The new apartment invited good sunshine, though it was small, yet for Chloe, it was already very nice. This way she didn’t have to spend too much time decorating it.

After some simple wallpapering, bed-making, furnishing a closet in the corner, plugging in her computer on the desk, and founding every other little thing its right place, everything was just perfect. Maybe some plants later, she was thinking.

She lay in her narrow bed and remembered her parents at home, and had a nice dream all through the night.

“Chloe, open the door!” Early in the morning Cherie came banging at the door of her room. Chloe grabbed her phone and it was six.

“Stop yelling, it’s six in the morning.”

“Fuck off, none of your business!”

Chloe heard Cherie had already started quarreling with her roommates outside. She slipped into her overcoat and opened the door. Cherie saw Chloe and fell upon her, stinking drunk.

“I’m sorry about my friend, I apologize.” Chloe pulled her into her room and threw her on the bed, very displeased.

“My god Cherie! how much have you drunk!” Chloe patted her cheeks and found no reaction. “are you asleep now?”

Chloe couldn’t help laughing. She stared at Cherie’s face and found she was much gentler in sleep.

“You get up now!”

“Shit!” Cherie rolled over and swung her arm in the air, barely missing Chloe on the head, “wow, that was close, you are dangerous, Cherie..."

It was still early so Chloe found herself a blanket and caught up on some more sleep on the couch. After she awoke again and did some morning routines, she went to work.

There seemed to be less and less work for her in her mailbox after she moved to the top floor. There happened to be a meeting today, so she decided to talk to Lowell later.

Unbelievably, Everyone had already been present at the meet in the huddle room. For one second Chloe was caught in a trance at the door and started to reconfirm if she was walking into the right room: they were the colleagues she knew. She remembered the first time they had had the meeting, nobody was punctual, everyone was dragging their heels and asked her to prepare coffee when they arrived. Now she saw there was already coffee cups before everyone, how strange was this!

“Am I... late?” Impossible, she thought to herself, the meeting should be at ten but now it is only ten to ten.

“No! of course not!” everybody shook their head and tried so hard to fight with the urge to call her Mrs. Cleveland.

“...I’ll just...” she looked around and found one empty seat at the very front, Chloe walked over and asked, “is this for me?” Impossible, again she thought to herself, aren’t the new employees usually seated at the back, why is everyone saying yes?

Chloe remembered maybe it was because all these gossip about her and Mr. Cleveland.

“Oh, actually you don’t have to be like this, there is really nothing going on between me and Mr. Cleveland, we are just employer and employee, boss and subordinate, nothing particular.” Chloe explained.

But everyone present in the room already believed that they must want to go under the radar so she still didn’t want to admit it. After all, there were real evidences, the dress, leaving the company in the same car, didn’t come to work for two days, sick leaves asked by Christopher, the way she walked when she finally showed up in the company! Then left the company together everyday afterwards. They seemed really in love!

Chloe saw everyone around the table appear to understand her so she sort of relieved, then she nodded at Lowell and then the meeting started.

The meeting was pretty much the same as the first time but Chloe listened attentively, so everyone was touched by her exemplary act of devotion in the development of her lover’s company and admired it, and payed as much attention as she did.

“Chloe, have you got used to working for Mr. Cleveland himself? If you have any trouble, you can ask me for help, I can always help you with the statements. You must be very occupied everyday, I mean coffee for him everyday and still got the work from the financial department...”

“I’m OK, thank you Danielle,you are very kind. Lucy are still responsible for the documents Mr. Cleveland wants and the arrangement of his important schedules, she got the most painstaking work. Everyday she needs to go up and down the stairs for checking information.”

“Oh you are being very modest. Everyone in the financial department is your family anyway, you can always come to us if you need anything!”

“Of course Danielle, thank you so much.” Chloe walked into the elevator with her laptop after she showed her appreciation and waved at her colleagues with smile.

“Our Chloe is still as cute as ever!” Danielle crossed her hands before her chest in admiration. The people around glanced at her, gave a sigh and left.

“...”

Chloe was worried that Cherie was alone at home and got nothing to eat, so she bought breakfast and went back. She was still in bed asleep.

“Cherie, time to get up to eat something.”

“...no, I’m not hungry...”

“Get up now! I’m talking to you!” Chloe asked with a long face, acting mad at her.

“...Okay okay okay, I’m getting up right now!” Cherie sat herself up sluggishly and saw the food on the table. Her eyes brightened.

