Chapter 79 - Origami Crane (1/2)

An hour passed and Olivia clutched on her pillow as she tossed and turned in her bed, vexed that the three thousand dollar furniture couldn't make her fall asleep.

”I'm f*cked,” she cursed as she sprang up, combing her hair with her hand.

Annoyed and disappointed at herself, she stood up and looked far out of the window to clear her mind but was instead left wondering if the moving lights from the sea was the ship that Maxen was on.

Walking out of her bedroom, she grabbed her fluffy robe and covered herself. She dragged her feet from her penthouse suite down to her apartment, lying belly down on the bed that she shared with Maxen.

”What's wrong with me?” she uttered and buried her face on the pillow, baffled at the wrenching pain in her c.h.e.s.t. She lifted her head and faced the empty side of the bed, a tear falling from her eyes.

She never was a clingy person, and she didn't want such a person near her too.

She knew that people didn't like others' constant and visible presence, yet here she was, silently praying for the days to fly as she looked forward to the day Maxen would annoy her again with his immaturity.

Soothing Maxen's side of the bed, she ran her hands over the spot, warming it with her touch in his absence. Soon enough Olivia finally succ.u.mbed to the darkness of the night and fell asleep.

Up in Olivia's penthouse suite the next morning, Yana went the extra mile and prepared a birthday breakfast special for Olivia: Longevity noodles to represent her Asian side and a stack of matcha pancakes garnished with fluffy coconut cream and blood-red pomegranate seeds.

Meanwhile, in the living room, Secretary Gail busied herself and arranged all the flower arrangements that her clients, Emily, and Eli sent to Olivia, greeting her a happy birthday.

A ringing phone replaced the silence and stole Secretary Gail's attention.

”Good morning, President. Hap—.” She nodded her head whilst gathering the stack of doc.u.ments on the coffee table. ”I will bring it over right away.”

She glanced at Yana over the dining area and waved her hand to get the latter's attention. ”Let's go downstairs, Yana. Let me help you with carrying those.”

”Ok. Oh, wait.” She held a finger up in the air. ”I have a trolley that I borrowed with Baldy last night. Let's use that.”

”Baldy?” Secretary Gail c.o.c.ked an eyebrow.

”Yes, Jack the Baldy.” Yana giggled, walking towards the kitchen to get the brass trolley which she forced Jack to lend her. She knew it would come in handy and now she almost patted herself on the back, proud that and she was right.

Using the elevator, Secretary Gail and Yana found themselves in Olivia's apartment. To their surprise, they could not see a shadow of Maxen.

Yana eyed the plates of dishes on the trolley that came in pairs, which she prepared and got a little sad that Olivia would eat breakfast alone on her birthday.

Huffing, she decided to just arrange food good for one. With one last look, she made sure the number of pancakes were even and two rolls of noodles were in the bowl before she delivered the food on the table.

Seeing the lovely breakfast spread, Olivia smiled at Yana as she splayed a napkin on her l.a.p. ”Thank you, Yana. This looks divine.”

One, two, three, four bites. Yana counted.

”Mmmm, delicious too.” Olivia nodded her head towards Yana. ”Do you plan to take formal cooking classes on the side to hone your skills?” she asked Yana as she gobbled up her food.

Yana wrung her hands together and squinted, carefully thinking Olivia's words over.

”It's ok, Miss Olivia. I've used to work under different chefs before, so I picked up a few of their techniques. I'm saving up for my uni tuition fee. I wanted to enroll for their night school program and get a degree in business.”

”Okay. If that is something that you are passionate about then go for it.”

”Haha! I'm not passionate about it, Miss Olivia. I just want to earn a little and live a comfortable life,” she sheepishly admitted.

”Best of luck to you then.” Smiling at Yana's innocence, Olivia went on and finished her food.

How could she tell the little lass of the hardsh.i.p.s of running a business? It would only dissuade Yana when she hadn't started her lessons yet.