???
“Unnie…” Emily looked up as she watched a girl approach her.
The girl sat down on the bench beside her and took Emily’s hand in her’s.
“Unnie, mianhae.” She puckered her mouth.
The girl took out a hand towel from her bag and wiped Emily’s face and body with it. She took off her coat and handed it to Emily.
Emily watched the girl silently. Why was she helping her?.. she thought.
She carried her bag and stood on her feet.
“Unnie, annyeon.” The girl waved to her and walked away.
Emily hiccuped and looked down at the coat. Tears welled up in her eyes, she was grateful to the girl.
She stood up from the bench and wore the coat over her dress before taking a bus out of EWEI to the junction of her house or rather, the CEO’s villa.
Public transports weren’t allowed in the close. And if you were not with your pass, you couldn’t go in through the gates to the close. Only the extremely rich and famous lived there in the estate.
Emily showed the security officers her pass and walked in through the gates.
She sighed as she walked up the road to the villa. Soon enough, she got to the villa and walked straight into the lounge.
The guards watched her… why was paints all over her body… they shook the thought off… it wasn’t their business.
Emily dragged her feet up the stairs to her room. She washed the paints thoroughly off her body and headed downstairs.
She walked into the kitchen and took a bottle of wine. She didn’t know which wine she took, she just took the first one she saw and also took a wine glass before climbing up the steps to the dining room. She settled herself on a chair and poured herself some wine. She hastily gulped it down and slammed the wine on the table.
Yuck!.. It was so bitter. She grimaced.
Anyways, she didn’t care .. she just wanted to get herself drunk. Emily poured herself another wine and gulped it down.
Little Pumpkin had just woken up from his nap. He sat silently at the dining and watched his pretty noona poutily. Why was his pretty noona being like that … he had heard from someone that people drank alcohol either when they were sad or happy. But it seemed like his noona was sad… why was she sad.
A tear escaped from little Pumpkin’s eye. He sniffed and got down from the chair, he walked towards the landline and raised the receiver to his ear.
“So what about Washington DC?” Joel furrowed his brows.
“Boss, do you want to build it there?… in Washington DC?” Noah asked in astonishment.
“And what’s wrong with that?” Joel sneered.
He was about to say something when the telephone rang. It was from the villa.
Joel picked up the receiver and placed it on his ear.
“Kiddo.” He breathed out.
“Uncle JJ, you need to come home.” Little Pumpkin spoke up in his tiny voice.
“Wae?.. what happened?… are you okay?..” Joel arched up his brows.
“It’s noona.” Little Pumpkin pouted and stole a glance at Emily who was acting strange and funny to him. Why was she laughing… Little Pumpkin shuddered.
“Wae? what’s wrong with her? Joel widened his eyes.
“I don’t know… she’s acting strange.” Little Pumpkin pouted.
“I’ll soon be home okay.” Joel hastily dropped the call.
He stood up on his feet at once and walked out of the office. What was wrong with her again this time?… Joel bit his lower lip as he passed through his private backdoor exit with Noah trailing right after him.
Joel got in his car and stretched out his hand. Taking the cue, Noah hastily brought out the car key and handed it over to his boss.
Joel started the car and sped off.
After a while, he arrived at the villa and walked quickly into the lounge. He met Little Pumpkin sitting in an armchair.
“Little Pumpkin, where is she? What happened to her?” Joel asked at once.
Little Pumpkin looked up at his uncle and pointed towards the direction of the dining. Joel turned and walked up the steps to the dining, he looked up and stopped in his tracks. WTF?
She was drinking a bottle of Tequila Ley like what the exact fuck! Joel swallowed as he sat down beside Emily.
He picked up the bottle of wine from the table, it had almost finished. Wow!
“Emily, what’s wrong?” Joel sighed as he dropped the bottle of wine on the table.
“Huh?” Emily looked up and stared at the handsome god beside her.
“Uwa! It’s the handsome god.” Emily’s lips curled up in a cute smile.
“Awwn, he – is – so cute!” she belched.
Joel smiled as he watched her… Wowww! How he loved her drunken state.
Emily blinked her eyes rapidly and plastered her hands on Joel’s face. Joel arched up his brows.
