She can’t believe she has to resort at working weekends; this has been the second consecutive Saturday that she had to come in and do paperwork at her dessert shop.

Victoria rubs her eyes to rid them of fatigue, she takes a deep breath before focusing on her work again, she is up to her ears with inventory lists, weekly order reports, supplier bids and because two of her regular employees are going to on maternity leave pretty soon, she needs to find replacements on top of hiring new staff for the expansion of her shop and then there is her cousin’s new venture.

She had refused to work more than the regular hours she was used to so she opted for an occasional depravation of days off here and there.

 She reached for her mug to take another sip of her tea; she promptly frowns when she found it empty.

“Oh well.” she sighs as she stands up to get a refill, she might as well stretch her legs out and fetch herself a fresh cup of her favorite tea.

After a much needed refill she walks towards her office but stopped to chat with an elderly couple who were regulars in her shop. She exchanged pleasantries with them and inquired about their grandchildren, she laughs when the wife confessed of being exhausted after the visit of her babies, after a while she bids them good day and turns around to head back to her pending work.

Victoria wasn’t prepared when she looked up and suddenly saw Nichkhun standing in the middle of her shop staring at her.  At first she thought she was just hallucinating, but she realized he was really there in the flesh. She felt hot all of a sudden and her eyes went wide at the shock. Her mind went on overdrive and the first thing she had in mind was to run to her office and close the door firmly behind her but she knows she will end up looking pathetic so she smiles at him. She takes a breath and smiles.

“Hey.” She says in greeting. She swallows the lump forming in and smiles brightly at him.

“Hi.” He greets her back, his eyes still trained at her face.

Victoria was relieved she didn’t see anger in them, she lets out a breath.

“How have you been?” she steps towards him, she chuckles and brings up her arm while being careful with the hand that was holding a very hot beverage, she wraps him in a supposed brief hug as a greeting between friends but he hugs her back and pulls her even closer so she was left with no other choice but to allow him and pat his back congenially, she pushed him back with a smile on her face as she looks up at him, “How are you?” she steps back but he holds on to her arm to keep her from moving any further from him.

“Let’s talk in the office.” She turns around, she wanted to make sure they don’t create a scene in front of her patrons, she asks for a cup of coffee to be delivered for Nichkhun. She opens the door and lets him in before her, “Have a seat,” she says with a smile. She keeps the door open and heads for her desk.   

Nichkhun still can’t believe she is in the same place as he was; he was drinking in the sight of her thirstily, he was afraid to breathe because if she was just an apparition he doesn’t want her to disappear into thin air. He was only convinced when she walked up to him and gave him a hug; his arms went up automatically and held her to him as close as he can.

When he felt her pushing him away he wanted to protest but allowed her the space but kept her from moving away farther from him by holding on to her arm. She leads him to her office and he follows without a word. She points at a chair near her desk and asks him to take a seat while she walks around to her own chair.  She sets her steaming mug on top of a coaster and finally looks up at him.

“How have you been?” she asks again, “It’ has been a while, it’s nice to see you again.” she smiles as a staff member walks in with a tray in hand and sets it down in front of him, a steaming cup of coffee and a sugar bowl and a tiny pitcher of cream stood on the side.

Nichkhun waited until the other woman left, his eyes never leaving her face, he finally allows a small smile to tug his lips, “How are you?”

Victoria’s eyes danced in amusement, she giggles, “I asked you that question first.”

Nichkhun leans back on his seat; now a genuine smile is displayed on his face, he chuckles, “I am fine. I am fine now.” he saw something dart in her eyes, he sighs, “Now my turn. How are you? How have you been all this time?” he puts more emphasize on his last question.

Victoria smiles slowly, “I’m good, busy, very busy but good.” She waves her hand around her office, “As you can see I have an organized chaos going around here. Unnie waved her magic wand and suddenly we’re a brand.” She sighs in spite of her smile, “I have never done something like this before so I am scrambling to learn fast.”

Nichkhun chuckles again, “Yes, I heard Miranda had done a great job, she is really a genius. You must be excited.” He kept the conversation going.

Victoria nods and then paused to sip her tea, “More like horrified than excited, the launch is in two months, there are days that I don’t even think anymore I just go.” She smiles brightly at him, “But I will be lying if I say that I am not excited over this. Unnie says it’s an adventure,” she giggles, “but I insist that she takes the lead, I mean, I am not afraid of a challenge but I would like to be properly trained before I take the helm. So she is going to be in charge of everything for when this all happens, I will stay back and be content with creating the products, that I am confident in doing.”

Nichkhun nods, “I understand you completely, and I think you are being smart about it.” He smirks, “Now Miranda is finally showing the rest of the world what’s she’s capable of. I think it will be exciting to watch your company grow.”

Victoria chuckles, “It’s more of Unnie’s than mine, I am more of a spectator in all this too; she has all the ideas and plans. I am just glad that she decided to stay put and stay with us and gave me a very stable and lucrative job.”

Nichkhun finally looks around the space, “So are you giving up the shop?”

She shakes her head furiously, “No, this is my baby, this will stay; this will serve as our flagship store. As I said I am more part of the product development and most of it will happen here, I will still work here part time as soon as we have the company all set up. I will be dividing my time here and my responsibilities in the company.”

“Wouldn’t you be putting too much on your plate?” he worries for her.

Victoria shrugs, “It will be crazy busy for a while but I sus