= SARAH POV =

Footsteps could be heard outside in the corridor as Ms. Jun pinned me to the armrest of the couch.

I felt myself snap out of the reverie that I had been plunged into by Ms. Jun’s cake attack. I flushed and squirmed against her.

“S-Someone’s coming” I gasped. 

Ms. Jun frowned but released me, her hand leaving my hair made me shudder, my eyes darting to the floor as I tried to get my barings. 

Ms. Jun on the other hand reached out for some serviettes and stood up with the contract in hand, just as the door to the parlor swung open.

A tall, long, long-haired brunette stood in the doorway, hands akimbo as she glared at Ms. Jun. She was dressed in a sleepy navy blue pants suit and had her top button undone, and her tie loosened as if she had been fiddling with it.

“Another aesthetic hire, I see,” she said curtly, looking at me sternly. “ I told you to stop hiring pretty girls you want to flirt with, as they don’t last a week!”

Ms. Jun smiled and covered her face with the contract. “Whatever do you mean, Heather? Ms. Yoshida is quite competent; her looks are the icing on the cake.” Ms. Jun looked back at me and winked.

I didn;t return the smile, I couldn’t. 

I shakily placed the cake down on the table, still not having recovered yet from the last 5 minutes.

“Go, the kitchen staff is fretting without your constant supervision. I am the manager here, I handle all HR, remember? Idiot CEO” Heather barked, snatching the contract from Ms. Jun.

“Oh, so testy, “ Ms. Jun said and rolled her eyes, as if Heather did this all the time, “fine I’ll be going now,” Ms. Jun said and turned to me “We will continue our discussion another time then”

“No, you won’t. For the last time, I am HR; I will go through the steps, we need to retain new hires, not payroll your flings. Now get!” Heather snapped, grabbing Ms. Jun by the bicep practically kicking her out of the room, and slamming the door in her face.

“See you later, Sarah,” Ms. Jun’s voice could be heard on the other side of the door, and then footsteps faded as Ms. Jun walked down the hall.

Heather stood there for a second, rubbing her forehead. 

Then she turned and looked down at me cooly, grey eyes taking me in like she was inspecting bought goods.

“Five minutes. I always time how long it takes for her to get the contract to me and walk over here to the meeting room” Heather began as she crossed her arms, my manicured fingers tightening around the papers in her hand.

“If five minutes pass and she still has not turned up, I come and check on things because that woman cannot be trusted,” Heather said and walked over to sit down on the couch across from me. “ Do you want to sue?” she asked, looking at me, dead serious.

I stared back at her. Blinking, I felt like my head was swirling. 

“S-Sue?” I gasped.

“Yeah you look less in love and more horrified. Whatever she did to you, I’m not going to sit her and stand by it, that’s not what this business was built to do - be a honey trap for an overzealous CEO” She snapped and slapped the contract down onto the coffee table that separated us.

“So, do you want to sue or not? Do I need to bring in my lawyers to write up some kind of settlement?” Heather asked again, more firmly this time. 

“N-No she, I-I” I started, waving my hands and trying to formulate a sentence, but the rum was really getting to me – “ The cake is…I think…too rummy” I said and burped.

Heather frowned, then got up and went to a set of drawers near the door. She pulled open the drawer and low and behold, silverware! Ms Jun clearly had planned to hold me hostage with that alcohol-laced cake it seemed. 

She grabbed a spoon and walked back over to me. She sat down across from me again, reaching out and spooning up a piece of the cake to taste.

Heather cocked her head to one side as if trying to ascertain something about the cake.

“Did she give you anything else?” Heather asked.

“Cake and the Latte” I replied.

Heather immediately picked up the Latte, which was almost finished, and took a sip. Her eyes immediately went wide.

“Did you ask for a shot of baileys and cream in your Latte?” She asked sternly.

“No, Latte with espresso,” I said and rubbed my head. A headache was starting to set in. I could feel myself getting dizzy, so I sat back in the chair.

Heather put her head in her hands and groaned. 

“That imbecilic horrible sex manic. I’m going to kill her. I’m going to kill her and bury her body in a place where-“Heather started, then stopped herself.

She looked up at me and smiled weakly “Look, this is no fault of your own. That girl is a sadist. But she is also my business partner. You are supposed to be working for me, as I needed a new cashier as our current one is leaving soon to continue their studies. I understand if you want to sue, and I can tear up this contract, and we can act like you never signed it, but I imagine that you signed this because you genuinely wanted a job, right?”

I nodded; it was getting harder and harder to concentrate.

“Ok well, if I can promise that you will work for me, and you won’t be interacting with her at all, would you consider staying, just for a few months? Because I really need someone, and I don’t want to just kick you to the curb after my business partner literally assaulted you” Heather said, leaning back into the couch “ I’ll walk you down to the police station, and we can file a report against her, but let’s be honest, it’s not like they will take you seriously; all she did was make you eat cake”

I shook my head. I didn’t want to file a report. I also couldn’t think straight. However I frowned, it was cruel of her to say, but she was clearly trying to still protect her business.

“I’m… sorry. I don’t think I am 100% here right now…I need this job, I really do. I can’t afford to sue. I need-“ I said, and then everything went dark.