To the Love of My Life

As a result, just as Ruby Gregory had fallen asleep, the intercom on the table rang, and it was Steve Burton calling her, asking her to make a cup of coffee for him.

Ruby, struggling to keep her sleepiness at bay, climbed out of her seat and went to the pantry to make a cup of coffee, which she then brought to Steve’s office.

Although her marriage to Steve was already a settled matter, in the company, Ruby still abided by the company rules. Despite her resentment towards Steve, she still maintained a demeanor of propriety and said respectfully, “Mr. Burton, here’s your coffee.”

Steve appeared to be focused on his computer, but in reality, when Ruby entered his office, his attention was entirely on her. He tried his best to restrain his urge to look at Ruby and only raised his eyes when she spoke, he responded with a somewhat indifferent “hmm” through his nose.

Ruby held back her overwhelming sleepiness and forced herself to smile at Steve as usual, then left his office.

As soon as she left Steve’s office, Ruby lay down on her desk again, only for the intercom to ring once more before she could fall asleep. Steve called again, this time asking her to bring his daily schedule into his office.

Her sleep having been disturbed twice in a row, even Ruby’s usually good-tempered nature in front of Steve began to waver, and she felt unhappy. She suppressed her frustration, went to Ms. Taylor, asked for the schedule politely, and then walked into Steve’s office again.

Ruby had gradually become bolder in Steve’s presence ever since she opened up to him one night. She no longer feared her emotions would cause him disgust and displeasure, and unlike before, she occasionally showed an expression of sadness, joy, or anger when she couldn’t help it.

She still wore a reluctant smile on her face when talking to Ms. Taylor, but once she stepped into Steve’s office and saw him looking spirited and refreshed, thinking about her recent exhausting days, her expression turned a little sour. She walked to Steve’s desk, placed the report he wanted on it, and said in a somewhat depressed tone, “Mr. Burton, here’s the report you requested.” Then, with her eyes downcast and without looking at Steve, she turned and left his office.

Lack of sleep can easily cause an irregular heartbeat, and Ruby felt dizzy. She returned to her seat and saw her fellow secretaries looking energetic. Some were even browsing Amazon websites on their computers while she had done part of their work for them. She would go back home and work overtime on her own tasks, and she couldn’t help but feel a strong sense of unfairness.

Despite the fact that she would soon become the lady of Pristine’s Enterprises, she still didn’t have the courage to ask Steve to lighten her workload, fearing that she might inadvertently upset him.

Ruby tried to console herself quietly, thinking that once she and Steve got engaged, she wouldn’t be a secretary any longer. At that point, she would have made it through.

Unable to resist the sleepiness, Ruby once again laid her head on the desk.

This time, she didn’t even manage to find a comfortable position when Steve’s intercom rang again: “Bring the materials for the upcoming meeting in here.”