"How can someone be so careless? You were doing so well, and you could have kept that up. But no! You had to go knock yourself in the face. This is why I'm always telling everyone at the office to never get overconfident, but look at you now!"

I was holding a bag of ice to my chin as Elian scolded me mercilessly. With how much he was rebuking me, I almost wanted to yell back that it was his fault—his stupid damn charming smile!

"It's not my fault, okay? It's the gun's fault," I mumbled with a pout.

"Of course, it's never your fault. You're the most innocent person in the world," he said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

I continued pouting.

"C'mon, let's get you to the doctor," Elian urged.

"No, it's just a small thing. Look, the bleeding stopped as well." I pointed to the tissue in my nose. "Plus, it's not even broken. Why bother going to a doctor?"

"How about we let a professional decide if your nose is broken or not?" he let out.

"No. I'm not going to a hospital," I said stubbornly. I hated hospitals with a burning passing and never went there unless it was an actual emergency.

"I never said a thing about going to the hospital. We're going to the office where my family doctor is coming to give you a check-up," he clarified.

I furrowed my brows. "How do you know?"

"I don't know anything. I just don't want to go through the procedure of admitting you to the hospital and getting an appointment. It's too much pain, anyway."

He could just ask for an emergency appointment. Plus, he had the influence... I couldn't understand what his deal was.

"Are you secretly my stalker?" I asked directly.

"As if I have nothing better to do," he scoffed.

"I don't know. You're always just sitting behind your desk and doing whatever you do," I accused.

"Hey, I work hard too," he protested.

"Sure, you do."

No one knew better than me how hard he worked, but well, I wasn't going to say that right now, was I?

"You're annoying. Come on, let's go back to the office."

I nodded and got up from the bench I was sitting on.

Once we were seated in his car, the driver started the car. I checked my phone to find ten missed calls from my mom.

My heart leaped in fear, wondering if something happened to Dad.

I quickly called her back, but by mistake, I put it on speaker, but before I could turn it off, her voice boomed throughout the car, "Ms. Alena Fleur, where on earth have you been? Why are you not in the office and why did you tell Anya to tell me you love me and your dad a lot if you don't return to your cabin in an hour? Do you have any idea how worried we have been, young lady?"

Oh, shit, I forgot to tell Anya that I was going out of the office with Elian, and she actually called my mom to pass on my message. That girl...

I was about to respond to Mom, but a burst of sudden laughter stopped me.

I glared at Elian, who pressed a hand over his mouth to stop laughing, but he just couldn't control it. I glanced at the driver, who was successfully controlling his laughter.

No matter how handsome Elian looked at that moment, I internally knew I was doomed. There was a lot of history, but in short, Mom didn't fancy me dating.

"Who is laughing?" Mom asked, sounding absolutely terrifying, and Elian's laughter seized instantly. "Oh, my God, are you with a man? Are you skipping the office for a man? Alena, answer me. Who are you with?"

"Mom, it's not what you're thinking—" she cut me off angrily.

"Alena, you better not be—"

"Good evening, Mrs. Fleur," Elian spoke up, clearing his throat.

My eyes widened, and I mouthed, "What are you doing?"

He shook his head and said, "I'm Elian Storm, the CEO of Storm Dynamics. Ms. Fleur and I were out for work purposes. I think Ms. Aled wasn't aware of that and misreported you."

"Wait, was I on speaker? Never mind, you're Alena's boss? Oh, my, I'm so sorry for speaking so impolitely," Mom said, doing a one-eighty flip.

"It's alright, Mrs. Fleur. But we are busy right now, so could you call back later?" he asked so politely I almost couldn't believe he was the same boss who was always scolding others.

"Yes, of course, sorry for disturbing you guys. Alena, work hard, sweetie. Bye." With that, she hung up, and I released a sigh.

"Must be tough having to give your mom an explanation for hanging out with a man at the age of twenty-five," Elian commented.

"Don't talk like that about my mom. Yes, she might be a little strict and overprotective and also a little backdated and religious, but she's still my mom and I wouldn't trade her for anyone else," I told him sternly.

Maybe 'a little' was a massive understatement, but I would never let someone think badly of my mom.

His lips formed a small smile before he turned to look outside the window. "You're right. My bad."

"Why did you smile just now?" I pointed out.

"What, am I not even allowed to smile now?" he responded.

"You usually don't, so I'm just surprised, is all," I said with a shrug.

He hummed in response, not bothering to answer my previous question at all.

I kept staring at him and wondered how weird he acted all the time. One time, he wouldn't even look my way and rejected my friendship, as if I was the most poisonous creature on earth. Another time, he would always come to support me whenever needed, as if he couldn't tolerate the mere thought of me getting hurt.

Elian Storm is weird.

###

After the doctor checked my nose, which was fine, it was already time to go home. I didn't bother informing Elian about the check-up, rather went to scold Anya, even though it wasn't really her fault.

When I got home and freshened up, I got a text from Elian.

I couldn't help but feel like he was my boyfriend, rather than my boss, ordering me to take care of myself like that.

He replied in an instant.

I laughed at his reply while on my way to the kitchen to get some ice out.

My nose flared in anger, and I immediately replied without thinking:

I realized only after a second of pressing 'send' that what I typed. I placed the ice I just took out on the counter and quickly typed.

I didn't know what to reply to after that, so I closed the chat and pressed the ice bag to my nose. I couldn't help but wonder why Elian called me Alena once in a while and Mrs. Fleur the other times. What was up with all the confusion?

He really was weird.