“A rainy day, a lost luggage, and tangled Christmas lights.”

It was a rainy Monday morning. The first week of work in August after a three-days weekend and a little extra time off for summer. It was half-humid and half-hot outside, he felt sticky and sweaty and dirty. The pouring rain didn’t exactly help him set his mood right either. He hated rainy Monday mornings, especially when he left both his car and umbrella at home. He watched the news earlier and no one said about a pour in the morning!

He’d be late for work. Damn it.

It was half past seven when his third round of caffeine turned cold and he decided to order a fourth. The water was still dripping down the cloudy gray sky and he wondered if it would take his tenth round for it to stop. He cursed under his breath and waited behind the long line.

He glanced at his wrist watch the third time because suddenly ordering his fourth cup of caffeine became a pain in the . The line hadn’t moved for seven long minutes and in 27 minutes, he’d be late for work. He was trying to avoid the traffic and took the MRT, went early for work and got off early too. He thought about the brand new documents to sign and his new personal assistant today. Being a CEO was burdensome.

“Ten minutes and a step forward,” he sighed. He folded his arms and leaned against the empty table beside him. The ringing bells did not entertain him much.

“Well, it’s rainy and everyone’s craving for warm drinks and caffeine for work. Can’t blame them much,” her voice was feminine yet classy. It’s confident yet cheery. When he turned around, he met a woman with almond brown hair and sparkly eyes. She was half-busy deciding on what to order.

He ignored her, really, because she looked so damn smart and arguing with smart woman never ended well. When a woman is smart, she is a real genius. And it’s downright scary. Even with such brilliant smile.

It’s about fifteen minutes before he came second in line, but he had lost his appetite for caffeine. He asked the woman behind him if she wanted to go first and she nodded with a polite professional smile. He wondered if she owned a company because a smile like that was a rare catch. A person with such a nice smile could coax him easily for his next partnership program. He liked her.

“An Americano please, keeps it hot and less sugar, okay?” She smiled and pulled out a wallet from her black handbag. She faced him, “it’s rainy and it’s just so nice for something warm and just a little sweet. I promise, it will make it perfect. You should try them.” She handed an extra amount for money as a tip and smiled a triumphant smile as she took her first sip. “Shouldn’t ignore a woman the next time she talks. Ignorance, cold, stuck-up boys don’t attract woman in real life. I’m pretty sure you’re not a boy either. Until next time.”

He watched her walked out the door with her high heels and pulled an umbrella over her head. She walked slow and confident; a triumphant smile graced her lips as she looked up the sky to find cloudy grey sky and dripping rain.

This was what he said about smart woman. They’re scary and she’s really smart.

***

This was how they got to know each other: over a lost luggage.

He found out on a less rainy Monday hazy afternoon that she was no other than his brand new personal assistant. He held no grudge or any disagreement about having a personal assistant, as long as they were above average, meaning they wouldn’t be any hindrance to his workaholic attitude. He hated work, yet surprisingly workaholic. He remembered a bit too much as she was only a smart (female) stranger he passed by this rainy morning at the coffee shop. Really, the coffee shop was always full of people.

But it was part of his job: to remember their faces and names, to take their position seriously, to memorize their likes and dislikes. He needed to make bonds and kept them alive. Partnership and stuff, always, as always. Maybe because it was part of his necessity and it became part of him too. It’s easy to remember a stranger face he stumbled into at the road, to memorize a waiter’s name at his once-only restaurants. So, it was incredibly easy to remember her face when she was stunningly smart and gorgeous. (He admitted she wasn’t so beautiful as any of his drop-dead gorgeous exes or personal assistant, but she’s slightly above okay).

He was late for work and grumpily stomped his feet and marched for his office on the top floor, ready to glare and snatch stacks of new documents. Yet, he found a woman occupying the desk outside his office, stacks of documents differ to three different section. Her hair was tied up in a messy bun, eyes glued to tiny little letters behind those geeky glasses, and pencil spinning between her fingers. A cup of cold coffee on the cup holder, the same brand as his coffee shop. When she looked up, he remembered her all too clearly.

“Oh, it’s you.” She smiled and he decided he really liked her smile, not too friendly yet not too fake. Just perfect. “I met this HRD person downstairs and they told me you’d be late because umm… the rain and I can start working if I want to. They told me I’d have to assign your meetings, business deals, and stuff. So, I read through your stuff.” She took off her glasses and her eyes looked smaller, but all browner and prettier. “I hope you don’t mind.”

He cleared his throat as he tried to go through her CV he read two weeks ago in his head. A financial graduates from Harvard, experienced in laws… and what else? He only remembered thinking she was brilliant. She was.

“Okay, just come in and let’s talk for a few minutes.” He took off his coat and she trailed behind him, only after he made those gestures so she would follow him.

“So, better mood? Did you try what I told you to, warm and a little sweet?” When he nodded, she made no overconfidence gesture or smug smirks, just enough confidence to let him know she knew what she was saying. He liked it. “So, back to work, I split the documents… umm… you should just sign all of this, they’re great. These… I think you might want to reconsider them again. These one… I know you haven’t read them, so I just scribbled some stuff about them. Okay, good luck.” She said with one of her pro smiles and left the door. She did not forget to shake his hand firmly and flashed her brilliant professional smile as she said her name, “Lee Ji Eun.”

He found himself reading all her writing on her yellow post-it (thank god it’s not pink) and agreeing on almost all of it.

