Caught a Responsible Man after the Break Up

V - Rush

Monday.

Ember woke up in a daze while a mellow tune kept on ringing as her alarm.  She stretched her arms, neck, and waist before hearing a few clicks and pops.

After freshening up, she started frying rice, sunny side eggs, and bacon.

She heard a door open and knew that Clover had woken up.

Gentle, warm hands rubbed her waist as she heard, "Good morning, Baby.  Thank you."  She felt a light kiss on her neck. He opened the fridge to get the carton of milk for her before preparing his instant coffee. He also started slicing ripe mangoes.

Clover is happy to wake up and see somebody taking care of him with breakfast. He has always woken up early to cook because he was taught to never skip the first meal of the day.

Last night, as he took care of ironing his clothes for the week, Ember also kept busy cleaning up the house and folding what was left of the laundry.

This is new.  He never had this experience with his ex-girlfriend.

No, this is like... a wife. He smiled at the thought.

They had breakfast. As he went to take a bath, she already took care of cleaning up and washing the dishes.

After getting dressed for work, he hugged her first and caressed her cheek with his thumb.

"Take a rest today. Don't work around here too much. I am sure I kept my place clean, though not immaculately clean, right? Don't stress too much about finding a job. It will come if it's the one for you. I will go home immediately after work so wait for me."

"Yeah, okay." She pulled his head lower, kissed him tenderly, and hugged him again.

She made a plan for the day.

Meanwhile, Clover got to the office half an hour early and was in a very good mood.

He was always a gentle person, but the tenderness in his smile was different this time.

His good friend and a trusted colleague, Lichen Hailnest, knocked on his office when it was almost lunchtime.

"Dude, you have plans for lunch? Let's go to the cafeteria or go out to Chenette's?"

Chenette's is a restaurant in the commercial building two blocks over, specializing in local cuisines so it's like eating home-cooked food.

"Give me a few minutes, you can wait here if you don't have anything to do. An urgent request for some information was sent from head office."

"Okay... so..." Lichen hesitated in a sudden awkward posture.

"Spill it. What are you, a child?"

"You and Ms. Reeds are really over? Your updates in Insta... man... we're getting bombed!"

"What are you talking about? I just updated some pictures two days in a row. Also, don't let anybody hear you about Ms. Reeds. As far as the whole world knows, we were never together."

Lichen Hainest is the only person who knew about his five-year entanglement with Ms. Meadow Reeds, the CEO's daughter.

"Okay fine. But that's exactly why I said we're getting bombed. You were always the low-key type. And now, everything seems rushed. Hey, did you blackmail that poor girl? Kidnapped? What?"

"Shut up, she's only four years younger than me. Besides, we're together now. Like with all new relationships, it's always like this... you were worse than me. Look back when you first got together with Sofie three years ago before you judge me."

"Oh... wait, together?" Lichen suddenly had a realization.

"Maybe we rushed, as you said. But I like her very much. I'll let her meet you sometime."

"Wait, wait. Together, in a relationship together? Or together, like living together?"

He smiled proudly, "She's living with me. She cooked breakfast for me and I had a goodbye kiss."

"Are you sure she's not getting held up against her will?" Lichen teased him mercilessly.

In fact, Clover is of Dutch descent. He got almost 70% of the look from his father, even his height of 6 feet. His mother left him to her mother, his grandmother, in the countryside and hid away in shame when the Dutch father denied having a relationship with her. In the end, all of Clover's success is from his hard work and grandmother's guidance.

Clover made a few clicks on his keyboard and said, "She's with me wholeheartedly. Anyway, cafete—." He got cut off by the telephone ring.

"Yes?... Okay. Send her up please."

"You doubt me so much, you can ask her yourself..." He proudly told Lichen.

"She's here?!"

In less than five minutes, there was a knock on the door, and the receptionist led in Ember.

Ember is wearing a gray pencil-cut dress accentuated with a two-inch wide belt ribbon of the same material. She has a large bag for her documents and a paper bag which has lunch for two people.

"Thank you, Ms. Pear." He said to the receptionist who left quietly.

Since Lichen stood dumbfoundedly, Ember said to him, "Hello."

"Oh, Hi!" Lichen awoke from his trance.

"Babe, I brought you lunch, is that okay? Am I too early?" She beelined towards Clover, put down her things on his table, and stopped in front of him, like a child, waiting to be praised.

Clover reached out to her neatly combed hair and gently pulled her towards him which made Ember automatically wrap her arms around him and hug him tightly.

However, she also quickly stepped back, clearly aware of another person in the room.

"Ember, this person right here is Lichen Hailnest, one of the two 1st line managers under me and my very good friend. Lichen, meet my girlfriend, Ember Willowbells."

Ember and Lichen reached out to each other to shake hands.

Lichen, not wanting to be a lightbulb, said, "Okay, I won't disturb your lunch.  Nice meeting you, Ms. Willowbells."

"You too, Mr. Hailnest." She smiled at him and waved.

"Let's eat on the couch."  Clover led her to the couch, bringing along the paper bag.

As Ember carefully put out the food boxes, Clover got some canned fruit juices from his mini ref.

"Baby, thank you for this. Also, you're so pretty in your dress. You have an interview?"  He asked while wiping the utensils.

"Yes, I have an interview in about two hours at the company next building, the one you recommended to me.  I found their reply when I checked my email this morning."

"Then you can stay here with me until the appointment time.  Let's eat lunch."

The director's office front walls were made of glass but could be covered with blinds which Clover rarely uses. The moment Ember went in assisted by the receptionist, pairs of eyes were following every move.

This is the woman who stole the gentle director's heart.