"Yue darling..." Yifan called her name in a careful voice while they were eating their dessert during one of their nightly dinners. Yue could sense the seriousness in his voice and looked into his eyes, her hand put down the teaspoon, which she was using to eat the chocolate mousse with. 

He took in a deep breath, making her feel uneasy as ever. "I don't even know where to start." He held up his right hand and pressed the nosebridge with his thumb and forefinger. Yue's left hand reached for his on the table and held it timidly.

"Why don't you start from the beginning?" she smiled encouragingly as he looked into the eyes.

He breathed in some more and puffed out his chest, "So, I told you that I won't be hiring any PA ever since you left the position, right?" She nodded. He continued, "But, it's been proving to be very, very difficult."

"I know. You look very tired all the time. I remember you dozing off during dinner last night." She smiled as she recalled the memory. 

Yifan smiled, "Yeah. So, Mr.Lee called me into his office and said it's about time I stop being a faithful husband." Yue laughed at his statement while he joined in. 

"And then?" 

"Well, he said I have to hire a PA or else he'll fire me." 

Yue pouted, "We can't let that happen, can we?" 

"No, we can't," he laughed. "Would you come back to work with me?" She smiled and looked at her husband, who was looking at her now with questioning eyes. Then, she shook her head while looking away from the piercing orbs. 

"Why?" he whined. 

She held up the spoon again and scraped a small scoop of chocolate mousse onto it, "Mr.Wu, I really love working under you but I don't believe in working with my husband. I feel like I might get my personal feelings involved and it's not exactly professional, is it? Your wife working with you as your PA" 

He sighed, "It's not..."

"So, have you asked the HR to hold job interviews?" she glanced at his direction as she ate her dessert. 

He nodded as he scooped up the chocolate mousse, "They'll pick one that suit my preference and I told them to make the new PA be as similar to you as possible." 

Yue raised her eyebrows at him and gave him a pointed look. He chuckled and choked a little on his food, "I mean, in terms of qualification. Not the look of course. Nobody will beat my wife in terms of looks." 

She laughed at his last minute save, "You got lucky."

His arm reached for her hair and ruffled it lovingly, "You just got jealous right there, didn't you?" he teased.

"Nope." She stood up as she finished her chocolate mousse and headed to the dish washer to place the ramekin in.

Yifan, who just finished his dessert, also stood up and followed her, "You really were jealous." He insisted. 

"No, I wasn't!" she replied in a slightly frustrated but feigned voice.

"Yes, you were!" Yifan started laughing. She knew how much he enjoys it when she acts irritated or become really irritated. He once said it is extremely amusing to see other people blow up like that since he finds it hard to blow up unless situation calls for it.  

"No, I was not," she called over her shoulder as she walked out of the kitchen into the living room. 

"Yes you were" he followed her and tried to reach for her hand as she walked out. 

"No, I was not." she wriggled her hand away from his grip and scuttled away.

"Yes, you were." he reached for her hand again.

"No, I was not." 

"Yes you were." 

That is usually how their evenings are spent - arguing over trivial things. 

~~~

Yue slowly held the baby in her arm as he fell asleep on her. Anna's baby boy is now a month old and has gotten a lot heavier from the first time he was born. Anna still complained about how it was tiring to be a mother and how to not become a mother. Yue, being her best friend, knew that Anna meant the opposite - for she knew that Anna just couldn't let the baby out of her eyesight. 

The baby boy is named MinJun. Yue suspected that Anna picked out the name from an insanely popular drama that swept the nation but she let it slide since she found MinJun to be a nice name. Do MinJun. 

"You are so handsome, aren't you, Do Minjun?" Yue cooed the baby as she cradled him in her arms, acting like a moving cot. She bent her head over and gently bump her nose with the baby, making the baby make a whimpering noise, which scared Yue a little. 

Anna sighed, "Yue... you'll wake up the baby..." she whined, "I want to sleep. It's just so hard to sleep for long these days ever since I became a mother." 

Yue looked at her best friend, who was lying on the bed with her eyes blankly staring at the ceiling. Anna had lost so much weight post-pregnancy. She looked very tired with dark circles her eyes. Yue knew that her best friend was trying her best to adjust into motherhood. 

"How's life?" Anna suddenly asked, at which Yue burst into laughter for an out of the blue question. 

Yue slowly rocked Minjun in her arms and the baby's eyes fluttered a little as his lips did a small twitch and a noise. Yue smiled, "Life has been good. As usual. I go to cooking classes. I make food. I'll probably shop around and then come home and make food. Read books. This and that. It's been good."

She looked up to see her best friend looking at her with a brow raise, as if to say she was not buying whatever Yue just said. Yue continued with a laugh, "Okay. It's boring but I still haven't figured out what I want to do next so this will suffice."

"I suppose," Anna shrugged and reached for a pile of baby clothes that just came out of the dryer from a while ago. She started foldidng them as she spoke, "Wait until you have kids. MinJun is tiny but he is one attention seeking young man. My day just revolves around him."

"Are you not going back to your chef position?"

"Probably not..." Anna pursed her lips and moved uncomfortably, "Soo is doing very well and being a chef is a demanding job. I don't want to lack on motherhood more so than my career so I'll probably be a mom." She laughed, "Strange, isn't it? About how dreams change because of this tiny human." She looked at MinJun in Yue's arms. 

Yue didn't say anything but smiled as she continued to rock herself back and forth with the baby. 

