Filed to story: Watch Out, I’m The Lady Boss (Eleanor & Sebastian) Book PDF Free
“I’m coming with you, of course.”
“But we’re going hiking, and you have work.”
“Work can wait.”I knew when I was beat, so I just shrugged.
Cassian jumped in.
“Count me in. I can drive.”Yvaine ignored him.
Sebastian pointed at an SUV idling at the kerb.
“That’s my car.”The sky hung low and heavy, a dull grey blanket threatening rain.
Yyaine and I settled into the backseat, Sebastian playing chauffeur.
I glanced sideways at Yvaine and leaned in quietly.
“Looks like he’s following us. What do think?”Cassian was tailing us in his Rolls-Royce.
Yvaine snorted, her eyes flicking to the rear window.
“I think nothing. If I fell for his crap again, I’d be daft.”Just as we neared our destination, Sebastian’s phone buzzed.
He tapped it, switching on the speaker.
“Mr Laurent.” I recognised Carter Kairo’s obsequious voice.
“Bruce Zed is related to the Happy family. A cousin of some sort. He used his position to issue them VIP cards. They’ve been using those to stay at the hotel for free.”The silence from Sebastian’s end must have made the manager uneasy.
“I’ve revoked the VIP cards and fired Bruce,” he continued, stammering a little.
“This won’t happen again.”
“How did something like that even happen in my hotel in the first place?” Sebastian said.
“Were you sleeping on the job?”The manager started grovelling, something about oversight, new protocols, tighter HR policies…
His voice blurred after the first thirty seconds.
Sebastian cut him off.
“Send me the full corrective plan. The yearly review’s coming. Whether you’re the manager or the doorman next year depends on whether you actually fix it.”
“Yes, of course! I’ll send it within the hour!”The call ended.
Yvaine snapped her fingers.
“I knew it! No wonder they acted like they owned the place.”We didn’t have time to keep complaining.
Sebastian had already pulled into a gravel lot surrounded by pine trees and faded wooden signs.
He killed the engine.
“We’re here.”I pushed the door open and swung my backpack over one shoulder.
We’d barely stepped onto the trailhead when I spotted Cassian following us behind like an unshakeable tail.
“Just ignore him,” Yvaine muttered between gritted teeth.
Skyveil Trail had two paths.
One was steep, narrow, covered in loose gravel.
The other had proper paving, wooden benches every hundred metres, and vendor stalls selling bottled water, fried dough, and disposable ponchos.
Yvaine and I took the easy route.
We strolled.
She made me stop at every overlook, snapping at least fifteen photos before moving on.
The mist covered most of the view, but the haze gave the shots a weirdly clean, washed-out look that somehow worked.
Behind us, Cassian and Sebastian dragged along a good thirty feet back.
The rain from the night before had turned the steps slick People moved slowly, gripping the handrails.
Waine kept stopping to peer into bushes or poke at wildflowers.
I kept having to catch up after getting stuck behind tourists in plastic ponchos.
According to her schedule, we were meant to hit the summit at noon.
We arrived at one.
My thighs ached and my trainers were damp.
I slapped the backs of my legs. Finally.”
The clouds cleared the second we reached the top.
The sky shifted from dull grey to a glare-bright blue.
The sun hammered straight down, bouncing off the pale stone beneath our feet.
A shout cut through the wind.
“Yvie!”
We both turned.
Cade sprinted straight at Yvaine.
He stopped a breath away, sweaty and panting.
“I made it.”Yvaine blinked at him. What the hell are you doing here? You’ve got a torn ligament. You’re meant to be in bed.
Cade leaned against her shoulder, grinning like a Labrador.
“It doesn’t hurt much if you hold me. I just wanted to be here. You mad?”She looked both exasperated and amused.
“You’re already here. What am I supposed to do, throw you back down the mountain?”I glanced back at Cassian, who stood rooted to the spot.
Finally, the shock over, he moved.
I elbowed Yvaine.
“Need me to get rid of him?”She glanced at Cassian, striding fast up the path.
“No, I… I’ll handle him.”I moved away from the love triangle and rejoined Sebastian.
“Come on, let’s check out the bridge.
A short walk later, we stopped at Lover’s Span, a wrought-iron walkway stretched across a narrow gorge Every inch of its railings, from the thick handrails to the delicate filigree of the supports, was encrusted with thousands of padlocks.
They gleamed in the misty sunlight.
I looked around, found a weathered stall, bought a pair of small, heart-shaped locks.
Sebastian asked after I borrowed a marker from the stall owner, “What was your plan if I hadn’t come?”
“Hmm?” I looked up.
“What?”
“If I hadn’t come here with you, would you have bought wo locks as well?” His eyes bore into mine.
Of course not.” I didn’t need to think before answering If not for Yvaine and her two stalker-like suitors, I wouldn’t have come here at all.
And… I glanced at Sebastian, who was treating the simple act of writing down his name on the lock with such grave solemnity, you’d think he was signing a peace treaty.
I hadn’t said the L-word to him yet, but I didn’t want him thinking his feelings, deeper and clearer than mine, were one-sided or unnoticed.
We hung the locks on the bridge, threw away the keys, grinned at each other.
Sebastian leaned in.
I half-closed my eyes, waiting for the kiss.
“Guys!”Sebastian sighed.
I hid a smirk and turned towards the culprit who’d ruined the moment.
Yvaine walked towards us, hand in hand with Cade.
I glanced behind them.
Cassian was gone.
For the next three days, we followed Yvaine’s itinerary to the letter-hot springs, night market, lakeside shrine, psychic readings.
Cassian never showed up again.
The morning sun poured straight through the studio windows like someone had wiped the whole city clean overnight.
My post-trip good mood lasted until I spotted the mess on the front table.
Dozens of flower arrangements vied for space.
The ones on the left had started wilting, their petals shrivelled at the edges, water murky in the glass.
“Priya, where the hell did all these come from?”She looked up from her laptop and spread out both hands.
“You missed the circus. Prescott and Daniel have been dropping off bouquets like it’s a contest. One would show up, then half an hour later, the other one would too. I kept telling them you weren’t here, but they wouldn’t stop.”I dropped my bag on the bench.