THE BURGLAR

It's been two hours and my work hours are near to end, but my Narcissistic boss hasn't called me since I left his office. And it made me confused.

Since I started to work for that boy, he never let me leave his sight for too long, which justifies my confusion right now. And from my table just exactly 10 feet away from the CEO's office, I could see Bobby kept glancing at his watch and I know that he's confused too so I decided to put an end to this confusion and I stood up from my chair.

"Where are you going?" Bobby asked when he saw me.

"It's been two hours and there's only 15 minutes left before my shift ends." I said and walked towards the door. Bobby ran after me and grabbed my hand to stop me from going in, but I already knocked and I heard Timothy respond inside.

"Come in." He said and so I pushed the door open and I saw him still sitting behind his table but his swivel chair turned around and facing the floor to ceiling glass window.

"Sir, is everything alright?" I asked and Bobby looked at me with wide eyes and meaningfully.

"What was that?" He mouthed.

"I got this." I mouthed back and tapped his shoulder.

"Actually no." Timothy said and he spun around his chair to face us. He looked up to Bobby and motioned his hand. "Give us a minute, Bob." He said and Bobby immediately complied. He bowed his head and stole a glance at me before leaving the room. After he shut the door, Timothy let out a sigh. "I'm leaving next week to manage my company in California."

I wanted to smile so badly knowing that he's leaving, but I can't, since he has that frown face. So I just looked him straight in the eye and waited for him to proceed but he didn't speak again and just held my gaze.

"And what seems to be a problem, Sir?" I asked.

"You're not going with me." He said Yes, I failed. I finally let my smile break out and it made my boss look at me with a frown on his face. "You don't want to go with me and your smiles tell me so." 

I mean, who wouldn't be happy? I will get free from his narcissist ass? I am happy and I made a wrong move showing him how happy I am.

"No Sir, I'm actually disappointed that I won't get to be in another country... with you." I said and added the last two words to make it up for him after I made him feel bad for smiling.

His face suddenly lightened up and he smiled at me. "I know it sucks right? You won't see me for one month and I know how sad you will be."

I mentally rolled my eyes as I pursed my lips and smiled at him fakely after. "Yeah, so sad." I said in a sarcastic tone.

"Well since I can't bring you with me, you still have to do your job as my secretary." He said as he motioned me to sit down in front of him then he glanced at his watch. "I will call you from time to time to check what's going on here and you have to report me everything, understand?"

"Yes Sir."

"You should go now, I don't want Jamie to kick my ass because I keep you too long." He said and I stood up and bowed my head to him before I turned my heels and walked towards the door. I reached for the metal knob and was about to twist it when Timothy spoke again. "Uh I forgot to tell you something." He said so I turned around again and waited for him to proceed. "My wife will replace me and she'll be your boss for one month."

"Uh Sir, may I ask why can't you bring me with you?" 

Timothy chuckled and he looked at me amusedly. "You're really that sad that I can't bring you?" He asked but I didn't respond. "Okay, so uh my wife requested for you to stay so she would have someone who will guide her here."

"Oh god." I mumbled and I let out a sigh of disappointment. "Sir, I'm sure as hell that you would need me there. So you have to bring me."

"I'm sorry, Lisa. I really want to but I can't—." He paused and signalled me to get closer to him so I did and I stopped three feet away from his spot. He leaned his body forward and put his mouth near my side. "If she asks something, then I have to give it to her or she'll go berserk." He whispered.

I tipped back a bit to see his face and looked at him amusedly. "Really?" I chuckled throatily and he nodded his head before he went back to his chair.

"That's the only tip I could give you since I don't really know her that much." He said.

I forgot that Mr. and Mrs. Kim was both against this marriage since it was an arranged marriage but they can't do anything but to obey. So it's not really surprising that he didn't know his wife that much.

"Okay then, thanks for the tip and I'll get going now."

"Take care." He said before I stepped out of his office. As soon as I shut the door, I released a guttural groan and stomped my feet on the floor.

"What happened?" Bobby asked.

"Nothing." I replied and went to my table to get my bag and fixed my table. "I'll get going now."

"Oh okay, take care." He said while looking at me amusedly.

I kept withdrawing sharp breaths from the elevator down to the parking lot. Until I got inside my car and I let out another deep sigh while looking into nothing.

"Why did she even ask for me?! She didn't even know me!" I growled and hit the steering wheel several times to let out my frustration but nothing seemed to be working out so I decided to turn on the engine and drove away.

_____

When I reached Seulrene's coffee shop, I already could see Jamie inside with Sue and Renee. I drew another sharp breath before stepping out of my car and entering the coffee shop.

"Finally, Timothy let you off early." Jamie exclaimed when she saw me approaching them.

"Thanks to you for threatening his life." I joked and the four of us laughed.

"Sometimes, I think your boss has a crush on you." Renee commented and we all laugh again.

"He's just too much dependent on me." I said.

"Well, after all he's married. He won't tarnish his reputation just because he has a crush on his secretary." Seu said and she's absolutely right. 

If there's one thing most important to my boss, that is his reputation. That's why he even agreed to the marriage because he hates scandals and troubles for his company.

"Okay let's not talk about that douchebag." Jamie intervened and she pulled out a folder from her bag and put it on the table. 

"What is this?" I asked as I opened the folder and read it. "Wow—!"

"Yep, that's right. I have another branch of my company in Busan!" Jamie bragged to cut me off.

"Really? Wow congrats!" Renee and Seu said simultaneously.

"I'm sure you will need new staff so do I have a chance to be one of them?" I asked as I put down the folder.

"I would love to, Lisa, I really want you to be part of my company." Jamie said and she sipped on her coffee while the three of us waited for her to continue. "But Timothy will never let you off that easily."