~~~

"Mr.Wu~~~" she spoke sweetly into the phone as she walked into his office building, "Can we go and have dinner outside tonight?" 

His laugh rumbled through the receiver and sent a gush of warmth down her stomach. She will never get use to this. He spoke, "Of course, we can." 

"I"m at your office building," she spoke to him as she walked through the familiar front foyer and greeted at a few familiar faces on her way to the elevator. 

"Come up! I'll finish in like 15 minutes." 

She smiled, "See you then!" and she hung up the call. Then, she got into the elevator, pressed on the floor where Yifan's office is at. Several seconds later, she was at the entrance towards his office. Her phone started ringing on her way to the office door and she started rummaging through her handbag to look for a mobile until a voice stopped her. 

"Excuse me?" 

Yue halted and looked in the direction from which the voice came. It was from the place where she used to sit before. The place that used to be vacant now has an occupier.

"Do you have an appointment with Mr.Wu?" the girl spoke - her lips were smiling but her eyes were not, a smile that came due to courtesy. She was slender, slightly taller than Yue even though both of them were wearing heels about the same height. Her hair was tied up into a shiny bun with two little tendrils falling onto the side of her ear. Her face was a slender, oval shape with high cheekbones and a tall nose with a pair of plush lips that reminded Yue of flower petals. The most mesmerizing feature were her eyes, that reminded Yue of Yifan, piercing and strong.The girl was dressed in a crisp suit with a ribbon on the collar of her white blouse. She was captivating and bold - like a colour red. 

Yue didn't realize that she was staring at the girl until the girl repeated. "Oh," Yue blinked, "I actually don't-" 

"Yue darling," Yifan's voice appeared from the door and she saw him walked out of his office. "I was waiting for you since I have someone I want you to meet." 

The girl looked at Yifan in confused eyes and her eyes went back and forth between Yue and Yifan. 

"Irene," he reached for Yue's shoulder and hugged her. Yue awkwardly stood beside him as he squeezed her, "I haven't introduced you to my wife. This is my wife. Wang Yue or Mrs.Wu" 

Yue smiled at that girl in uneasiness. The girl's eyes widened and they came to life as she spoke, "Ooooh! Hello Mrs.Wu." Yue was surprised at how the girl's behaviour changed within a few seconds - from deadpan face to a lively one with eyes that seemed to have flickering lights inside. 

"Hello," Yue greeted the girl and bobbed her head as greetings. 

"Yue," Yifan continued, "This is Irene Zhang, my new secretary." 

"Nice to meet you, Mrs.Wu," the girl greeted again with a bow. "I started working yesterday." she flashed a warm smile at Yue.

Yue glanced at Yifan, who avoided her eyes like a guilty person. He didn't tell her that he had a new secretary but Yue decided to let go of it since he probably forgot to tell her with his work. 

"Shall we go?" he asked her. 

Yue blinked and shuffled on her spot. She looked at Yifan and nodded as she fixed her bag that she was carrying. He walked into his office again and reappeared with his jacket in hands and his wallet before he stood in front of her and raised his left arm. 

"Hmmmm?" Yue blinked again. She felt like she was in a daze as she tried to absorb everything. 

"Tsk..." Yifan smiled as he clicked his tongue and reached for her right arm to link with his left. She blushed intensely as she knew Irene was watching. Then, they both walked out of the office after he instructed what the girl should do before she leaves for home. 

~~~

"Earth to Yue. Earth to Yue," Yifan's voice pierced her thought bubble as they were eating at a restaurant. A lively piece of classical music was floating in the air. Yue's visions focused again and she realized that she was staring at the water glass. 

"Why do you look so dazed?" Yifan asked her with his eyes tilted slightly to the side and his expressions curious. 

She smiled softly, "Nothing. Just tired after all." 

He chuckled, "You're jealous, aren't you?" he mumbled as he took a bite of steak he just cut. 

"I'm not!" she hissed, not wanting to disturb other customers. 

He shrugged and pretended like he didn't hear a thing as he continued to cut his steak. Yue crinkled her nose and pursed her lips as she swirled the pasta with the fork she was holding. She took a bite of her pasta and pouted as she chewed, which made him laugh and reach for her hair to ruffle it - his usual habit. 

"Stooop it," she spoke in a hiss, "act your age!" 

He chuckled and nodded. 

Yue knew that she forced a lie through. In fact, she was disturbed by Irene but she didn't want Yifan to know that since she was the one who decided that she would be happy to see another secretary by his side. Her mind kept zoning in and out the whole evening as they had their dinner, which resulted in a quiet dinner.

As their car drove through the streets of Shanghai, she looked out of the window, completely unaware of where they were going as Irene's face kept appearing in her brain. "Am I jealous?" she thought to herself but quickly dismissed the idea. She might be being a bit too worried. 

'It's going to be all right, wouldn't it?' 

~~~

[Author's monologue:]

I've been quite busy lately so I've been trying to find time to write this one snippet after another. Phew. Thank you so much for reading, commenting, subscribing and upvoting. Thank you so much.