My Boss Is Secretly A Softie - Chapter 62

Chapter 62: The CEO, Mr Terrence?!
A large bench stretched across the grassy floors. A cold, empty sea-saw, slide and a desolate environment emulating the gloominess of the grumbling sky.

Beside an equally empty swing sat a listless female with a blank gaze, swaying along lightly while consuming a lemon-colored popsicle.

She looked up towards the sky with a sigh. “You’d think it’s nighttime,” she mumbled while glancing at her left wrist, which had on it a silver watch, “But it’s just midnoon.”

[Pop!]

Forcefully tearing the cold square out of her mouth she puffed up her cheeks playfully.

She sighed again. Why, despite being where she wanted, nothing has changed?

She remained lonely. She was the most seen yet the most invisible person at the same time and why was her life so melancholy at 16?

“The movies lied. Anime lied. Even the stories lied. Which friends? Which fun high school life? I can’t wait to ditch this hell.”

“Elara!” a sharp voice cut off her rumination.

Her dull eyes glanced towards the direction of the voice and her features visibly morphed to that of annoyance. There it was, probably one of her former ‘lovers’.

“Elara…” she whispered, visibly distressed.

She observed the girl. Short black hair and soft ocean blue eyes that curved around its edges casting a pleading appearance.

Elara thought it was funny. There was this thing called a resting bitch face. Then what was this? A resting puppy face? She couldn’t tell and she couldn’t care less.

“Why?” the girl called out again, she had closed in, close enough to lean on the frames of the swing and stare at her like a bullied pup.

“What?”

The pup-like girl stared at her with wide eyes and then showed a line of messages on her phone.

On it was written: “We’re done.”

Hmm. Oddly enough she still wasn’t sure who this person was. Wait…? Oh?

“Gregory? The one with a boy’s name?” Elara recollected.

Gregory’s eyes shimmered like bright jewels, truly, she was a pup in human skin.

“Yes! I—”

“We’re done.” she blurted out, “So why the fuck are you here?”

Gregory’s excitement hung in her face making her look extremely funny. Not bothering to hold herself back, Elara laughed heartily, “Oh my God, you look like an idiot!”

“Ela!” the short-haired pup stomped her legs in disapproval.

Elara glanced at her darkly. “Never call me that again,” she whispered coldly, the silent environment driving home her message loud and clear.

“You’ve lost that privilege.”

“But—!” Gregory persisted with a desperate look, “What did I do? I still like you. I never tried to touch or do anything without permission— I respected your sexuality! All I wanted was your company. I—”

“Ah shit,” Elara cut her off, rolling her eyes while playing with the popsicle “I can’t with this stupid lie. Every. Single. Time. Company? You sure about that?”

Gregory was left stunned, and before she could reply, she was cut off, “You just wanted my image, not my company. And as for why?”

She paused, overlooking the tensed female with a fleeting smirk, “I just felt like it. Also, I got a new toy.”

***

[Present]

She had suddenly remembered that memory. The puppy-like girl ran out in tears after leaving her with a little something that had her cheeks swollen for days.

However, she didn’t say anything because that was the agreement. Anyone who broke it was to pay a hefty price… Or at least she said.

The truth was that she couldn’t care less. Her own ‘friends’ spread rumors about her so why would she care about a few has-beens? The more she thought about it the clearer it was.

Being the queen bee meant being the most hated and loved at the same time. At least for her, everyone wanted to be or be with the queen bee, but no one wanted to be with Elara.

Elara was a shitty person. People in the in knew, everyone who actually interacted with her and not her image knew and god did people not give a shit about how trashy you are as long as they could get something from you.

It was give and take throughout and someone they still made her out to be the bad person just because she was a bit rough? Tough luck.

“Damn, do people with short black hair and blue eyes have a thing for slapping bitchy people? I knew something was wrong when I had a grudge from the first moment I met Bluie.”

Her mouth was moving but no words were coming out. One would think she was reciting some mantra, and that was the situation Anne met Elara when she dropped by ‘The Beanery’ for some midnight coffee.

[A/N: I’ll call her Anne from now on.]

Needless to say, Elara was very startled when an auburn-haired woman with sharp blue eyes slammed her hands on her table with an excited look. Damn, what was it with her and blue-eyed folks? Weren’t they supposed to be rare? Somehow, they were actively seeking her out, and she couldn’t help but worry.

“Elara!!” the woman exclaimed.

