20. Harmony

"Someone is acting like a boss after hooking up with the boss, can you believe it? how can someone be so shameless!" She heard her dear colleague, Theresa yapping on the phone with someone as she sat on her chair.

It's still lunchtime and apparently the wench find it as an excuse to hurl 'supposedly' hurtful words against her. 'Tssk as if she cares.' she rolled her eyes.

'The best way to deal with bitches is to act like you don't see one.'

It's been a month since she worked for Xavier and she's been openly eating lunch with him in his office for over two weeks, giving the vibe that she's dating the CEO without confirming it and leaving Ms. Choi seething in anger and jealousy. She is inwardly laughing at this girl's hypocrisy, hating her cover Arya and yet would definitely trade her soul for an opportunity like hers so she could get close with Xavier Wang.

The best thing about this office tho is that it's dominated by male species, it may not be the case all the time but it's seldom for men to gravitates towards gossips which is thankfully the case in this workplace and though they do talked about it privately which is the purpose of spending her lunchtime with Xavier, they are atleast not judgy and hostile against her for dating the boss. That's why she preferred the company of men in general more than the company of little girls ever since. Well, her Katarina is always an exception.

She gave them a playful wink and they grinned at her in return, equally annoyed by the wench. Leona nonchalantly ignored the loud cicada next to her and checked on her remaining tasks for the day like a regular secretary.

It was already almost 9 o'clock but Leona is still engrossed with her work, it's a critical month for everyone since it's almost the launch date of the company's new software so everyone has been staying in the office for overtime along with the tech and design teams and unfortunately she's not an exception. Tonight they're especially pulling an all-nighter with the CEO due to an inevitable mishap regarding the project. The problem with deep cover like hers is that she needed to really be Arya and not just act it. She was faking the job at first until she get the hang of it and eventually excel it.

Owning it in the proccess.

She's massaging her temple when she felt her phone vibrate inside her bag, it must be her personal phone, she stealthily picked it up and went to the ladies' room.

She frowned looking at the name registered, it's Katarina.

She was greeted with sobs when she answered the phone.

"Where are you?" She didn't dilly dally and thought that it would be best to talk to her in person when she's acting like this, she felt a mild migraine when she heard the location but decided it's not the best time to lecture her friend.

'The heck is she doing there?'

She rushed out the ladies room to the CEO's office, she can't just leave during working hours or maybe the right words should be, she shouldn't leave before her boss so she decided to ask for permission.

She was about to knock when to her surprised the door flung open, Xavier has his overcoat on his arm. Looking like he's about to go somewhere, he was also taken a back seeing her the moment he opened the door.

"Uhhm, I need to go somewhere." she said in a low voice.

"It's okay I have an urgent matter to attend to as well." His mere presence called everyone's attention, head peeking out from the cubicles. They waited for what he has to say "You can all leave for the night, let's resume tomorrow."

They have a puzzled look on their faces, some giving her inquiring look since she's standing near the CEO and one particular deadly glare from her 'bestie' and she just shrugged at them.

"It seems like you're also in a hurry, let me drop you off."

"No thank you, I can take a cab." She's planning to go to her rented storage room in the city first to get her motorbike and drive to Red Meadow City from there.

She hastily grab her bag and darted towards the elevator but she still ended up waiting with Xavier for the same lift since they're both going down. they stood side by side looking like they're gonna elope somewhere for the night, no one dared to enter the elevator with them looking at the sparks flying around when they're together. No one could ever deny the chemistry between the two, one is unworldly handsome like a greek god while the other is ethereally beautiful like a goddess.

Leona's mind is elsewhere so she didn't had the opportunity to analyze the current situation she's in or the knowing look from her colleagues and swiftly jump in the elevator the moment it opened, all she wanted to do is teleport to where Katarina is.

"Where are you going?"

"Red Meadow city" She mindlessly answered, staring intently at the changing digital number of the elevator.

Xavier frowned at how Leona seems to be ignoring his presence, not like he craves for her attention. 'tssk, of course not.' It's just odd to see her a bit panicky because of something else, maybe he just like the feeling of how she loses her cool around him so he wanted to keep it for his entertainment only. He's never felt so accomplished before, he felt happy seeing different expressions from her face because of his teasing.

"That's where I'm heading, I can drop you off." the elevator door opened at Xavier's private parking space, he turned to her when she seems to be spacing out and didn't follow him out. "Come on."

Leona returned to her senses and followed him out. "Hmm." Might as well follow his lead so she can save time, She's damn worried for her friend with all the wailing over the phone.

"Can I drive?" She asked Xavier "Not that I don't trust your driving skill, It's just that I don't like the feeling of not being in control when I have a 'situation' going on." she bit her lower lip realizing that she had said too much, what the hell is wrong with her? they're not that close for her to confide her current feelings. 'When did I start getting cozy with strangers?'

Sensing her discomfort, Xavier decided to not pry further. He casually throw the car key to her and she catched it with one hand.

"Thanks." Also feeling grateful that he's considerate enough not tease her for now, they sat next to each other in the car looking harmonious for once.