Chapter 668 Reporting
Juniper tried to pull herself together and thought she did a decent job all afternoon. She whipped up some coffee for Anthony, ran some documents around, and kept her cool.
When it came to work, it was like being in the trenches—no time for daydreaming about love.
This was good; eventually, she'd throw herself into work and forget about this whole mess.
Anthony seemed off today, his eyes kept wandering to the window. Juniper was buried in her tasks, all business.
He used to catch her sneaking peeks at him, but not today. She was all in. That hopeful glint in her eyes? Gone.
To be real, that spark was out, meaning she was over him.
This was good, right?
But Anthony felt a weird emptiness.
After Terry wrapped up his report, he noticed Anthony zoning out again. This was becoming a thing. Juniper had a big impact; even the usually sharp boss was getting all tangled up in love, acting like a regular guy.
Who knew where this would go? Terry was curious.
"Mr. Eilish, there's a company dinner tonight. You’re skipping it, right?" Terry asked.
"Yeah," Anthony replied, sounding bored.
"Got it," Terry turned to leave.
"Hold up," Anthony called him back, "I’ll go."
Clearly, Anthony was making an exception for someone. This love stuff was messy. Terry knew but kept it to himself, "Alright, Mr. Eilish."
Before clocking out, Juniper shot a text to Ronnie, letting him know about the dinner and not to pick her up.
She pouted. They weren’t even a thing, but it felt like she had to check in with him. So weird.
6:30 PM.
In the restaurant next to the office, a dozen people were gathered around a table in a private room.
The ladies were busy fixing their makeup. "I heard Mr. Eilish is coming. That’s rare."
"Yeah, he never shows up to these small dinners. What’s up today?"
"Is my lipstick too red? Guys don’t like it too red, but without it, I look washed out. Should’ve brought more options."
"Is my foundation still good?"
"Did I mess up my mascara?"
"Don’t bother. Even if you look amazing, Mr. Eilish won’t notice."
"How do you know?"
"Come on, look at the celebs and socialites around him. You think he’d notice you?"
"Exactly. Know your league. Don’t dream too big."
"Some people think they can snag a rich guy and live the dream, but reality hits hard. Haven’t we seen it happen? Still dreaming."
They were clearly throwing shade at Juniper.
They didn’t know she was already loaded and thought she was some Cinderella.
Juniper didn’t bother to argue, keeping it low-key.
"Mr. Eilish is here."
Anthony walked in, lighting up the room.
Juniper couldn’t help but look at him. A guy with that kind of vibe, who wouldn’t be drawn in?
Too bad he was already someone else’s boyfriend.
Juniper sighed to herself. She had her principles and wasn’t about to think someone else’s boyfriend was fair game. She wouldn’t wreck someone else’s relationship. She’d stop liking him, no matter how much it hurt. She’d tough it out.
"Mr. Eilish, have a seat."
"Right here, Mr. Eilish."
Anthony sat right across from Juniper.
Juniper silently cursed her luck. She couldn’t just keep her head down or avoid looking at him; that’d be too weird.
She mocked herself for being so useless.
If she couldn’t handle being in the same room with him, she might as well quit.
'Stay cool, Juniper. This will pass, and your heart will settle. This is the hardest part; you can’t control your feelings, but you can at least fake being calm.' She kept reminding herself.
After a few drinks, everyone was getting a bit tipsy and started to loosen up. The room filled with laughter and chatter.
"Juniper, why aren’t you drinking? What’s with the orange juice?" someone asked.
"Juniper’s been in the spotlight lately. As a newbie, she’s enthusiastic. Let’s all toast to Juniper."
"Sure thing."
A bunch of female colleagues joined in, and with so many people, Juniper couldn’t say no. She poured half a glass of wine, but they weren’t having it.
"There are five of us toasting you, and you’re only drinking half a glass? That’s disrespectful."
"Yeah, at least drink a full glass."
"Fill it up."
A glass of wine wasn’t much for Juniper, so she filled it up and raised her glass.
"She can’t drink," Anthony suddenly said.
The room went silent.
Others had been pressured to drink, but Anthony hadn’t said a word. What was up now? Was he protecting Juniper?
There had been rumors about Anthony and Juniper, but because Anthony was so straight-laced and there was no solid proof, and soon Juniper had a scandal with Ronnie, people stopped suspecting them.
But now, with Anthony’s sudden statement, doubts started creeping back.
Juniper was also taken aback, looking at him in surprise.
Terry thought, 'Anthony, even if you like Juniper, you can’t be so obvious. At least hide it a bit.' He quickly smiled and said, "Yeah, Juniper, you can’t drink. Don’t you remember you have an important report to submit to Mr. Eilish tomorrow? And you just got out of the hospital. If anything happens again, it’ll be a hassle."
Juniper knew Terry was helping, so she nodded, "Yes, thank you for your concern, Mr. Eilish and Terry. I’ll stick to orange juice."
With Terry’s words, others dropped their suspicions and quickly changed the topic.
Only Mira’s gaze darkened.
Since Anthony had spoken, no one pressured Juniper to drink anymore.
After the second round, the atmosphere got even livelier. A female colleague who had drunk too much gossiped directly, "Juniper, did you and Mr. Woods break up after dating?"
This was, of course, a polite way of asking if she had been dumped by Ronnie after being played.
Juniper felt a bit awkward.
Anthony’s expression remained unchanged.
"I..."
"We’re still in love, not broken up." At this moment, a man’s voice suddenly came from behind, and an arm wrapped intimately around Juniper’s neck.
Ronnie kissed her on the cheek and asked, "Baby, did you miss me?"
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