Chapter 20

"Good morning, sleepyhead," a sultry, smooth voice told Adler as he opened his eyes, a blurry face of a woman with a thick mane of hair welcomed his sight that made him automatically squint his eyes in response.

"What's wrong?" the woman laughed amusedly at his reaction while he waited for his clear vision to recur. Moments later, his vision became clear and he realized who was in front of him. It was Elis in her robe-like negligee that exposed her bareness, staring down at him with her eyes holding amusement like she was witnessing something entertaining, and the right corner of her lips lifted up to her cheek for an alluring smile. The moment he had a good look on her face, he remembered that he was in her apartment.

"Hey," he greeted groggily as he sat up and leaned his back on the headboard. Though he had a good night last night with all the wildness that lasted until the crisp dawn broke, it gave him a heavy consequence of muscle soreness, especially down his legs. "What time is it?"

"How's your sleep?" she asked as she leaned close for a soft smooch on his lips, to which he responded by sucking on her lower lip.

"Good," he replied when she pulled away and descended her head to plant small kisses and soft bites on his shoulder blade that made him release a groan. They both agreed not to kiss each other on the neck since it would cause obvious hickeys and catch unwanted scrutiny. The company building is a huge market for gossip, and some of them could cause someone's reputation to flush down the drain.

"If you're ready, come out and have breakfast with me," she purred on his ear before pulling herself away and turning on her heels, sashaying to show off her pear-shaped ass covered by her flimsy g-string thong.

"I will," he replied before taking his phone that was resting on his nightstand. He checked his cellphone and saw the message Carylle last sent him. He recalled that he did tell her that he wasn't coming home due to a problem he made up.

From: Carylle

Okay. Take care and don't be too hard on yourself! 🤗

The corner of his lip lifted into a smile as he thought that the emoji at the end was cute. They had been living together under one roof for weeks, and he helped her with the groceries days ago, however, it still did not clear the unsteady air between them. He could see that she was slowly opening up to him seeing that she would warmly smile his way and even asked for his phone number so they could contact each other often. 'I'll get rid of that soon,' he thought to himself with conviction before getting on his feet and walking to the bathroom.

"What time is it?" he asked as soon as he came out of her bedroom, all neat and dressed for work. He ran a hand across his semi-wet hair one more time while walking to the dining table where Elis was sitting at

"There's still an hour before work," she answered while reviewing a document and sipping coffee. "So you can review work here if you want to spend more time here with me," she added before looking his way and winking. She knew that he was always focused on work to the point that he would review documents during his free time. He tended to come over to her apartment with his case full of ink blotched and print papers that he would then take a look at after their heated sessions if he still had the energy to be awake.

'Work,' he thought when he heard her mention that word and his shoulders immediately slumped. Right, it was another day for work. A pattern that he'd been doing for years was already tiresome to the point that he felt like he was choking. Since his employment in the company, he had been working nonstop, even his day offs were workdays as well. He never issued a sick leave or even took a vacation, even during the annual outdoor team-building, he would bring his unfinished work and review them. However, he needed to stick to this if he wanted to achieve his goals, he will come and get it soon anyway. And the moment when he had achieved his plan, he will no longer be a slave to this commitment he made with revenge, and this goddamned dull, tiresome work as well.

"Right," he said and sat down comfortably on the chair where he usually sat. There was already a cup of coffee and sweet-smelling, fluffy pancakes served on his end.

"Wife material, ain't I?" she said joked with a faint laugh and he only replied to her with a small nod and a mumble, "Uh-huh." He then began digging in his meal.

"Urgh, this sucks." She suddenly groaned that made him look at her in wonder. "I swear, work sucks a lot," she added while waving her hands in the air, making the paper she was holding flap. He only remained silent and listened to her rant her heart out. Elis was the type of woman who would complain and complain yet does a good work performance and produces work excellent than an output created by a handful of employees combined.

"But I need to continue on this boring work if I want to pay for this comfortable life," she stated with a deep-throated groan that made him shoot his head up as a thought crossed his mind.

"But are you comfortable in this comfortable life?" he asked, looking intently at her.

"Hm?" she stopped rambling and looked back at him. "What do you mean?" she asked back at him.

"Are you comfortable in this comfortable life that you're saying? With all the backaches, sleepless nights, and brain-draining paperwork?"

She fell silent at his question for a moment. He pondered that she as well, was tired of this continuous office life that seemed like a time-loop packed with endless meetings, records, and coffee. However, they are living in this capitalistic world where one's value was evaluated by the money they have, spend, and earn, where each is a slave to make ends meet. No matter how tired one was, they could not stop working. Most could not afford to lose their jobs either, since getting employed is hard and unemployment takes a huge toll in every aspect of life. So they stick with their jobs, especially those who earn the bare minimum that would keep them afloat from monetary problems, not knowing that they were sinking themselves away from the joys of life.

"Well, honey," she suddenly spoke amidst the silence and popped her lips. "As long as I look at my paycheck and get to be railed by a handsome specimen such as you then I am," she joked with a laugh, he knew that she was avoiding talking about that.

"Really, huh?" that was all he could say before taking one last sip of his coffee, emptying it.

"Yup," she approved. "Now, how about we dismiss the paperwork and have some fun early in the morning instead?" she asked before standing up and slipping off the robe negligee, letting it fall on the ground and exposing herself in front of him with all her naked glory with her breasts supple and nipples hard. A view that made a grin run across Adler's face as he nodded in approval.