It has only been three days, but it feels like forever for Cobie. She can't believe she finally sees the day when she's so enthusiastic to go to work. On Monday morning. With an ankle brace wrapping her ankle. It's safe to say that she just doesn't want to have piled-up work since she was taking her day off last Friday. Right?

But the small voice in the corner of her mind knows better the real reason why she's so eager to go to work today. And the reason is now standing in front of her.

"I didn't expect you would be coming to work," Luke says as he rests both his hands on his hips, his eyes traveling down to her ankle. No smile or smirk on his face. "It's not healed yet. Did you even get it checked?"

Ignoring all eyes peering at her, she clears her throat while carefully straightening her sitting position. "If getting checked by my aunt who used to be a nurse counts, then yes."

Luke frowns. "Isn't it better to stay home and get your work done from home?"

"No. I shouldn't be doing nothing, Luke. I need to be active to help my ankle heal faster. Also, I need to get my stuff back."

"What stuff?"

"Important stuff. A little thief took it from its respective place last Friday, and I think I know where to find him."

Luke raises his eyebrow. "Oh. He sounds dangerous. You should be careful."

"There is a very good reason I brought this with me." Cobie caresses the folded walking stick on her desk. She was reluctant to bring it this morning but her mom insisted. Surprisingly, she found it super handy for the long walk from the building entrance to her floor. "I can beat his rear into a pulp when I get my hand on him."

Luke gulps. "Alright. Good luck."

"Thank you," Cobie replies, flashing her sweet smile.

Luke doesn't smile back but his gaze turns softer. His left retina is still red but less in its intensity. If she looks closer, the swell on his jaw hasn't completely gone but it's now hidden under his five o'clock shadow. He must have skipped the shaving routine for that specific reason.

"Don't forget the team meeting is moved to eleven-thirty," he says as he pivots on his heels and strides to his office.

Now that Luke isn't standing in front of her cubicle, Lucy's face comes into view, her eyes wide open and jaws hanging.

"It's true, isn't it?" she asks after she manages to talk. "Oh my god! You guys are a thing."

"Huh?"

"I know he fought a guy last Friday because of you. Look at his face, and your ankle too. They are evidence to confirm the news!"

"But how...who told you that?"

"Someone saw you guys in the basement and ran to report it to the security, then the word went around so fast like bushfire."

"Oh."

"Are you and Luke really together?"

Cobie doesn't have to look around to notice several pairs of eyes are on her right now. Some of them are probably ready to squeal for winning the bet. "No," she says, answered by disappointed sighs from the audience. "Sorry to disappoint you, guys! Now, go back to work!" she shouts at them, chuckling.

People grumble and shift their attention back to their work except for Lucy. The girl plops down on her desk and fixes her gaze at Cobie, demanding story updates.

"Spill. I want to know more."

The meeting ends faster than scheduled. Other than half-year achievement reports, they only discuss minor problems with clients. Luke is not keen to fry his staff's butt in front of others. If he's in a grilling mood, he will summon the person and pull down his office shades.

"I'm very proud of our accomplishment in the first semester of the year! Good job, everyone!" Luke closes the meeting as he claps his hands, followed by the rest of the people in the meeting room.

Everyone is grinning from ear to ear knowing that they have almost reached their yearly target only in six months, which means an extravagant amount for the year-end bonus will likely sit in their bank account by Christmas.

With one hand still on his hip, Luke raises his hand to demand attention. "I have one more thing to share. Can I have your attention, please?" When the happy murmurs die down, Luke continues, "It's not really good news, but it might be for some of you." He chuckles, placing both his hands on his hips. "But anyway, I've been serving this company for six years, and it has been an awesome and valuable journey for me. Thank you. However, good things must come to an end, and I must inform you that I'm leaving this company. My resignation is approved today and I will start the hand-over for the next three months."

The room is dead for a few seconds before gasps, murmurs, and questions start to fill the meeting room air. In the next few minutes, Luke is stuck in the middle of the crowd shooting him back-to-back questions. It's when Cobie catches Georgia sneaking out of the group and plopping down on an empty desk by the door.

Smiling, Cobie makes her way to the gloomy secretary. "What a Monday, huh?"

Georgia shrugs without looking at her. "I'm gonna miss him. I don't know if I want to be a secretary to someone else."

"Maybe you can ask him to take you with him when his company is running."

Georgia snaps her head at her. "You knew his plans," she pauses a bit before rolling her eyes. "Of course. So, are you guys seeing each other now or what?"

Weirdly enough, among all of the people in this office, Georgia —beside Lucy, of course— is the person she can trust for some reason. Despite her extrovert nature, Georgia doesn't have hidden agendas that make Cobie uncomfortable.

"No, not really. But we do talk lately."

Georgia purses her lips as she looks down at her bright red stilettos. She then chuckles softly. "I've suspected it for some time, you know."

"Yeah?"

Georgia nods. "Luke is different when he's around you. I know people couldn't see it, but I know him. The way he behaves with you reminds me of when he was still with his former girlfriend."

"Oh. Wow." Cobie fixes his gaze at the man who is still deep in conversation with Bram and a few marketing team members who stay back. "Why did they break up by the way?"

"Money and power, of course," Georgia smirks. "Long story short, his ex is now married to a billionaire."

"Damn."

"Yeah, damn. Until you meet the dude yourself." Georgia fakes a gag. "But well, at least it's you; not that bimbo from the Personnel team, or one of those stupid Finance girls. I kinda like you, you know."

Cobie can't help but grin when she hears Georgia's last line. "The feeling is mutual, though."

