeping because the only reason he knew that was because he slept with her.

Ye Huan smiles at him. "Okay, thank you. Boss."

Although Niko rarely spoke to Ye Huan, she has become one of the highly respected people in the office. She was good at her job, and she was one of the few people that didn't flirt with him. He liked that she was a friend to Shen Shu, too.

Niko goes inside his office, and he shuts the door.

He makes a conference call after conference call, and he attends meetings all morning. He then decided to visit Shen Shu now that she had come since she told him to visit her office. He knocked on the door.

"Come in," she says. Niko walked in.

Shen Shu is wearing black leather pants and a white blouse. He glances around her office, and everything is white and pale pink. Her office stood out from the typical modern look, but it was so like Shen Shu, Niko could not help but like it. She's also surprised to see him, but she smiles anyway.

She stands from her seat, holding her hands behind her back as she beams at him. "Do you like it?" she asks.

"I do," he said.

Her smile widens, and it touches her eyes. Niko nearly gets lost in her expression, but he composes himself and says, "I need you to go over these plans with me."

Niko came around her desk, and he splayed the plans over it. She begins reading the pages with intense focus, highlighting and annotating his plans. He watches her get lost in her work. She then finally says, "I love it. I will edit it for you and get it to your office by tonight, and then I will start planning some marketing campaigns. We can discuss more tomorrow."

Niko looks at her notes and then back at her. "Sounds like a plan," he told her.

Her eyes met his, and Niko held her gaze until Ye Huan barged in. He stepped away from Shen Shu slightly, as Ye Huan said, "Oh. Sorry I didn't know you were busy."

"Shen Chi was about to step out," Shen Shu told Ye Huan. "We can still go out for lunch."

Ye Huan smiled. "Great, I will wait for you outside!" She then exited the room and went on her way.

Niko released a breath.

Shen Shu takes her purse in her hand. "I'll talk to you later."

He nods, and she begins to walk until she stops her tracks. She turns to face him, wearing an expression filled with many emotions he could not decipher. "I like this side of you," she says and then she struts out of the room.

Niko stares at her back until she disappears. He then realized he was still in her pink office, so he went to a conference room and called for his assistant Zhu Yang.

Zhu Yang steps in. "Yes, boss. Sir. Mr. Shen?"

"I need you to shift my schedule around and squeeze in some meetings with Shen Shu."

"But, boss, you're fully booked?"

"Make it happen, Zhu Yang. She's my partner."

Zhu Yang's expression fell, and Niko knew it was because he had to work some magic to move things in his schedule around. He rarely had any availability. He was a busy man, and he was doing business every minute of every hour when he was in the office. Even on his days off, Niko was always working or having meetings.

Before, Niko wasn't speaking with Shen Shu, so he had more time for my work, but he would change things for her. He told himself years ago that he would take Shen Shu in any way he could get. If he continued to avoid her, he'd lose her forever.

He would rather have her platonically than nothing at all. He couldn't risk crossing the line. But he can control himself. He had to be strong for both of them. He'd be her brother, her friend. He'd give her anything she wanted.