Chapter 4

Thank God Simon didn't fire me.

Not only did I keep my job, but that very same day, he issued a company-wide memo adjusting our office hours.

Our lunch break was extended by an extra thirty minutes, while our clock-out time stayed exactly the same. 

The second the email hit our inboxes, Sharon rushed over to my desk.

"Paula, are you our boss's legendary 'one that got away'?"

"His what?" 

Sharon lived for office gossip. Her eyes were practically glittering with excitement. 

"Rumor has it our CEO has an unforgettable first love. They supposedly broke up years ago when he was meant to study abroad. Someone heard him say, when he was completely wasted, that he only bought this company for her." 

She leaned in closer, dropping her voice. "I remember you went to the same college as our boss, right? Is it you?"

His unforgettable first love?

That definitely wasn't me. 

"Sharon, let me tell you about an ex-boyfriend of mine," I said quietly. 

Sharon immediately sat up straight, shooting me a look that meant spill the tea.

"At first, I didn't even like him," I started. "But he chased me relentlessly. Eventually, the entire campus knew about it."

"Yikes. Isn't that borderline stalking?"

"It gets worse. I felt bad, so I finally caved and agreed to date him. Three days before we broke up, I bought him a thirty-thousand-dollar car. But a few days later, he completely dumped me out of nowhere. Zero warning. Do you think I should still have feelings for him?"

Sharon took a sharp breath.

Her shock quickly morphed into pure disgust. She grabbed my arm and shook it firmly. 

"Wake up, Paula! Why on earth would you still like a guy who played you like that? Stop being so blindly lovesick." She paused, her brow furrowing.

"Wait, what does this have to do with Mr. Rainer?"

I just smiled and didn't answer. 

If anyone could see the situation clearly, Simon definitely could too.

He was never some lovesick fool. Back in college, I was the one who chased him until the whole school knew.

He had reluctantly given in and dated me. And then, he was on the receiving end of a brutal, unexpected breakup.

He probably hated my guts. 

Sharon eventually gave up and wandered off to gossip with someone else.

I sat at my desk, staring blankly at my monitor for a long time. 

By the time I clocked out, a freezing drizzle had started to fall.

The rideshare queue was an absolute nightmare, with over three hundred people waiting for a car. 

I stood shivering on the damp curb.

Suddenly, a sleek black micro-car pulled up right in front of me. It was a very niche, two-door commuter car designed specifically for couples.

People in the rideshare line immediately turned to stare. 

"That car is adorable," a girl nearby whispered to her friend. "I remember these going viral a few years ago. There’s a matching pink one too."

"Cute, but the specs are absolute garbage," her friend scoffed. "A rich guy driving this is just slumming it, and an average guy isn't throwing thirty grand at a useless toy."

The tinted driver's window rolled down. 

Simon’s striking face appeared from the shadows.

His broad shoulders and tall frame looked ridiculously cramped inside the tiny interior. 

"Get in. I'll drive you."

"That's okay, Mr. Rainer. My Uber is almost here." 

I held up my phone, showing him the three-minute ETA on the screen.

Simon didn't say a word.

Just then, a loud crack of thunder roared overhead. I instinctively flinched, my eyes darting up to the dark sky.

Because I looked away, I completely missed the sudden, intense shift in his expression.

When I looked back down, the little black car was already pulling away, its taillights bleeding into the heavy rain. 

Years ago, I had been absolutely obsessed with that specific car. The cute, pink exterior of the two-door model had completely won me over. 

I had dragged a printed brochure to Simon. 

"Look how pretty it is!" I had told him. "And there's a matching black one for couples! When I'm rich, I'm going to buy them both."

I was just a student back then. I had no idea how hard it actually was to make a living, and there were so many shiny things I wanted to buy. 

Simon had taken the brochure, glanced at it once, and frowned. 

"The specs on this thing are horrible. It drives like a grandpa's mobility scooter. Aren't you worried about getting completely run over in traffic?"

"Who cares? It's cute," I argued. "Plus, it’s a couples' car. Don't you want to drive it with me?"

"No," he said flatly. "I wouldn't even be able to stretch my legs in that thing."

Despite his complaints, right before graduation, Simon had magically produced a set of car keys out of nowhere. 

"You don't have to squeeze onto the subway for work anymore," he said, pressing the keys into my palm. "Also, no other guys are allowed in the passenger seat. Got it?"

He pressed a button on the fob.

A few feet away, the headlights of the exact pink micro-car I wanted flashed to life.

My eyes went wide with shock. 

"You actually bought it? Didn't you say your mom cut off your credit cards?"

"She did," he shrugged. "But I have years of my own allowance and scholarship money saved up in a private account. It was just enough to buy this."

He paused, his gaze softening as he looked down at me. 

"Besides... I'm not going overseas anymore. I don't really have anything else to spend money on right now, so I got it for you."