Office Diaries - Chapter 98

In the deepest, darkest recess of my mind, I beckoned to him.

Away from the prying eyes of society, unbound by restrictions and inhibitions, I reached out my hand and called out to him. He, who was my Eros who visited me only at night, could only embrace me in my dreams.

My dream lover, my prince…

In the sanctuary of my chamber, I became Psyche, welcoming my only one in the warmth of my arms. With only the silence of the night as a witness, I set myself free, free to love, and be loved.

It began on that fateful day when I saw him, an unreachable star in this vast universe. I who was a mere mortal could only yearn for him from afar.

The reality was so much different, however. The lover in my dreams was in fact a cold and distant man – a loner who looked upon everyone with suspicion. He did not trust and most certainly didn’t reach out his hand. Not to me, not to anyone.

But I did love him. So even if it’s only in my mind, I would give anything just to be with him…

The door creaked open, casting illumination upon the dimly lit room. Pale, alabaster skin beaded with perspiration as the slender woman tossed in slumber, her heavy lidded eyes fluttering open as soft footsteps fell inside the chamber.

Lifting heavy lids framed with raven lashes, a silhouette of a tall man standing by the door welcomed her. Shifting on the bed, she tried to see his face, but the shadows hid her guest’s appearance well. She could only make out his form as he approached her slowly and predatorily like a patient cat before his meal.

“W-who…” the pale woman on the bed whispered her inquiry; her rosy lips parted as she spoke. But before she was able to continue, a hand snaked behind her head, and she found herself being pulled into a searing kiss.

“AAAAAAAHHHH…” coming up for air, the stranger’s lips travelled to her ears, down to her neck; his tongue trailed fire on her flushed skin while his hands ċȧrėssed the secret places of her body.

They enticed the flames to run amok, devouring her senses completely. Succumbing to the tides of passion, she opened her arms and legs, letting her phantom lover pay tribute to her body, letting herself be loved all through the night.

“Earth to Ria… Earth to Ria…”

A hand clamped on her shoulder shaking her from her reverie. “Ria Davis, hey!”

The world shook a little and yet it still took several seconds for Ria to realize she was being called. “Y-yeah?”

Dylan Ng, her friend and colleague rolled his chinky eyes heavenwards and sighed in exasperation. “Friend, I respect people who dream. But someone doing it in the middle of the day – not to say in the middle of work is another story.”

Ria smiled sheepishly and blushed. “Sorry soul mate, I didn’t realize I was already far away,” she said as she let out a small yawn.

“Oh yeah? Where did you go this time? Mars?” Dylan or Dy as she called him shook his head disapprovingly as he handed her back the folder he borrowed earlier. “As I was saying before when you were so kind enough to space out on me, Mr. Wong wanted you to change some parts of the report.”

“Why?” Ria frowned at the papers as she took and examined them. “I reviewed this file six times before I submitted this. What’s wrong with this now?” she inquired, but her question was met with a shrug.

“Beats me.” Again, Dy shrugged. “Honestly, I read that one too on my way here but I couldn’t see any error. I think the boss is just trying to bitch on you,” he continued which earned him a loud groan.

For the life of him Ria couldn’t understand why their immediate boss loved to give her a hard time. Well, Charles Wong wasn’t really a meanie but sometimes Ria felt like she was being disliked.

His immediate boss was like a woman – unpredictable and easily irritated. It’s a good thing that he’s very generous, showering her with tokens and gifts whenever she did a great job, else she’d packed it a long time ago.

Actually, Charles was the one who found her and brought her to this company. A little more than half a year ago, Ria was an honor student with a national award on advertising under her belt. Having seen her compete, Charles headhunted her. As soon as she graduated, her moody boss had snapped her up and brought her to Singapore where she was given a luxurious apartment and a car as a privilege.

Honestly, even without the perks, Ria would have gone with Charles. Why? It’s simply because the company was the best in the country. Not only was it popular in Singapore, but also internationally. This was where genius artists were employed and Ria definitely wanted to belong here.

Aside from that…

Aside from that, Ria was aware that this company was under MCA Corporation, the giant umbrella of a business enterprise owned by the Chens, and its current CEO was one of the judges in the competition she participated in.

Michael Chen, the man she was secretly in love with.

On the stage, seven months ago, Ria had been mesmerized by those pair of almond eyes who looked at the world around him with lazy interest. It was as if everything and everyone bored him.

To a mere student like her, she found this attitude of the young businessman arrogant and so she buckled up and gave everything she got in the competition which she won first prize.

It wasn’t easy however. Michael Chen, as soon as Ria showed that she wasn’t one to cower easily gave her a little bit of a hard time during the competition. She had seen how those bored almond eyes suddenly sparked with interest as the young CEO fired difficult questions at her about advertising strategies which she bȧrėly answered regardless that she was hailed as a genius.

Thus, those questions were also the reasons why she won, having showcased how well she knew about the field. Having answered the questions correctly and defiantly, the stoic Michael Chen showed something that she’d never seen before.

He smiled.

That night, Ria won the competition and Michael Chen won her heart.

A knock on the door to his office brought her back to the present and she found Charles Wong by her door carrying a ridiculously girly bouquet of red roses.

“What’s that?” she asked dumbly as she and Dylan stared at their boss who rolled his eyes heavenwards.

“Bribe,” he answered unabashedly as he crossed the room and unceremoniously handed her the bouquet. “This means you have to make sure to get that contract with Aqua signed.”

Aqua was a company selling water sports equipment and she was the one ȧssigned to pitch an ad campaign for them.

��Ehrm…thanks?” her brows furrowed as she took the bunch of roses in her arms and turned to look for a vase. She couldn’t find anything though except for the huge vase with plastic plants and quickly walked towards it.

Dylan had engaged their boss in a chat so they weren’t able to notice what she was doing until she had already pulled the plastic plant from the container.

“No!” Charles cried but it was already too late.

As Ria turned around to face their boss with a questioning look, a small round-like object rolled from the plastic plants and fell soundlessly on the thick-carpeted floor. It was so small that she wouldn’t have noticed it if Dylan hadn’t pointed at it.

“What’s that?” Dylan asked and Ria turned to pick it up and examined it, taking note of its small buŧŧon lens and microcircuit.

Eh?

A camera?

“Isn’t this a camera?” he asked dumbfounded at his find and Charles quickly stepped in and snatched it away from his hand.

“That’s a camera right?” Dylan asked and Charles frowned.

“No, it’s a huge ball of snot – of course, it’s a camera!” the boss snapped as he placed the small buŧŧon video recorder inside his pocket.

“What’s it doing there?” Dylan continued, ignoring the snide remarks.

“Are you spying on me?” Ria couldn’t believe it. She’d been sitting on her table clearly visible from anyone who’s watching the camera’s broadcast in all six months she’d been working there.

“Why do you feel indignant? What do you expect? This is a large corporation. Of course, there will be surveillance cameras all over the place. Michael Chen doesn’t trust anyone in business and otherwise.”

Oh. How could she have forgotten? Aside from a workplace with no calendars, their company was famous for one more thing: The boss was a suspicious person who didn’t let anyone close.