With a slight chuckle, she rubbed the little puppy's fluffy coat. "I'll name you Des. It suits you."

As if trying the name out, she gently called, "Des?"

As if understanding that it was his new name, the puppy stuck out his tongue adorably, climbing onto her arm to ask for pats.

She happily scratched it gently behind its neck. "You like it right? I like it too."

She was just about to settle down and start working when she recalled Desmond's description of her the day before.

"She is… Beautiful… Hilariously snarky when she is irritated but gentle when she should be. Hardworking, treasures friendships…"

Her gaze narrowed dangerously. Was that his evaluation of her? Her lips pursed as she shot a look in the direction of his office. Do you think I'm snarky? I'll show you the real meaning of 'snarky.'

Because she didn't have a pet before, she didn't have toys either. She thought about it for a while before taking out a fluffy pom-pom keychain. It was in the shape of a sleeping kitten and took out the key ring. She put the puppy back into his crate and placed the key chain inside as a temporary toy. She sighed in relief when the little fluff ball pounced on the 'kitten' and started playing.

Finally checking the emails in her inbox, she was not surprised to find several of them from Alex Cooper, apologizing to her and Desmond and asking for a second chance for his daughter.

If it were up to her, she would have directly marked them as spam, but since the Coopers seemed to be in a good relationship with Desmond, she filtered out the emails and sent the ones that contained relevant content to him.

She then went to deliver some files to him. "Contracts and proposals for you to approve and sign." She placed the small stack on his desk.

While he flipped through the first one, she asked? "Do you think the company should accept more interns? There are tons of requests."

"How many interns are there at the moment?" He asked indifferently.

"Five."

"What would you have done if it were up to you?" He didn't need to think it through, but he wanted to know her opinion of it.

"I would check out for any outstanding ones. If their work is as good as their academic records, I would straight up offer them a job soon after their graduation."

He did not flinch, so she added, "This will not degrade the company's status. It will only give you the first chance to scout excellent employees."

If they waited until those smart interns got into the real business world and many companies started scouting them, it would be harder to get them into Preston and Fort Group, as they would ask for more outrageous terms.

"I'll leave it up to you, then." He said dismissively.

"Okay." She was getting used to his dismissive way of leaving important decisions up to her, so this was not surprising.

"I need my morning coffee. Add sugar and cream." He said before she could leave.

"Okay."

He returned to work, but it only took a minute for him to realize that she was still standing in front of him. He looked up with a slightly raised eyebrow. "Mmh?"

"Sir, can I say something?" She asked, her voice lowering slightly because of the risk she was about to take.

"I'm listening." He paused what he was doing and paid attention to her.

Seeing that he was ready to listen, she was more confident to speak up. "I think you should decrease your caffeine intake. You take too much coffee every day and it will affect your health later."

He remained silent, and she almost thought she had overstepped her boundaries.

"I'm…"

"Sweetie, are you worried about me?" He interrupted her apology, his voice deepening as his blue eyes gazed at her like they were on fire.

A frown quickly formed on her face. "It's only normal for an employee to be worried about their superior."

In response to her words, a deep smile appeared on his lips. "Babe, you don't have to be shy about it."

"What the heck did you just call me?" She glared at him ferociously.

He shrugged innocently. "Zaria. Isn't that your name?"

She raised an eyebrow to imply that she would not be fooled. She had clearly heard what he had called her. However, she chose to ignore it since blowing up the fuse would not work in her favor.

Seeing as she was still displeased, he smiled even more seductively. "Are you displeased? If you are, call me "babe" once and we will be even."

"May I leave now?" She asked seriously, and he let her go with a laugh.

He threw his head back and laughed heartily when she left. Why was it so entertaining to tease his assistant?

…

After a meeting with the company's top management, Desmond found a topic to discuss with Zaria, who was trying to keep her distance behind him. "How are you getting along with the puppy?"

She stopped at the door of her office. Work was a little difficult today, especially when the little fluff ball kept whining for attention every time she had to leave the office. It was almost like she was taking care of a baby.

Still, Des was so adorable that she smiled just thinking about it. "Quite well. Why?"

"Nothing. I need a coffee." He made his way to his office.

"Okay." She shrugged. This was the fifth cup he had asked for this morning. It was almost as though he was doing it to rile her up.

The next time he asked for coffee was a mere thirty minutes later, and she delivered it before she got back to work and made a phone call.

"Hello, I would like to order something."

___

Later in the afternoon.

Desmond glanced at the black gadget that was now in his office and frowned as he turned to look at the woman who had just brought it. "What's the meaning of this?"

She finished up the installation and opened the box containing a packet of ground coffee beans. Satisfied after running a test on it, she stepped aside as if she had accomplished a nerve-wracking mission. "That's a coffee machine. I saw a similar one in your mansion, so I'm sure you know how to use it. You're welcome!"

When she was done, she sauntered out of his office, making him grin at her courage. She was becoming more and more audacious around him.

…

That evening.

Zaria was about to get to her car when Liam stopped in front of her.

"Do you need a ride home?" He asked as he pointed at his car.

"Thanks but no thanks. My car is in perfect condition." It was almost baffling how much they wanted to give her a ride despite knowing that she had a car.

"How about grabbing a cup of coffee together?" He suggested when he saw that she was about to leave.

"No thanks. I have a date." She blurted. She didn't intend on spending even a single extra minute with him unless he had something reasonable to talk to her about.

The man frowned when he heard her words, then he guffawed. "Date? Last I checked, you didn't have a boyfriend."

"It's none of your business." She shrugged. In the next second, she reached into the backseat of her car that was parked nearby and took out the crate where Des was still playing with his make-do toy. "Besides, who is to say that I don't have a new boyfriend?"

"That…" Liam coughed furiously. Wasn't this the dog that Desmond insisted on adopting this morning? Don't tell him it was for Zaria?

No wonder he had found it strange that he didn't see the dog all day.

…

A few minutes earlier.

Desmond was answering a call outside the building as he waited for Zaria so he would ask her out for dinner.

When his call ended, he turned just in time to see Liam standing in her way. He wasn't that far from them, so he heard the man ask whether she wanted a ride.

Zaria's responses were as hilarious as ever. She didn't care to be polite even when the man used a calmer approach.

He was just about to gloat in his friend's misfortune when he heard her response. "I have a date."

A date?! Zaria had a boyfriend?!

Was it that man who always wanted to stick around her—the one whose name was Ryan?

Swallowing a gulp, his hands uncontrollably balled into fists at his sides and he had the sudden urge to destroy something.

Before he could fully register his bizarre feelings, he saw her reach into her car and take out her 'date.'

So the so-called date was the puppy. He was relieved, remembering that she indeed needed to make living arrangements for the puppy. However, why was he still displeased? Why did it suddenly feel like he had just bought himself a rival?