I couldn’t help but think of the woman I secretly liked—Sophia.
For me, she wasn’t just a boss—she was already the one in my heart.
But the truth was, she wasn’t my girlfriend.
She was my superior.
The kind I could only let my thoughts drift to when lying alone in bed at night.
Chloe piped up, “Andrew, you’re single, right?”
Right then, a few folks from Planning, plus Riley from Admin, all turned their eyes toward me, clearly waiting to hear what I’d say.
Honestly, did they really care that much whether I had a girlfriend or not?
Felt kinda like I’d suddenly become their hot topic.
I said, “Not at the moment.”
Chloe jumped in, “So basically, you’re single.
But hey, no worries—plenty of pretty girls at Anyael.
No way you’ll end up a lonely old dude.”
“I heard there’s a rule here against office romances.
Is that legit?” I asked, remembering what Sophia had said earlier in her office.
I figured I’d toss it out there and see what they thought.
Riley widened her eyes.
“Who told you that?!”
“For real?”
“Absolutely not!
Where’d you get that from?”
“I just heard it somewhere…
can’t remember exactly who said it.”
Before we could get too deep into it, the Planning team were already snickering.
Only then did it hit me—Sophia must’ve been messing with me.
Or…
maybe there was more to her words than I realized.
Could it be…?
A little thrill shot through me.
Did Sophia actually care about me on some level?
That thought raced through my head, and her smile flashed in my mind.
Chloe gave my shoulder a pat and said, “Don’t buy into that nonsense, Andrew. This chapter is updated first at g.com.
Like, if that were true, are we supposed to let all the hunky guys outside the company snatch up all our girls?
No way.”
Smiling, I replied, “You’ve got a point.
Pretty sure the ladies at Anyael are part of company assets.
We should be using our resources wisely.”
“I totally back you,” Riley chimed in.
“If you’ve got your eye on someone here, just let me know.
If you’re too shy to say something, I got your back.
Helping people’s kinda my thing.”
The moment Riley and Chloe started throwing banter back and forth, you could tell the gossip floodgates had opened.
“Andrew, did you catch what Chloe was hinting at?
If you’re thinking about dating someone in Anyael, Chloe’s pretty much volunteering.”
Chloe smirked, “So what?
Andrew’s cute—if he wants to, I’m totally down.”
“Keep dreaming, girl.
Go fantasize some more when you get home tonight.”
“Some folks are just salty ’cause they missed their shot.
Might as well write Sophia a request to transfer you over to Planning already.”A male colleague nearby couldn’t take it anymore and turned to Riley Green.
“Riley, don’t tell me you’re here just to check out Andrew.”
Only then did Riley snap back with an exaggerated look like she’d just messed up big time.
“Oh shoot, I almost forgot why I came over.
Just now, Ms.
Smith said we’re having a dinner tonight to welcome the new folks, and after that, we’re hitting KTV for some fun.”
Chloe reacted the fastest, lifting a brow.
“For real?”
“Right after work, we head out together.
The dinner spot isn’t picked yet, though.”
“Ms.
Smith honestly should’ve taken us to KTV sooner.
Think about it, last time we went was like three months ago.”
“My job here’s done—going back to the office.
Y’all got that, right?
Bye Andrew, see ya!” Riley flashed us a grin and waved while turning to leave.
“One more hour to go, people.
Let’s hustle!
Smith’s good will,” Chloe said, then headed straight for her desk.
Something about the moment got to me.
The vibe here is just so chill and easy-going.
“Chloe, working with you guys has really been a blast.”
“Of course!
We keep things fun but know when to buckle down.”
“Yeah, I can tell—everyone’s super focused when it’s work time.
Then when we relax, it’s full-on energy.”
Chloe chuckled.
“Ms.
Smith always reminds us: Anyael Corporation is all about good vibes and enthusiasm.
We’re here to be productive, sure, but also happy.”
“Totally.
Anyael’s got a solid rep.
Back when I worked at Harper & Ross, I’d already heard of you guys.
Just didn’t know who the big boss was.”
With a mischievous grin, Chloe teased,
“Bet you didn’t expect the boss to be a total knockout, huh?”
“That really caught me off guard.”
“If you’d known back then, would you have jumped ship even sooner?” she laughed out loud.
Her joke hit me harder than expected—maybe I really did start falling for Sophia.
Everyone was clearly hyped about the night out.
I could genuinely see the admiration they had for Sophia.
Even though folks respected her at work, it was easy to see they liked her too.
Probably because, after hours, she dropped the corporate persona and blended in like one of us.
Once we left the office, Sophia was just another friend in the group.
Everyone laughed and chatted freely.
After dinner, on the way to KTV, she handed me the car keys.
“Andrew, can you drive?”
I took the keys from her, catching a few envious glances from the others.
Sophia sat up front while three stylish girls piled into the back.
I didn’t know their names, but they were clearly having a good time—giggling, whispering, throwing little comments back and forth.