Date The CEO.com

"Do you ever miss them?"

Silence.

Eve's question was followed by silence. She bit her bottom lip, rethinking her idea. The sunlight from the window warmed her face. She felt beads of sweat form on her scalp. The bed tipped under her as Andie shuffled from the other side of the curtain. 

Did she… ask too much? 

"You know what… I overthought the question." Eve chuckled as her brown eyes misted. Tight strings squeezed her chest. Secretary Eve may not have the right to ask her Boss Ambryan about his personal life… but Model Evangeline didn't have an All-access ticket either. 

And she got carried away. She overstepped her boundaries. She should step back before she'd lose the access ticket she did get. If Ambryan ever decided to share it, he would in due time—without her even asking.

If she had a necklace on, she'd play with the pendant right about now.

"Really now?" Ambryan questioned, unaware of her emotional conflict. 

"Yeah, I mean… Do you miss Richard? I think you'd want to say no but won't because you're a nice friend," Eve teased. She put her thoughts behind. There wasn't a need to be deeply close. What they had so far was enough. 

In fact, it wouldn't be good since they would part ways in nine months.

Eight months if she counted right.

"Sometimes I wonder what your image of me looks like."

A genuine smile spread across her face. She wondered if people would ever know how funny the Coldest Man on Earth could be. Borrowing Madison's description, she said, "A hotshot CEO who works 99% of time."

"What about the 1%?"

"The time you spend with your cat."

"I see."

"Anyway, are we done? Beatrice and I have some plans." Eve suddenly threw into the conversation. She cleared her throat, keeping the mood light. "Of course, it can't top skating through a retro roller skating rink. Maybe I should buy a pair of roller blades and skate around the house."

Of course, she added a bit of shameless hint on what present he should pick. It was something she'd buy! That meant it was something she wanted! Eve truly hoped he got into his head. If he pieced the idea together before, he should take this as a sign that it was the right decision.

"And risk injury? Tell me, are you 10 years old?" Ambryan countered. 

Eve gritted her teeth and groaned. She got his point but… come on! To ask if she was 10 years old? Obviously, an adult like her could totally get away with skating inside the house and avoiding injury at the same time. She had the awareness to keep that in mind.

After all, reaching 25 years old was more than just physically changing. 

"Fine, fine, Mr. Killjoy. I won't skate inside the house…" Eve sighed, biting her inner cheek. She could almost feel his disapproving eyes on her. A cheeky grin blossomed on her lips. "I would just skate on an uneven pavement!"

"Evangeline."

"Just kidding. Have a good day!"

Eve heard the dial tone as she pushed the end button. Her shoulders dropped. A fog shielded her vision. How could she slip like that? It was a good thing that she caught herself right away. This interest had to stop growing. It would only lead to more scars. 

At that moment, she also arrived at an epiphany. She came to the realization that this… this arrangement, in whatever the future held, good or bad, would leave some damage. 

The deeper they dived in, the deeper the wounds would be—and possibly even become incurable. The best thing she could do was minimize it.

The curtain slid off her back as Andie moved to her side. "Hey, you okay?"

"Yeah… I guess I became too comfortable with being 'the girlfriend'," Eve air-quoted. She was highly curious by nature. He had answered most of her questions since they met. Her blabbermouth just kept going.

Andie wrapped an arm around her best friend, hugging the latter's shoulders. 

"Well, from what I can tell. The two of you talked naturally. It was bound to happen. I know you'd, at least, want to be his friend throughout this romantic adventure and it's hard because you can't be 100% honest," she offered as her insights. She tried her best to pick up Ambryan's voice but only managed to do so for a few parts. "So you have to be fair by not asking him questions you wouldn't answer if he asked you."

Eve closed her eyes and hung her head. "I know. I just forgot."

Andie chuckled, enjoying the obvious misery. Then, she changed the topic. "By the way, real smooth on clueing him about the roller blades."

"Why thank you."

"Although, you basically just gave him reasons not to give you skates." She clutched her stomach and laughed. She had made a face when she heard that sentence. It was a good attempt but it wasn't doing Eve any favor. 

She found it cute at how much her best friend wanted those skates. It had only been a day but Eve seized another chance to advertise them.

Eve blinked her eyes open and scrunched her nose. "Damn. I did." 

"Come on, let's get brunch." Andie stood up and pushed the curtain out of her path. She jumped off the bed, winking over her shoulder. "Nothing is a better mood booster than food."

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"Should we get lemon or green apple?" 

An hour later, Andie and Eve found themselves inside a grocery store. White lights, white walls, white shelves and white tiles flooded their vision. Thankfully, not a lot of people filled the area. They managed to navigate the place without running into other customers. Their route covered all aisles so they wouldn't miss out on anything.

Eve pushed the cart while Andie stocked up their food supplies. They both exposed their legs. Eve wore denim jumper shorts and white shirt, choosing white sneakers for footwear. Andie also chose a denim outfit but opted for a sleeveless onesie and tan sandals. 

Four wheels rattled as it rolled on the floor.

Every now and then, the cart would change directions and Eve would pull it back into a straight line. When it happened for the 5th they arrived, she said, "I think our push cart is gay. Can push carts have gender?"

A stock clerk glanced at her.

Eve grabbed a random sponge off a shelf, comparing the prices of different brands. Her neck grew hot from embarrassment. She hadn't noticed he was there when she turned around the corner. Since the push cart always swerved right, it took her some time to turn left.

Andie saw the exchange and chuckled. She put the green bottle back, choosing the lemon scent for their dishwashing liquid. "I think it can be whatever it wants to be. Do you want that one?"

Her index finger pointed towards the sponge.

"Nah, I think we still have some left." Eve placed it back on the shelf and proceeded to roll out of the aisle. She didn't dare look at the stock clerk while he sat on a stool—a box of new dishwashing paste open beside him.

Andie shook her head, trailing behind. 

She watched as the cart went right and Eve pulled it back into place. Her best friend's hands let the handlebar go and moved them to the sides, using arm strength to keep the cart from bumping into the shelves. They barely covered half of the store. 

But, it didn't take long to reach their favorite aisle, 'Chocolate and Candies'.

Andie raided the chocolate shelf. They had empty jars to fill with candy coated chocolate. They would separate them by color so they could line them up like a rainbow. It was her idea as a 'celebration' for Eve's debut as a model. 

It would also look cute on the living room's coffee table.

She checked the expiration dates just to be sure. 

Eve walked at a leisure pace. Those button-shaped chocolates should last them months—if Ede and Eri wouldn't empty them in a matter of hours. They should find a way to keep the jars sealed so they won't need to keep an eye on the twins all the time.

Her brown eyes landed on the candies. 

Their shelves had more color than the chocolate ones. It had packs and boxes of mints, lollipops, marshmallows, chewables and more. Eve pushed the cart along then, her sight beheld an array of sour candies. Boxes of them stacked over a shelf. 

One type caught her attention particularly. 

Before she knew it, her hand picked up a box.

The design had two main colors, violet on the left and pink on the right. It split in the middle perfectly. Rocky shapes popped out of the background. Tiny cartoon blobs randomly posed all over the carton. They each had two feet and a large nose. 

Their silly expressions easily captured the interests of kids.

Then, their delighted faces would scrunch up from the sourness—completely fooled by the innocent-looking cartoons. Nothing about the candy brought them happiness. 

Eve chuckled as she read the bold white letters.

'NERDS'