= CHRIS POV =

I felt my face flush instantly. I nodded, taking a glance at Rosa.

“What, don’t look at me; I don’t know anything about these QTLB things. I have my hubby, and I am good,” Rosa said, raising her hands as if she was warding off my questioning look.

“No, but…I overheard you say you didn’t like queer people the other day,” I replied, looking down at my hands.

“Well to say “don’t like” maybe was not clear… I meant that I don’t understand. See no one in my family is like this. I only know about straight people's problems, like how many mouths I have to feed and, who have got pregnant and how much money to send back for how many babies, ok? But you know, if one of my nieces or nephews say Rosa Mama, I’m gay, I don’t care, they are family, they still need to eat,” she said and shrugged.

“Oh…I didn’t know,” I said, sitting up a bit straighter. Here I was, thinking that I couldn’t come out because of her prejudice, but in fact, I was the one holding myself back.

“Well, I just so happened to have personal experience that might help you, being a lesbian myself,” Ms Cullens said, and Rosa gasped.

“What, you are lesbian, but you never touchie touchie me before,” Rosa said, looking shocked and almost insulted.

Ms Cullens laughed and sat back. “Rosa, I have met Marcus before; I’m not about to…touchie touchie, anything that belongs to that big strong man who works out in the rice paddy fields 12 hours a day!”

Rosa smiled and whipped out her phone. “ Speaking of Marcus, he sent me another picture,” she said and turned the phone to show us a picture of a tall man standing in the middle of a rice paddy, with two old ladies on either side of him. He was smiling as he held up peace signs. He had a wide-brim hat on and looked like he must really work out, with muscles glistening in the sun. 

“He said his seniors finally allowed him to take a picture with him since he managed to pick a whole field on his own yesterday!”

“Wow, that Marcus. You should consider put aside money to invest in buying him his own land, he works so hard!” Ms Cullens said, giving a thumbs up to the picture.

“Ya…already I have a fund for him to open up a rice shop, don’t worry. Gotta invest in family when they work so hard” Rosa smiled, looking through her phone for other photos of her partner.

Ms Cullens turned back to me and smiled “ So, let’s be honest, your roommate is your Partner? Situationship?” she asked.

I sighed and ran a hand through my hair, “ Let’s go with Situationship. But she means…she means everything to me” I said at feeling almost pained to say it, looking up at Ms Cullens.

Ms Cullens nodded. “ The thing about working hard is that we do it for someone. Rosa does it for her husband and her family back in her home country; I do it for the lawyer at home who is fighting against the higher-ups at her workplace in order to get the recognition she deserves to one day stand to win partner at her law firm.

At the end of the day, money comes, and money goes, and those of us who are privileged enough to have good-paying jobs have a lot of responsibility on our shoulders, but for good reason; we want to care and support the ones we love. We can always make more money, but we can never get another one of the persons we love, wouldn’t you agree?”

I sat back in my chair. 

That actually made a lot of sense.

 “Gosh, this whole entire time, I was thinking about how much of a burden she is to me; I never really had the chance to appreciate the fact that she is with me right now,” I replied.

Ms Cullens nodded. “Exactly, and in hospitality service, we aim to serve our guests with grace and kindness. If you can’t show grace and kindness to your family and loved ones, who won’t be able to extend that to those around you”.

Ms Cullens picked up the progress report and flipped through the papers until she found the page she was looking for.

“Sorry to bring up a touchy subject, but it says here you are earning ¥1,200,000 as an Assistant Chef, yes?” Ms Cullens asked, taking a glance up at me.

I nodded

She then pulled out a set of papers stapled together from her briefcase and placed it in front of me.

“This is the contract for the Lead Chef position. We are offering the standard rate of  ¥1,800,000, which is an increase of ¥600,000. We obviously have bonuses and increments that we will assess to see if you qualify as you continue to work with us. However, this is the standard for those just beginning.

We would have offered you this contact later after you had understudied with Mr. Lee for the three months probation period; however, after hearing your circumstances and getting glowing reviews from your superiors, we are willing to offer you this opportunity immediately.