“Ye—”

“Elara is that you?!”

“….” Will this woman let her speak or should she just walk away from this madness?

She groaned internally. Whatever, she had already called that rich nuisance to come to this location so she’d just had to endure.

“You are….?” she questioned with unease.

Anne was shocked. Since she was free today she had decided to survey Elara’s place one last time and had finally given up— at least on searching in her place.

So she decided to have a quick rest at the popular café, which had people singing its praises all day long on the internet and even in reality.

She had been waiting for her coffee when she noticed people occasionally glancing towards a certain area, and looking there, she was stunned.

Space buns with smokey makeup which simultaneously embodied elegance and exoticness. Brilliant lemon outfit with a style that made her stick out like a sore thumb— but not negatively. Because, just like her makeup, it was flashy yet beautiful.

She popped a bubble gum nonchalantly; rather than ignoring, she seemed more like she was used to the stares. Like the spotlight was a long-time friend of hers that she had mastered.

Yes, she was beautiful. But describing her as beautiful seemed quite lacking. She was… imposing.

This was Elara? Mrs. Anne was shocked. Was this truly Elara?!

It wasn’t that she wasn’t pretty— Elara had always been easy on the eyes. But she had more of a quiet but persistent temperament. Almost like she wished to blend in but not enough to completely disappear.

She was the type of beauty you’d have to look twice to recognize. The first look was to register her presence, and the second would be to admire the hidden elegance within it.

A perfect match with her personality— calm but enduring.

She hastily shuffled towards the lady. Maybe this wasn’t Elara. Maybe this was her twin or cousin or family member… But then her words dried up as soon as she was met face-to-face with the woman.

Clear round eyes, petite red lips, and her signature plump cheeks that never thinned opposing her full bloomed stature that hastened her maturity.

Her jaw dropped. “Elara?!”

The woman stared at her wearily. Her eyes were filled with suspicion, and her gait was sharp enough for even the most clueless person to recognize how tense she was.

Mrs. Anne hesitated, but then she spoke, and all doubts were blown away.

“You are…?”

… what?

She stared at her even harder to detect any traces of lies within her eyes but the lady seemed genuinely confused. She glanced at her surroundings; woah, a lot of eyes were on them.

They’d soon start suspecting her. She better make this quick or at least take it elsewhere.

Either way, she glanced at the lady with a raised brow; what’s up with her?!

“Elara, if this is an elaborate joke, please stop it right now,” she snapped, stunning the woman whose face morphed into that of impatience.

Her eyes hung low, and she tapped her fingers on the table before leaning in. “I have amnesia, so no it’s not a joke. I don’t joke with strangers ma’am.”

Her words were sharp, straight to the point, and without a single hesitation. She leaned even further before whispering, “I’d love to do this now but I… Oh, he’s here.”

Elara looked up, and Anne followed after her gaze to the customer who walked into the cafe, robbing Elara of all the attention.

His face was covered by a bucket hat with a wide brim, and he wore a face mask. Virtually nothing could be made out of his sealed-off face, but his build couldn’t be more alluring.

Anne felt her face flush up, holy shit, were the heavens finally rewarding her for all her sufferings (not like she was sure on the exact one)?

She came for coffee but was blessed with both coffee and top-notch eye candies! (Although one of them was someone she had seen enough but still

—new style, new look!)

Good-looking people sure had a way of pumping up those dopamines even more than social media!

She was too busy drooling over the male and by the time she realized he was, in fact, making his way to their table, it was too late. He was already seated beside Elara, scooting close enough to have their bodies practically glued to each other.

What’s this? Two beauties right before her eyes? Indeed, the heavens were truly rewarding— wait! This wasn’t why she was here?!

She coughed lightly, garnering the attention of the duo, who were busy messing with each other. Elara looked towards her with an annoyed look, triggered by the newcomer while the newcomer stared at her as if in contemplation.

Before she could say a second word, the male spoke, “…. Mrs. Anne Ronerto?”

She flinched. Her body strung up like a tightly wrung string and her gait became serious. But then she deflated. A person whose voice was more than enough to leave her this troubled….

The newcomer pulled open his mask lightly to reveal a pair of bright red lips. His hat hung up slightly, revealing unflinching gray eyes and a few strands of blonde hair.

“Why are you here?”

She became dumb. Her nervous system crashed, and for a brief second, she experienced what it meant for a person’s heart to explode.

This… This…. The CEO, Mr. Terrence?!