The next day.

At the Wood International Headquarters.

​​

Zara sat in front of her laptop looking at Ceon's job application which had his email and the phone number.

She contemplated whether to call Ceon or not thinking about the unresolved questions about herself and about the relationships.

'Am I overestimating myself?' She asked herself if she was capable of really getting along with strangers.

Convincing herself, she checked the rest of the job application. Those applicants' qualifications and Ceon's qualifications had vast differences and she didn't want such a highly qualified assistant either.

With lots of thoughts in mind, she pushed it away to think about it later and continued her work. It was at lunchtime she saw him waiting for her in the restaurant.

Ceon waved his hand pointing at the table for her which already had two sets of cutleries. She wasn't sure if she should commend him for being so sure she will have lunch with him or diss him for ruining her peace of mind.

Her eyes fell on Noah and Norah. Taking a deep breath, she encouraged herself, 'Okay, I can do this.'

She sat opposite to Ceon who faintly smiled and started eating without a word. Being a member of the lower chain of socializing, she was out of words what to speak or whether she should quietly eat.

With her messing mind, she reached the limit at the end of the lunch while Ceon silently enjoyed seeing her troubled the whole time failing to hide them on her face.

At last, he spoke first to let her relax, "Hello, how was the lunch?"

Zara: "..."

Greetings after half an hour of sitting opposite to each other. This man is too much.

"Not bad." Zara didn't reveal her thoughts and stood up to leave without deciding anything about him. 'Ugh, why is it so difficult?'

Ceon silently followed her seeing her scrunched brows then frowning, then pouting which went on and on without realizing Ceon was behind her and her reflection on the glass wall was in front of her.

Zara mindlessly entered her office thinking whether Ceon was waiting for her to call for an assistant job or waiting for her to agree to be a friend or agree for him to woo her. For her, all three sounded the same with different name roles around her.

She had just sat on her chair, she noticed Ceon waving his palm at her.

'Is he saying Hi or bye?... This is so annoying.'

"What?" Her annoyance left her lips before she could control herself. 'Oh, sh*t.'

Ceon knew she was socially awkward so he waited if she could manage to voice her thoughts but anyway he failed and she won.

"Have you considered any of the suggestions?" He calmly asked.

Even though he knew she was older than him, he started to feel like she was actually younger by heart. Other than work, the lady hadn't done anything and never cared about society to get along with it.

Only the Fourie was the exception for her. With them, she always showed her real self. Be it strong or weak.

Zara's sudden choice for him was her assistant so that she could manage easily if it's work without feeling anxious or confused. "Once I shortlist the applications, you will get an email for the interview."

Ceon was happy at least she considered him. The interview was a piece of cake for him. "Shall I accompany you for some time? I'm free."

"Ah?" Zara let out a confused low grunt.

Ceon purposefully assumed it as 'Yes', "Great!" He went in and took a seat, "Do you have a meeting? Or shall I help you shortlist applicants?" Without waiting for the response, he gave a pleasant smile and took the file that had an application.

Zara: "..."

Ceon continued to check and started to make two sections after analyzing each application. Zara sat with her lips agape looking at him as if watching an alien.

Ceon seriously asked, "Am I good looking?"

Zara responded promptly, "I have seen better."

'Ugh, my poor heart!' Ceon raised his head and saw how serious she looked. He realized she wasn't kidding when she responded to him. Invisibly wiping his invisible tears, "Then why are you looking at me intently?"

"You are very dominating." Zara didn't hold back.

Ceon's brows slightly raised before replying, "So you like to dominate."

Zara rolled her eyes and continued her work without telling him to leave or stop him.

Ceon understood he should teach her the art of decline without feeling guilt. He shortlisted three from ten. "There you go."

Zara responded without looking at him, "Thank you."

Ceon teased, "You are comfortable around me. Good."

Zara crossed her arms and seriously looked at him, "Don't cross the line. You will regret it later."

'Confused Zara is cute. Serious mature Zara is scary.' Ceon made note of it mentally.

"Shall I help you with anything else?"

Since he wasn't her assistant yet, "Get me a cup of coffee."

Ceon readily accepted, "How do you like the coffee?"

Zara had thought he would just exit the office to get it and she could torture him but he turned out as smart and she as naive.

'Bingo' Ceon smiled to himself and spoke, "I will not give up so easily. Be innocent, I will not take your advantage."

Zara pursed her lips but didn't find any proper response to him. She pointed her laptop and drowned in work ignoring Ceon who savored the view in front of him silently.

---

In the capital.

Rowan and Amelia went shopping and met some friends. Roxy and Rian had a full day of rest while the other two cuddled working together till it was time for Corpus.

Alan helped her with the ball gown and hairdo without the need for professionals. Aria had chosen slightly offset selecting an off the shoulder, hues of the blue, tulle ball gown.

Alan controlled himself from marking her looking at his pretty wife.

After Levi reached to pick her for the ball, Alan left first with Nathan to attend separately to take care of Morse before revealing their relationship.

When Alan entered, There was a lot of noise, chatter, and gossip surprised by his presence. Nathan felt bad for a few presidents who tried to introduce their daughter and talk about their business skills.

While looking around, Nathan stood in complete shock at the bar counter looking at a lady.

Aria entered grabbing everyone's attention. When most of the attendees were exclaiming her beauty, Aria was really shocked looking at a lady.

'What the hell is she doing here?'