Boss's Sweet Secretary

Hans's fingers were slightly red, probably crushed by the book. He was holding a blue hardcover poetry collection, it was "Stray Birds" by Tagore.

Jennifer finally understood that this book saved the back of her head.

"Instead of reading sex analysis, which is much more practical than theoretical, women should study poetry for their own self-cultivation."

He slammed the book on her chest, she couldn't help but cough and held the book with one hand. She sniffled and secretly made a face behind Hans's back.

When Hans turned around, he heard the cough and was slightly stunned. He saw her baring her teeth and making faces behind his back. With a slight surprise in his eyes, he went straight to the table and sat down with that bowl of soup.

Jennifer held the two books in her hand. She turned around and looked at the bookshelf for a long time. She couldn't remember where she got the sex analysis book from and scratched her head. "Uhmm, where does this book go?"

"You can take it back for research as well," Hans said casually from the couch.

The corners of Jennifer's mouth twitched. "There's no need. I won't understand it anyway."

"It's okay. If you don't understand anything, you can come to me. I'll teach you."

"Ahem..."

Jennifer felt as if something was stuck in her throat, and she choked for a moment.

"I mean, I will teach you French."

Hans turned around and glanced at her.

She was so embarrassed by his glance that her face was burning, and she dared not to refute any more. She held the books and ran away.

Hans saw the way she ran away all flustered, a trace of warmth appeared in his eyes.

His slender fingers clung to the edge of the bowl of mushroom soup which had gotten cold. He tasted it and it was good, and it tasted better after it had cooled down.

Jennifer ran back to her room on the first floor with two books in her arms. She ignored Nancy's inquiring eyes and closed the door directly. She was panting heavily behind the door, her face was flushed and she was out of breath.

The two books in her hand felt hot to the touch. She looked down and she immediately closed her eyes guiltily and threw the books on the sofa in her room.

"Why borrow books for no reason?

"Also, what did Hans usually read? No wonder... no wonder in bed..." Jennifer thought.

The mental image made her blush again. She stomped her feet and hurried into the bathroom.

The next morning, Jennifer got up early as usual and was ready to catch the bus before Hans got up. As soon as she changed clothes and opened her bedroom door, she saw Hans eating at the table. Nancy was busy putting toasts on the table. Seeing Jennifer come out, she smiled and said, "Miss Jennifer, you are up. The breakfast is ready, and it's still early. Have some breakfast before you leave." "Yeah... it's pretty early..."

Jennifer walked toward the table in astonishment.

Since she got up early, she had no reason not to have breakfast at home. However, Hans usually only go to work at ten o'clock, why was he already up at seven o'clock today? He was already dressed for work too.

She hesitantly sat down at the table and took a bite of the bread Nancy served. "Um, what... what's up with you today? Why are you up so early?"

Hearing this, Hans looked up at her and said, "The company will choose the year-end vacation location for the artists these two days, plus the yearly summary for each artist at the end of the year... Do I need to say more?"

"There's no need." Jennifer swallowed the bread and took a sip of the milk beside her. She felt at ease and lost at the same time.

After drinking the milk, Hans wiped his mouth slowly. He walked to the sofa to take his coat. Seeing that Jennifer did not get up, he frowned and said, "Aren't you leaving?"

Jennifer stuffed a tomato into her mouth and raised her wrist to look at the time. "It's still early. I'll just catch the eight o'clock bus."

Hans's face suddenly darkened.

Jennifer realized that something was wrong and added, "The company did not inform us that we need to go to work earlier."

"As a secretary, your boss was ready to go to work for preparation and yet you still have time to just sit here?"

Hans's words made Jennifer shiver. What was his problem so early in the morning?

She thought that since he left for work early, she could finally take her time and not hurry to work.

It was very quiet inside the black SUV. Except for the sound of the wind hurling past the window, Jennifer could hardly hear anything else. She was dizzy and listless. "Did you read the book you borrowed last night?"

Suddenly, Hans spoke.

With a jolt, she woke up from her daze and replied in confusion, "Which book are you talking about?"

"What do you think?" There was a hint of playfulness in Hans's eyes.

Jennifer suddenly realized what kind of mistake she had made. She was basically continuing last night's mistake. She swallowed and said, "I read a few pages." "How do you feel?"

"Feel?" She was a little surprised. "I haven't read much about Tagore's poem, but there's a line I like very much."

"Which one?"

Jennifer was stunned again. She thought that Hans just asked casually on a whim. She didn't really think that he would actually discuss poetry with her in the car. So she carefully replied. "If you shed tears when you miss the sun, you also miss the stars."

She was never a good student since she was a child, and she was not artistic whatsoever. However, she was somewhat interested in things such as poetry and prose. She managed to get into the School of Communication because she could write well and she impressed the interviewers by eloquently talking her way through the entrance interview.

Originally, she couldn't get into any university. If it weren't Hans who gave her a stack of brochures about art colleges, she probably wouldn't have even thought about applying it.

Since she was young, she had always been well-behaved and followed the life plan that Stephanie had planned out for her. She never had her own thoughts about her future.

"That line signified that when you lost something, you shouldn't put all your attention on the thing you lost because there's no point crying over spilt milk. You can't do anything about it no matter how sad you are. It's better to think about what you have currently, so you won't lose other things too. This poem is quite good, it's very positive..."

Jennifer's voice was very quiet and gentle in the car, and her analysis of the poem was very straightforward and clear too. A faint perplexed look appeared on Hans's face, but Jennifer did not notice.

"We couldn't hold on to the past or chase after those who have left, that's probably what she meant." He thought.

"This poem doesn't make a lot of sense." Hans suddenly interrupted her explanation with a gloomy face.

Jennifer looked at him in astonishment.

"How did you feel when Stephanie passed away?"‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒‒