Unfortunately, Shilem didn't leave. He even sat just across from Jennifer.
Every now and then he would turn and smile in her direction, which was deeply disconcerting. Brunch had been served on the low tables—mostly finger food. Rather delicious small bites, really, but had you ever tried eating across from a cockroach who kept sneaking glances at you and smiling?
At one point Shilem winked at her and then turned back to the conversation. It was so quick Jennifer wondered if she had imagined it. His fiancée definitely didn't see it.
But Rolly's large hand tightened around hers. Then he placed a small cream puff on her plate.
"Try this, Jenny."
It was delicious.
And Jennifer forgot that a cockroach had winked at her.
The door suddenly swung open.
Five bright-eyed, smooth-skinned teens popped into the room, their refreshing brightness like a ray of summer in the wrong season.
"Oh!" exclaimed the first boy the moment he stepped in. "Sorry, wrong room."
"Aiii… we are lost again?"
Jennifer was so used to the boys' antics that she didn't even realize it was happening in the wrong building.
"Boss is going to kill us…"
Then EJ bounced up.
"Ms Jen!"
All five boys immediately lit up with hope. It was like the dazzling innocence of a puppy being shown its favorite ball. X5.
"If Ms Jen is here, then Boss has to be nearby."
"Yeah, Boss is always hanging around his goddess."
The boys laughed. Even their laughter sounded like practiced harmony.
"Ms Jen, where's our boss?" Liam asked.
Jennifer looked wide-eyed at the ALIVE boys and then at her high school friends. She opened her mouth and then closed it again.
Where was Adrian when she really needed him?
Then EJ noticed Rolly and pointed.
"Guys! It's him! Mr. Ro—"
Rolly smiled and said quickly, "Just Rolly is fine."
"Oooohhhh…they're holding hands!" EJ's red curls bounced and his eyes sparkled. "Boss is going to be brokenhearted."
"I'm going to be what now?"
A smooth voice came from the door. A tall man in a sharp suit appeared, looking mildly exasperated.
"Didn't I tell you boys not to get into trouble?"
"Sorry, Boss," Liam apologized immediately. "We got lost."
"But we found Ms Jen," EJ offered.
Adrian straightened when he saw Jennifer and then Rolly sitting beside her. He glanced around the lounge.
Shilem had gotten up. "Adrian, right? We met on Friday."
Adrian smiled. Jennifer recognized it instantly as his negotiation face.
"Right. Senator." Adrian nodded.
Then he turned and smiled at Jennifer.
The candle-melting smile made her BFFs sigh audibly around her.
"Sorry, goddess. It seems my boys troubled you again."
Adrian nodded politely at Rolly. "Good to see you again, sir."
Rolly nodded back with his usual affable smile.
"I heard you've returned to HQ."
Adrian nodded. "I'm looking forward to working with you, sir."
"Likewise."
Then Adrian looked sharply at his boys, who were now standing quietly at the side.
They bowed in perfect unison.
"Sorry for the trouble."
Practice made perfect.
Jennifer laughed. "You guys get into trouble so often, even your apologies are in sync now!"
The boys laughed sheepishly.
"You know us, Ms Jen."
Adrian shook his head ruefully.
"See you back home, goddess."
Then they were gone.
There was silence.
Proof that the entire lounge had been watching.
"That was ALIVE, wasn't it?" someone asked.
And then everyone looked at Jennifer.
"They live in Jenny's building," Rolly tried to explain.
The door opened again.
This time it was flung open by magic as the temperature dropped and the skies hastily rearranged themselves outside so that the light would fill the room and properly shine on the man who stepped in.
Duke Chevon stopped at the door. His mouth turned down, and the temperature in the room dropped to something frigid.
"This is the wrong room."
The magicians standing behind him realized it too and bowed immediately.
"Our apologies, Your Excellency."
Then the Duke paused. His eyes burned like white-hot embers.
"My lady?"
Jennifer froze, then managed a small wave—the kind reserved for when one of her students had to wave back to an embarrassing parent in front of the class.
"Hi."
The Duke nodded. His expression regained its usual stoniness.
"Forgive the intrusion."
And he left.
The cloud outside covered the sun at his departure.
Silence.
"Urm… he…" Jennifer pointed weakly at the closed door.
His nephew is my ML, Jennifer did NOT say.
Instead she corrected herself at the last minute.
