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Ken cleared his throat softly as his footsteps reached Gabriella's desk. It had been several hours since he had refrained from speaking to Gabriella, explaining the truth about his relationship with Stefani that had fallen apart and could only happen after their meeting.


Gabriella looked up after taking her eyes off the laptop. "Hm?"

"There's something I want to talk about."

"Ooh, okay. What is it?"


The man pulled out the chair in front of Gabriella, and sat down very carefully. Ken pursed his lips for a moment, before finally mumbling and starting to express the unrest that had been bothering him.

"That one this morning... Stefani's her name. She's my ex." Gabriella nodded her head and looked at Ken with an oh-okay-so-what expression? "I broke up with her not too long ago, but I really ended things with her and-"


"So the point is?" interrupted Gabriella impatiently.

Ken raised both eyebrows, flinching slightly at not expecting Gabriella to be that impatient. He then nodded and massaged his temples, which were suddenly itchy from his own nervousness. "I just want to explain to you because I'm afraid you'll misunderstand."

"..."

"..."

Ken and Gabriella met gazes in silence for a few moments, before finally the woman with long black hair flowing down her back said, "I don't think what you just said has anything to do with me. It's like... it's not important to me," she said to the point. "So, I can continue my work, right?"

"Hm, you can." Checkmate! Gabriella didn't seem to care about him at all, just like any other day. Ken pretended to look at the clock on his left hand, when she had already taken her eyes off him and was busy with her laptop screen again. "But it's break time in fifteen minutes, if you're done with your work, you can take a break first."

"I'll take a break when it's time," Gabriella said briefly.

"Hm, OK... I'll leave first then."

"Hm."

The man's brow furrowed when he saw Gabriella's very casual response to him. They were already quite close, but Ken's feelings said otherwise. There was a high wall between the two of them, a high wall that Gabriella had deliberately built to protect herself from the hurt that could be created at any time.

Ken's tall body was about to turn around, leaving Gabriella who chose to sit at one of the customer tables to do her work. But then, a voice made him turn.

"Gabriella!"

The voice wasn't calling his name, but still Ken couldn't help but feel curious there. He turned around and watched as an unknown man ran up to Gabriella with enthusiasm. Surprisingly, Gabriella also waved and developed a big smile for the man. Who was he?

"How come you're here? Want some lunch?" Gabriella asked Glen who had now appeared in front of her.

Glen shrugged his shoulders and said, "Yes, I see you here again. Do you want to have lunch here too?"

But the woman with long hair that was deliberately left loose looked at Ken who seemed to be still observing Glen with a probing expression, before finally saying, "I work here starting today," and turned back to Glen. "But it's time for a break. Why don't we order some food first?"

Ken looked over quickly and furrowed his brow in surprise.

"Okay, do you want my treat?"

Ken cleared his throat as neither Gabriella nor Glen paid any attention to his words there, making it seem as if he was not considered there. "Elle, your break time is still fifteen minutes away."

Gabriella looked up to see Ken, as did Glen who seemed to have just realized Ken's existence between the two of them. "Can't I take a break first if the work is done? Incidentally, I just finished sending an email to you about the proposal plan I'm working on. You can check it," Gabriella said and got up from her chair. She looked at Glen and smiled a little. "You wait here for a while while you take care of my laptop, I want to go there first to get a menu book for you."

"Okay."

The man in the greenish shirt was now looking at Glen, while crossing his arms over his chest, Ken asked a question. "Who are you, a friend?"

Glen looked over, while Gabriella had gone to get the menu for him. "What does she have to do with you?"

"I'm the boss, I'm obligated to know what my employees' personal relationships are like," Ken said in a stern, contrived manner. Ken's slanted eyes glared sarcastically, scrutinizing Glen's body from head to toe with curiosity. "You seem to be quite close."

"Indeed."

"I reminded you that-"

"Here." Gabriella's sudden voice made Ken reluctant to continue. Ken watched her, her seemingly effortless movements convincing him that there was something between the two of them. "Sit down, Glen."

Ken raised both eyebrows. He thought to himself, "Oh, his name is Glen. Who is Gabriella, really? She just took the menu book."

As if lost in the wind, Glen and Gabriella started chatting about the food they were going to order, while Ken was left in silence. Ken continued to frown as he saw Gabriella looking comfortable with Glen, while she continued to be cold and rude to him.

At this rate, I might lose my bet to Harry!

"Elle, have you made an update schedule for the restaurant's Instagram?"

Gabriella looked up and nodded. "I did. It's in the email."

"The content?"

"Already done."

Ken chuckled, then continued, "Did you check our social media insights before?"

The woman now sitting next to Glen let out a long sigh as she said, "All my work for today is done, Ken. After lunch, I want to start working on the design for the restaurant's website, but can't I take a break?"

Again Ken was checkmate by Gabriella. He pursed his lips and gave Glen a disapproving look as the man grinned winningly in his chair.

"So, what do you want to order, Elle? I'm paying for all your meals today."

"I can pay for your food for a month, Elle," Ken chimed in. "You can also pay for a year if you want."

Gabriella looked at Ken and frowned. She couldn't understand why Ken hadn't moved from his spot and was bothering her with Glen. She closed the menu book and crossed her arms over her chest. "You have nothing to do that you have to join me and my friend?"

Ken saw Gabriella's cold stare and decided to turn around. Inevitably, Ken finally left the woman he was eyeing with another man. From a distance, Ken saw the comfort shown by Gabriella during the woman's interaction with Glen.

"Damn, is that Gabriella's boyfriend? At this rate, she'll reject me outright and I'll lose the bet." Ken clenched his fists and muttered. "I need to get that guy away from Elle as soon as possible."

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