Chapter 56 - Lessons (1/2)

SHHHHHHHH! SHHHHHH!

Water fell like short rain cascading down her back. Mist filled the glass walls of the huge cubicle as she slowly rinsed the shampoo from her hair. Yanee's lean fingers massaged her scalp to help herself relax.

It was almost nine in the evening. She was back in her hotel room at Maison Pierre. She had finished the interview with the Li couple early and the couple took her out to dinner. It was quite a lovely evening with the small family, but Yanee still felt a little off from the interview. It was a good thing that the Li couple was really busy and so after eating, they did not linger.

Yanee returned to her room feeling restless and stuffy, and so she decided to take a shower. She also used this time to sort out things in her head. The hot water on her back made her body relax, and when she finally stepped out of the bathroom, she felt refreshed.

She crossed the room and sat on the bed. She wiped her hair with a towel, forgoing the usage of the blow dryer as it would damage her tresses. Glancing at the table, she saw her notes and decided to write some things she learned that day. When she finished, she frowned.

Er…

Yanee totally agreed that Ashley's and Alex's story was amazing. However, there was something that's bothering her. She smacked her lips together before biting the tip of her pen as she tried to figure out what exactly it was. She was in the midst of analyzing the problem when the screen on her phone lit up followed by vibration as a call came in.

Huh?

Yanee picked it up and was surprised to see the potato calling her.

”What does he want?” she wondered. They had just seen each other earlier in the day when Tohru took her to the airport. She wondered why he called now but then thought that there might have been some changes again that couldn't wait tomorrow.

”Yes, Boss?” Yanee answered.

In any case, it was a good thing that he called now so she could ask him what's been bothering her about the second interview. If she could finally get it off her ċhėst, then she might be able to stop being restless.

”Ms. Lee,” the familiar baritone spoke on the phone and Yanee couldn't help but shiver.

Since she had spent more time with him, it was easy for her to conjure his image in her mind. His voice sounded as if he was directly speaking to her ear. As to why she thought so, Yanee suddenly refused to dig deeper for the reason and focused on the task at hand.

”How was the second interview?” he asked casually and Yanee frowned a bit.

Did he call just for that? She was thinking there would be changes to her business trip plans it's why he called at night. Even if she's on a business trip, it's way past working hours. Besides, if there were no changes she'd be back in Tokyo tomorrow. He could have asked her then.

”It's fine,” she said and she told him the brief summary of the story.

”So it went well?” he prompted, but this time, she hesitated.

”Er…Yes, boss. It went well,” she answered finally.

Tohru James already told her that she was not doing the interview to write the stories of the couples as they were. She was told to just base their experiences and write them. Still, what's the use of doing the interview if that was the case?

”Yes, but? If it's all good then why are you troubled?”Tohru prompted, and Yanee was surprised to realize how sėnsɨtɨvė the potato was with her mood.

”Well…”

How did he know she was having trouble? She was amazed that she had a potato psychic for a boss.

”Actually it's not really 'trouble' per se,” Yanee explained. ”I just wonder why I have to do the interviews in the first place since I won't be writing their real stories.”

Even if Ash and Alex's story was indeed a type of romance that happened at the office at the beginning, it wasn't the case anymore with the story Ash told her.

”Ash and Alex did have an office type of romance,” Yanee said.

Ashley was the secretary of the CEO who came back from Europe to step in her father's shoes before he died. They met outside of work through a bet at a bar, but their romance started at work when the CEO saw that she was his secretary and pursued her. They did fall in love but it took three years for them to finally settle down their issues.

”But the one they told me was their trust issue before getting married,” she ended.

”Oh? What about trust?”Tohru asked and Yanee sighed as she lay on the bed.

”I mean about the relationship not working without trust,” she explained.

There was silence at the other end and Yanee wondered if the potato fell asleep in the middle of their conversation. But before she decided to say goodbye and hung up, her boss spoke again.

”Ms. Lee, when you did the first interview, what did you learn?”

Ynee frowned.

”You mean about Yunjae and Jinho's story?” she asked.

She had no idea why Tohru mentioned this, but she humored him. If this would help her with the project she had no issues discussing whatever. She stared at the ceiling as she tried to remember. Yunjae's story was a very emotional one. Still, now that she could think about it, if there was a specific word she could use to describe their story it would be…