Georgia flips her hair and jumps off the table. "Now, if you excuse me. I have a lunch appointment with another hot dude." She hugs the meeting documents to her chest and smirks at Cobie. "Hotter than Luke."

Cobie laughs. "You deserve someone ten times hotter than him, Georgia."

As the girl sways her hips, leaving the meeting room with the rest of the team, Luke saunters to her, a big grin on his face. Despite the uneven facial shape from the swollen jaw and a visible cut on his lower lip, the man never fails to make her heart skip a beat.

"So, you still have three months until you make this work." Luke slips his hand into his back pocket and retracts colorful papers. Her post-it notes. "Because in three months, I will no longer be your boss." He waves the notes in front of Cobie's face.

"Well, I will be getting a new boss," she replies while catching the notes, but Luke pulls them away again.

"Then I will need to make sure my replacement is a fifty-year-old dude, happily married, and who keeps forgetting his employees' names."

Cobie laughs. "Good luck with that. And" —she flips her palm— "give them back to me, Luke. You shouldn't have taken them without my permission."

Her stern tone works. Luke gives in and hands them back to her with a guilty grin. "I'm sorry. I just needed to read them but your mom didn't talk to you long enough when I saw the notes. So, I had to borrow them a bit."

"You're lucky I don't have my cane with me right now." Cobie rolls her eyes as she slips the notes inside her notebook. "So, three months, huh?"

"Yeah, three months."

"Going to be so weird to not see you around anymore."

"Who said you're not going to see me around anymore?"

"Am I then?"

"You will get sick of me. Trust me."

Footsteps echo from the hallway, followed by Bram sticking out his head from behind the open meeting room door. "We will be down by the lobby in ten minutes."

"I'll be right down."

Bram's gaze falls back and forth between Luke and Cobie. A smile grows on the corner of his lips before he nods. "Alright."

Cobie bites her lower lip and chuckles. "People are talking about us now. They're starting to make new theories."

"I don't care," Luke replies, shrugging. "We're not breaking rules or anything. Unless it bothers you."

If it was a week ago, she would be freaked out and do everything in her power to prove the other way around for the sake of her reputation. Her ultimate nightmare was when people thought she was a whore who slept with her boss to climb a career ladder. But today, it doesn't concern her anymore. They should know her by now and she should start having confidence in herself.

"It doesn't bother me."

"Good."

"And you're right about us rushing it. I still have a lot to figure out, and I know almost nothing about you. I think I'm just too caught up with my own problems, you know." Cobie smiles, glancing up at him. "So, yeah, It's wise to take this slow."

Luke doesn't reply right away, but through her eyelashes, she can feel his gaze on her. He then says, "I agree. Not too slow, though."

Cobie looks down, her fingers playing with her ribbon bookmark. "So, I'm going to give it a try. After we're settled with Mom's papers and preparation for her new place, I'm going to make a call for a counseling appointment."

"I'm glad. You will do great, Cobie."

"I hope so. I'm a bit nervous about it, but I gotta start somewhere."

"Yes. And I will support you in any way I can. You know that, right?"

Cobie nods and smiles, feeling the warmth swarming in her belly. "Thank you, Luke."

It takes Cobie and Rose almost three weeks to get the place ready for their mom. Luckily, the residential care allows the family to bring stuff from home and decorate their mom's room as close to how her room looks at home. The last thing Cobie wants is to freak out their mom in a totally strange place, without her girls around.

Mom is getting clumsier and noticeably nervous. It's probably because her problem with memory loss has become more frequent lately. But deep down, Cobie believes their mom also can feel that something is up but she can't put a finger on it. Cobie and Rose have to sneak around to get all the jobs done. As much as Cobie wants to have a smooth transition for their mom, telling her beforehand is not an option; Mom's anxiety would shoot through the roof if she knew.

And today is the day.

The fact that Rose is even more nervous than Mom makes it harder for Cobie to pull things together. Mom doesn't need the emotional energy from Rose to start the day because it will get harder as the day progresses. But Rose is Rose. She's their mom's daughter for a reason.

"What do I smell now?" Cobie asks as she enters the kitchen.

Rose is standing by the sink, her back facing her sister. "Mom forgot the omelet again. She almost burned the whole pan," she replies.

Cobie saunters to her sister and quietly stands next to her, leaning back to the counter. "Are you okay?"

Rose shakes her head. "I know Mom will think I'm fighting again with Harry. She keeps forgetting I have broken up with him." She chuckles but her hoarse voice betrays her attempt to make a funny remark. "But it's just hard to let her go."

"It will be better for her, and we can visit her again after she's settled in her new environment," Cobie replies, ignoring the heaviness in her chest.

"I know." Rose sniffles while brushing the burnt pan. "But I don't understand how you can be this strong. I mean, you're her real daughter–"

"Stop," Cobie interjects. "We are her real daughters. Mom never preferred one of us and you know that she loves you as much as she does me. And leave that pan for god's sake. I don't think we can use it anymore."

"It will be so weird to see her empty room tonight."

"Maybe we can sleep in her bedroom again tonight."

A shuffling sound coming from the stairs prompts them to jump from their spots. Cobie strides to the fridge while Rose quickly buries the burnt pan into the trash bin.

"I'm ready," their mom says in a sing-song as she walks in. She looks dazzling in her white summer dress, a ratan bag in her hand. "Umm, where are we going again?"

Cobie pulls a box of snacks she prepared the night before and turns around, mustering a happy smile. "We're going on a picnic today! Aunt Martha is coming too."

🔹🔹🔹