The Boss's Secret Love

Late at night, Emily was sitting on an office chair, staring at the documents in her hands.

She wasn't alone in the office at this late hour; her boss sat on the other side of the table, working on his laptop. They had both been working on a project for the past few days, and if this project was approved by their investors, it was going to make a lot of money. So they had to work hard.

Emily always wondered, why was it always her? She didn't consider herself smart and didn't understand paperwork very well, so why did her boss always ask for her help? She was just his secretary, someone who had to take care of his calls, inform him of his meetings, or bring him coffee when he needed it. Then Why did he always involve her in this kind of work?

"Sir, it's done. I checked the documents, and there are no errors," Emily said, holding out the documents for Alex.

As she said it, Alex raised his head and looked directly into her eyes. Emily didn't know what to do, so she just smiled at him. However, her heart was beating fast in her chest. And why wouldn't it be? If someone as handsome as him stared at a girl, it would be hard for them to control their hearts.

"Okay, put the file here and go home. It's already late," he said casually as he went back to looking at his laptop.

Emily sighed quietly and put the documents on the table. "Okay, sir," she replied, getting her bag from the table and preparing to go home. She had decided that after going home, she would take a warm bath and then crawl under her blanket and sleep until 7 in the morning. Or perhaps she would take a day off tomorrow, as she had done so much work today.

"Okay, sir. I'll go now," Emily said, seeking his permission one more time.

"Yeah," he said without looking up from his laptop screen.

‘Though she is finished, he must still have more work to do,’ Emily thought, taking steps towards the office door. But as she was about to open the door, she heard Alex chuckling. She immediately turned around and saw him with a huge smile on his face as he watched the screen in front of him.

Emily was confused as to why he was smiling at the screen. 'Could it be that he had lost his mind due to the pressure of work?' She wondered.

She walked over to him and stood next to him, but Alex didn't yet notice her presence.

"What are you looking at?" Emily asked, placing her hand on the table and leaning over to check his laptop.

But as she watched what he was looking at, she was shocked. He was watching what? Videos? Videos of cute cats!!! Emily was truly shocked. A boss that everyone feared, who always acted arrogantly and didn't talk to anyone much, was watching something like this! Emily couldn't explain in words how shocked she was.

"Boss, this isn't good," Emily glared at Alex, trying to convey that she was truly angry at him.

Alex sighed and said, "So what do I do? I was getting bored, and there was nothing to do. You took all the work from me and did it all yourself. You didn't even let me tell you that those documents were the last that needed checking. I was almost finished with it, but then you took it away from me."

Emily was speechless. She knew why she had done it. She had wanted him to go home quickly. He had been working all day, and she was worried about him. She didn't want anything to happen to him because if it did, it would harm the company, and eventually she might lose her job. Okay, now she was overthinking. But what could she do? It was a habit of hers, and besides, she couldn't walk away when she knew she could help him.

Emily sighed and stood up straight. "Alright, stop lying to me now. I know you were tired of work, so you went to watch this. But don't worry; I won't tell anyone. You don't need to lie and say that I took all your work," she said and turned around to walk away, but only then did she feel a tug on her hand.

She turned her head and saw Alex holding her hand, a smile on his face. "Are you going home alone?" he asked.

Emily smiled at his question.

"Of course, it's not like my boss is nice enough to drive me home," she said, pouting, wondering if he would really give her a ride. But she already knew the answer. He didn't care about her enough to go that far for her. He was just going to laugh it off, just like he usually does with her other jokes.

"Alright then, how about I give you a lift to your home, and we have a drink to celebrate finishing the work?" he suggested.

Emily was dumbfounded. Did she hear it right? He really wanted to drive her home and also have a drink with her?

"Ah, sorry, boss, I'm not that kind of girl. You know I don't like drinking, dining, and…," she said, putting her hand on her chest and making another joke.

But this time, she could see that he wasn't in the mood for joking. He seemed somewhat serious about what he said just now.

"Then I'm not that kind of guy either, am I?" he asked with a half-serious and half-amusing face.

Emily shook her head immediately. "Of course not, sir. But stop joking with me at this time of night. I have to go home, and you're keeping your employee here so late. I won't get a cab if you keep holding my hand like that," she said, looking at her hand, which was still held in his.

Alex immediately let go of her hand and got up from his chair. "I'm not joking. Let me drive you home. It's not safe for you to go home alone at this time."

