Chapter 19
The fan-support gig required Emma to travel between cities.
She could only thank modern transportation for making it possible.
Without high-speed trains and convenient late-night flights, there was no way she'd be able to make the trip and still get back the same night.
Julian's studio was actually pretty considerate when it came to fan events.
Most official support activities were scheduled for weekday evenings because they knew a large portion of Julian's fanbase consisted of students.
They didn't want anyone skipping class just to chase a celebrity.
The studio also discouraged fans from traveling long distances for events.
Of course, they couldn't exactly stop the truly dedicated ones.
Weekends were even worse.
Airports were packed, and the studio usually avoided organizing fan activities there altogether.
Fortunately, Nance City was in a convenient location.
With modern transportation, most places in the country were within a day's round trip.
The only real price Emma had to pay was sleep.
Once or twice a week, anyway.
She didn't mind.
Not when she was getting paid.
She finally got back to her apartment at 5:00 a.m.
She barely had time to close her eyes before it was time to get up and go to work.
Emma wasn't a permanent employee, so she only had to give three days' notice before resigning.
And as luck would have it—
Three days from now was the beginning of a new month.
Which meant she wouldn't have to come back.
Ever.
A lot of college students who had never worked before imagined having a job was some terrifying adult nightmare.
After working for more than a year, Emma could now give them an honest answer.
Absolutely terrifying.
That morning, Emma arrived at the office just before the elevators filled up.
While she was waiting, she ran into Mia.
The moment Mia saw her, she hooked an arm around Emma's.
Her other hand was busy scrolling through her phone.
"These video apps are seriously different now," Mia muttered. "Everything is basically thirst traps."
Emma glanced at her screen.
A shirtless man was dancing in a way that seemed specifically designed to make the algorithm happy.
Emma smiled.
"You know you can hit 'Not Interested,' right?"
Mia looked at her.
"I am interested."
Emma:
"......"
Fair enough.
Mia suddenly took a closer look at her face.
"Whoa. Your dark circles are terrible."
She leaned closer.
"Did you rob a bank last night?"
Emma rubbed her eyes.
"Didn't sleep much."
Across the office, Adrian Mercer had received almost exactly the same review.
"Mr. Mercer, your dark circles are pretty bad."
His assistant took one look at him and immediately said it.
Adrian dropped onto the sofa like a man who had personally been betrayed by sleep.
"You think everyone has a social life like you?"
His assistant:
"......"
It wasn't even nine in the morning.
And he'd already been personally attacked.
What did I do to deserve this?
The truth was, Adrian had spent most of the night tossing and turning.
He'd barely slept.
But there was no way he was admitting that.
His assistant wisely decided to change the subject.
"By the way, Emma's dark circles are pretty bad too."
Adrian immediately sat upright.
"They are?"
Then he realized how fast he'd reacted.
He instantly leaned back again.
Of course they are.
She'd probably spent the entire night lying awake, wondering why he hadn't tried to stop her from resigning.
Obviously.
What else could she possibly be losing sleep over?
Hmph.
He wasn't going to stop her.
Absolutely not.
Besides—
She had still shown up for work today, hadn't she?
If she really wanted to leave, why would she come back?
Adrian had already convinced himself this was perfectly logical.
His assistant interrupted his thoughts.
"Have you had breakfast yet?"
Adrian frowned.
Breakfast?
That reminded him.
That woman hadn't brought him breakfast again.
Fine.
He could survive without breakfast.
But the bubble tea was another matter.
Ever since Emma stopped making it, every other bubble tea in the city tasted wrong.
"Go downstairs and get me something to eat."
His assistant nodded.
"And bring back bubble tea."
"Sure."
Adrian paused.
"Actually, get me one from every bubble tea shop in the city."
His assistant froze.
"Every single one?"
"Yes."
"There are probably fifty of them."
Adrian looked at him.
"Did I stutter?"
His assistant:
"......"
Why?
Why does my employer hate me?
If Adrian wanted the bubble tea Emma made, he could simply say so.
Instead, he'd decided to turn his personal beverage crisis into a citywide research project.
This job was going to be the death of him.
His face remained professional.
"Of course, Mr. Mercer. I'll take care of it."
His assistant left.
The office fell quiet.
Adrian sat there for a moment.
Then he stood up.
He walked toward the Venetian blinds separating his office from the secretarial area.
His hand reached out.
He hesitated.
Then he slowly pulled one of the blinds open.
Just a little.
He wasn't spying.
Obviously.
He was simply checking whether his assistant had been telling the truth.
That was all.
Emma's desk was directly opposite his office.
The moment Adrian moved the blinds—
He saw her.
She looked exhausted.
Her sleepy face was practically announcing that she'd had no business being awake.
Adrian's eyebrows lifted.
He wasn't exaggerating.
But instead of returning to his desk, Adrian stayed where he was.
And kept watching.
It was barely the beginning of the workday.
Emma turned on her computer with one hand.
With the other, she pulled out a tiny pink mirror.
She stared at her reflection for several seconds.
