A Pleasant Surprise

It was nearly midnight by the time Fang Lingyi arrived home, dropping down onto the sofa with a loud yawn. The apartment was dark, lights out and clock ticking somewhere. That was, until the door leading into Liu Anqing's room creaked open Lingyi's best friend trudging out with a sleeping mask pulled halfway up her face and a head of messy hair. She had lazily slung on her fluffy blue robe and groped for the light switch as she mumbled something Lingyi couldn't quite hear.

The apartment was abruptly drowned in penetrating white light and Lingyi had to squint in order to make out Anqing shuffling over to where she sat, cursing when she bumped into the coffee table. "This is new," she said, waving her hand in the direction of the bag of desserts Qiao Zeyan had gifted her, then at Lingyi herself and the dark purple bags underneath her eyes from working overtime to finish off her tasks.

"I have a dinner party to attend, so I had to get all the work done so there won't be a rush tomorrow," Fang Lingyi explained, stretching out her arms over her head.

Liu Anqing suddenly sat up straight, the drowsiness gone from her face. "You have a dinner party to attend? When did this happen? Who are you meeting?"

Lingyi raised both of her hands in front of her as if it could stop Anqing's bonbardment of questions. "I'm going tomorrow night to meet some of the Board leaders with Qiao Zeyan."

She knew she shouldn't have mentioned him as soon as his named slipped from her lips.

"You're going to a fancy dinner party with Qiao Zeyan?" Anqing hissed, blinking in disbelief. "Since when have the two of you become so close?"

"I don't know what you're thinking, but this is strictly work-related," Lingyi clarified, gently slapping the palm of a hand onto Anqing's head.

Anqing shrank back, suddenly seeming very interested in the white bag on the table. "Did Qiao Zeyan give this to you as well?" She dug her head inside, nodding in approval at the sight of all the food.

"Yes, but I haven't eaten any yet," Lingyi said, peeling off her large trench coat.

Anqing turned to her, face blank in astonishment. "These are all you favorite desserts; how could you have not eaten any?"

"Because they weren't meant for me."

It took a minute for Anqing to catch on. "So Qiao Zeyan bought this for someone else, got rejected, so decided to gift it to you, acting as if it was for you all along?"

Fang Lingyi shook her head. "He didn't buy it for anyone."

Anqing thought for a moment, a frown etching onto her face. "Did someone else buy it for him?"

"There was a woman with him before I went to his office to deliver my report. I think she bought it for him, not knowing that he hates sweet food."

"And he knows you love these kind of sweet desserts, so he offered them to you instead," Anqing finished for her, the gleam in her brown eyes turning sympathetic, then disappointed. "What a prick Qiao Zeyan is. Is he downgrading you to a person who can only take leftovers from other people?"

Lingyi swatted her best friend with her hand again. "He had good intentions," she defended. "And plus, all this good food would go to waste if he hadn't given them away."

"But you still haven't eaten any yet," Anqing reminded her. "Who was that woman, anyway?"

"I don't know, but her and Qiao Zeyan are close," Lingyi answered, remembering the smudge of red on Qiao Zeyan's cheek when she walked in, and the scent of rose perfumed lingering on him when he handed her the bag, lying to her about where he got it.

"Then why did he ask you to go to the dinner party with him?" Anqing questioned, gripping a small transparent box storing a little tart decorated with edible pearls. "Why didn't he ask that mystery woman in his office?"

Lingyi shook her head once more and said again, "I don't know."

A moment of silence later, Anqing jumped up with the tart in her hands, crumbs sticking to the corners of her mouth. "You know what, Lingyi? Tomorrow, you should make sure everyone at that dinner party notices you, including Qiao Zeyan."

"You mean dress to impress?" Lingyi bluntly summarized.

"Not just that, but also make sure you put on your best smile and ensure you draw in the Board leaders, which, might I add, may increase your chance of a pay rise in ACE," Anqing, the one person Lingyi knew hated office work, logically strategized.

Lingyi smiled, impressed. "Wow," she commented, "you've really thought this one through."

"I'm a gifted math teacher, remember?"