Take this home, look over the terms and conditions, and have it signed and on my desk by tomorrow, if you would like to accept the promotion” Ms. Cullens said and smiled, clasping her hands together “Like this, your “Situationship” can rest easy that she has an honest and stable person in her life who can look after her until she can find her own feet and maybe one day, look after you”

Before I could help myself, I burst into tears. I quickly rubbed my eyes, trying to hold back the flood of emotions I suddenly felt.

Rosa immediately gets up and fusses, offering me tissue, and after I calm down, I sign, wiping away my tears as I try to string together how much Ms Cullen’s words had moved me.

“I’m sorry, I’ve just never had such a conversation before, especially at the workplace. I’m used to everyone hating me and looking down on me” I explained.

“Well, then let’s lighten the mood  a little, because we like you and despite what you might think, so do quite a lot of your disgruntled subordinates.”

Ms Cullen thumbed through the stack of complaints and pulled out a handful of dog-earred pages

“Many of them were complaining about you how sexy you look when you stare down at them,” Ms. Cullens said and pulled out one of the sheets of paper that were in the complaint section.

“Ms Fairfield is so cold, like an ice queen. She shouts at me, and I feel intimidated. I also want her to step on me” Ms Cullens read out one complaint.

Rosa snickered. “Oh, read this one; I dog-eared it on both sides as it is so terrible,” Rosa said and pulled out a paper with the corner folded.

Ms Cullens looked at it and laughed, then glanced at me. I had stopped crying at that point because the sheer cringe I was experiencing had stopped me in my tracks.

“Whatever it says, please don’t read out loud” I begged.

“No, a leader must always go through a performance review, and hopefully, through this, you will become a better leader,” Ms Cullens said and grinned, clearly enjoying my discomfort as she giggled with Rosa over these horrendous “complaints” left about me.

 “So this person says, ‘ The morning meetings are basically the only time they get whipped harder than their dominatrix does them on weekends. When she leaves the room, they don’t know whether to call out c*** or Daddy,’” Ms Cullens said, and both she and Rosa dissolved into laughter.

“Who said that?” I asked, reaching out for the page but Ms Cullens snatched it away from my grasp.

“No, I can’t let you see it! Staff confidentiality must be respected! And I forgot to get HR to privatize their names before printing out all these complaints” Ms Cullens said, holding the paper out of reach.

I sat back down and covered my face with my hands “Omg, how am I supposed to face them?”

“With the same dignity and style as always. That is a big part of our role as leaders. So far you have been more than living up to expectations, so don’t worry,” Rosa said and slapped me on the arm, making me sit up again. “You got this! And maybe if you show some of this dom – what was it? Dominatics? At home, maybe your roommate will also be like this guy and want to call you Daddy” Rosa laughed, making Ms Cullens laugh so hard she snorted.

“Oh my god, can I just die right now?” I groaned, shifting uncomfortably in my chair.

“Ok, that’s all for today,” Ms Cullens said and stood up. Rosa and I stood up as well, and Ms Cullens shook my hand.

“Take the contract and read it over; if there are any items that needs updating or amendments, send an email to Shirly at HR, and she will sort them out for you. That’s why we are giving you the rest of the day off, so that you have enough time to review and get back to us tomorrow, ok?” Ms Cullens said and grasped my hand with her other hand “And don’t be a stranger. We care about you, it's important that everyone in the company is doing well financially and mentally so that we can continue to provide excellent service to our guests and shareholders,” she said and released my hand.

I nodded,” Thank you, I really appreciate all that you and Rosa are doing for me”.

Rosa walked over and gave me a hug. “It’s ok, next time you feel sad, we have another 198 complaints that we can read out to you so that we can all have a good laugh,” she said.

“Ahh no~!! No more of those complaints! I’ll try harder and be less…whatever that is” I said, walking back and laughing. 

I really can’t believe they all think that about me! 

“Oh, and, remember, if this girl means the world to you, then isn’t she worth all the trouble you have endured? Cut yourself some slack, ok? And try to be kinder to yourself and to her; I’m sure she is feeling awful being such a burden to you as well,” Ms. Cullens reminded me.

I nodded. “Yes, ok, I will work on that, too. I want to be the kind of person that people can rely and depend upon” I said and smiled, meaning it.