Emily was surprised. Was he really caring for her? Or was she dreaming? He doesn't act like this usually. But anyway, she couldn't let him drive her home. If he did so, she would have to invite him inside her house, and if he came inside her house, everything would be over for her. No, No, No! She couldn't let that happen. She couldn't let her boss see the mess she had made of her house.

"No, sir, you don't need to do that. You must be tired. You should go home and rest," Emily said, hoping he would listen to her.

"Why?" Alex asked, walking towards Emily, and she unconsciously took steps back. "Are you hiding something in your house? Perhaps a boyfriend?" He smiled.

Emily shook her head in disagreement and took a deep breath before saying, "Sir, when you let your employees have enough time to get a boyfriend, your work never ends. Most of your employees do overtime even when they don't want to," she said, looking in the other direction.

Alex shrugged, "So what? It's not like I don't give them extra money for it. And if they can't work, they can leave. I don't need employees who can't help when they are needed. There are many people who are trying hard to get a job here."

Emily's face shrank upon hearing that. Was he saying that to her too? Was he saying she should leave the job if she couldn't do the work? Of course, why wouldn't he? After all, he only cared about his work. He never cared about the people and their feelings who worked in his company day and night.

"Why are you doing this?" Emily asked, coming in front of Alex.

Alex made a face as he was confused about what Emily was asking about.

"How can you say that? Don't you need me anymore?" Emily asked, worried. Her job was important to her. How could he tell her to leave the job?

Alex looked at Emily with a confused face. "What are you saying? I don't understand it."

Emily patted her feet on the floor in annoyance and said, "You want me to leave this job because I can't do overtime? Of course I can do it! For the last six months, I have been doing it." Emily's face turned red, and tears started forming in the corner of her eyes.

Alex sighed. He reached out to Emily and gently cupped her face with his hands.

"I would never let that happen. Even if you ever want to leave this company, I won't let you," Alex said, looking into Emily's tearful eyes.

Emily looked back at the beautiful blue eyes and then blinked, trying not to shed the tears, which were already on the verge of falling.

Suddenly, Emily felt the hands that were cupping her cheeks move away, and instead, they landed on her waist before pulling her into a hug.

The hug was warm, soft, and comfortable. It made Emily want to close her eyes and stay there for a while, but then her mind wandered, thinking of why her boss was hugging her like that. Was he comforting her?

After a while, Emily chuckled and said, "Let me go; you are suffocating me." But even then, Alex didn't move his arms away from the little body he was holding in his arms.

"You are so small, Emily. It makes me want to protect you," Alex whispered in the air, but loud enough that Emily could hear the words in his breathing.

Unconsciously, Emily closed her eyes and didn't try to move away from him anymore.

Nearly five minutes later, when the hug broke, Emily's face was red as an apple, and they were both embarrassed. Emily was unable to look at Alex, and he was feeling a bit shy too.

'Just when have things gone like this between them?' Emily thought.

"I should go, sir," Emily said, taking her steps away from him but being stopped by him once again.

As soon as Alex grabbed Emily's hands to stop her, he let it go. "I said I would drive you home, so I will," Alex stated. He then opened the door of the office and walked out without letting Emily say anything.

Behind him, Emily took her leave. However, regardless of what happened, she wasn't going to let him come into her house. She didn't want him to see how her things in the house were scattered everywhere. But then again, it was all his fault, as he gave her so much work that she didn't get any time to take care of her house.

After driving for twenty minutes, they reached Emily's house, and the car stopped.

Emily quickly got out of the car and closed the door behind her.

"Goodnight, sir. See you tomorrow," she said and turned around before quickly walking away. She didn't wait for a response from Alex. All she wanted was to get into her house and close the door so he wouldn't come inside. However, when she reached the steps of her house, she heard the car door opening and then slamming shut.

"Emily," Alex called out.

Emily immediately stopped in her tracks.

"I'm tired. I don't have time to drink, so let's meet tomorrow," Emily said, drops of sweat breaking out on her forehead.

"Goodnight," Alex said back.

Emily didn't expect this response.

She turned around and saw Alex looking right back at her with a sad expression drawn on his face.

"Oh. G-good night," she stuttered.

For a moment, they both kept looking at each other until Alex opened his car door and sat inside before driving away.

Though Alex wasn't there anymore, Emily was still standing there, staring at the place where Alex was standing a while ago.

"This man…" she sighed. "Bothering me more and more every day." She opened the door to her house and entered inside. "But he is a nice person." She smiled to herself.