Lin Jing puffed out as she removed her red boxing gloves with the help of a friend. She smiled at her friend and took the towel she was given.

“The boss left a message for you,” her friends informed her. “He wants you to eat your breakfast in his office.”

“Thank you,” she appreciated the information but that was not in any way sincere. “I will clean up before going to him.”

“Are you okay? You look pale.”

Her heart raced and she tried to cover up that fear that has engraved itself in her bones with her beautiful signature smile that showed the slight dimple on her left cheek.

“Yes, I am okay,” she moaned softly with a slow tired nod. “I guess I very much in need of that breakfast.”

She was not sure if it was hatred, she felt towards this so-called friend of hers who was the boss’ spy on her side but she appreciated the lady’s concern although she was not sure if any of it was sincere.

Was it time? Was it time for to pay her debts? She sighed before escaping to the bathroom. He has never spoken to her since that painful night she will never forget five years ago.

She sighed as she realized that it has been five years already since her life no longer belonged to her.

*********

Lin Jing frowned when she saw the file of the man she was supposed to help. He was a man known for his cold attitude to women.

She has not heard anything about physical abuse because he won’t get close enough to a woman to do so but what man could make a beautiful woman like her feel a greatly unappreciated?

That was Lu Tian. She sighed and looked at the door before glancing down at her wrist watch. Just a couple of seconds before he arrives. He was known to be a man who would never be a minute late to any appointment.

Her heart raced because she was not sure she would be able to handle such prideful man who believed no woman was worthy of standing by his side.

She scoffed because she was yet to see any man who would not fall for her beautiful.

Every woman is beautiful in her own very unique way and a woman would always find someone who will appreciate that beauty at one point in her life.

But Lin Jing was different. She was aware of how beautiful she was and what power that could have even without saying a word.

As you might know, beauty don’t always bring benefits as some men could get too captivated by her beauty enough to forget what is wrong or right.

She never had to raise her hand before other men around would immediately save the damsel in distress and she has never refused their help.

You could imagine how much her beauty has played a major role in her life because she knew how to use it well, in fact, I will let you out on a little secret.

She has actually trained on how to use her beauty to her advantage.

Her experience would be put to test by Mr. Lu. This was a special favor she was granting someone.

She would never bother on a normal day. She has never really had the need to do so too.

She heard a soft knock on the door and she stood up and went to the door.

She invited him in with his secretary. Who comes for a therapy session with his secretary?

“Welcome, Mr. Lu,” she immediately told him when she saw the cold look on his face. There was hardly anyone woman who would accept such look.

“Where is Mr. Shen?” he asked her coldly with no obvious intention to go into her office, no her friend’s office.

“Mr. Shen travelled and asked me to help him,” she replied him wearing a mandatory smile.

“You do not need to help,” he told her coldly as he turned to leave the place.

If she could not persuade him to stay then she would not have a word of praise to say about her career of over three years one that she was lucky enough to start earlier than many others.

She rushed out of the office and blocked his part making sure to stand as far as she could from him because she might not have heard of a case of physical abuse but that does not mean it has never happened with all she has heard.

Was she scared? Of course. Who would not be?

She adjusted the rim of her glasses with a determination as she shook slightly when he began approaching her as though she was not even on his part.

“Please, do not leave,” she begged him. “My friend, Shen told me about your current state and I am to take care of you for a couple of sessions. You should not miss this,” she told him firmly.

“I should punish your friend for telling someone else about the state of his patient,” he replied her obviously getting angry.

“I am not just his friend but his subordinate. I only doing my job. I am taking care of my boss patient while he is away,” she replied him pleadingly.

“What is your boss doing?” he asked her while his secretary was trying to make a phone call.

“He lost his father in an accident and his mother is currently unconscious. It happened yesterday and he was forced to leave after talking to about you.

“He prioritizes your case and he did not want to leave without making sure that you are well taken care of,” she tried to persuade him.

When she saw him sigh, she concluded that he was not as bad as they said he was. He would have no choice than to stay, right?

This could mean a huge leap in her career. Her friend could not trust the two other male therapists in his center and he believed the two other female therapists won’t be able to handle his case.

The man looked at her for a while and that made her very self-conscious but she did not break her gaze. “Please, he will be bothered if I don’t report to him that you did not miss your session for today.”

“I am been working it out myself and I will be fine. Missing one day’s therapy will not make my hands useless,” he told her firmly.

She did not need to say a word as she was aware of the close friendship between this man and her boss. They have known themselves for more than two decades, they attended the same kindergarten.

Hearing the bad news about his dear friend must have been painful enough. She was smiling internally but she maintained a professional expression of seriousness.

“Tell him I will train on my own or you could call some other doctor,” came the least response she expected.