I twitched my lips and landed into a pout. "I think I might need to look for another job then." I sighed.

"Wait, what happened?" Seu asked worriedly as she removed her hand from Renee and took mine. "Lisa, you have to tell us what's going on with you."

"I know." I mumbled and looked down to my lap.

"Is it about Jaoquin?" Jamie asked and I shook my head. "What did Timothy do to you? Just tell me and I will kill that douchebag!"

"He's leaving for New Zealand next week and he's leaving me here." I said and the three exchanges confused glances then looked back at me.

"Wait, aren't you supposed to feel happy?" Seu asked.

"Yeah, I did. I felt so happy until he told me that his wife will replace him for a month."

"Oh wow." Jamie exclaimed and she leaned back to her chair, she snicker and sipped on her coffee again. 

"What? What's wrong with Timothy's wife?" Renee asked.

"She's the bitchiest woman I've ever met in my whole life." Jamie said and I know that she's not exaggerating her description of Mrs. Kim.

"Are you serious?" Seu asked.

"Yeah, I've met her once, on the day of the wedding. She's indeed a goddess but her attitude.. damn, I still couldn't forget that horrible woman."

"Tell us what happened." Seu demands.

"We were waiting for her at the church to arrive, she's thirty minutes late, wearing a red dress on the day of her wedding. She's intoxicated and keeps cursing in front of the priest. She told the priest to start the wedding and skip the ceremony and get to the end."

"Does she really have to do that?" I asked in disbelief.

"Yeah, Timothy was so upset but since the wedding was held in a private church and no media is allowed inside, the mess didn't spread out." Jamie said with a chuckle.

"I can't believe that there's a woman like her." Renee said while shaking her head.

"I always know that she's really a bitch because everyone keeps telling me the same thing but I didn't know that she's really that awful." I commented.

I felt so disgusted by that woman and felt a bit of pity for my boss. He may be so full of himself and an irritating man, but he didn't deserve a woman someone like Mrs. Kim.

"So a piece of advice, Lisa." Jamie put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it. "You just have to obey her and never put yourself on her wrong side."

"Or else what? She would fire me?"

"Maybe." She shrugged.

"Isn't it better? So I could apply to your company?" I asked and the couple agreed to me and the three of us looked at Jamie.

"That's actually a good idea." Jamie said and clapped her both hands one time. Then she shook her head. "But again, Timothy is your boss, not Mrs. Kim."

"So what now? Do I have to stay in Timothy's company even if his abusive wife is abusing me?!" I scoffed and rolled my eyes.

"Whoa wait, don't you think you're overreacting now? You didn't even met that woman yet." Renee said and the two agreed to her by nodding their heads.

"Fine, I'm going to meet her first, but if she does something to me. I'm going to quit." I said and everyone just nodded their heads so we decided to dismiss the topic and continue our conversation about random things. But my mind is still on Mrs. Kim, but again, I decided not to open another conversation about her until we call it a day and we bid our goodbyes to the couple and I went straight home.

When I got to my garage, I noticed the light in my living room was turned on. I felt a sudden fear, thinking that someone might have broken in and steal my things. The front door wasn't lock which made me feel more scared. I picked up the pot on my porch before pushing the door open, just in case that I needed something to defend myself from the burglar.

"Who's in there?!" I shouted from the front door but there's no response. I walked inside cautiously, until I reached the living room. I smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen and I raised my left eyebrow. Did they used my unused kitchen to feed themselves? What kind of burglars would do such things like that?

I cautiously walked to the kitchen while gripping the pot tightly, but there's still no one in there. Until I heard a sound of water running coming from my room.

Now they took a bath in my shower? Damn, are they really burglars or a bum?

"Who's in there?!" I shouted as I kicked my bedroom door and there I saw a man coming out from my bathroom, covered with a towel on his lower body and he had wet hair.

"Babe!" Jaoquin yelled flabbergasted after he successfully caught the pot that I threw at him. "What the hell?"

"Oh my god!" I gasped. "What the hell are you even doing here?!" I was surprised.

"What? Am I not allowed here now?" He asked back as he put the pot down on the corner and he walked back to the bathroom.

"No, I was just surprised to see you here. How did you get inside?" I asked and followed him to the bathroom.

"You always leave the keys under the doormat." He said after he finished washing his hands. "I tried to call you but your phone is unattended."

"Right I'm sorry, I just have to turn it off. You know? I'm with the gang and I don't want my boss to ruin my date with them." I explained.

"He can't ruin your hangout with the gang but he can ruin our date." I heard him mumble as he walked to the closet and opened it. I'm actually not surprised that he said that, what made me more confused is, why is he opening my closet wherein he didn't even have clothes in my house? 

He pulled out a pair of pajamas, take note, it's his pajamas, and I'm really confused why it is there.

"Jaoquin." I called to get his attention as he's dressing himself with his back facing me. "What's going on?" I asked.

He looked over his shoulder and smiled at me. After he dressed up, he turned around and his smile grew even wider, he picked up a brown envelope on the bedside table and showed me. 

"What is this?" I asked.

"I didn't use the money you gave me to pay my rent and just decided to move in with you." He said and my jaw dropped while looking at him. "Surprised?" He said with an awkward smiled.

I was just looking at him with my mouth wide open and my eyes kept blinking. Until my landline rings which snap me out from my dazed and pick it up.

"I can't contact you, is your phone off?" Timothy said on the other line and I didn't have the chance to answer him as he spoke again. "Mrs. Kim will be arriving tomorrow and you have to fetch her at the airport, I'll just send you the details. I have to go and have a nice day, Ms. Mcphee." Then the line went off.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked myself dumbfoundedly.

_______