Chapter 4: The Prude Zesther

"The task alone is absurd enough but... how am I supposed to know if they look good while crying?" Secretary Cruz complained in his head but he didn't dare voice his thoughts out loud.

The situation still hasn't sunk completely into him and he faked a cough.

"Y-you want me to make a list of potential husband candidates?" He repeated while thinking that there was something wrong with his ears today or that he might be dreaming. If not, this scenario would never happen in this life.

"Secretary Cruz, is there something wrong with your ears? Should you get yourself checked? The company provides health cards to the employees, you can use them"

In Sereena's eyes, her secretary is a competent man. Her order was not that hard to understand, by now, her secretary should have already understood what she was asking.

"M-my ears are fine. I-I was just surprised, my apologies"

Secretary Cruz adjusted his necktie while swallowing a mouthful of saliva. It seems like he did not hear anything incorrectly. Her boss that is far from being interested in marriage was really asking him to compile a list of prospective husbands.

"Even the way she is planning to choose her husband is like company work. Why compile a list? Does she want the guys to come for an interview?"

After shaking his head internally, Secretary Cruz took out a notepad and a pen after he regained his composure.

"The list should contain guys that are at most from a middle-class family. The most important thing is their face value, they should look soft and vulnerable and they should look sexy while crying?"

Secretary Cruz raised his head to look at his boss and contemplated for a bit but he still asked the question he wanted to ask. "Umm, Maam, I think the requirement that they have to look sexy while crying is a bit um... a bit hard to verify"

It's not like Secretary Cruz can ask the candidates to cry in front of him to see if they look good while crying.

"Don't complicate things, you'll know that a guy looks sexily fragile and vulnerable when crying when you see one. If you have to think whether they fit that category or not then they probably aren't" Sereena answered casually and her secretary can only nod his head in defeat.

"Do you have any other requirements?" He asked and Sereena shook her head.

"Nothing else, just make sure that they don't have a trash personality and make the list as soon as possible"

With that, the absurd task was given to the poor Secretary Cruz that was wondering if there was something wrong with his boss. He even started to wonder if Sereena has a terminal illness.

——-

"Good job today as well, Zesther!" The bald man Joseph complimented while smiling from ear to ear.

The shots of Zesther they took today were splendid as usual. All the clothes he modeled look fantastic on him. With how good he looks in the photos, he might singlehandedly cause the sales of the clothes to rise exponentially.

"It was a pleasure doing business with you again, Sir Joseph" Zesther replied politely while maintaining his business smile.

"But do you really not want to model with a sexy and wild theme? We will pay you at least twice what we usually pay you!" Joseph said with an almost desperate tone and Zesther immediately shook his head.

"No! I really can't do it!" He strongly rejected that idea and he even almost crossed his arms on his chest as if he was trying to protect his whole body.

"Sigh... with your soft facial features, girls would go crazy if you surprise them by posing sexily! It's a shame that you wouldn't do sexy theme" Joseph said with a sigh and the side of Zesther's lips twitched at that.

"H-hahaha, m-my apologies. I-I have to remove my make-up now!" Zesther said in one breath and he tactfully retreated before Joseph could try to convince him again.

"Tsk, he's a man, why is he such a prude? It's just showing a little bit of skin, it's a shame not to use that body to good use" Joseph said while shaking his head. The retreating Zesther heard those words which made him a bit angry.

When Zesther returned to the powder room, he sat on a chair before looking at Keisha that started to grab the wipes and make-up remover.

"Did you know what Sir Joseph just said?" Zesther asked while he was unconsciously raising his lips in displeasure.

"He probably tried to convince you to have a photoshoot with a wild and sexy concept but you being you refused and Sir Joseph called you a prude again" Keisha calmly answered as she started wiping the makeup she puts earlier on Zesther's face.

"Exactly! Why is he calling me a prude as if that's such a bad thing? I just don't want my future wife to think I'm promiscuous and say that I show my body to everyone! I want my future wife to be the only one that could see that side of me!"

Due to agitation, Zesther's body language was quite exaggerated as he spoke. Whether it be his facial expression or arms, he was moving with more vigor than usual.

In annoyance, Keisha held her friend's face to stop him from moving his head. This man really knows how to make her job hard. All she has to do is to remove all the make-up but with the way Zesther was moving around, the easy job has become harder.

"Then if your future wife previously modeled with a sexy theme, are you going to think that she is promiscuous?" Keisha asked and Zesther immediately shook his head.

"Of course not, her past is her past. Besides, there's nothing wrong even if she does that. Sexy modeling can also be a form of self-expression you know" Zesther answered causing Keisha to roll her eyes.

"You can accept a woman no matter how promiscuous they are before being in a relationship with you, why can't you have the same kind of view on yourself? It's just a photo shoot, you might not even need to be completely topless. What's wrong with showing a bit of skin?"

"This and that are different! Different people have different views! Just because I am like this to myself doesn't mean I'll push the same view onto others. And just because I respect what other people want to do it doesn't necessarily mean I have to act the same!" Zesther answered while waving his finger around, even his head followed his hand movement once again causing Keisha to be a bit irritated.

"Can you stop moving around? I swear, every time I have to do or remove your make-up, my patience is constantly tested! You always move around like a child!" Keisha scolded and Zesther has no choice but to behave himself while pouting his lips.

Zesther only settled down for a few seconds before he started speaking again. "Ah, right, are you free? Do you want to play badminton with me after this?"

At that, Keisha shook her head. "No, I have a dat—"

Before Keisha could regret her words, the man sitting on the chair already stood up while his face was painted with an expression of disbelief as if his most trusted friend just betrayed him

"Y-you have a d-date?" Zesther asked sourly. His eyes holding a sea of envy and jealousy

That's a date! A date! That's something that Zesther badly wants to do! It's just that, he still hasn't met the woman of his life and he can't go on dates yet

"W-what d-date? I-I meant d-da... daycare! Yes, daycare! I have to pick up my niece at the daycare!"

Knowing how bitter her friend becomes when other people go on dates while he doesn't, Keisha internally scolded herself for that slip-up.

It's not that Zesther is not happy for his friends when they are in a relationship. The thing is, he would always explode from envy and he would enter his depressed mode for being single this long.

It was always a bad thing to inform Zesther whenever you have a date.

"Liar! You're a liar! Today is Saturday and your niece doesn't go to daycare on weekends!"

The side of Keisha's eye twitches. Of all the excuses that she could use, she actually used such an obvious lie.

"Fine! I admit it, I have a date, happy?" She said while rolling her eyes and Zesther pouted his lips once more.

He was envious! He really was envious! But while he is envious, at the end of the day, he is still a relatively good friend and he snatched the wipes from Keisha's hand.

"Go, I can remove my make-up on my own. Make sure to look and dress well today! Ah, no, wait, actually don't do that! Your date must like you for who you are not based on how you look!"