Chapter 702

"Yo, Mr. Eilish, we're here," the driver said.

Mira didn't wanna leave. Moments like this? Rare as a unicorn sighting. She wished she could hang out with him a bit longer. Even a few more seconds would be awesome.

But sticking around wouldn't be cool.

"Well, Mr. Eilish, I'm gonna head back now," Mira said.

"Good night," Anthony replied.

But Mira just sat there, her hand creeping towards the car door like it was in slow-mo.

"Mira," Anthony called out.

"Mr. Eilish, what's up?" Mira whipped her head around, eyes all hopeful. Was he gonna ask her to stay?

The sparkle in her eyes made Anthony hesitate. What was she hoping for?

Anthony just said, all chill, "Send me tomorrow's schedule when you get back."

Ugh, work again.

Mira's eyes lost their shine, and her hopeful smile froze. Total letdown.

But hey, it was just her wishful thinking.

"Okay, Mr. Eilish," Mira replied, then slowly pushed open the door.

The driver peeked at her through the rearview mirror, thinking, 'Mira's so not wanting to leave, it's written all over her face. Can Mr. Eilish see it?'

But Anthony didn't notice. Or more like, he didn't care. His mind was somewhere else, totally occupied. Plus, he didn't get women much.

Mira knew she shouldn't expect anything, but she still moved like a snail, putting one foot out of the car.

"Mr. Eilish, wanna come up for a cup of coffee?" Mira asked, summoning every ounce of courage, her heart pounding.

Her fingers clenched tight, nails digging into her palms.

She knew asking this made her look desperate, but who knew when she'd get another shot to be alone with him? She didn't wanna blow it.

So she thickened her skin and asked, her face and ears burning.

"My friend just brought some killer black coffee from abroad. You love black coffee, right? So..."

The more she talked, the guiltier she felt.

Mira's face and heart were on fire.

Anthony frowned a bit. A woman inviting a guy upstairs usually meant...

But he wasn't a relationship expert, so maybe he was overthinking. Mira wasn't that kinda girl.

He shook his head.

Mira felt like she'd been slapped. Getting turned down after that invite? Ouch.

"Good night, Mr. Eilish." She tried to play it cool but bolted without looking back.

She dashed into the elevator, staring at her flushed reflection in the mirror, trembling.

'Is this how I looked just now? My red face gave everything away!' she thought.

Without thinking, she slapped herself and muttered, "Mira, you idiot!"

'Aren't you just trying to stay close to him? Why'd you make such a desperate move? You knew he'd say no. Are you nuts?' she scolded herself.

Mira knew that to stay by his side, she needed to be professional and different from other women, not drooling over him. But she...

Mira felt like crawling into a hole.

That night, she couldn't sleep, replaying Anthony's rejection over and over, making her wanna cry and disappear.

She dreaded getting a termination notice the next day at work.

She walked into the office with a heavy heart.

As soon as she stepped in, she felt Juniper's eyes on her, watching her every move.

'I can't let anything show,' Mira thought, straightening up even more.

But inside, she was a mess.

Back at her desk, she couldn't sit still.

"Mira?" Terry called her a few times before she snapped out of it. "Why are you zoning out again?"

"Sorry, Terry, I..." Mira stammered.

Was Terry here to fire her?

Her heart pounded.

"Are you free tomorrow?" Terry asked.

Was this about her resignation? Mira's anxiety spiked, her face going pale. "I..."

But Terry said, "You need to go with Anthony on a business trip to Aikosta."

"A business trip?"

"Yeah," Terry explained. "I was supposed to go with Mr. Eilish, but I can't get out of a meeting here. You go instead. It's three days. Juniper will cover your work."

"Okay."

Mira's heart raced with excitement. Three days alone with Anthony, no Juniper in sight.

But then she worried about last night. What if Anthony thought badly of her?

When she went in to submit her report, she mentioned, "Mr. Eilish, Terry said I'm going with you to Aikosta tomorrow..."

She wanted to see his reaction.

But Anthony was his usual self. He just nodded and kept working.

It seemed like he didn't care about last night. Mira secretly sighed in relief.

'Maybe I'm overthinking it,' she thought. 'Or is he pretending? Does he actually hate me?'

That thought hurt like a knife.

But she forced herself to stop guessing. 'Don't think about it. It'll drive you crazy. Just focus on work.'

Going on a business trip with Anthony made her super excited. Usually, the chief secretary went, not her. This was a rare chance.

'Is this a sign from the universe? I'm so stoked,' Mira thought.

She dumped a pile of documents on Juniper's desk and said, "I'm going on a business trip with Mr. Eilish for three days. These are for you."

It was a huge stack.

Juniper flipped through them. They were a mess.

And...

"This info has always been your job," Juniper said. "You should at least do half so I know how to continue. Plus, the rest are all your tasks. I'm not familiar with them. This one isn't needed until next month, and you're only gone for three days."

'She's dumping nearly a month's worth of work on me, expecting me to finish it in three days. Is this a joke?' Juniper thought.

"If you can't handle it, quit. Don't make excuses," Mira mocked.

"This isn't an excuse, it's a fact. You're targeting me," Juniper shot back.

"Only losers blame others for targeting them. Winners just get the job done. When I started here, my workload was a hundred times more than yours, but I still did it. If you can't handle it, don't drag us down," Mira snapped.

Juniper was speechless, thinking, 'She's making things hard for me and then saying I'm dragging us down. Who's really the problem here? Using work to mess with me, is this what they call professionalism? Ridiculous.'

Juniper was getting more and more fed up with Mira.

"I'm going on a business trip with Mr. Eilish," Mira bragged. "The company's in your hands for the next few days. If you mess up, be ready to face the music."

With that, Mira strutted away.