A Devoted Family Man

She took the table at the far end of the room, to get a bit of privacy, for the crowd was already in full swing at the lounge bar. She didn't realize that people party hard even in the middle of the week. She wondered if they don't have a responsibility waiting for them tomorrow. 

With how they are having fun, laughing, and flirting it doesn't seem like they have. While she has to be at the laboratory tomorrow. Professor Boa sent a message this morning that they must be at the laboratory at ten. 

The message didn't say why. And frankly, right now, she doesn't give a flying fuck. Her rage hasn't calmed down. She is now at her second glass of brandy. And girls' fake laughing in the background isn't helping at all. 

She already told one of the hotel personnel that she required a service that would send her sorry ass home. But she chose to stay here at the bar, even when she could go home anytime because she doesn't want to wallow in self-pity in her apartment. 

And also because Luke was probably home now. She doesn't want to answer her friend if he inquired about what happened to her date. She sighed and turned her attention to the huge glass window with the view of the marvelous cityscape.

She shifted her enormous chair to the window. She caught a glimpse of her reflection from the glass. She decided to have a staredown with her own image. 

Staring at her reflection, her thoughts wander to what happened in Noah's room tonight. She was thinking about what will she do now after what happened. A civil relationship seemed to be impossible right now. 

She is getting a headache thinking about how she would act in front of Noah now. It wasn't like before when she was confident that she could avoid him easily. If she got accepted at ANAT and Pharma Co, Noah would be her boss since he is going to be the CEO of his family business. 

According to the information, her friend told her, Noah's father is the current CEO of ANAT and Pharma Co but there is a buzzing talk within the business circle that Noah would the next CEO once his father retired from the position. 

Thus, him being in charge of the new laboratory and office here in California is a trial period for him. There is no way for her to run away from Noah now. She would be like a planet in the solar system, and Noah is the sun.

She has no choice but to orbit around him. She clicked her tongue in annoyance with her predicament. The freak universe is truly screwing her up by throwing Tiefenbacher in her way. 

She blew another sigh of frustration, sipping her brandy, minding her own business. When a hand touched her shoulder. She was startled but leaned backward in an automatic response to protect herself.

When she glanced up to find out who had the guts to disturb her, her eyes met Stefan's smiling face. 

"I know that my cousin could be a bore, but I never expect him to be this boring. He has a pretty date, and yet he left you alone in this place packed with wolves waiting and watching for their next prey,"  he said, grinning. But his eyes were full of concern as they discreetly observed her, who happened to be clearly drunk.

"Oh, if it isn't another Tiefenbacher." she grinned back at him. She released a small sigh of relief that it was just Stefan. 

He cocked his head to the seat in front of her, asking for permission if he could join him at her table. 

"Sure, sit down and keep me company," she answered his silent queries, pointing her glass to the empty chair across her. 

"Thanks." he smiled.

Jess noticed he has cute dimples on the lower corner of his right lip when he sat down right in front of her. 

"I'm not a Tiefenbacher," he said out of the blue. 

She furrowed her eyebrows not understanding what he just said. Though she didn't ask the question on the back of her mind, for she doesn't have any interest in this guy. She asked him to sit down because she did notice a lot of eyes were on her. She doesn't want any of those men to approach her.

Stefan is a good fence to keep those sleazy men from approaching. 

"My family name isn't Tiefenbacher," he gave the information that Jess didn't even ask. "I'm a son out of my mother's grave sin." he softly laughed like what he said was something funny. 

Jess suddenly felt awkward towards Stefan. She dislikes guys who get talkative when they get drunk. She has no intention of listening to somebody's messy life story. She has her own personal issues to deal with.

"Sorry. It seemed I overshared my life to you." he smiled, embarrassed. 

Jess felt a bit sorry to him that she decided to humor her, before escaping. 

"It's okay. No need to apologize. Noah and I were not that close." she gave him an apologetic smile.

"Oh, really? That's strange. Noah doesn't involve himself to any women after his messy divorce with his wife." he told her, squinting his blue eyes on her like she was telling a lie. 

"Noah and I were merely working in the same lab." She suddenly felt a certain curiosity upon hearing Stefan talking about Noah's private life. 

She knew he has a kid. She heard about her from Noah before. He even showed off his daughter's pictures to her at the Midland Hotel. But she didn't know anything about his ex-wife. She wondered what kind of woman was Noah's type.

"I'd say strange," he said tilting his head in disbelief. "You see, my cousin has both the looks and the cash. A lot of women go crazy over him like ants go crazy over sugar." He stroked his chin as he watched her from her chair. 

"So, basically a lot of women wants Noah to be a sugar daddy?" she chuckled softly.

"Well, basically yes!" he laughed. "But Noah has never shown any interest to those women. He is a very devoted father to his daughter…"

Jess took a sip of her drink, silently agreeing to what Stefan said. 

"...and to his ex-wife, I supposed," he added.