Germ?

"You should stay here a bit before leaving" Li Chen advised Lisa when he noticed she was about to stand up.

They were both still sitting on the car's hood while staring at the large river. 

"It would not make much sense that you left your boyfriend immediately your boss called you. You should at least remain here for five minutes." He explained further. 

Lisa remained quiet. Ever since Li Chen met her there, she had refused to say a word to him.

"I'm helping you here. The least you could do is to talk to me."

"I have nothing to say to you." She said while still staring at the flowing river. 

Chen suddenly began to laugh. "No one would believe you're angry with me over something so petty." 

"It's not petty!" She said through gritted teeth before using a hand to smack the back of his head. 

He wailed and began to use a hand to rub the back of his head.

"I'm sorry pretty." He said with puppy eyes before getting up from where he was sitting to stand in front of her.

"Forgive me. Will you?" He pulled her into a hug without waiting for her to answer.

She was almost pushing him away but remembered they were being watched. 

Her phone began to ring again. This time, she pushed him away and stood up. 

"That boss of yours—" Chen paused and let the words trail off.

"What about him?" She asked while walking towards the direction where Tom's car was parked.

"Nothing. You'll find out one day." He answered with a shrug before waving her goodbye.

*************

"But you can't just leave now. What about Amanda?" Anna reminded Tom.

Tom paused and turned to look at Amanda's direction. He had totally forgotten about her because of that annoying actor they called Li Chen. 

He sighed before turning to look at Joel. As if Joel knew what he was about to say, he shook his head vigorously. 

"There's no way I'm going to drive her home." 

"We are friends. You can't even do this for me?" Tom asked with a deep frown. 

"Let's just wait for Germany. Once she comes, you can drop Amanda off at home." Anna tried to reason with him but it seemed he was not paying attention.

"I cannot believe this is happening. How— how could Germany do this?" 

"Why can't she do it? He's her boyfriend for crying out loud! You have to learn to control your emotions." Joel lectured him. 

They had always known Tom to be a very open and straightforward person. He didn't know how to hide his feelings and that was always a big problem.

"I know he's her boyfriend" Tom didn't know what else to say, so he stopped talking. He could feel an headache coming so he used a hand to massage his temple as he dialed Lisa's number again.

"Look Tom. I know you like Germany. But you must understand she is your employee plus she has a boyfriend. Remember you always do not like having anything to do with those set of people —your workers and those who are already in a relationship. She has both qualities." Anna explained sadly.

"I never said I liked her!" He shot back at her while sending her a dark glare. 

"You don't have to say it." Joel rolled his eyes.

"Now look at the girl you like over there." He pointed at Amanda's direction.

"You should go play with her. You may feel better."

When Joel stopped talking, he suddenly began to laugh.

"I am sorry but I don't know why this is so funny" He apologized when he saw the angry look Tom was giving him.

"And what exactly is so funny?" Tom asked in a harsh tone.

"Nothing."

"You both are not being helpful at all" He hissed and continued his large strides out of the place. 

"I told you this was going to be troublesome didn't I? I knew it from the very first day." Anna said with a sigh as she watched Tom's retreating figure.

"It's hard to believe Tom fell in love with her at first sight. She doesn't even give a F about him."

"He doesn't like her. Remember?" Anna added in amusement before turning around to look at Amanda. 

"You have to handle her for him." 

"Oh God! Can I not do this? I do not like her one bit." Joel shook his head.

"You know I cannot drop her off. You have to help Tom"

"I think I have an idea" Joel added with a bright smile. 

"And why do I feel it's a bad idea?" 

"Trust me, it's going to be good." Joel assured her with a smile.

*********

When Joel and Anna got to the car park, they saw Tom pacing around impatiently. 

"I made the first call over twenty minutes ago. But, she is still not here yet." Tom complained to them.

"It's a thirty minutes drive for goodness sake!" Anna shot back angrily. His obsession was beginning to annoy her.

"Look man. I have an idea."

"If the idea is going to bring Germany here right now, let me hear it." Tom stopped pacing around to give him his full attention.

"The thing is, we know you do not like Germ but—"

"Germ?" Tom asked with a frown.

"Short for Germany" Joel explained. 

"It sounds like Germs. Don't even think about calling her that." He warned with a fierce glare that caused Anna to roll her eyes. 

Joel suppressed a chuckle before he continued talking.

"Alright. We know you do not fancy Germany, and you're going crazy because she doesn't fancy someone as awesome as you—"

Tom nodded in agreement as he listened patiently to what Joel had to say. 

"A great man once said that one could always get a girl's attention by making the girl see how well he treats other ladies— that way, they would wish to be in the other lady's shoes"

"So your point is?" He asked Joel with a raised brow.

"Right there!" Joel cocked his chin, drawing their attention to Amanda who was walking towards their direction.

"Drop her off at home and treat her like a real queen. Trust me, Germany would take note of you and would be jealous of Amanda" 

Tom was a but skeptical about the whole idea. He wasn't sure he was ready to trust Joel this time.

"Hey lady and gents. Were you leaving already?" Amanda greeted them before turning to ask Tom.

"He was just about to call you to join him. Something came up and so he had to hurry here." Anna explained before Tom would say otherwise.

"Oh good. I am starving already" Amanda said with a smile before linking her arm with Tom's. 

"Your driver is here. We should leave now." 

When Tom saw his car, his gaze darkened. But he nodded and followed her. 

---

"Seriously? A great man said that?" Anna eyed Joel suspiciously.

He began to laugh before turning to walk towards the direction where his car was parked.

"You didn't expect me to drive Amanda home did you?" He asked her.

"I don't think your plan worked." Anna informed him with a laugh.

When Joel turned around, he almost gasped in shock.