Chapter 1
When I hit rock bottom, my new boss, Ethan, came after me with everything he had.
He gave me a promotion and took me out to dinner. "Nelson stole my business, so I'm stealing the girl he likes. Fair's fair!"
I paused for a moment, keeping my mouth busy with food instead of answering.
I kept quiet about the fact that Nelson already had his true love.
Ethan kept showering me with money and affection, and I just half-heartedly played along, drifting through the next six months without a care in the world.
At a dinner party, Nelson's true love returned from overseas. With everyone egging them on, she blushed and slipped her arm through Nelson's.
My heart did a flip as I caught Ethan's puzzled look.
The next moment, Nelson spoke up. He fiddled with the pink hair tie on his wrist, glancing at me with cool indifference. "I have a girlfriend."
Now I was even more confused, because we broke up two years ago.
*****
It was the sixth month of Ethan Randall's devoted pursuit.
Our relationship finally took a small step forward. I finally said yes to watching a movie with him.
He looked so touched, it seemed like he was about to cry from happiness.
He muttered under his breath, "No wonder Nelson's got a thing for you. You're seriously hard to win over."
He handed me a cup of hot milk to warm my hands.
He passed me a soft cushion, saying thoughtfully, "Your period's coming up in a couple of days, right? Is work wearing you out? Next time, I'll ask them to turn the heat up. Is there anything you can't eat?"
I waved him off, keeping my focus on the movie.
"No need to go out of your way," I said.
His eyes dimmed for a moment, misreading my response. "Is it that Nelson does it better? Does he just know you more...?" he asked.
I hesitated for a second, twirling the milkshake in my hands.
The sweetness and flavor were exactly my style. He really went out of his way to get it right.
"No, you're great," I told him honestly.
Memories churned inside me.
Truth was, Nelson never gave a damn about those little things.
He was always swamped and tired, with his true love always on his mind, someone he missed day in and day out.
The first time he ever brought me a milkshake, it was just to say thanks.
The day before, he'd ditched a meeting at the last minute and caught a flight to see Erica.
When his mother, Tess Morton, found out and blew up, I covered for him.
Nelson handed me the milkshake, his tone flat. "Thanks. Let's grab dinner tonight. I don't like owing people favors."
I'd caught a cold running around for him that day, but he didn't even notice the milkshake was iced.
By that night, I was coughing so hard I had to cancel on him.
"Amber, did you just compliment me?" Ethan's eyes lit up, clearly thrilled.
He pressed his luck. "Do you like this movie? I spent ages picking it out."
I replied, "Anything's fine. I don't really watch movies much."
He looked surprised for a second, and I thought he might have caught on to something.
Instead, he sneakily pulled out his phone and started typing in his notes app.
[Watching a romance movie with a girl can really boost the chemistry. Can't believe Nelson's so clueless about this stuff. Looks like I'm one step ahead of him now!]
I just smiled and kept quiet.
He wasn't clueless about romance. He just didn't want to bother with me.
After that, we both fell silent.
*****
"You know, the male lead in this movie is such a jerk! I can't feel sorry for him at all. If he's got issues and won't talk about them, what's the point of having a mouth?" I said.
Ethan just sat there, silently slicing up my steak.
Sometimes he'd look down, sometimes he'd meet my eyes, always with that soft smile.
Annoyed, I let a few tears slip. "What do you think? You have to take my side!"
Ethan replied, "You know I do!"
He blinked, looking a bit surprised. "I hardly ever see you show your feelings like this. It's actually kind of nice."
He said seriously, "Saw online that people only open up to those they feel safe with!"
It hit me. I hadn't noticed until now, but in the past six months, we'd gotten so comfortable with each other that talking just came easy.
We were about the same age, and both into the same quirky stuff.
Ethan was just in his early twenties. He was a sheltered heir who got parachuted in as our new boss.
When he first arrived, he was bursting with ambition, determined to make his mark.
But Nelson, cool and seasoned, taught him a few hard lessons right out of the gate.
Every time they faced off, Ethan came up short.
Then, somehow, Ethan gritted his teeth and tracked me down, the office girl who just poured coffee and did all the grunt work.
"So you're the one he's into, huh? Well, I'm going to win you over!" Ethan announced, almost defiantly.
For the past six months, instead of pulling all-nighters for work, he'd been full of energy every day, totally focused on figuring me out.
"If I can win over the girl he likes, snagging his projects should be a breeze!" Ethan declared.
Thinking about it, it kind of cracked me up.
Nelson grew up poor, always quiet and reserved, but he was never satisfied with anything less than first place. Back when he was hustling to get his business off the ground, he got sick more times than I could count.
He clawed his way up from nothing to get where he is now.
If Nelson just lost to some clueless rich kid like Ethan, now that would be seriously weird.
When the check came, I set down my fork and knife and gave Ethan a probing look.
"So, why do you think I'm the one Nelson likes?" I asked.