My Boss Is Secretly A Softie - Chapter 50

Chapter 50: Ms. Therapist
“Therapy?” John responded after a pause, frowning at Elara. The lady suddenly brought this up during breakfast, which left him wondering where she had even gotten the idea.

He shook his head, “I was having that. And then I came here.”

Elara hummed thoughtfully, “So, how was it going?”

“Terrible.” He crossed his arms. “You kept haunting my dreams still. What a witch.”

“…” You just had to jam that one in, eh?

She laughed sarcastically, “Should have gone to the church then.”

He rolled his eyes. Scooping a large portion of the green-colored jelly, he smeared it onto the square-shaped toast before biting into it.

“I will go and book it today,” he shrugged.

Elara grinned wildly, leaving him frowning.

“What did you—?”

“Congrats! I already did it for you,” she interrupted with a smirk.

“So, whether I had agreed or not, you’d still have found a way to shove me there, huh?”

She merely giggled with sparkling eyes. He sighed, what a nuisance.

***

“I don’t think we can eat like this,” Elara muttered awkwardly. She was wrapped up in Terrance embrace, and was being coaxed by him to spoonfeed him. Unable to resist, she accepted after a bit of reluctance.

They ended up changing positions, with her sitting sideways, making it easier to eat while feeding the giant baby.

“You’re really good, Angel. This tastes delicious,” she moaned happily, kicking her feet like a child.

Terrence hummed while chewing lightly; from his point of view, the lady’s figure was in full sight, and his eyes had never been more blessed.

“Your food is the best to me. Even better than mine.”

She shook her head. “To me, it’s yours, but we can agree to disagree.”

“Nope. Yours is better. This is a fact, not an opinion.”

Elara: (￣▽￣;)

“Whatever~. Before this wonderful food finishes, I want to take a picture.”

She fished out her phone and took a few aesthetically pleasing ones. While browsing her gallery to review them, her hand accidentally clicked on something it shouldn’t have.

On the screen was a picture of her sitting in bed with her hair down and a lamb plushie beside her. She wore only a body-hug shirt and white panties. Her tongue was stuck out playfully, along with her middle finger, and beneath the image was the text: F*** you, Terra. This should be enough, right?

Before the person behind could react, she swiped past the image instantly, having decided to pretend like nothing had happened— unfortunately, Terrence was sharp enough to have accurately captured all the details.

“Eek!” she squeaked, cornered on the floor by his stony gaze.

“Angel, it’s a game! It’s a game!” she stammered.

“Really?” he squinted doubtfully.

Elara groaned. “I’m sorry! It was either this or she would interfere with John. It’s a normal thing between friends, I swear!”

“What if she jerks off to it?” he asked bluntly.

She froze, rendered speechless. Could he not…? But actually, he was making a valid point. Terra was freaky enough to do something like that.

“She wouldn’t!” Elara insisted. Even if she did, she wouldn’t mind… Damn, she was beginning to understand what her angel meant when he complained that her boundaries with Terra were too weak.

Terrence pouted. “Not enough.”

“But…”

“I’m still mad. Why would you even—?!”

“Fine! I’m sorry! I won’t do it again, so please have mercy.”

They ended up in a brief staring contest until her guilt overpowered her and she finally gave in.

She blinked helplessly. “So, what do you want from me?”

He smirked. “At the anniversary? Meet me at XXX, sneakily. Hm?”

“… Why is that a request?” she asked uneasily, suspicious of his tone. If it was just coming to see him, that wouldn’t be an issue. But the fact it came as a special request felt suspicious.

“You’ll see.”

Sadly, she never got her answers.

***

When Elara returned, she found John sitting with a blonde-haired lady discussing while having tea.

“My therapist, Ms. Florence,” he introduced as soon as his gaze met hers.

The blonde beauty with warm eyes greeted her, a subtle accent slipping into her words, “Hello, Ms. Elara.”

Elara blinked, “… British?”

Florence chuckled, “What gave it away?”

Elara smiled nervously, “The… tea?”

A peal of laughter escaped Ms. Florence, which she failed to hold back, leaving her in tears at its boisterous energy.

Elara blushed lightly while avoiding a certain male’s gaze, “Give me a couple of minutes, please.”