“If people could do it on their own, therapists like Dr. Shen and I won’t be here today,” she told him seriously showing her displeasure.

The lawyer behind could only pray that the daring woman’s luck would not run out. She was doing good right now but no one would know what could happen next.

The man turned and walked into her friend’s office. She sighed and wanted so dearly to do a victory dance but she could only follow them into the office.

She was very professional and only touched his hand a few times when very necessary which was often considering her job.

Lu Tian took note of the paint on the wall as well as the color of the chairs throughout the therapist as that made it easy for him to replace her with her boss.

He might be known as cold and feelingless but Shen Xuan has always been that one friend who always stands by you him.

He did not hear about what happened to his family which was not surprising since he has been too busy to know what is happening in everyone’s life.

The least he could do was accept the arrangement he made for him. He also watched the woman closely when she was trying to persuade him.

She was very beautiful, just like that woman, the woman who made him this way but her professionalism was what caught his attention and he was subconsciously pleased with the fact that she was trying to help his friend out.

“You are doing well. Your hands are doing better. You are the first person I have met who has had such a quick recovery.

“Shen was right. You should be better after two more therapy,” she told him with an encouraging smile.

“Are we done?” he asked her impatiently.

******

She dropped to the sofa and glanced at the closed door. Did she just survive touching his fingers?

She rushed to the fridge and got herself cold water. If anyone knew how repulsive he was to women stepping into his personal space, it was her.

She has not experienced it personally but out of the mouth of two or three . . .

That man hated women to the core but he agreed to the therapy session that would require a lot of skin contact and he did not put a knife to her neck when she touch him for the first time.

She had hesitated and glanced at him but he did not look like he had a problem with her touching him. She admired his determination to get better and she was impressed by his speedy recovery.

Her phone vibrated. She picked up her smartphone from the CEO’s working desk and read the text message she just received.

She clenched her teeth to avoid screaming out in frustration. “I think I made progress,” she said under her breath.

*********

“Ruoruo, how was your day?” she asked her as usual. “Hope you had a good day.”

“I did. I make enough from the part-time job I got at the library,” Ruoruo replied with her usual excitement.

Lin Jing listened carefully for detail that might inform her that her sister was hiding anything from her because she knew the girl will never give her a negative answer.

“Hope the job is not too stressful. You sound tired,” she commented worriedly. “If it is too demanding, you can stop. I will take care of you until you graduate from college,” she promised her sister.

“I have always told you that I am fine and I saw the bag you sent. It was beautiful but too expensive. You send me the cash if you have excess,” Ruoruo scolded her jovially.

When she heard that usual jovial tone, she smiled and sighed. Her sister was truly fine and safe. “Where is dad?” she then thought of asking after feeling assured of her sister’s safety.

“He went on a fishing trip with his new friend,” Ruoruo replied.

She froze and frowned. “He always has one new friend or the other,” she commented tiredly. “I hope returns safely and tell him to pick up my calls.”

“Aren’t you tired of calling him?” Ruoruo asked feeling sorry for her sister.

“Talking to me is the only thing he can do as a father now. Tell him to pick my call if he truly feels guilty,” Lin Jing replied and glared at the glass of wine on the table.

“How is work? Are you okay?” she heard her sister ask her from the other side.

She paused unable to answer the question. She has always found it hard to answer this question whenever her sister asks.

“Are you okay? You also sound tired, you must have worked hard today,” her sister continued.

She smiled, at least she had someone worried about her.

“I believe I did well today and I had a busy day. My boss left some of his VIP clients in my care. One of them was a little difficult but it was successful,” she told her sister thoughtfully. “I believe I did well.”

“No, not that, you know what I am talking about,” Ruoruo corrected her very carefully.

“Don’t ask me about that again. It is wrong for you to do so but I am also doing well. I am,” she replied her sister difficultly and closed her eyes as she massaged her temple.

“I am glad that you are safe,” her sister told her in her jovial sincere voice. She smiled and stood up.

“Sleep early, you have to go to school tomorrow,” she advised her younger sister as she walked to the massage chair close to the ceiling to floor window of her room.

The view before her was wonderful, that was why she chose this apartment among many others.

“I will sleep well, you should also take care of yourself,” came her younger sister’s reply from the other end.

She called her boss as soon as her sister hung up and she was seated comfortably on the massage chair. “Mr. Shen, I did not disappoint you,” she told him when they were done exchanging pleasantries.

“You did not. I just spoke to him. He called to console me. He would have ordered me to get dragged back into the country if you failed,” her boss replied with melancholy in his voice.

“You must have a precious friendship with him.”

“Yes, but your professionalism was what made him patient with you,” he told her seriously.