"…godson. His nephew is my godson."
"The crowned prince?" someone asked.
"Yes." Jennifer facepalmed herself internally. There was no way out now. "I'm his fairy godmother."
Thankfully everyone laughed.
Rolly laughed too. The sound of it was like rain falling on a quiet day.
Jennifer was in love.
Wait—no.
That was not how love worked. He had only reappeared in her life last week with flowers and cake.
Love was…
Jennifer tried to remember and accidentally looked at Shilem.
Love was more complicated.
The cockroach smiled at her and she had to turn her head away.
Then the door opened again.
"Wrong room. Sorry."
It was Bastien. He hadn't even stepped past the doorway, but Jennifer recognized his voice instantly.
She quietly waited for the door to click shut.
But Elaine also recognized the voice.
"That's my cousin," she told Shilem. "Bastien. Be careful of him."
Shilem the cockroach sprang up immediately.
"Bastien, is that you?"
She just told you it was!
To Jennifer's dismay, the door stopped closing and swung open again.
Bastien stepped in. He was accompanied by three rough-looking men in tattoos and expensive suits.
"Oh. It's you, Elaine. Shilem."
He said this with an absolute disinterest. He didn't even look at them. Instead he glanced over the very ordinary people in the lounge and smirked.
"Aren't you in the wrong crowd, Elaine?"
Then he saw Jennifer and immediately straightened.
"Ms Jen."
He bowed.
"I didn't realize you were here. Please excuse me."
Then he turned and left.
The door shut.
Elaine looked at Jennifer.
"Who are you?"
Jennifer pressed her lips together. She had no idea how to answer.
Then Elaine smirked. It was like looking into a mirror of Bastien's smirk.
"I have never seen Bastien retreat so quickly in my life."
Then she laughed and told Shilem,
"You certainly have incredible friends."
Shilem kept smiling, but it was the kind of smile he wore whenever his mind wasn't following the conversation. The cockroach looked at Jennifer, opened his mouth, and shut it again.
Elaine shrugged and took his arm.
"We should go. If Bastien is here, Grandfather can't be far behind—"
The door opened again.
An elderly gentleman with a distinguished air stepped inside. He too was accompanied by tough-looking men in tattoos and expensive black suits.
His eyes lit up when he saw Jennifer.
"My dear."
Then he chuckled.
"What a pleasant surprise."
He looked around the room.
"Unfortunately, I'm in the wrong lounge. The ones I'm meeting will neither please nor surprise me."
Elaine and Shilem stood ramrod straight and bowed.
"Grandfather."
Frank sighed.
"You reap what you sow."
Then he turned and left.
One of the tough men waited until Elaine and Shilem followed Frank out before shutting the door with a respectful bow.
Silence.
"I… I'm friends with his elderly mother," Jennifer said weakly.
It seemed like her webnovels were not going to leave her alone even for a weekend.
The door opened again.
Jennifer sighed and dropped her head in her hand. She didn't even have to look to know who it was this time.
The moment the Alpha King stepped into the room, the atmospheric pressure dipped in his direction.
"Please, sirs, this lounge is already in use. We don't have any more open lounges available."
"Then empty this one."
One of the wolf warriors snarled. The wolves around him were growling lowly, giving the effect of being surrounded by a motorbike gang.
They were also dressed in sharp suits. But putting a suit on a werewolf was like wrapping a katana in expensive silk.
"That is against our policy. Please, sirs. Don't make me call security," the manager warned.
Her hotel-manager friend also stood up to reason with the guests.
Jennifer found herself standing up too.
With wolves, prevention was always better than cure.
So before the blade burst through the silk and the oversized wolves wrecked the place—
"Ms Jen."
Alpha Drake's voice was low, like the hum of a motorcycle.
"What are you doing here?"
"Stopping you from ruining your nice suit," Jennifer blurted.
Alpha Drake looked down as if just noticing he was wearing clothes.
"Oh. Well yes. I do seem to be going through quite a few of these lately."
"Thank you for your guidance, goddess."
He bowed.
The Alpha King bowed.
And of course all the warriors around him—even those standing outside in the hallway—bowed and shouted:
"Thank you for your guidance, goddess!"
Then they left.
Silence.
Jennifer paused.
Then she said to her class of curious onlookers,
"I don't know them. I have never seen any of them before."
And Rolly laughed.
He was the only one laughing though.