She quickly slipped out of her work clothes and into something more comfortable before returning.

“I heard lots about you from John,” Florence said gently.

Elara grimaced. “Yeah, I was a witch. Probably still am.”

“Oh no,” Florence corrected immediately. “You made mistakes, Elara. It’s not about what you did; it’s about accepting those mistakes and moving on.”

“Oh, I…” Elara hesitated.

“Which leads me to my question,” Florence continued. “Elara, have you made peace with your past?”

Elara froze. Her lips trembled, but no words came out. She hadn’t. Instead, she had done something better— she killed it. She killed her past. Killed Elara. There was no need to make peace with something so vile.

“Of course, I was a real shitty person,” she muttered bitterly. “So if I didn’t, how would I even be here now? What exactly did you say about me, John?”

The man avoided her gaze.

“The truth,” he replied flatly.

…. That wasn’t reassuring at all.

Florence interjected, “Oh, don’t mind him. He didn’t say anything terrible. He just wanted to make sure you weren’t still torturing yourself over past mistakes. I guess he’s trying to convey that he’s forgiven you but doesn’t know how to say it.”

Elara’s eyes widened before softening. A tiny, indescribable joy filled her chest. She looked toward John, who still kept up his tough pretense, and without thinking, she hugged him.

His expression cracked.

“Thank you,” she whispered. “I don’t deserve your forgiveness, ever. But… I wish we had met on better terms.”

He shrugged. “At least we met. I paid a heavy price, but I’d still prefer meeting you all over again.”

Tears rolled down her cheeks as she hugged him tightly, silently weeping. Terrible… the fact that she had hurt someone so kindhearted had never hit her as hard as it did now. How would she ever make it up to him?

***

They talked for a while about a lot of things and Elara couldn’t be more satisfied with her choice. She was sweet and spoke with a melodious voice that reminded her of those ASMR voices, except, more authentic.

And she had a natural calming aura to her— she was perfect. The fact she hadn’t noticed this genuinely baffled her; she wasn’t that dense, and so she asked.

“Hmm,” Florence pondered, “People do say my work attitude is usually different from my regular attitude. It’s even cost me a few dates haha.”

“Oh! I’m so sorry!” Elara exclaimed.

“No. No. It’s nothing! The worst leave for the best; if they can’t handle my regular side, how can they even tolerate me? It’s not like can keep up the work attitude 24/7!”

“Yes!” Elara hipped, “You’re gonna make me a fan like this!”

“Is that so!”

Watching the two ladies bond so easily, John was left staring blankly in the background. Was it a thing for women to easily bond, or did the two just have insane charisma?

“Anyways, thank you for the tea and company; the queen will learn of this generosity and shall reward you for it immensely,” Florence teased as she prepared to leave.

“Oh, I’d be so looking forward to that invitation,” Elara giggled before hooking her arms around John’s shoulders, who glared at her, “Along with my friend here.”

Her grasp was escaped, and she stared at the male in betrayal, who rolled his eyes at the dramatic nature of it all.

Florence wiggled her finger, “Now John, don’t be too rude to her, okay?”

He scoffed, great, now everyone was on her side. His eyes met the lady beside him, who winked dubiously as if having read his thought and was gloating at her achievements.

“Okay.”

“Good! Bye, you guys!”

And with that, she was gone.

After she left, silence lingered until Elara broke it, “Did you tell her everything?”

John shook his head. “Partly. But at least she knows how much of a witch you were.”

“Ah, fair enough.”

Quiet returned until it was broken again. “I could never apologize enough for what I did.”

“True,” John admitted, “yet I still forgive you.”

“Gosh, I deserve to go to hell,” she muttered, ashamed.

John laughed, leaving her even more surprised. He looked so good when he laughed, but she quickly shook the thought away. “I don’t need much,” he said. “Just your sincerity and I can see it as clear as day.”

She muttered a soft “thank you.”

Then he shocked her further. “Friends?” he asked, extending his hand.

Elara’s jaw slackened as she stared at him incredulously.

“Yeah?” he prompted.

“Yes! Let’s be true friends this time.”

Elara swore to herself. Never again would she play the villain at the expense of an innocent person. Never again.