“Have you cooked them specially for me?”

“Of course not, I got work today. Maybe another day, you can come in the afternoon, I’ll cook for you then. Look at you, just stop the all-night drinking madness with people!”

“I don’t want to either, but I just can’t, I have to. They are my father’s friends, and every one of their sons was trying to get me drunk.”

“It was your dad’s idea?”

“Yeah...”

“OK, I understand, you can go on sleeping after you finish and have a god rest, it is your place too.”

“Yay, I know it, you are definitely my second parent!”

“what nonsense is this!”

“... I mean it.” Cherie looked at her suddenly like she was damn serious, which made Chloe lose her words for the moment.

She got carried away a little by this and coaxed her into having lunch with her, then went back to the company.

“Chloe, Mr. Cleveland wants you!” the second she walked into the gate, her manager hurried over and told her.

“What? OK, I’m going up.”

She took the elevator to the top floor and rushed into Christopher’s office.

“Mr. Cleveland, are you looking for me...”

There were two men in the office, one obviously was the occupant of the office, and the other was a total stranger, who looked distinguished in a suit and tie and just as handsome as Christopher.

“Here you are.”

“Oh...yes...” Chloe stood at the door and appeared kind of embarrassed. Christopher had told her that she didn’t have to knocked the door every time, so she just burst into his office. It was an awkward moment.

“Let me introduce, this is my fiancee, so actually you don’t have to worry so much that somebody will share Yvonne with you. Our engagement was nothing but business alliance, what’s past is in the past.” Christopher walked over and pulled Chloe into his arms.

“Good, if you say so. But, she just called you Mr.Cleveland.” the man sat on the couch with one leg over another, his eye on Chloe.

“She is also my employee now, anything wrong?”

“Nothing wrong, it’s um... not believable enough.” the man curved his lips with the confidence to nail a lie. He had had his people learned the details about her in and out, there was nothing between them, and that Liam guy had also spoke everything clearly.

“Mr.Cl...” Christopher kissed on Chloe’s lips, so bossy enough to allow no resistance.

And the man on the couch frowned at it suspiciously first then smiled contently. He stood up, left the office, and closed the the door for them. While Lucy happened to walk by and saw everything happened inside and rushed back to the fourteenth floor.

Bang! Boom! Something seemed to have exploded inside Chloe’s mind. She finally realized what was happening and pushed Christopher away. Unbelievable was all she could call it, Good god, what has just happened? Did he just kiss me? Kissed me?

“...I’m sorry, I just...” Christopher saw Chloe covered her mouth and felt guilty, but deep inside he found her lips were incredibly soft, like marshmallow.

“You...” Chloe could hardly speak, tears were flowing down all of a sudden and she didn’t even know why, she felt abused. Being used as a shield again? Chloe glared at Christopher, turned to leave and only was hugged from behind by him.

“...” Chloe struggle to be rid of him, but she was not strong enough and finally gave up and let him hug her tight in his arms.

“It’s my fault, he is Yvonne’s fiance, I don’t want him to mistake that there are still things going on between me and her.” Christopher explained, his breath sprinkling on her ears, feeling quite itchy. Chloe flushed and stopped struggling. The air became more than intense, every second she was worried that Christopher would do something odd.

“Mr. Cleveland, can you just, let go of me first?”

“...” Christopher loosened her gently, and turned her to him, still holding her, “Yvonne and I were engaged once, but it was just business alliance, we were both some chess pieces. There was a time when she and I would live and work together, appeared very much in love, but it was just for show.”

“...” Chloe looked at the ground and dared not to look up, only listened silently. He was holding her shoulders with his hands, not hard enough to hurt her but she couldn’t get rid of him.

“There really is nothing between me and her.”

“Then why were you so nervous when she came last time?” Chloe remembered that the last time he met Yvonne in the office, he trembled when she told him she was getting married.

“Nervous? You must have mistaken, it’s just that ever time I see her, it makes me feel uncomfortable, she was my fiancee after all. Then our families broke up so our wedding was canceled.”

“...why are you explaining all these...”

“...then why did you ask me if I was nervous...”

There was something very subtle in the air that connected the both of them and they just looked at each other in silence. Christopher put his fingers on her red lips and stroked, which made her ears flush like it was burning.

“You are so cute.”

“You...” Chloe turned and ran away from his office. At a loss, she took the elevator to the fourteenth floor.