Final Decision

"I'm home!" Lai exclaimed as she entered the house.

The house was silent, so this meant her mother was not back yet. Her father?

"Dad?" she waited for a response.

Nothing.

"Guess nobody's home," she shrugged, walking to her room.

She threw her tote bag on the floor and fell on the bed, face flat. She was exhausted and hungry. She walked to the bathroom and took a shower.

Sitting on her bed and drying her hair, she suddenly remembered what Zhou had said about Wen and Ren. She held back a laugh.

"That would be the plot twist of the century," she mumbled, chuckling, "What an odd couple they would be."

She suddenly remembered Wen's crazy ex-boyfriend and sighed. She was thankful to the heavens that she took a martial arts class after that day the loan sharks had come into her home when her parents were not around.

She told herself that she needed to know how to defend and protect herself.

Her lessons came in handy when Shou came to the cafe acting like the Hulk. She was able to protect Wen and her colleagues that day.

"That guy was a real nutcase," she sighed.

She looked at the brown folder peeping out of her tote bag.

"Ah," she sighed again, "I have another potential nutcase to worry about."

She laughed and shook her head.

"Maybe I shouldn't call him that just yet," she mumbled as she finished drying her hair and ordered a large chicken pizza.

She walked to the living room with the brown folder when she had finished placing her order. She sat on the couch, turning the TV on, sitting comfortably.

She covered herself with the blanket left folded in the corner of the couch. She opened the folder, took out the contract, and began to read it carefully.

"This contract is for the position of Personal Assistant (PA) to the owner of Nero Inc., Mr. Bai Ying," she read.

"My duties are preparing his diary, booking his appointments and accommodation. I have to accompany him on business trips, events, and meetings if he says so," she paused, looking up at the ceiling.

'I guess he travels a lot,' she pressed her lips together.

"Employee benefits," she continued to read, "Travel allowance for employees who take public transport to and from work, meal allowance- cafeteria offers some free food and discounts, gym membership discount at Total Body Gym (TBG), entertainment vouchers, i.e., movies, operas, theaters..."

She did not believe the company offered a whole two-page list of employee benefits. The contract stated that she should begin work from 7 AM and leave at 6 PM.

If her work went into overtime and was out of her control, she would be paid $30 per hour of overtime.

"No matter how much I try to think of the cons of this job," she bit her lip, "The pros outweigh them."

Suddenly, the shoulder angel and devil appeared. Again.

"Not you guys again," she said, groaning, "What do you both want this time?"

"Yeah, what do you want?" the shoulder devil asked, directing the question to the shoulder angel, her hands on her tiny hips.

"I'm here to help Lai make the best decision of her life," the shoulder angel replied with a cute 'humph!'.

The shoulder devil flew towards Lai and landed on her left shoulder.

"Remember what happened in Vincenzo?" it asked her as she tilted her head to look at it.

"That's a Korean drama! Even Wen said so. Don't base your decision and reality on a Korean drama series," the shoulder angel retorted.

Lai turned her attention to it as it also flew towards her and landed on her right shoulder.

'I am definitely going crazy right now!' she internally groaned.

"You do realize if something happens to her," the shoulder devil pointed at Lai while glaring at the shoulder angel, "you and I will die?"

The shoulder angel scoffed.

"We don't even exist!" she cried out, "We are just a figment of her imagination. Look at her. She's probably internally telling herself that she's going crazy and hallucinating."

Lai pressed her lips together, stared at the shoulder devil, and shook her head 'yes.'

"Sorry," she told the shoulder devil, "but Angel Lai is right. Plus, you two don't exist."

The shoulder devil sighed and covered her face with her tiny hands.

"You two are making me look stupid!" it raised its tiny hands in the air, "Of course, I know that we don't exist!"

Lai had had enough of these two opposite versions of herself arguing. After thinking long and hard, she had made her final decision and was not going to back down.

"Okay, you two! Listen up!" she shouted as she stood up, causing the shoulder angel and devil to fly in front of her face.

"I've made up my mind."

Both her tiny hallucinations glared at each other.

"I'm accepting this job," she said firmly, "and I'm doing this for myself. The sooner I pay off dad's debt, the faster I can get my mother out of this miserable life and enjoy my life."

"Yes!" the shoulder angel yelled, fist-pumping the air in triumph.

"Whatever," the shoulder devil pouted and disappeared in a puff of smoke together with the shoulder angel.

Lai sighed and lay back down on the couch.

"Seriously," she ran her fingers through her brown hair, "What is this man doing to me?"

"...And now for the 7 o'clock news. Good evening, I'm Cui Guanyu, your news anchor for tonight," she heard the woman on TV say.

She covered herself with her woolen blanket and scrolled through her phone to check the progress of her order. She smiled as the app told her that her order was 2 minutes away.

"...so as January, which signified a new year, for 2025 comes to a close, we will take a look at the market value of the top five companies in Cedoria."

She immediately looked up from her phone and at the TV screen.

"Primeworks sits at #5. Lionetworks was at #5 last month but has improved its market value and stands at the #4 spot this month. Globaviations remains in its #3 spot. Due to the recent scandal, Nero Inc. comes in at #2, giving its rival company, Spiritronics, the #1 spot on this month's-"

Lai heard the doorbell ring, and she immediately jumped up from the couch and ran to the door.

"Pizza delivery!" the deliveryman stated.

She opened the door and smiled at him, grabbing the pizza. The deliveryman stared at her, mesmerized by her beauty and large hazelnut eyes.

"Thank you!" Lai told him, snapping him out of his daze, "Have a great night."

With that, she closed the door and moved the contract and brown folder to the couch, placing the pizza box on the table.

She opened it to reveal a tantalising and appetizing sight for the eyes and stomach. Her stomach grumbled.

She breathed in the amazing aroma and ran to the kitchen to grab a plate. She then sat down, took two slices, and began eating, feeling her body almost melt as she enjoyed the different flavors dancing in her mouth.

"...over to you, Mr. Xuegang," she heard the news anchor say.

It was now time for the weather forecast. It said that it would be raining tomorrow, which is Friday, and probably the whole weekend.

She smiled, totally happy with the weather since she loved the rain.

"Should I call Mr. Ying and tell him I accept his job offer, or should I wait until I speak to my current boss first?" she held her phone in her hand.

She bit her lip and decided to wait for a while, just in case she changed her mind along the way. She sent a message to her boss at Ebony Chocolate Café.

"Good evening, Mr. Yuan Yahui. Please may I set an appointment with you at the café tomorrow," she said as she typed the message to her boss, "I have something I need to discuss with you. Thanks."

She clicked send and placed her phone on the table, continuing her feast and watching TV.

When she had finished eating, she took the pizza box and left it on the kitchen counter for her dad to have some when he came back from wherever the hell he had run off to.