My Boss Is Secretly A Softie - Chapter 70

Chapter 70: Elara Complex
“Anyone want some spicy wings? I wanna order some with beer!” Terra called out, walking into the living room with excitement.

“Yeah, sure,” Star replied casually with a nonchalant wave.

“That’ll be nice…” John murmured, his eyes never leaving his phone.

Terra sighed out loud, a thought had suddenly occurred to her.

“Why do I feel like I’m the only one worried about Elara?”

“What do you mean?” Star gave her a pointed look.

“No offense, but…” she gestured toward their countenance, “y’all seem too chill.”

“Erm…” John interjected, “I’ve been bombing her socials, the ones I could, but that felt stalkish, and she couldn’t be bothered to reply. So now all I do is manage to wring out answers from Terrence daily on how she is—which has proved to be severely difficult, by the way.”

Terra blinked. “Eh?”

“And I…” Star began strong, almost as if to brag, “have been bombing Terrence with calls, and when he didn’t answer, I used other means to force him to. So, I’m well updated on Elara!”

“…”

So, she was the only one in the dark?! Wait, weren’t they supposed to allow her to cool off first? Technically, all they did was check up on her…

Star sneered, “You didn’t think we’d leave a teen all to herself with a grown-up, not-so-trustworthy male just because she was a bit unruly? Fuck no!”

“I even made sure to war–advise Terrence to steer clear—I mean, be careful with her…” John added.

“Me too!”

“Don’t tell me…” John glanced toward her with a mocking smile. “You didn’t keep tabs?”

Watching the two assholes gloating as she flushed up in real-time, Terra gritted her teeth.

“Well, I’m not a stalker like you guys! I… I decided to give her some space and—”

“So…” John cut her off mercilessly, “you didn’t?”

“…”

“Heh!”

“Fuck you!”

Watching the peach-haired lady stomp toward her room in anger, Star spoke, “Wait, the wings…”

“Choke on ’em in your goddamn imagination or buy them on your own!”

“…But you already ordered it…”

“ALL FOR MYSELF!”

[BAM!]

The door to her room was slammed shut, and the two were left flabbergasted. Did they do too much?

But, for once, they managed to outdo Terra—who most definitely had an Elara complex—in something related to Elara. How could they not gloat? Eh, she’d come around later.

“On another note, it’s already been three days, so when…” John began but was cut off by the sound of the door being opened. They looked over and right before them stood Elara with an embarrassed look.

She had been too nervous to knock so she simply let herself in with her key.

“…”

“…”

“…Hi?”

IT REALLY WAS ELARA?!

***

Facing them was a refreshingly dressed lady in ankle-length jeans and canvas shoes, a crop top, and long braids that cascaded onto her back. A black beret topped it all off. She looked toward them with beseeching eyes.

They were left stunned until she spoke.

“Hi?”

HI? HI?! THAT WAS IT?!

“YOU!”

“Star, calm down,” John held the lady back, but she shrugged him off.

Before he could persist strongly, Elara fell to her knees right in front of Star with her hand out, declaring:

“I’m sorry!” She closed her eyes tightly as if scared to see Star’s reaction. “This is the cheque for everything I destroyed! Terry gave it to me, but I’ll be sure to pay back later and… and…”

Her words were cut short when Star slapped away the chequered, effortlessly lifted her up, and pulled her into a warm embrace.

“You idio—”

[Ding dong!]

“OH~. IS THAT MY SPICY CHICKEN WI—”

Terra ran out jollyly, only to come face-to-face with the scene. John gazed at her with a sarcastic look, but she completely ignored him, all eyes trained on Elara.

“Ela… is that you?”

Elara wanted to slip out of Star’s hold but was held harder, leaving her giggling helplessly into the lady’s chest. She raised her two fingers and made a nodding expression, leaving Terra blown off.

“Elara!!”

“Nope, go get your stupid chicken wings!” Star dodged the speeding flash of pink that approached them.

“Hey!”

John watched for a minute as the two fought for the poor teen who held onto Star for dear life and couldn’t with the ridiculousness of it all.

He went to the door to collect the chicken wings, thanked the poor lady—who looked like she would have cursed their entire household if he had been a second later—and walked in.

They were still fighting. This time, Star held onto a terrified Elara in a princess carry, and they ran around the large living room while Terra chased them like a mad dog.

What the fuck?

“Guys…”

He called out but was ignored. After trying two more times to no avail, he gave up, sat down on the sofa, and brought out the package.

He drooled, but just as he was about to put the first one into his mouth, a harsh grab brought him back to reality.

Flinching, his face turning deathly pale as he creaked his head back mechanically. There stood a fuming Terra, staring at him with a demonic grin.

“WHAT. ARE. YOU. DOING?”

[PLOP!]

