Xylia pulled the design proposal from her bag and handed it to Joshua.
As he started looking it over, sheid out the food she’d brought on the table.
The delicious smell made Joshua look at her, delighted. “You brought me lunch?”
65 vouchers,
Xylia smiled. “I hadn’t eaten either, and since you said you’d just grab a bite at the office, I packed a little of everything. Take a look and see if there’s anything you like…”
Joshua jumped in before Xylia could finish, blurting out, “I love everything!”
“Honestly, my one good trait–I’m really not picky when ites to food,” he added with a grin.
Xylia couldn’t help but smile at him, amusement flickering in her eyes.
‘No need to call him out for bragging, she thought, letting it slide.
Whenever they had a meal together, Mr. Garcia always turned his nose up at anything seafood–he made it pretty obvious he wasn’t a fan.
She’d even asked him if he was allergic to it once.
He t–out said no–but Xylia wasn’t fooled.
‘So that’s the deal–he just doesn’t like seafood, Xylia thought to herself.
Just then, David knocked and came in, nning to ask Joshua what he wanted for lunch so he could ce the order.
But when he saw Xylia already setting out the food, he stopped short,pletely caught off guard.
David just stood there, looking stunned, unsure what to say.
For a moment, he couldn’t even process what he was seeing.
Xylia offered, “David, want to join us for lunch?”
She’d noticed David lingering in the doorway, looking a little dazed.
‘I did bring plenty of food today–might as well invite him, Xylia thought, deciding to extend the offer.
As soon as Xylia made the offer, David could feel Joshua shooting him a cold re.
A sudden chill hit his back and he hurriedly said, “No need, Ms. Sadler, I already got the employee lunch. You two go ahead and enjoy.”
Saying that, David hustled out of the room.
8:30 Thu, Sep 18 <b>N </b>
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‘Mrs. Garcia?‘ Xylia gawked at the office door, too stunned to say anything. ‘When did I get promoted to Mrs.
Garcia?‘
Joshua, on the other hand, seemed pretty pleased with the title.
When Xylia nced over at him, Joshua toned down his smile and gave a couple of polite coughs.
“Let’s eat before the food gets cold,” he said.
He was the first to open a pair of disposable chopsticks and handed a set to Xylia.
Joshua’s brows drew together just a little as he muttered, “Looks like I should keep an extra pair of chopsticks in the office for next time.”
These disposable ones aren’t exactly the cleanest, you know..
Xylia didn’t even hear what he was mumbling.
‘Not that I care to know, anyway,’ Xylia thought, feeling zero interest.
As they ate, Joshua turned to Xylia and said, “I’ve looked over the design proposal. It’s really good, but we’ll need the proper people to evaluate it.”
Xylia nodded.
‘Business is business. Joshua always keeps his hands off these things,‘ she thought.
‘If I don’t get this deal, I’m not gonna let it get me down,‘ Xylia reminded herself.
They had a two–hour lunch break.
After they finished eating, Xylia noticed the dark circles under Joshua’s eyes and couldn’t help but say, “Why don’t you take a nap?”
‘Man, look at those dark circles–he must be running on empty,‘ Xylia thought, feeling a sh of concern.
She gently brushed her fingers across his face, her heart aching for him.
All of a sudden, Joshua hugged Xylia close, burying his face in the crook of her neck and nuzzling up to her just like a big puppy.
His soft silver hair grazed against her cheek, tickling her and making her want tough.
Xylia couldn’t stop herself–she reached up and stroked his hair, fingers running through the silky strands.
“How many nights have you been up?” Xylia asked, her voice soft with concern.
Joshua mumbled, “I haven’t had a decent night’s sleep in three days.”
“Been busytely?” Xylia asked, her voice gentle.
8:30 Thu, Sep 18 <b>N </b>
“A little…” Joshua muttered, his voice barely above a whisper, soundingpletely worn out.
‘I must look like a wreck right now, Joshua thought, feeling the exhaustion seep into his bones.
Xylia’s heart ached even more for him.
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Xylia looked at Joshua with concern. “Hey, does your office have a break room or somewhere you can crash for a bit? Set an rm and get some rest while you can.”
They still had an hour before they had to get back to work.
Joshua looked up at her, exhaustion written all over his face. “Stay with me for a while, yeah?”
“Wait, what?” Xylia sputtered,pletely thrown off.
She barely had time to react before Joshua whisked her off to the break room next door.
Honestly, the break room here looked less like an office space and more like a boutique hotel suite.
It was fully loaded–furniture, appliances, a private bathroom, and even a little dressing room tucked off to the side.
Seriously, it put the one she’d seen in Kaden’s office to shame.
