Office Diaries

"Ami was the one who prepared your luggage so I don't know what's in them. But the boss said, if you miss something, just tell him and he'll happily get it for you."

Huh?

Yanee studied Chummy's face but didn't see anything amiss. It meant that she was telling the truth and was not messing with her. "Oh, no. There's no need. I'll check it and buy what's missing myself."

"Are you sure?" Chummy prompted.

"Yeah. In any case, if it's Ami who packed my suitcase then I'm sure she didn't miss anything." If ever, Yanee knew her sister would have packed more than she'd need. Ami was a worrywart. If there would be a problem, it would be the opposite. When her sister traveled, she'd bring the whole house if she could even for an overnight stay.

"I'm honestly even scared to see how big my luggage would be," Yanee confessed with a problematic expression, making Chummy laugh.

"Relax, I made sure she only filled the small luggage you always bring when you travel," her friend assured her.

Yanee, of course, felt worried now. "I'll just check it then. Where is it by the way?"

Chummy didn't have anything when she entered aside from the paper bag.

"It's just outside the door. I didn't know if you're already awake earlier so I didn't roll it in. Why don't you take a shower first and get changed? Boss said you can use the shower over there." Chummy pointed at the far side of the room where a small bathroom was. "There's shampoo, shower gel, and other things in the paper bag too. Boss said he only had the things he uses in the bathroom so there's nothing for girls there.  You can leave your bath stuff there so you have something you can use next time."

Eh?

"N-Next time?" Yanee choked out the question.

Why would there be a next time? She did use this room today. But it's not like she's planning to do that again in the future. She looked at Chummy as if she'd gone mad. But her friend returned her gaze, looking at her as if she's an idiot.

"Why are you so shocked? You're working on a project. There would be times like this you need to travel a lot and work a lot. Where can you have time or energy to go home and take a bath then? Also when editing starts you will practically be living here – or have you forgotten?"

Urgh…

Chummy's arguments were very logical. It seemed Yanee was the only one who was so conscious and panicked with the idea of staying, taking naps, and taking baths in the potato's room.

It's legitimate now. Yanee had to admit Tohru James more than bothered her sanity. But it must be because he's very good looking. She thought all girls would be similarly affected if they're in a close proximity with a very charming and attractive guy, right? Most especially if the same guy was so generous and thoughtful. If she were weaker emotionally, Yanee was so sure she'd have fallen in love with the guy already.

Thankfully, she wasn't. She believed that Tohru James was generally nice and kind to his people.

"What's wrong? Are you hungry?" Chummy asked worriedly.

"Yeah. I think I'm hungry. Do you want to go out and grab late lunch later?" she asked, but Chummy shook her head.

"I already ate. Boss took me out for lunch today because the cafeteria was packed," Chummy told her. "We couldn't wait to eat because we have new projects to distribute and deal with something problematic."

"Something problematic?" Yanee wondered what that was, but her brain lingered more on their boss taking Chummy out for lunch.

It just made it clear to her that her boss was indeed generally nice and kind. His generosity and thoughtfulness didn't mean anything special. He was naturally a Prince Charming to everyone. Yanee felt sad and relieved at the same time – sad because, for a moment, she almost misunderstood his flirting. But she was relieved because from here onwards, she knew how to deal with the unwanted attraction she was beginning to feel.

"Yeah problematic. Do you know Alinea? It's one of our popular series," Chummy complained with her eyes rolling on the ceiling.

Yanee smiled. She knew their popular works of course.

"What happened? Did the author have another panic attack and decided to hibernate?" she teased. It was very common though. The mentioned author was eccentric and loved to vanish from time to time.

"Worse. She said she can't take it anymore and cut off all communications with her editor after telling him she'll join a tribe up in the mountains. The poor guy's trying to hunt her down right at this moment."

Yanee laughed, but her laughter came out sounding forced. She still hadn't gotten over her other thoughts.

"Seriously, are you okay? You look like you're not fine at all," Chummy pressed as she scrutinized Yanee's face.

"I'm fine. I think I'm just developing allergic reactions."

That's right.

"Ha? Allergic reactions to what?" Chummy looked and sounded very worried.

"I'm developing severe allergic reactions to potato," Yanee deadpanned. "I need to remove it from my life."

"What? You can develop allergies from that? Then shouldn't you need more exposure to be immune?" Chummy suggested seriously that Yanee almost laughed.

But she didn't since she was not amused at all. She was serious. "I can't."

"Why not?" Chummy challenged. "My granny said you need to expose yourself little by little until your body gets used to it, no?"

"I can't,"Yanee repeated more firmly.  When Chummy raised her brows at her, she sighed. "The potato's charm is too potent. Very bad, bad, bad, bad. I'll go take a shower," she said as she bent to grab the paper bag and fled to the bathroom, leaving Chummy shocked.

On the other hand, as soon as Yanee disappeared in the bathroom, Chummy placed a hand to cover her mouth and laughed.

"Potato, huh?" she giggled.

At first, she really thought that Yanee had developed allergies to real potatoes and was worried. But then again, she realized that her friend wasn't talking about the potato as in the root crop potato but their boss.

Imagining Tohru James – the hunk emperor of Arcus Iris reduced to a mere potato in Yanee's eyes made her laugh as she got out of the sleeping quarters.

"What's up?"

Chummy looked up to see the potato – er their boss who was seated behind his desk, working, and she laughed again. It took a while before she's able to stop, but Tohru patiently waited for her to stop giggling.

"Yanee's taking a shower now," Chummy said with a grin as she bounced towards their boss' table. "Boss, boss, I have news for you."

The way she said with was very mischievous that Tohru's lips twitched into a smile. "Is it good or bad?"

"Both," Chummy countered playfully. "Which one do you want first?"

"I don't care. Spill," Tohru ordered curiously, and Chummy hurried to lean over and tattle.

"Boss, boss, I think Yanee has a crush on you," she whispered.

As expected, Tohru visibly perked up. "Really?" He grinned stupidly, before remembering that there was bad news as well and he inclined his head. "And the bad news?"

"She's not happy that she has a crush on you," Chummy reported, and Tohru scratched his head.

"How does that make sense?" he asked with a pout.

"It's Yanee, the president of the anti-office romance movement," Chummy answered with a shrug. "Expect a great resistance. Actually, since I think she just realized the fact that she likes you, she's still vulnerable."

"What does that mean?"Tohru asked as he scratched the side of his head again.

"It means this is your biggest chance to strike. Don't wait until she's able to sort her feelings and thoughts out, because if she does, you'll have a greater wall to scale. Her barriers will be tougher to break into." Knowing Yanee, she'd be thinking about how to do just that right at this moment in the shower.

"So, what do I do?"Tohru asked. "Yanee has an interview later."

"Why don't you switch your plans into confessing earlier, boss? I think that's more important. If you wait too long, it'll be more difficult for you," she suggested.

"I think so too," Tohru readily agreed. He fished out his phone and called Michael.

"Big bro, do you think you and Ria can move the interview for another day?" he asked and Chummy listened to her boss rearrange the meeting and told them the reason unashamedly.

Chummy had to smile at the super effort Tohru James was giving into this. She really felt happy for her friend to have someone who loved her enough to move the mountains. Well, at least that's how she could describe how their boss was pursuing Yanee.

Now, if only that stubborn little friend of hers would open her eyes and her heart to see how potent her darling potato really was, then it'd be great.