3 The Misunderstandings

She looked up and her eyes widened a bit. He must have startled her while she was so engrossed in reading.

"I'm Helliot Edgewing. May I join you?" He asked, hoping that she wouldn't answer with a flirtatious invitation like all the other succubi he had met.

"Sure. Sophie Bloom. Nice to meet you," she said.

He grinned, pleased at her reply. A touch of pink entered her cheeks.

He sat on the couch opposite of her.

"Your tea," the bartender said and placed it on the table between them.

"Thanks," Helliot said and the bartender nodded then left.

"You umm . . . didn't pay with this?" Sophie asked, pointing to her bracelet.

"No, I have a membership. It's more convenient than carrying belals with me," Helliot said.

"I see . . ." Sophie said, still looking confused.

"It's my first time seeing you here," Helliot remarked. He was a frequent customer of the Black Moon Café and if he had seen a beautiful woman reading a book here, he would have surely remembered.

"Yes, it is actually my first time here. It's quite a long story," Sophie said.

"Oh, do tell. I mean, if it's alright with you. I might be interrupting your reading. The book you're holding is actually one of favorites and I know how gripping Mefisto's tale is," Helliot said.

"I've never seen this author before. I do wish I can find it in a bookstore or maybe there's an ebook I can download this from," Sophie said.

"There isn't an ebook. Those old fogs would hardly try to touch a computer. They would rather write their tales longhand. But you can borrow that book if you wish. I can use my membership," Helliot said.

Sophie's eyes seemed to sparkle.

"Really? You would do that for me?!" Sophie exclaimed.

Helliot strangely wanted to impress her.

"Yes, you can even borrow two or three if you wish," Helliot said.

Sophie smiled brightly.

"Thank you. You've made my day. Now, for your question earlier, I was supposed to go to a party with my colleagues but I got lost. While I was looking around, I encountered an old woman who was robbed of her bag. I apprehended the thief and returned the bag to the dear old woman. She was the one who told me about this place and gave me this," Sophie said pointing to the bracelet with two beads.

Perhaps she was supposed to meet up with those succubi at the party earlier, Helliot thought.

"Would you like me to help you find your colleagues? I think I encountered them earlier at the party," Helliot said.

"Oh! You saw the party? It must have been big then. Nah. I'd rather stay here," Sophie said.

Yes, Helliot felt the same. Helliot sipped his tea slowly and let it warm him up slowly.

"Your eyes . . ." Sophie said.

"Oh. Didn't bother changing them. I didn't stay long in the event anyway," Helliot said.

He must have just been forced to cosplay for a company event or something, Sophie thought while she nodded in understanding.

"May I know what kind of work do you do?" Sophie asked curiously.

Helliot was surprised she didn't know that he was a devil. Maybe she's an introvert who doesn't get out much, he thought.

"Contract deals. I just signed one with a new client earlier," Helliot said.

"Oh. That must be tiring work," Sophie said.

He must be one of those employees who have to look for their own credit card clients to fulfill a quota, Sophie thought.

Wow! No one has ever told me that before. Devils are just expected to work endlessly but no one has ever admitted that it's tiring work, Helliot thought.

"Well, yes. I do get three hours of sleep so it's okay," Helliot said.

"Omigosh! That's terrible! You need eight hours of sleep! Not three!" Sophie said looking distraught.

Helliot chuckled. "Like a human?"

Of course, like a human! You're one! He must think he's a robot! Silly man, Sophie thought.

"You also need to rest. One cannot function properly if you're without enough rest. Even if you think you can!" Sophie said.

"You're quite a strange one," Helliot said.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to scold you. In fact, I'm barely getting rest myself too so I'm not actually a role model either. It's because of that Jennie. Ugh!" Sophie said.

"Jennie?"

"Yes, she's new and all the bosses love her so they dumped all her work to me. It's driving me crazy," Sophie said.

"Oh my. Where are you working at?" Helliot asked.

There were several succubus companies and he was intent to know which of them was abusing this poor innocent girl. It must be because she's a rarity among them with her innocent aura and that's why they're bullying her.

"Here," Sophie said, showing him her ID.

Helliot raised an eyebrow. It was a human company. She must be doing freelance undercover work which was said to be easier when looking for human preys but harder because humans are so difficult to work with.

Helliot only appeared in the human world when he needed to look for greedy humans to sign a deal with and he would usually get out as soon as he was done.

"I see. I've actually been thinking of working there too," Helliot said.

That was a total lie.

He hated humans and he would rather have only a few clients than spend his whole day with them. But what about Sophie? She's suffering in this companies because of those stupid greedy humans!

"No! It's horrible there! I won't recommend it for you," Sophie said.

"Which department are you in?" Helliot asked.

"Marketing. Wait! Don't you dare! You need rest! Those people would really stress you out!" Sophie insisted.

Helliot just smiled.

For the first time in his demon life, he was really considering going undercover amongst the humans. He really didn't need to. He was rich enough. But there was something about Sophie Bloom that drew him in like a moth to a flame.

"Why don't you change companies then?" Helliot asked.

"I can't. I still have a two year lock-in period with them," Sophie said.

Her mother was hospitalized a year ago and the bills were so high, she had to take a huge loan because of it. The company allowed it in the condition of the lock-in period, meaning she wasn't allowed to resign until the salary deductions for the loan was over. Right now, she still had two years to go.

Two hellish years before she can resign and look for greener pastures.

"Let this devil join you, Sophie. I'll see if I can help you," Helliot said, his ruby red eyes twinkling.

"And what will you get from that?" Sophie asked, amused that he was so into his devil cosplay.

"Their souls," Helliot said with with a cat-like smile.