Joshuay down on the bed, pulling Xylia into his arms and holding her close.
He tucked her against his chest, gently nuzzling her hair like he couldn’t bear to let go.
“Just rest,” he murmured softly.
Xylia wasn’t nning <i>to </i>sleep at all.
But Joshua held her so close she couldn’t get away; nestled against his chest, her face started burning red.
Xylia could hear Joshua’s steady, rhythmic breathing right by her ear.
He’d already drifted off.
She waited a while longer, but just couldn’t fall asleep herself–so she tried to quietly slip away without waking him.
But the second she tried to slip away, Joshua’s arm around her waist just tightened even more.
‘Perfect, Xylia grumbled to herself. ‘Now I’mpletely stuck.
Guess I’m officially just his human pillow now, she thought, resigning herself to being cuddled.
Everything was perfectly quiet.
Without even feeling sleepy at first, Xylia found herself nodding off in Joshua’s arms, the peaceful silence lulling her into sleep before she knew it.
<b>8:30 </b>Thu<b>, </b>Sep <b>18 </b><b>N </b>
By the time Xylia came to, a whole two hours had already flown by.
She shot upright in bed, still feeling half–asleep and totally out of it.
Joshua was already gone–Xylia had no clue when he’d slipped out.
Xylia pulled out her phone and found a message from Joshua waiting for her.
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[You looked totally out cold, so I didn’t wake you. Got a packed afternoon ahead, but if your studio isn’t busy, wanna grab dinner tonight?]
He’d even tacked on an absolutely adorable sticker at the end.
It was a silver–haired anime avatar with a big question mark floating over its head.
Xylia had never seen that anime character before, but it was uncannily simr to Joshua.
She texted back, “Sounds good.”
Joshua didn’t reply–he must have been busy.
Xylia freshened up a little and figured she’d use the spare time to just wander around the ce.
As soon as she stepped out of the office, she nearly bumped into a shy–looking womaning her way.
One of the secretaries was guiding her in, clearly ufortable, and said,
“Miss Sinir, Mr. Garcia is really in a meeting right now. He doesn’t have any time to see visitors…”
But before she could finish, the woman–Miss Sinir–stopped dead in her tracks.
She yanked off her sunsses and shot Xylia a re that could cut ss.
“Who the hell are you? Why are youing out of Joshua’s office?” she snapped.
Then she turned back to the secretary, her voice dripping with sarcasm. “Didn’t you just say Joshua was in a meeting? So who’s this chick?”
The secretary looked about ready to drop dead on the spot.
“That’s the boss’s future wife right there! Seriously, she just walked out of Mr. Garcia’s office, big deal or what?‘ the secretary griped inwardly, feeling absolutely stuck.
But she was way too scared to say any of that to Miss Sinir–what if the woman just snapped and pped her out of nowhere?
Honestly, it wasn’t even an exaggeration. Jessica Sinir could absolutely pull something wild like that.
The secretary was totally at a loss, her lips parting but no wordsing out.
Xylia quickly spoke up, “Joshua really is in a meeting right now…”
8:30 Thu, Sep 18 N
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Jessica snapped before Xylia could finish, her voice sharp and scornful. “Who are you to call Joshua by his name? Just who do you think you are?”
Xylia barely got a word out before Jessica cut her off, barking at her with obvious fury.
‘What’s with this woman?‘ Xylia frowned, sizing her up. ‘Is she trying to act like she’s got Hyperman Syndrome or something?‘
The secretaries watched nervously from the sidelines, none of them daring to step in.
Not a single one had the guts to interfere.
A junior assistant trailing behind Miss Sinir edged close to Xylia and murmured under her breath, “Ms. Sadler, that’s Miss Sinir over there–the one clinging to Mr. Garcia all these years.
Her family and Mr. Garcia’s were supposed to be joined by marriage ages ago, but that deal fell through. Still, Miss Sinir keeps popping up and causing Mr. Garcia endless drama…”
Even though she kept her voice low, Miss Sinir’s ears caught it anyway.
Without so much as a warning, Miss Sinir whipped her crocodile bag right at the junior assistant’s head.
The assistant squealed in pain.
Still fuming, Miss Sinir grabbed the junior assistant by the hair.
“You little bitch! I’m Joshua’s fiancée–that’s never changed! Who told you it’s off? Spread lies like that one more time and I’ll shut that big mouth of yours for good!” Jessica screamed.
Xylia quickly stepped forward and pushed Jessica aside.
Jessica still had a fistful of the assistant’s hair clutched in her hand.
The
poor assistant was in so much pain, tears instantly sprang to her eyes.