Chapter 6 - Ultimatum (1/2)

Friggin' awful romance…

Yanee trudged the hallway towards the office where the rest of the editors of the literary department were.

”Oh, you're the new ȧssistant?” a guy asked good-naturedly, going over Yanee with interest in his eyes.

He was a fairly good looking young man and looked decent. But Yanee was totally not interested in an office affair, and so, she ignored the undertones he was sending her.

”Yes, I am. I came with work,” she said politely as she handed the documents over, and other people came towards her for a look.

Among the crowd, there were others she didn't recognize. They were probably from Niji International as well who came here with Tohru James.

”Oh, you're the lucky lady working with the boss,” the girls commented as they too ȧssessed her. There was obvious envy in the way they delivered their words.

Yanee fought hard not to roll her eyes. She already knew her boss was very popular with the opposite sėx and thus aware she would be subjected to uncalled for evaluation such as this.

”I'm the new ȧssistant starting today, yes,” she answered with cold politeness that warned the others she wouldn't take other remarks from them.

Understanding this, the others seemed to back off. The company didn't have any tolerance for any office disputes, and they'd risk being sacked if they turned antagonistic, most especially towards Tohru James' ȧssistant. The latter was famous for sacking people so easily if they did so much as breathed gossip in the workplace.

It was a fact everyone seemed to remember and so the heavy atmosphere lifted as they tried to be friendly.

”I heard you'll be working on a romance series to revive the romance department,” one girl volunteered information, and Yanee tried hard to smile.

Under the literary department, of course, were different genres and each one had its own department as well. Since romance was not doing well in the company, it's what Tohru James decided to handle. It was also the cause of Yanee's depression.

Could you imagine falling in love with a real guy after reading too many handsome, sėxy, rich men that were loyal and crazy about the female leads most of the time? That's a totally difficult feat. All those romantic nonsense in women's heads made them yearn for unrealistic things, therefore, ended up being alone.

For instance, her sister.

Ami's already thirty years old and her parents were pressuring her to marry. But Yanee's sister wouldn't since she was determined to find her Prince Charming and marry only him.

Yanee snorted at the memory of her geek sister. In short, if their parents were looking for grandchildren, they'd better not look at her sister – not that Yanee had planned on giving them those either. If her sister overflowed with romantic ideas, Yanee had a shortage of them. She had become too cynical over the years for some romance.

The culprit?

Yanee slightly frowned. She didn't even want to think about the reason why she's allergic to falling in love most especially at work anymore. It was a history that was better off buried. She had decided to move on and become successful. That was her priority.

The people thought her frown was because of the huge task ahead of her, and they started giving her comforting words which were funny because they seemed to be prepared to provoke her over her boss earlier.

Well, they might have sensed her cold-heartedness and disinterest towards the boss and decided she was no competition.

”Don't worry. We heard you were from the lifestyle magazine department before. If you need help, just come to us and we'll try to help you out,” they offered, and Yanee was not able to do anything but smile and accept their goodwill.

The herculean task to revive the romance department hung on her head, and Yanee had never felt such pressure on her shoulders. It was really different when you're not a fan of what you did. If you liked your job, there was nothing difficult about it. But if you hated it, then that's totally horrible. One could never excel on something he despised. If his heart's not in it, he would fail.

”Have you finished endorsing those projects?” Tohru James asked as soon as she returned to his office.

”Yes, sir. I was able to delegate the projects to everyone without problems,” Yanee answered mechanically as she dragged herself back towards his desk.

”Why do you look like that then?” he suddenly asked, surprising Yanee.

She wondered how she looked as she touched her face. ”Look like what, sir?”

”Like you just came from a funeral,” Tohru James commented, and Yanee wanted to cry.