Days later...
Lola sipped her coffee, standing by the sliding door of the kitchen. From here, she could see the same men she’d seen when she first arrived — running laps again.
"Ah—" Allen paused at the kitchen entrance when he saw her. "Miss Lola, you’re early!"
Lola glanced at him and smiled. "Not as early as your boss. He’s not home. I thought he already left for business."
But seeing Allen here now, she doubted that.
"Ahh... well, he’s probably in the gym," said Allen as he resumed his steps to make himself a coffee. "Sir Atlas always starts or ends his day training."
"Oh..." Lola’s mouth formed an o-shape. Since Atlas was usually home in the mornings, she concluded he must have been training at night. "Is that why he sometimes comes home late?"
"Sir Atlas comes home early."
"Early?"
Allen nodded, standing in front of the coffee maker. "Unlike before, he comes home early now. That’s why everyone’s happy about this. We don’t go home unless he does, after."
"Ah..." Lola rocked her head slightly, thinking how Anteca’s work culture differed from Novera’s. It was no wonder Anteca had quickly risen to become one of the world’s biggest economies. "I see."
Allen smiled at her before turning back to the machine. "You probably don’t know this yet, but many have been wishing you both well. Some are even wondering when your wedding is."
"Not you too..."
"I’m just saying it, but I’m not pressuring you at all." He laughed, giving her a quick look. "I don’t think anyone’s in a rush."
Lola smacked her lips and smiled, watching him continue making his coffee. A thought crossed her mind.
"Sir Allen, I didn’t realize you were staying here too," she muttered. "I thought you lived somewhere else — not with your boss."
"My boss likes efficiency. Besides..." He chuckled softly. "I’ve thrown away the life I had before. I could stay somewhere else, but with the nature of our work and Sir Atlas’s lifestyle, it’s better if I stay close." 𝒇𝓻𝓮𝓮𝙬𝙚𝒃𝒏𝓸𝙫𝒆𝙡.𝓬𝓸𝒎
"Don’t you feel suffocated?"
Allen paused and looked at her. Lola clarified,
"What I mean is, when you can’t separate your personal life from work anymore, things can get a little overwhelming."
"I got used to it," Allen said with a calm smile. "Sir Atlas might be a bit much sometimes, but he’s not hard to live with. All I need to do is avoid him at all costs once I clock out."
Her face twitched while he took a sip of his coffee. Then he continued,
"Besides, working for him helped me in some ways." His voice softened, eyes lowering to his cup. A subtle smile crossed his lips before he looked at her again. "You probably wouldn’t understand, but there was a point in my life when I just... needed distractions. Sometimes, dealing with things doesn’t take time — it takes something to fill that time. He gave me that distraction fully."
He chuckled quietly. "I don’t think I’d still be alive if he hadn’t worked me to the bone. Sounds masochistic, but I’m grateful for it."
Her brows rose as she studied him while he sipped his morning fuel.
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