Sienna sighed softly and turned to her side, pulling the blanket up as if she could hide from her own thoughts.

"Great job, Sienna," she muttered sarcastically. "First dinner, and you already scared him away. Impressive."

She stopped herself from thinking much about him.

And for a moment... It almost worked. Her body relaxed, and her thoughts began to blur.

Until—

Bzzzt.

The soft vibration from the bedside table cut through the silence of the room like a quiet but persistent knock.

Sienna’s eyes snapped open instantly.

For a second, she didn’t move at all. She simply lay there, staring into the darkness, listening carefully, making sure it wasn’t just her imagination playing tricks on her.

The vibration came again.

Slowly, almost cautiously, she turned her head toward the bedside table.

Her phone screen lit up the dim room. She grabbed it and was surprised to see "Zach" on the screen. 𝚏𝕣𝕖𝚎𝚠𝚎𝚋𝚗𝐨𝐯𝕖𝕝.𝕔𝐨𝕞

"He didn’t text back... instead, he called me...!?" she whispered softly, confusion and something warmer mixing in her tone.

The screen continued to glow. The vibration continued, steady, almost impatient.

Sienna swallowed, pushing aside the flood of questions forming in her mind, and finally accepted the call.

"Hi, Sienna..."

His voice came through the line, low and clear, carrying a hint of concern that made her sit up straighter without even realizing it.

"Did I wake you up?" he asked.

"No," she replied quickly, leaning her back against the bedhead, trying to calm the sudden rhythm of her heartbeat. "This is still too early for me to sleep."

"Ah," he let out a soft chuckle. "You’re right. It’s the weekend."

There was a brief pause before he added, "Sorry, I just read your text. To answer you... Yes, I’ve arrived home."

A small smile formed on her lips, almost naturally.

"That’s good," she said, her tone lightening. "I was worried you might get lost after dropping me off at my apartment."

Her playful remark earned a soft laugh from him.

"Well... to be honest, my GPS is still working properly," he replied casually. "So I’m safe for tonight."

Sienna couldn’t help but laugh.

"That’s good," she said again, her voice softer now.

But as quickly as the laughter came, it faded just as fast, leaving behind a small, awkward silence.

She found herself running out of words.

Which was strange... because she usually had too many.

Then, as if sensing the shift, Zachary spoke again.

"What are you doing tomorrow?"

The question caught her off guard, but at the same time, it gave her something to hold onto.

"I’ll stay at home and rest," she answered, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear even though he couldn’t see her. "I told you before, there’s a big event at the hotel. I have a major assignment, so I need to mentally prepare myself."

There was a trace of curiosity in his voice when he replied.

"Mentally prepare?" he repeated. "That sounds serious. Did they assign you something terrible?"

Sienna hesitated for a moment, then let out a small breath.

"Yeah... you could say that," she admitted. "They assigned me to handle the CEO of Sterling Capital—"

She didn’t get to finish.

"Cough—cough—"

Zachary suddenly choked on the other end.

Sienna immediately straightened, her grip tightening on the phone.

"Are you okay, Zach?" she asked, her concern replacing her earlier calm swiftly. "Why do you sound like you’re about to die?"

"I’m fine... cough..." he managed to say between breaths. "Just... almost choked on my drink."

"Ah..." she exhaled in relief. "Don’t rush. Or I might read a very strange headline tomorrow morning."

"What headline?" he asked, his voice recovering slightly.

"A man died after choking on his own drink," she said, trying to suppress her laughter as she turned on the speaker. She set the phone beside her.

There was a short pause.

And then, a laugh escaped him. Low, genuine, and warm.

"You’re really something," he said.

"Thank you," she replied lightly, though her smile softened without her realizing it.

Hearing him laugh like that... it felt oddly comforting.

But then, her expression stiffened slightly. Her mind drifted back to their dinner. The way she spoke. The way she acted fills her mind.

’Was I too casual...?’ she muttered under her breath, barely audible.

Just as she was about to ask him something, she saw an incoming text message.

Sienna frowned slightly and took the cell phone to check the screen.

Her brows lifted as she opened the message from Riley.

"What the...?"

Sienna spoke too loudly, only to confuse Zachary on the other end.

"What happened?" he asked, noticing the sudden silence. "Are you alright?"

"Ah, nothing serious," she said, her tone shifting back to playful. "I just got an update about my important assignment."

"Oh?" Zach replied. "So it’s no longer important?"

Sienna let out a small laugh, this time filled with clear relief.

"The big boss of Sterling Capital suddenly has an important matter," she said. "So he canceled attending the event."

Her shoulders relaxed as if a heavy weight had just been lifted.

"Finally," she added with a soft chuckle. "I feel like I just got my life back."

There was a brief pause before Zachary spoke again.

"You sound happy about that..." his tone was calm but curious. "Do you not like him?"

The question caught her off guard.

Sienna blinked, suddenly realizing she had casually shared her client’s information with someone outside their company.

"No. No. It’s not like that," she quickly explained. "I don’t even know who the big boss is, and I have never met him even once. All I know is the big boss is a him, not a her. That’s it. I’m just... really under a lot of pressure, I guess. It’s my first time handling a VVIP client."

She let out a small, relieved breath.

"So when I heard it was canceled... I just felt at ease."

"I see," Zachary said simply.

"Yeah... so don’t take it wrongly, as if I’m a terrible or lazy person," she added lightly.

"I won’t," he replied.

But neither of them said what lingered beneath the surface.

Sienna had no idea that the "important assignment" she had been worrying about all this time... was the very man she was currently talking to so casually on the phone?

And on the other end, Zachary remained silent for a moment longer, a faint, unreadable smile forming on his lips.