12. Their Suspiciousness

The tantalizing aroma of spaghetti bolognaise greeted Olivia's sense of smell. As soon as the last bowl arrived-honestly Olivia was surprised that Axel added two orders for her-Olivia closed her eyes. Enjoying the aroma of spaghetti bolognaise, her favorite aroma. "Do you like spaghetti bolognaise?" Axel asked with an amused smile as he prepared his chopsticks. Olivia opened her eyelids again, without hesitation nodding her head. "Yes. I really like it. Don't you like it?" "I like it, but not like you who seems to really like spaghetti bolognaise," Axel replied, his tone sounding like he was joking. Hearing Axel's joke, Olivia chuckled in embarrassment. She wasn't usually this open in expressing what she liked. When she was among her teammates, including Jane, Olivia was not free to do so. Jane would pick on her as much as she could and embarrass her in front of other coworkers. But contrary to that discomfort, Olivia felt free when she was in front of Axel. "But no problem, I'm glad you like your food," Axel replied with a chuckle at the end. Olivia only gave a faint smile as she chewed her food. She then remembered that she had questioned why Axel had asked her here. "Oh, why did you ask me to come?" Olivia asked. "Shouldn't you have a schedule?" Axel, for whatever reason, let out an amused laugh. "Hey, didn't you already ask about that? I just wanted to see you." Olivia's chewing slowly slowed down. Olivia flinched for a few moments. Before letting out a heavy sigh. "I mean, why did you want to see me?" "Specific reason?" Axel raised both eyebrows, wearing an intense smile. Olivia innocently nodded. "Right. Specific reason. Does it sound strange that I'm asking for a specific reason?" "No, not at all," Axel replied, chuckling. It made Olivia feel that Axel was really friendly. "In fact, you sound enthusiastic. No problem. I'll keep the same answer anyway, meeting you because I want to." Hissing with a sneer on her face, Olivia immediately replied, "Aish. I'm really curious. Why are you doing that too?" "Why, I look like I'm making time for you?" For some reason, Olivia felt embarrassed with Axel. Even though Olivia only thought about it briefly. Now that Axel mentioned it, Olivia felt embarrassed. "Well, it sounds like it," Olivia replied somewhat hesitantly. Axel nodded his head. "It's true. Your guess is right." Olivia widened her eyes, dumbfounded. "But why..." "Wait." Axel raised a hand briefly, signaling not to speak for a moment. There was no more sound from Olivia. For a few moments, she watched Axel take something from his black jacket pocket. While chewing, Olivia frowned when the object looked like one of the makeup. After that, Axel gave one of the makeup to Olivia. "It's more like I'm taking the time to return this to you," Axel said again as he handed one of the makeup to Olivia. Olivia received the rectangular eyeshadow box. For some reason, Olivia didn't realize that her makeup was left behind. Even though Olivia already felt that something was missing from her make up case. "You..." "It was left behind yesterday. I was wondering why you didn't realize," Axel interrupted immediately. "Didn't you get scolded by your seniors yesterday?" "Hm?" Olivia raised both eyebrows, momentarily stunned. "No, I didn't. We were both unconscious." Axel chuckled as he shook his head. He reached for the chopsticks again, resuming his eating. "Thank you. How did you know this was mine?" asked Olivia, who had stuffed the eyeshadow makeup box into her jacket pocket. "How could I not recognize it? Just look, it has the same mark as the one I saw on your hair tie yesterday-sshh, if I remember correctly, I saw it clearly when I came to you." Olivia no longer answered. For a few moments, she was dumbfounded again. "You remember that sign?" Olivia asked incredulously. Axel nodded. "Of course I do. It was a funny sign. Unicorns on hair ties and makeup boxes." Can you believe Olivia admitted that such a simple sentence made her heart skip a beat? *** "Where have you been?" Olivia's steps stopped when she heard a voice from behind her. Her whole body stiffened as she recognized whose voice this was. To the point, Olivia did not dare to turn around to look at the owner of the voice. She just stood still, tightening her grip on the eyeshadow make-up box. The tapping of high heels was heard. All of Olivia's goosebumps bristled in an instant. It was getting closer and closer. Olivia guessed that the owner of this voice was walking toward her. "You didn't eat lunch earlier?" Olivia frowned. The tapping sound of high heels had stopped beside her. So Olivia moved her body to the side, looking at Jane's figure which seemed to have an intimidating aura. "I was at the café near the office. Why didn't you come? You're usually with Reyva, right?" Jane raised both eyebrows that were quite thick because of her makeup. Jane's cynical look, as well as that look of suspicion, made Olivia feel awkward. "I... had lunch somewhere else," Olivia replied almost squeaking out of fear. Jane, of course, didn't immediately take Olivia's words as honesty. Her eyes narrowed even more, as if she was deliberately trying to probe Olivia. She knew very well that Olivia was easily conquered with an intimidating stare. "Somewhere else? Where?" Olivia silently cursed herself for almost forgetting to return from the shop so quickly. As a result, she did not know how to answer Jane's question. "A few meters from here. There's a shop that serves delicious kimchi jiggae," Olivia replied, including an awkward smile. She was forced to tell her about the shop. Folding her arms across her chest, Jane moved forward more and more. Olivia automatically backed away with her head slightly bowed. "Just you alone?" asked Jane. Olivia's heart felt a stifling thump in her chest. "I-yes. I'm the only one. Rayve doesn't like spaghetti bolognaise and I just saw on the website that the shop opened a new menu." Olivia had no idea what Jane would think. But contrary to her fears, Jane nodded while still looking at Olivia sarcastically. Her steps moved back three times. "Good. I was just making sure that you didn't go to Axel's agency to complain about my behavior." Olivia's head, which had been bowed, straightened up. She looked at Jane with eyes full of astonishment. "What... what do you mean?" Jane sighed heavily. "Didn't you know that Axel's manager came here earlier? He asked to hire you to be Axel's personal make-up artist." Those words made Olivia go wide-eyed. Olivia almost gaped but her shock was quickly controlled. "Why... you're not joking, right?" "Hey, how could I be joking? Do you really think I can't be professional at work to the point where I think everything is a joke?" Taken aback by Jane's outburst, Olivia immediately looked down again. "Sorry, Chairman," Olivia replied, pleading. Jane looked at Olivia more openly with displeasure. But he did not continue to express his annoyance. Exhaling harshly, Jane finally said. "Now it's up to you. I don't know why Axel's manager came like that. Aish, what's to see from you anyway? Your make-up skills are even mediocre." After Jane waltzed away from Olivia, Olivia still didn't move. She stood there with an incredulous look. Was she dreaming right now? Was this Axel asking for her manager?