“Soooooo cute!” Emily’s body lurched around.
Joel chuckled.
“But he is the CEO of Empire World Corporations.” Emily pouted and removed her hands from his face.
Little Pumpkin blinked rapidly as he watched his noona… didn’t his noona know that his uncle was cute before then…
“Little Pumpkin you should go to your room.” Joel smiled at his nephew.
Little Pumpkin pouted his mouth and walked to his room grudgingly.
After he was sure Little Pumpkin had entered his room and closed the door behind him, Joel turned back to face Emily.
“So?…” H stared at her intently.
“So, he is arrogant and wicked.” Emily huffed.
Joel’s eyes darkened. Was he really arrogant…
“Why did you say that?” He asked notwithstanding.
“Because… because… he has never treated me fairly before… he treats me like trash.” Emily puckered her mouth like she was going to cry any time soon.
Joel dimmed his eyes; she was right.
“Humph,” Emily muttered incoherently.
She placed her hands on the table and placed her head on them, staring silently at the arrogant CEO.
“I can’t even be his girlfriend and I can never be his wife .. and I really want to be his wife soooo bahhd??” Emily fluttered her eyelashes wearily.
Joel’s lips parted slightly as he stared at the girl, was he dreaming… Or was she saying those things because she was drunk?.. he swallowed.
“What about that guy that’s always with you?” He clenched his teeth as he awaited Emily’s reply.
“Nugu?.. my knight in shining armor?.. ahh..” Emily chuckled.
“He’s sooo sweet and caring.” Emily grinned dreamily.
Joel groaned inwardly. Why was she saying sweet things about another guy?.. But he tried his possible best to maintain his calm.
“Is he your boyfriend?” He cleared his throat uneasily.
★SNORES★
“Yah.” Joel patted Emily on her arm.
But she was already fast asleep.
Joel pressed his lips in a thin line and sighed. He stared at the girl for a while… He wished everything she had said were true.
He stood up on his feet and carried Emily in a bridal style up the stairs to her room.
After he had tucked her in, he sat down at the edge of the bed and watched her silently. Was he mean towards her? Joel pondered over it for a while, he was.
He slapped his forehead. He should change towards her.
Joel brought out the packet of cigarettes in his back pocket and lighted a stick with his cigarette lighter. He took a puff as he stared at Emily’s pulchritude, the girl was really beautiful.
He took another puff into his lung and exhaled through his nostrils.
“Hugh Hugh!” Emily coughed in her sleep.
Joel pursed his lips, the smoke from the cigarette was affecting her. He stubbed out the cigarette and stood up on his feet. He stared at Emily for a while and walked out of the room as silently as he could.
After taking a shower, he say on the couch and stared into space. Emily’s words replayed in his head.
Did she want to be his wife? He smiled. But then, he was being mean to her… He was going to change, for her.
???
Waking up with a banging headache, Emily exhaled softly through her mouth. She walked out of the room and dragged her feet down the stairs, her left hand plastered on her forehead. She walked straight to the kitchen and poured herself a cup of water. She gulped down the water and walked out of the kitchen, heading for the stairs.
“Yah!” Joel’s voice made her stop abruptly.
Emily rolled her eyes inwardly, she was too sick to be troubled by the arrogant CEO.
“Good morning CEO Joel.” She managed out of her mouth.
“Morning. Come here.” Joel stated.
Emily rolled her eyes mentally and walked to the three steps to the dining table.
“Sit,” Joel ordered.
Emily sat down.
“You drank a lot of alcohol yesterday so I prepared you this soup.” Joel’s lips twitched slightly.
“…” Emily went dumb for some seconds.
“CEO Joel” she called.
“Call me by my name.” Joel fluttered his eyelashes.
“…” Emily gulped.
Did the arrogant CEO told her to call him by his real… No, no, no. She was imagining things. She would go and see a doctor.
“CEO Joel …” She called again.
“Call me by my name.” Joel’s dark eyes were already turning red.
Did the girl not know simple instructions??….
“Huh?…” Emily couldn’t help but open her mouth wide.
“J-dg-… Jo-el..” Emily shut her eyes tight, expecting to be lashed with hurtful words.
Joel’s red eyes returned to their normal dark looks and he smiled.