It’s a snowy late November when he decided she was so useful (incredibly useful that he thought she was wasting her time and talent being a personal assistant). He took her with him on every business trip and watching her work was nice. Sometimes, he wondered which department she worked for, because she (so often) would just walk up to him (or any department) and told him about bunch of mishaps and documents to hand in, then they’d argue a little, she’d win, and something else would change for the better.

She was so smart, arguing with her made his brain work twice harder. She made him read all the books she had read, just to make sure he’s still the CEO and she’s the assistant. Sometimes, he’s afraid she would overthrow him in a blink. (He’d like to win an argument for once).

And now, they were staring at the empty baggage station (well, he was definitely glaring and grumpy) because he couldn’t find his luggage. He took a 10 hours flight to London and he lost his luggage. Goddamn it.

He glanced at her purple luggage and glared at it for five minutes straight. “It’s not there. I lost my luggage.”

“Okay,” she sighed and puffed her cheek. “I’ll buy some cheese burger and try to fix this for us. Umm… anything specific about your luggage?”

“It’s black,” he cursed profanities. “Clothes, toiletries, just a few business deals,” she gaped at him and he knew she held back smacking him. “Okay, okay… umm… there’s my favorite gray business suits and… a green pillow…”

She laughed. “You bring pillow? You should have named it instead.” When he remained silent and motionless, she shrugged. “I’ll get the cheese burgers.”

He had no idea what it was about cheese burgers and lost luggage. He never questioned her, it’s always a job well-done. But when he saw her ran to the customer service with a bag of cheese burger, she reminded him of her brilliance and why he liked her. She’s pure brilliance in classy ways.

“Hey… a brunch, I guess?” She handed the man two cheese burgers and smiled a polite smile. She was flirting but very faintly. “I just saw the line going on and on and all the complaints must be tiring. I think I’ll buy you cheese burger just to brighten you up a bit…” They talked and talked and he knew she was working her pleasant charms. “So my boss here… lost his luggage and I’m hoping you can help me find them? I’m new and he’s a little mean. I’m probably up for early retirement. Can you… help me for a bit and call me when you find it?”

When she came back to him, she handed him a warm cheese burger. “The perks of being a woman,” she smiled and bit onto her burger. “I think we should go out and buy some stuff you need at the minimarts. First thing first: mouthwash.”

His luggage came back later at night.

That’s when he decided she’s brilliant and he really really liked her.

***

This was how they fell in love: over tangled Christmas lights.

It’s late December which meant Christmas was approaching. It was a good thing: a good fuzzy break with a cup of something warm and less sweet. He was just grateful the year would end soon and he could get off work. It has been a tough year, so much work and so many problems, even with a brilliant assistant around.

And lately, he had been working twice hard. Because one day, she decided to barge into his office with another idea to argue about. “We need to have a Christmas party.”

“Why is that?” Really, it was so late at night and he still had half stack of documents to go through.

“Because it’s been a tough year and everybody’s stress out. They fight and yell and argue and blame each other. It takes more than a good salary and nice desk to create a good working space. This place needs a family bond, keep things professional and keep the employees happy about going to work.”

“Our EO Team can’t prepare it.”

“Well, I can.”

“You’re my personal assistant. There’s no way I’m letting you off when I have so much work to do.”

“You don’t always get me as an assistant. Deal with it for a week, everything will be fine.”

And that was how he found her on the 22^nd of December, late at night, sitting under a decoration-less Christmas tree, busy untangling the Christmas lights. He settled down next to her and she flashed him a smile and a friendly greeting (which he really really liked) and took the tangled lights from her hand. He helped her smoothed out the knots. He watched her hands worked diligently on the knots and he realized there were a lot of things he liked about her.

He liked the way she smiled: it’s not too friendly or too professional. Her smile meant she’s approachable but not easily swayed. He liked her fashion style: she wore dresses that exposed just enough skin for formal events; she always wore blazer and pants with high heels for work. She always looked classy. He liked her laugh: the way she put a hand over her lips and laugh a gleeful laugh yet not overly excited. He liked watching her work: hair tied up into a bun and wonderful almond eyes hidden behind geeky glasses and pencil spinning between her fingers, creases on her eyebrows, and that triumphant smile when she finally fixed the problem. He liked her brilliance: how she always had something good to argue, her advices and opinions, her just-enough confidence. He liked almost everything about her.

To be honest, he hated putting up Christmas tree since the lights always ended up tangled in the garage. But seeing her sat at the lobby corner, diligently untangling the knots while puffing her cheek and sighing once in a while (which he later learnt was the sign of her impatience), he could not resist sitting there to help her. He realized they were growing closer and closer and soon enough, he’d be clutching onto her as if she’s life. He could sense it, the silly twirls in his stomach that signal the first sign of fall, slowly creeping up to his chest.

It’s rare, really, because he’s an amazing man (bright future and excellent leadership), he’s always surrounded by amazing people, but he only found her so brilliant.

As he watched her flashed a slightly overjoyed grin as she finished the last knots, he realized he liked her rare flashes of honestly. So before the nights really ended, before she put and hang the last decoration on the pine tree, he took her by the elbow and stared deeply into her eyes. Really really deep and it was a cold winter with the lack of a working heater but he felt really really warm.

He asked her, “I’d like you to help me set up the Christmas tree in my house tomorrow and I’d like to take you out for dinner afterward.”

And she flashed him an amused yet overjoyed smile, “and I’d really love that.”

Author Note

It's not that great, but I'm rediscovering the joy of writing. And now, I'm begging for feedbacks!