Chapter 683

Juniper's voice had a bit of a shake to it.

"Hey, you busy?" Anthony's voice was like velvet over the phone, smoother than usual.

Juniper's heart did a little flip. "Nah, what's up?"

There was a pause. "Not much, just thought... if you got a sec..."

He was talking slow, and Juniper felt her heartbeat slow down too. Her throat was dry, and his voice had her all tied up in knots.

She was shaking like a leaf, feeling like a teenager again.

She held her breath, waiting for him to go on.

Just when she was lost in her thoughts, a loud noise shattered the silence.

Then came the sound of a bowl breaking.

"Oh no! Babe, I broke the bowl!" Ronnie's panicked voice came from the kitchen.

Anthony quickly said, "It's cool. Sorry to bother you."

"Anthony..."

The call ended.

Juniper felt a wave of panic.

'What was he gonna say? Damn it, Ronnie! He was about to say something important,' she thought.

Ronnie yelled again, "Babe, I broke the bowl!"

Juniper gritted her teeth and rushed to the kitchen, seeing two of her favorite bowls from the supermarket smashed to pieces.

"Ronnie, I'm gonna kill you!" She raised her hand, ready to smack him.

Ronnie defended himself, "Not my fault! The bowls attacked first. No, they committed suicide."

"Are you serious? I told you not to touch them, but you just had to. Why are you so annoying? Shouldn't have let you stay for dinner. You're just bad luck," Juniper snapped.

Ronnie whined, "Is it really that big of a deal to break two bowls?"

She was clearly taking out her phone call frustration on him.

Juniper really wanted to know what Anthony was gonna say, but Ronnie had messed it up.

"What's wrong?" Ronnie asked, sensing her mood.

"Nothing. Shouldn't I be mad about the bowls? I've told you a million times not to mess with them, but you just had to..."

"I'll buy you two better ones, okay?" Ronnie tried to calm her down with a smile. "It's my first time washing dishes, can't you cut me some slack? Alright, how about this, like we agreed before, I'll let you kiss me to make up for it, okay?"

"Get out of my sight right now!" Juniper shouted.

Even after a shower, Juniper was still fuming. She hesitated with her phone, wondering if she should call back to see what he wanted to say.

Missing that call felt like missing out on something huge, maybe even life-changing.

Okay, maybe that was a bit dramatic.

But she really felt he had something important to say.

'Am I overthinking this? Girls tend to overthink. Maybe he just wanted to talk about work. But why did he hang up so fast? Was it because he heard Ronnie? Is he jealous or mad?' she wondered.

"Why are guys so hard to figure out?" Juniper groaned, rolling around on her bed in frustration.

Love really knew how to mess with people!

Meanwhile...

Anthony stood in his office, staring out the window. His tall, lean figure in a white shirt looked so lonely.

His heart was still heavy from that call.

After wrestling with his thoughts, Anthony finally caved and called Juniper, planning to ask her out for dinner. But then he heard Ronnie's voice.

She cooked for Ronnie, and Ronnie did the dishes?

Hugging, picking each other up from work, holding hands at the office-everything pointed to them being a couple. Anthony thought they were together, but a part of him still hoped it wasn't true.

But Juniper was already cooking for Ronnie. They might even be living together.

That changed everything.

It felt like a punch to the gut.

Anthony's heart ached, laced with a bit of bitterness.

Turns out, Juniper wasn't just hanging on to him; she could be with other guys too. She didn't just cook for him; she did it for others as well.

Comparing didn't make sense and didn't mean she was easy. They were a couple now, while he and Juniper had nothing, no destiny.

For Anthony, hitting on someone who already had a boyfriend was a no-go, and it was clearly a dead end. Up to now, it was just one blow after another, making him realize how pathetic he was.

He had struggled before, but now he should be crystal clear.

He met Juniper first, but he didn't hold on to her. So from now on, he should let go.

He sternly told himself, 'Anthony, it's over. Move on.'

That night, Anthony barely slept, and Juniper tossed and turned. Her mind kept wondering what Anthony wanted to say. She had several dreams, the last one being the most vivid. She dreamt that Anthony confessed to her, slowly saying...

"I just wanted to... if you have time... I want to tell you..." He cupped her face, looking deeply into her eyes, and said in the softest voice, "I just want to tell you, I like you, Juniper. Be with me, and I will cherish you."

Juniper woke up to find it was just a dream, feeling both let down and annoyed.

She ruffled her hair in frustration, blaming herself for being so weak.

'Haven't I already decided not to like him anymore? Why am I having these dreams that mess with my head? Other people's boyfriends are off-limits. Not only can I not touch them, but I can't even think about them. Juniper, get a grip, or just quit,' she thought.

Before heading to work, she kept reminding herself, but once she got to the office, her eyes couldn't help but drift towards Anthony's office, totally out of her control.

'It's 8:30, and he's not here. It's 9:00, and he's still not here. What did he want to say yesterday?' she wondered.

Juniper was all over the place.

Suddenly, a stack of documents was slammed in front of her.

"How did you do this? It's a mess!" Mira frowned, her face stern as she questioned.

Juniper frowned too.

Mira scolded, "A secretary's job is not to be daydreaming!"

Juniper admitted she was a bit distracted, which was her fault. But there was no way the documents were wrong. Even if she was distracted, she always double-checked before submitting them.

So she didn't even need to look through the documents to know that Mira was just picking on her.

Juniper looked up at Mira, her gaze cold and indifferent. "So, can you tell me what's wrong with my report?"