Dinner

My colleagues happily walked out of the company building. I just laugh at their reactions. Mrs. Amara went home early because she was pregnant and should not stay up too late.

“Is everyone ready?” Mikael asked. Their reactions stunned me when they all looked behind me. It seems like they were seeing a ghost. Mikael pointed to my back, using his lips. I jumped at my place because of the sudden appearance of our employer.

“Oh My goodness!!! You almost gave me a heart attack, Sir!” I rubbed my chest. My heart is beating so fast. In my peripheral view, I saw most of my colleagues silently laughing at my reaction.

“It’s not my fault if you’re always nervous, Ashley.” He said nonchalantly, then shrugged. The group laughed. I rolled my eyes and ignored him.

“Ms. Ashley, you want to ride in my car?” Joshua immediately asked, and… the group teased us.

“Thanks, but I brought my car with me,” I said and smiled at him apologetically. He shrugged and smiled at me. “It’s okay.”

“Miss Ashley, maybe I can ride with you?” Abby asked.

I smiled. “Of course.” I looked at our other colleagues. “Who else wants to ride with me?” The twins, Mikaela and Mikael, immediately raised their hands.

“Can we ride along with you too?” Said Mikael. I nodded. The twins squealed after I told them they could ride with me.

“Sir, where are we going to eat.” Mr. Steven asked.

“Just follow me,” he said and turned to walk towards his car, so we all followed Mr. Moon’s car.

“There is something with Mr. Moon today,” Mikaela said while holding her chin like she had been having deep thoughts.

“We’ve been working with him for a long time now, and this is the first time he came along,” Mikael added. I couldn’t help but get curious about what they were talking about. I cocked my head as they continued chatting. My eyes were on the road, but my ears were eager to listen to what they were talking about.

“Maybe it’s because of Ms. Ashley?” Frowning, I immediately turn to Abby, who is sitting beside me, she called a shotgun. I turned my gaze back on the road and shrugged my thoughts off. I looked at the twins who were sitting at the back, from the rearview mirror of my car. Their eyes narrowed as they stared at me.

“What?” I asked nonchalantly.

“Admit it, Ms. Ashley. You and the boss have something?!” Mikael accusingly said. I was immediately taken aback by his question.

I accidentally stepped on the break, which made them all groan, luckily, the traffic light said to stop as I stepped on the break. I used it to make my excuses.

“Ouch!” they said in unison.

“I was almost thrown out the window,” Mikael said exaggeratedly.

“I’m sorry, the traffic light turned red...” I giggled. I’m embarrassed! They narrowed their gaze at me. Their looks were saying they didn’t buy my excuse.

“What?” I confusedly asked. “Oh, my gosh! Are we still not over it? Mr. Moon and I don’t have a thing. I’m his employee, and he is our boss, that’s it.” I shrugged. But for them, being curious, they don’t believe me. I frowned.

“Can you explain the worried reaction of Mr. Moon when you fainted while we were having the photoshoot with the models?” Mikael asked with his brows raised.

“He even picked you up, taking you to his office instead of the clinic!” Mikaela added suspiciously.

“He even canceled his appointments just to look after you.” I turned to Abby. I frowned.

“He did?!” My eyes widened. “Why would he do that?” I asked curiously.

“I-I don’t have any idea,” I said in a low voice. The three of them just looked at me lazily. I parked the car when we reached the restaurant Mr. Moon chose.

Mikael and Mikaela seemed excited. Their eyes were twinkling, and their mouths watered at the sight of food. They had already forgotten what we were talking about earlier in my car. Abby shook her head unbelievably because of the behavior of the twins. I sighed in relief.

Our eyes lit up as we all entered the restaurant. It is an eat-all-you-can buffet. My eyes roamed around and stopped at the wide buffet table. Different cuisines from different countries were at that table! My mouth watered.

We looked for a big table that could accompany a group like us. We asked the waiter to join 2 of the twelve-seaters tables into one, so when everyone got settled, we sat excitedly.

“Wow!” Abby giggles.

“You have good taste, Mr. Moon. This restaurant has a good ambiance.” Mr. Lao commended. Mr. Moon smirked and said nothing.

“And lots of foods being served!” Mikael exclaimed. We all laughed at him.

“You can get your food now. Just eat what you can. No left leftovers. Or else you’ll pay.” Mr. Moon reminded us. We all nod in unison.

“Aye, aye, Sir,” Mikael said as he raised his right hand on his forehead to salute. He giggled!

“Ms. Ashley, let’s go get some food,” Joshua asked. Joshua is sitting on my right side while Abby was on the chair on my left side.

“Okay,” my response was enthusiastic. Mr. Moon looked at us, I smiled and bowed a little to show some respect, but he just raised an eyebrow at me and went back to talking to Mr. Lao.

We grab our food to eat. I wrinkled my nose and narrowed it when we got to our table. Abby waved at me and pointed the seat to sit beside her, and to my surprise, Mr. Moon occupied Joshua’s seat.

“Excuse me, Sir, but I remember that as being my place,” Joshua politely said, but Mr. Moon just smirked.

“Do we have a problem here? You can sit there,” He pointed out the seat beside Mr. Lao. “Besides, Leo took my seat when I got my food awhile ago... So...” He shrugged.

Mikael and Mikaela gave me a meaningful look. I just mouthed ‘What?!’ at them and raised my brows.

I was too busy eating my food, oblivious. I didn’t notice that everyone had their eyes on me. Abby poked me on my side, so I looked at her. She’s pointing to everyone, using her pouty lips. What I did was to turn my gaze at everyone who’s looking at me like I’m being ridiculous. I put down the bone that I’ve been eating.

“W-what?” I asked cluelessly.

“Wait! Seriously!! Are you going to finish that, Ms. Ashley?” Mikaela asked me curiously.

“Hehe,” I feel my face heat up. I’m blushing because of this embarrassment.

“Are you sure you’re going to finish all that?” Mr. Moon asked.

“Don’t worry, Sir... To see is to believe.” I grinned to cover up this embarrassing situation. Well, I kinda know by myself that I can finish all the food that I picked up. It’s just that their eyes are all on me... And Mr. Moon is right next to me. For Pete’s sake! He used to be my ultimate crush ever since!

I noticed everyone seems pretty busy chatting with everybody, but Mr. Leo Buenaventura is just silent all the time.

“Abby,” I called her attention.

“Yes... Ms. Ashley?” She looked at me with a questioning look.

“Uhm, I just noticed that Mr. Buenaventura was quiet and not talking to anyone. And he seems very serious all that time,” I said.

“That’s how he really is.” I turned to Abby as she answered.

“But he is nice. Just don’t get him mad because he is a madman... Mr. Moon and Mr. Buenaventura used to be best of friends, but unfortunately, someone happened... There’s a woman who hit the two birds at the same time,” she whispered.

“Wow!” Mikael looked at me, amused.

“You weren’t kidding, you ate all of that,” Jordan Fuentes said as a matter-of-factly. “Are you that hungry?” He asked sarcastically. I stared at him lazily. Somehow, his statement annoyed me. I don’t know what is up with him. We are not even close to making such jokes with each other. My jaw clenched. How dare he?!