Love My Friends with Benefits

It was already nine-thirty when I woke up the next morning.

In other words, I was late.

I staggered to the bathroom with a splitting headache. I looked at myself in the mirror and found two huge dark eye circles dominating my face.

"Oh, my God..."

There was no way I could go to work like this.

I sighed and took out my phone to call Mr. Chow and ask for the day off.

Once the call was connected, Mr. Chow beat me to the chase and said, "Queena, why aren't you at the office yet?"

"Something cropped up yesterday," I explained. "I want to take another day off."

Unexpectedly, Mr. Chow rejected me without hesitation. "That won't do."

My head hurt even more. "Why?"

"Austin called me and said that he was going to bring some documents over for you to go through again." Mr. Chow was obviously in a tough spot. "You know how he specifically asked for you to handle this... anyway, this is a huge deal..."

Mr. Chow trailed off. I knew what he was thinking, though.

I wanted this deal with Austin too. The commission that I'd get from this one deal would be enough for me to live comfortably for a whole year. Moreover, I was on the brink of promotion. I'd probably be able to go one step further if this deal were to go through...

I gave it some thought and agreed. "I'll head over right now."

It was already ten-thirty when I arrived at the company.

Mr. Chow led me to the conference room. Through the glass, I saw Austin sitting by the window, looking at something.

I knocked on the door and walked into the room.

Austin smiled visibly when he saw me. "Miss. Jones."

"Hello." I nodded and sat down across from him. "Hand me the documents, please."

Austin shook his head and asked, "How about we just forget about it for today?"

I wasn't in the best of moods because of my lack of sleep. Austin's words made me feel like he'd just pulled a fast one on me and my tone became a little unpleasant. "This is what you called me over for, isn't it?"

Austin averted his gaze and passed the documents to me.

I started flipping through them, feeling conflicted.

"I'm sorry," Austin said softly and gently. "I wasn't trying to pull a prank on you or anything. I just felt that... you don't seem to be in the best condition today. It might not be appropriate for you to handle all of this right now."

I traced a finger over a line of words, feeling a little guilty. "I wasn't in the best condition yesterday, but it doesn't mean I'm like that today as well."

Austin smiled, not saying anything else.

He was such a gentleman that I felt even more embarrassed.

I knew that I looked bad. It was only normal for Austin to think that I wasn't in good condition. What's more, he'd helped me out just the day before, yet I was being so rude to him...

"I should be the one apologising." I put the documents down and said to Austin, "I'm sorry, I was in a bit of a bad mood earlier."

He forgave me magnanimously. "It's fine, really. Everyone has their moments."

I heaved a sigh of relief. "Thank you."

"I have something personal to ask you, though." Austin suddenly changed the topic. "Do you know that man from yesterday?"

The man from yesterday?

Was he talking about Leonard?

I felt a little smothered at the thought of him. "Yes, I do."

Austin smiled. "I feel like I've seen him somewhere before."

"Yeah, it's normal." News about Leonard's scandalous affairs had been splattered all over the news just a few days ago. It wasn't out of the ordinary for Austin to have seen him. Austin pondered for a moment before getting his answer. "I think it was last year at an industry summit."

It had only just occurred to me that they could be considered to be in the same industry. Indeed, Titan Group did seem to be involved in something to do with the Internet. However, what did that have to do with me?

I didn't want to talk about Leonard anymore and changed the topic tactfully. "The conditions that your company's providing are very tempting."

"Of course." May's voice rang out from the door. "How can they not be, when Austin purposely asked headquarters for approval?"

Austin blushed, looking a little awkward.

May pushed the door open and sat down next to me.

"Austin's really put in a lot of effort to woo you," she said teasingly. "I heard from someone at his company that he's sent countless emails to headquarters for these conditions... you're blessed if you can close this deal, Queena!"

I watched as Austin's expression became more and more awkward. I quickly stopped May from continuing. "May!"

"Huh? What's wrong?" She didn't seem to get it.

I used my eyes to tell her to look at Austin.

"No, no." Austin's ears were completely red as he waved his hands in denial. "It's also because of your company's potential and capabilities that I was able to negotiate for such conditions. I didn't put in much effort, really."

He'd said that he hadn't put in much effort, but he didn't deny the fact that it was something he'd worked for.

May blurted out yet another secret. "I was the one who called Austin over the other day. His ex-girlfriend cheated on him and they'd broken up just recently. Isn't it such a coincidence that both you and his ex- girlfriend share the same surname? Also, your boyfriend cheated on you a year ago, didn't he, Queena? You two make a wonderful match!"

"May, that's enough." I frowned.

Sometimes, May was just such a scatterbrained person. She was so caught up in her gossiping that she hadn't noticed how Austin's expression had changed.

There was no way he could feel good about having his private matters exposed like this. I was even worried that the deal would fall through because of this. After some thought, Austin said, "Things were over between myself and that Miss. Jones a long time ago."

May widened her eyes curiously. "Why?"

"May!" I stopped her.

Austin smiled. "We've already broken up. I don't want to pass any comments about her."

The fact that he could say such things made me admire him a little bit more.

In general, people who could still remain amicable when it came to their exes wouldn't be too terrible, personality-wise.

After making sure that there weren't any traps concealed in the documents, I passed the proposal to Mr. Chow.

He was very happy with the way I'd handled things and grinned widely. This time, he quickly approved my leave.

I was relieved.

This meant that I'd have enough time to see Grandma.

May suggested that we celebrate. "Queena, let's go get something to eat. It's not every day that you close such a great deal." "No, I..."

I was just about to turn her down when Austin said, "Sure, it's on me."

He had just given me such a huge deal. It would be rude to turn him down.

"Alright, then." I nodded after some thought.

It just happened to be time for lunch. Austin drove May and me to a popular restaurant.

The restaurant specialised in French cuisine and its business was booming. It was almost completely full when we got there.

As we were ordering, Austin said to me, "The filet mignon paired with red wine sauce is their speciality. You can give it a try."

I wasn't a huge fan of red wine sauce and merely smiled politely at his suggestion. "Thanks."

Our food was soon served. As I cut my steak and listened to Austin share interesting things in his industry, I felt the gloominess in my heart slowly start to disperse.

"Some time ago, our office got two hamsters," Austin said with a smile. "One was named Tom and the other, Jerry..."