The entire day, all staff members of the office kept chatting and then left at five a.m. sharp. Sienna did try to be pleasant to them, but none of them seemed interested.

They were simply following her father’s orders, without understanding that now the company belonged to her.

One of the employees had the gall to come to her and praise her curves, "A beauty like you deserves to be in the porn industry."

Sitting in the empty office, she felt numb.

How will I convince them to work under me without disrespecting me?

After a brief knock, when she looked up, Lina was standing there with concern written all over her face, "I’m so sorry, honey. My client was creating a fuss, and I needed to go to him."

Her friend pulled a chair for herself, "Hey, Sia. You will ace it... I trust you and I..."

"No, Lina..." Sienna cut in, "I can’t do it. I deserve to be in the porn industry."

Lina seemed dumbstruck for a moment, "Don’t say like that!"

Sienna tossed the file she was holding and got to her feet, "I did it to annoy my father... no... wait," She raised her index finger, "I didn’t do it to annoy him but to punish him. Maybe I went too far."

She started wearing her jacket and then picked up a few files.

Lina slowly got up and pinched the bridge of her nose, "Why are you taking those? Are you planning to bury yourself in files all weekend?"

"I don’t know!" Sia’s chuckle lacked humour, "I need to study them. I know nothing about this..." She gestured around her, "I don’t have any idea how this works."

Lina threw her arm around her, "Come on. I’ll give you a ride."

Sienna didn’t argue. At this moment, she was too exhausted to do it.

"Won’t you come inside?" she asked Lina, who was busy watching her house in awe.

"This is... Wow!" Lina huffed a short laugh, "This is where you live? How much is the rent?" She slapped the steering wheel, "Man! I so wanted to rent one of these, but they were out of my budget."

"Yeah..." Sia said absentmindedly. Her mind was still occupied with the office issues.

"Hey. Didn’t you say Hunter was jobless?" She turned in her seat to face Sia, who was pressing her forehead with her thumb.

"The house belongs to his friend, Li," She then glanced at Lina’s face, who hadn’t closed her mouth yet, her eyes were still fixed on the house.

Sia felt guilty for expecting her friend to be there in the office for her when she herself was a struggling photographer.

"Listen, Li. I ..." She trailed off when Lina’s mouth got wider.

"Hey. How does Hunter manage to see through these dark shades at night?" With a frown, Sienna looked over her shoulder and found Hunter coming out of the house.

"Damn. He’s handsome. If you decide to divorce him, then promise me you’ll let me know first."

At last, a small smile formed on Sia’s lips, and she hit the file on Lina’s shoulder.

"Hey!" Lina rubbed the spot, but was happy that at least she was smiling.

"Bye, Li," Sia opened the passenger door and dumped her files on Hunter, "Can you please keep them in my room? I need to study them."

Instead of driving away, Lina stood there watching her friend walk to the house while her husband followed her inside.

She swore she caught a glimpse of a smile on Hunter’s face.

Uh? What’s going on here?

***

"Coffee?" Sienna startled when Hunter appeared before her. She was in the living room, too busy reading the files.

"You are still awake!" She remarked, avoiding eye contact.

It was way past midnight. Hunter stood there in casual shorts and a button-down shirt that was open from the front, revealing his toned chest.

He hummed and went to the kitchen.

The only way to divert her attention from him was to get engrossed in the file. He placed her cup down and occupied the sofa on her left.

"Can I help you with something?" He watched her from above the cup while taking a sip.

Yeah. What do you know about business?

Sienna wanted to roll her eyes. But then she realized that she couldn’t disrespect him.

He was keeping his part of the bargain quite well.

"N...No...thanks..." She tried to smile and then moved her gaze back to the file.

What to tell him? That I made a mistake by deceiving my father? He lost his leg and his business.

Well! He deserved it. Hehe.

Hunter sighed and placed his cup on the table. Sienna blinked when Hunter took the file from her hands and handed her the coffee cup, "Drink it," the command in his tone was unmistakable. Something he never used on her.

She bit back the protest and took the cup from him, "Thanks," She muttered.

They drank their coffee in awkward silence.

He won’t help me because he doesn’t know a thing about business. But...

But...

But he did encourage me not to sell the company. What if he can help?

What if I’m underestimating him?

"Sienna!" His gentle voice reached her, "What is it?"

She smirked and started tracing her finger on her cup, "I don’t know, Hunter..." She shrugged in nervousness, "They don’t take me as their boss."

Yeah. She knew she was showing him a weak part of her, but... did she have a choice?

She looked up and found him staring back at her with those shades still hiding his eyes.

"They don’t take you as their boss?" He repeated to himself, "Why are you giving them a choice?"

She studied him, puzzled, "Choice?"

"Hmm..." Lazily, he got up, stretched, and then held out his hand.

Huh. Now he wants to hold my hand?

She reached out to hold his hand, but the corner of his lips curled into a smirk, "Your coffee cup, sugar."

God! How could she be so stupid?

She cleared her throat and muttered a sorry under her breath before passing him the cup. He went to the kitchen, and she heard the sound of running water.

"It’s too late, Menace. Go to bed. You are the boss, and bosses are not supposed to stay awake so late. Tomorrow is Sunday, and you have enough time to plan for Monday." 𝙛𝒓𝒆𝙚𝒘𝒆𝓫𝙣𝓸𝙫𝓮𝒍.𝒄𝒐𝓶

As he passed by her, he ruffled her hair casually as she sat there, momentarily stunned.

"Hunter!" She quickly called him. Hunter, who was about to step on the staircase, stopped but didn’t turn around, "Will you help me? I mean... Will you come if I need help?"

He turned his head, at last, and regarded her for a moment, "Any time, sugar. Anytime."