Serendipity

Chapter 21 - Part 2

"Of course, what is it?" she asks as she steps toward the door, waiting patiently for Anaïse to extricate herself from Jae-sung's arms.

"Could you find some boxes so I can pack some things up to ship to the Seoul office?"

"Absolutely! I'll bring those right back. Whenever you're ready, Officer LaRoux..." Jae-sung pulls back from Anaïse when he hears her name, breaking the kiss he initiated.

"Sorry, babe, you're being called." He smiles down at her, and I can see the happiness in his own face at her news.

"I'll be back as soon as I can, mon tigre," she whispers against his lips as she presses another quick kiss there. Then she follows Muriel out, a bounce in her step.

I sit down, grabbing food, stuffing my face, savoring the flavors mixing. "Is this tea for me?" I ask, pointing at the cup sitting on the table.

"It was, but it's cold now. Do you want me to make you a new cup, little sister?" Jae-sung asks as he sits down again. I just shake my head as I take a drink of the cold tea.

"No, it's good. I can drink it either hot or cold...I've had lots of practice with late work nights when I'm busy..."

As I sit there filling my belly, I notice Jae-sung staring at me. "What?"

"Nothing..." he starts, shaking his head. "No, that's not true, because what you did is something. Thank you for that...she was really starting to question her decision to move with me, and I didn't know how to ease her mind. Thank you...for everything, little sister."

I stop eating, the bite of food suspended between the table and my mouth as I look at him. "There's no need to thank me, oppa. I only made the suggestion. They offered her the job based on her qualifications. But I'm glad they decided to do it. I know how it can feel leaving everything behind, not knowing what to expect. I, at least, have a job to go to, even if the thought of the new office culture feels really daunting right now. And if one of those worries can be alleviated for her, I'm happy to do what little bit I can to help."

I slide the bite of food into my mouth as the door opens again, and Muriel walks in, juggling several empty boxes in her arms. Jimin jumps up to grab them from her, and she smiles at him in thanks before she turns around and grabs the ones she left outside the door.

"I didn't know how many you would need, so I grabbed a lot," she grins as she drops her load in the corner behind my desk, Jimin following her lead. As he walks back, I see him pause near the window, trying to look down without getting too close. Shaking his head, he continues to the couch, sitting next to me as I take the last sip of tea from the cup, setting my chopsticks down now that I'm full and satisfied.

"Now I feel like I could take a nap!" I say, stretching my arms above my head. "But no time. There's still too much to do..."

I get up and walk to my desk, pausing to look around the room, trying to figure out where I should start.

"You know, I never asked if I would have my own office space like this one? I also didn't ask whether I'll still be working on my current project accounts or if I'll exclusively be working as liaison between the two companies..." I look at Muriel, my face flushing. As I sit, I pull up my email, sending a quick message asking for clarification to Mr. Wilson and Mr. Wallace about those questions. While I wait for a response, I stand back up and grab a couple of boxes, preparing to box up my files. "I suppose we can do this...they'll either get shipped or put in storage in the file room, huh?" I say to myself, not expecting anyone to answer.

Pulling open the drawers of the cabinet I grab the thick files, handing them off to Muriel to pack. As the first box gets filled, I pick it up and move it over next to the door easily, then continue on to the next. I kick off my shoes, then when the second is filled, I pick that one up and stack it on the first. Finally, we fill the third box nearly full, and I stack it on the pile. Turning to look at the rest of the room, I see Jae-sung has moved to sit next to Jimin on the couch, with both staring at me.