Then she sighed.
Apparently even Emma Carter had limits to what concealer could accomplish.
She stood up, grabbed her enormous pink one-liter water bottle, and walked over to the water dispenser.
She filled it to the top.
Then she lowered her head and wrapped her lips around the straw.
Glug. Glug. Glug.
Less than thirty seconds later, she'd already finished more than half the bottle.
Adrian stared.
"......"
Does she have a leak?
Emma filled the bottle again.
Then she carried it back toward her desk.
As she passed Mia's workstation, she suddenly stopped.
"I just discovered something."
Mia looked up.
"What?"
Adrian's attention immediately sharpened.
Unfortunately, the office glass was soundproof.
He couldn't hear them.
But Adrian had one rather unusual skill.
He could read lips.
He'd learned it years ago.
Mostly because his mother had once wanted to know what his father was saying whenever he stood far away to make private phone calls.
In other words—
His mother had been trying to catch his father cheating.
Adrian had gotten very good at reading lips after that.
And apparently, all those years of training were finally paying off.
Emma leaned toward Mia and whispered something.
Adrian focused.
"The water dispenser gives us water..."
Mia nodded.
"We drink the water..."
Another nod.
Emma looked extremely serious.
"So technically..."
She raised one finger.
"Humans are just water dispensers."
Mia:
"......"
Adrian:
"......"
Mia burst out laughing.
Adrian rolled his eyes.
What kind of scientific breakthrough was that supposed to be?
By that logic, humans were basically thermoses.
Water went in cold.
Water came out warm.
Therefore—
Humans were thermoses.
Yep.
Thermoses.
Adrian stared at Emma.
Actually...
She did kind of resemble one.
Black and white on the outside.
Pink and ridiculously cute on the inside.
Adrian blinked.
Wait.
Did I just call her cute?
He immediately shook the thought away.
What the hell am I thinking?
Emma finished sharing her groundbreaking theory and headed back to her desk.
Then, without warning, she turned around.
Her eyes landed directly on the glass wall.
Adrian's heart stopped.
His hand immediately released the blinds.
Right?
She definitely didn't see me.
He sat there for a few seconds.
Then reality finally caught up with him.
Wait.
What the hell am I doing?
He was spying on an employee.
Like some kind of creep.
No.
Absolutely not.
Adrian tugged at the silver chain around his neck.
He wasn't a creep.
He was the boss.
Checking whether an employee was slacking off was completely normal.
Completely reasonable.
He wasn't interested in Emma.
He just wanted to know whether she was working.
That's all.
Nothing more.
Definitely nothing more.
Emma was actually pretty observant.
She'd felt it.
That strange sensation of someone watching her.
When she turned around, she'd caught movement behind the glass.
It was just one of the secretaries sitting near the wall.
Emma immediately relaxed.
Of course.
Working hard doesn't guarantee anyone notices you.
But the second you take a break, someone appears.
The secretary really had been watching Emma.
She'd heard the rumors about Emma resigning.
Honestly, she still couldn't believe it.
But at the same time, she thought she understood.
Emma had finally accepted reality.
Adrian hadn't tried to stop her.
Apparently, he'd silently accepted her resignation.
It was only an intern leaving.
The company could always hire another secretary.
And once that annoying professional admirer was finally gone—
Adrian would probably be thrilled.
Back inside Adrian's office—
"Ugh!"
Adrian spat out his fiftieth sip of bubble tea.
"This is fucking terrible."
He grimaced.
"It tastes worse than bathwater."
His assistant stood nearby.
At this point, his expression had gone completely blank.
His soul had already left his body.
Unfortunately, his mouth was still working.
"You haven't actually tasted bathwater, have you?"
Adrian's head snapped toward him.
The bubble tea cup hit the floor.
Brown liquid spread across the tiles.
A few tapioca pearls rolled sadly across the carpet.
His assistant maintained a perfectly professional smile.
"I'll call housekeeping."
He turned around.
The moment his back was facing Adrian, his smile disappeared.
Why me?
Why is this my life?
Can somebody please shoot the sun out of the sky and end the workday already?
He was done.
Completely done.
"I said don't."
Adrian's voice came from behind him.
His assistant turned around.
Adrian looked at the mess on the floor.
"Housekeeping staff work hard too."
His assistant blinked.
What?
Did Mr. Mercer just show concern for the cleaning staff?
Then another thought hit him.
Wait.
Is he going to make me clean it?
Adrian frowned.
"Get the thermos in here and have it cleaned."
His assistant froze.
"...The thermos?"
Adrian froze too.
A second passed.
Then another.
His expression slowly changed.
"What thermos?"
His assistant stared at him.
"You just said—"
"I said get a secretary in here."
A beat.
"To clean the floor."
His assistant:
"......"
He stared at Adrian.
Then at the spilled bubble tea.
Then back at Adrian.
Okay.
I've officially worked here too long.
I'm hallucinating.
And somewhere deep in his exhausted mind, one horrifying thought remained:
Emma Carter was definitely doing something to his boss's brain.