Anqing then plopped herself back down onto the sofa next to Lingyi, who also reached for a dessert to satisfy the low growling in her stomach.

Her best friend's eyes sparkled wickedly. "So, this is the plan..."

----

Fang Lingyi had never felt so empowered as she strutted inside the office building in white heels, a tight pencil skirt and a crisp blouse and dark-colored blazer Anqing had lent her. It had taken her an hour to fix her hair so it nestled gently on her shoulders and do her makeup so she looked professional enough to be working in this building. All employees in the lobby and elevators had stared at her when she walked past, possessing the gait of a runway model.

Anqing's words carved themselves into her mind again: "Be confident, keep your head high, never lower your guard, stay neutral, and lastly, look the part."

That would certainly please Qiao Zeyan, Lingyi thought coolly.

Settling down in her usual workspace took only a few minutes and she tried her hardest to ignore the stares around her. In all the three years she had worked here, she had never dressed or carried herself like this.

When she finally sank down into her seat, there was a sudden commotion around the corner from the elevator, and several seconds later, what looked like a delivery man buried in roses emerged, heading blindly toward her. Fang Lingyi pushed herself to her feet, evading the giant white box in time as it crashed onto her desk, making the papers fly in all directions. The delivery man stashed the boquet of roses with the box onto her table, taking deep breaths as he yanked out a clipboard from his bag.

"Could you please sign here, miss?" he said in a southern accent. She looked at the pen he offered her for a while, her face scrunched in puzzlement.

"I'm sorry, sir, but I think you have the wrong person. I haven't ordered anything." she responded nervously, glancing at all the flowers strewn on her desk. Everyone had gathered around her now, giddy and envious.

He turned the paper on the clipboard to himself, scanning for something printed on. "Are you Miss Fang Lingyi?"

Lingyi nodded hesitantly, still not quite sure what exactly was going on.

"Then I do have the right person," the delivery man announced, shoving the clipboard at her.

More baffled than before, Lingyi took the pen and scribbled her signature onto the page, and the delivery man was gone within moments. She then turned to the huge box on her desk, finished off with a silk bow and gems that looked too much like diamonds. The roses in the boquet had now scattered their petals on her desk and the floor below her feet and the woman all around her were jumping in both excitement and admiration.

"Open it!" a couple of people encouraged, clapping their hands together.

Lingyi, taking a final look around, lifted the lid off the box.

The first thing she saw was the excess of pink wrapping, bundled up and tucked neatly inside. Then she saw what the box was supposed to be holding.

She pried away the paper wrapping, her hands coming on contact with the soft fabric of a dress, the black material worth more than everything she'd ever owned. Her fingers glided across the surface, feeling the gentle ripples it left behind as she fianlly pulled it out from its shelter, the entire length of silk and lace sweeping the floor. A nest of silk gathered at the front where her chest rested, falling together in waves and defined by rows of fragile lace. Her reflection in the blackened screen of her laptop looked back at her, a mixture of horror and amazement shining in her eyes. The buzz of voices surrounding her was drowned out by the continuous thumping of her heartbeat when her eyes settled on the small card abandoned in the box beneath all the wrapping.

She refolded the dress and set it down on the bed of roses on her desk before slipping out the card, the neat, oddly familiar, cursive written on the inside, sending a jolt into her chest.

"Read it out!" someone shouted, a chorus of voices agreeing soon after. Soon, they were all chanting.

She swallowed, sucking in a deep breath as the words jumped out to her another time, a shiver crawling down her spine. "A thank you gift," she read out, fingertips turning white as she clutched the card. "I'll see you tonight..." she drifted off, head immediately whipping up to face her boss's office.

On the balcony towering over the world stood Qiao Zeyan, his smile more mystifying than ever.

The giggles and squeals and mutters of amusement from her audience died down as her eyes locked with his.

"Who is it from, Lingyi?"

"Yes, tell us! Who sent this to you?"

"Lingyi, do you have a secret admirer?"

"No, she clearly has a boyfriend!"

"What's his name? Is he rich?"

She ignored all of them, cursing the CEO of ACE secretly in her heart.

Qiao Zeyan, that bastard.