He plopped the one in his hand into his mouth, ducked down, swiftly crawled away from his position, and dashed behind Star.

“What are you—?”

“Ela, please save me!”

Ela:…..

Terra and Star: How shameless!

“Eh?? Okay! Stop, please stop!” Elara scrambled anxiously, despite being tightly bound by Star’s grasp around her waist.

Terra, who was about to descend on John like a speeding truck, stopped in her tracks and then blushed.

“I kinda… missed you commanding me like this,” she flushed harder, “okay~. Whatever you say, baby~.”

Star and John stared at her with such visible disgust that Elara had to swallow back her laughter to avoid any trouble.

“Erm… Can you… Star…?”

They had finally settled down, albeit in their own odd manner.

Elara coughed. “Star, please…”

Her request was granted, but then Terra grabbed onto her, squeezing her until her breath of life was nearly stolen. John came next, though his hug was brief, which Elara couldn’t be more grateful for.

She was finally let go, and she couldn’t help feeling weirded out by the three who stared at her with stars for eyes. This… weren’t they too willing to see her, even after what she had done?

“This… I came to apologize. Will you listen?”

Star smiled with doting eyes. In her eyes, teen Elara was like a little pup who had finally wandered back home with droopy eyes and a tail after being a bit unruly. She was so cute, and her heart melted… she really couldn’t be angry for long at this little imp.

Did she know this and smartly disappeared for three days for a more successful plea…?

Star observed her with brief suspicion before brushing it off. Good and fine. If it was Elara, then she’d willingly play along.

She patted the scruffy braids. “Sure, why not? Right, guys?”

Funnily enough, everyone here was an Elara stan and had deathly missed her, so their allegiance was already guaranteed.

Elara smiled cheerfully, melting their hearts. “Thank you!”

***

After that, they settled down with Terra heartlessly eating her chicken wings alone as they all listened to what Elara had to say.

The summary of everything was that she was very sorry for her misbehavior, promised not to do anything like that ever again, and would cooperate more in the idea of regaining her memories—starting from looking through her belongings.

They listened to her so calmly and without a single interruption or objection that Elara was left worried. There wasn’t anything wrong with what she said, right?

Terra was the first to reply. She smiled at her sweetly, putting down her fork to grab onto her palm, kindly caressing it.

“Baby, you could burn me, and I’d still stroll back to you without care! I love you that much!”

Her eyes glinted as she placed Elara’s hands on her chest with a flirty grin. “I’m all yours~.”

“Too freaky. You’re scaring the poor girl,” Star slapped her head, earning a sharp glare.

“I still mean what I said, Ela. You have no idea how twisted our relationship was~. This is nothing, hehe~.”

Star rolled her eyes while John’s mind was gnawed by curiosity.

Elara wasn’t any better. She felt odd. Didn’t her adult self change? Unless it was a different type of freaky… Had she been two-timing?!

“I don’t know what you’re thinking,” Star cut off her thoughts, “but it’s nothing like that. You guys were just a bit odd with your relationship, which you stopped after getting together with Terrence. That’s why she doesn’t like him…”

“Nope!” Terra interjected. “That’s 5% why! The other 95% is something else.”

John was even more curious but had to hold back.

He faced Elara. “I’m here if you need anything, okay? You’ve done worse. This is nothing.”

Looking at the passive-aggressive smile, Elara felt a layer of sweat slide down her forehead. Was her adult self really okay? She was beginning to doubt she was.

Star coughed. “As for me, all I need is your answer to something. I’ve already forgiven you. In case you haven’t noticed, we all like you too much to care.”

She did notice, and it left her a bit flustered. From the odd Terra to the mature John and the big-sister-type Star—even to her near-stalker boyfriend… Never mind, they were all semi-stalkers.

Regardless, they all seemed to love her so much. No wonder her usually paranoid mother and overprotective father managed to accept their proposal of staying together.

But why did they love her so much?

“I don’t know. Everything about you was so mysterious and intriguing, and then I got closer and fell head over heels… platonically.”

Terra’s reply made her realize she had said that out loud. She flushed. “And you guys…?”

“You manipulated me and ruined my life, but I had no one else but you, so here I am.”

“…”

“…”

Wtf did she do to this poor guy?

“Erm…” Star broke in awkwardly, “You were so fun and cool we just clicked, and from there, we got tightly knit. So yeah.”

Elara smiled cutely. Finally, a normal answer!

“Anyways,” Star continued, “can I ask my question now?”

“Ah…” Elara’s eyes caught Terra slapping away John’s hand as he tried to steal one of her wings, and she stifled a chuckle. “YES, PLEASE!”

Star smiled, her gaze softening as she leaned forward slightly. “Why did you do it?”

The lighthearted atmosphere dimmed slightly at her words, and the room seemed to grow quieter.

Elara gulped nervously. So it was finally that time.