She shook her head. What professionalism? She did nothing special to make him stay.

“It was all because of your friendship or I would have died simply because I touched his hand.”

Her boss laughed softly on the other end. “You are funny. Thank you for all you did and you will certainly have more to do tomorrow. I will not disturb your rest.”

“Wait,” she stopped him from hanging up. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, I am fine. I will return as soon as my mother wakes up,” he replied her sincerely.

When he hung up, she sighed and looked at the night view. Some people’s misfortune sometimes ends up being a blessing to other people.

******

Lu Tian placed his pen on the desk with the hand that the woman touched. It was a bright morning and he could easily guess how hot the afternoon would be.

He slept through the night even though a woman had touched him and not just a simple woman but a woman just as beautiful as that woman.

“I want to know everything about that therapist,” he ordered his secretary.

It took him five years of experience to avoid smiling and doing a victory dance when his boss asked about the woman.

He had believed he would and had made everything ready and he was only waiting for his boss to ask. And you know what? He did ask.

“She was suspicious so I did a background check on her,” Su Jie told his boss as he passed over the tablet to his boss.

His boss took the tablet feeling please by his secretary’s diligence. He could not imagine waiting for a minute for the information to arrive.

“She graduated with the best result and she was the youngest in her class,” the secretary narrated trying hard to tone down his excitement. “She was very hardworking. She did multiple part-time jobs to sponsor her sister’s education.

“She was under various scholarships while college. Her sister was one of the students who got a scholarship from Sheng’s group last year. She is a genius and she won the gold prize in the competition.”

The boss was looking at the face with the reading glasses. She looked professionally beautiful. If they were a family of very intelligent people, he was not wrong to let her treat him.

“She was the second youngest therapist in the country, and the tenth youngest in the world when she began practicing,” Su Jie continued to praise the exceptionally beautiful woman who had the guts to touch his boss’s hand without fear.

The boss listened to what his secretary said but he pretended not to as he scanned the information on the screen of the tablet.

She was young, smart, and hardworking. He placed the tablet on the table and turned his swivel chair to face the ceiling-to-floor window of his office.

“I want you to do better research on her,” he ordered his secretary.

If he would have to go to another session, then he might as well know everything about his new therapist.

The Su Jie looked down with slightly pouted lips when he was sure his boss was not looking, his face became distorted. His urge to do a victory dance was thrown out of the window that was not opened.

“I will do that, sir. The meeting starts in ten minutes,” the secretary informed him before walking out of the room.

“Mmhh,” was the reply poor Su Jie’s boss gave him.

It was time for him to leave as he was no longer needed but he wanted to talk more about how marvelous that woman was to his boss with the hope that the woman would be able to meet this iceberg.

He further pouted as he walked out of the office with the tablet in his hand. He glanced back at his boss’s back when he paused at the door.

Smart, beautiful, and hardworking? Those were all the features that women had but . . .

******

 Lin Jing smiled at her reflection in the mirror and sighed after returning it to the drawer. Surprisingly, the very punctual boss was running late today.

She glanced at her wristwatch and back at the door, he was already five minutes late. She was beginning to believe that he will not come when she heard a soft knock.

She pulled out the mirror and glanced adjusted a strand of hair going out of place. with a heavy sigh, she walked to the door and opened it while hoping it was the person she was expecting.

She had to raise her head to look at that cold handsome face. It was difficult for her to disbelieve the rumors that said he had facial paralysis because he gave absolutely no emotion whatsoever.

For her, she saw him as a challenge because he was good-looking as well as rich and powerful so there was nothing she could use to entice him.

Like candies that can be used to entice children, was there a candy he wanted that no one else has ever used to entice him before?

She chose not to wear her reading glasses today so she could look directly into his obsidian eyes. “Good morning, Mr. Lu,” she greeted him with a nod and pushed the door open for him.

She looked behind him and his secretary was not there. “I am sorry, I came late,” he apologized to her as he made himself comfortable in the training space in the office for VIP patients.

She smiled and shook her head as she followed behind him and sat down on the stone beside him.

“It is okay. If your appointment was over, I would have moved on to my next client,” she told him easily as though she had always had an amicable relationship with him, one that has lasted long.

“You must be very busy,” he told her as he turned to look at her.

She smiled and shook her head. “I have enough time for each of my clients,” she replied to him as she took his hand in hers and instructed him to move his fingers.

He did but with a slight grimace, she did not miss as her gaze was fixed on his face. “It is getting better, right?” he asked her coldly definitely unwilling to appear weak as men are known to do.

“Yes, you do well. It might be difficult but the fact that you can still move them is enough,” she told him with a smile as she met his gaze only breaking eye contact for a few seconds.