Chapter 3 Hotpot and Lipstick

"The total is 230,000 Rupiah. Thank you, welcome back."

Melva smiled at the cashier and left the supermarket. Before starting work tomorrow, Melva invited Helena to eat hotpot at her apartment. Helena's parents were out of town, so Melva invited Helena to stay overnight.

It only took five minutes to walk to the apartment lobby. Melva entered the elevator and pressed 3.

Helena hadn't arrived yet, she informed her that she was still on her way home from work. Melva suggested coming straight from work without going home first. Some of Helena's clothes had been stored in Melva's closet to use at times like this. And they often alternated between Melva and Helena's place.

While waiting for Helena's arrival, Melva prepared the cooking tools and ingredients. Right after washing her hands, the bell rang. Melva had given Helena the apartment password, but Helena had politely kept ringing the bell and waiting for Melva to open it. Melva repeatedly warned her to go straight in, but Helena refused. And Melva was tired of telling her.

"Hello, hello. Look what I brought!" Helena raised two hands full of groceries.

"What's that?"

Melva closed the door and accepted the tote bag from Helena in confusion. She peeked inside, lifted the contents and was very surprised to find out. It was a plain black mini skirt that when worn only reached halfway up her thigh.

"You're crazy! I'm going to work, not a club."

The skirt landed perfectly on Helena's face, and instead of getting angry, she laughed. Melva blushed just imagining herself in that little outfit.

This afternoon Melva had been shopping for some formal suits for work. She asked Helena over the phone for advice on what to buy. Since Helena was senior to her, she could certainly tell her what she should have for the office.

And so, Helena volunteered to donate an outfit for her. Melva certainly didn't mind. Helena had often given her unexpected things. But how could Helena possibly think of giving her a skirt like that.

"I was just joking about that one, take this." Still laughing, Helena said.

Melva's hand stretched out to accept Helena's other luggage. And this time it really was a set of work-worthy clothes. There was also a pair of heels in the same color.

"But if you still want to wear it, that's fine."

Melva snorted, "What's okay?"

Helena went into the bathroom giggling. Melva took Helena's gifts, including the skirt, to her room. Too bad, don't waste money. Maybe it will be used later anyway.

The thing that made her have to be extra patient was Helena's bath time. It wasn't until Melva was starving that Helena came out of the bathroom. Already dressed in her pajamas. Her hair was flicked here and there, making the floor wet.

"Clean up what you did first, don't you dare step an inch."

Helena's lips pouted, "Of course Princess."

After cleaning the floor, Helena joined Melva at the dining table. The living room to the kitchen did not have any partition. There was a bathroom in the room, but Helena chose the outside bathroom that could also reach the dining room and living room by circulating her net.

"My stomach is already struggling." Helena rubbed her increasingly rumbling stomach after seeing the hotpot already boiling in front of her.

Melva rolled her eyes, "You think I don't?"

"You can taste it while I take a bath."

Melva raised her chopsticks to stir the hot pot so that it would cook evenly.

"I can get carried away with eating it without leaving any for you."

"So you waited for me. Aw, the attention."

Taking another look at the food in front of her, Helena's brow furrowed, "Only this much?"

Melva stood up and walked towards the refrigerator, "Tadaa!"

"Now this is how it should be. Let's put the diet on hold."

Melva snapped her fingers, "Right, celebrate me becoming a corporate slave."

A tray of hotpot ingredients was placed next to the portable stove.

Both of them sighed in satisfaction as the hotpot soup slid down their throats. As was tradition, they would sip the soup first before eating the filling.

"How was the first day of work? Bossy attitude from your boss?" Helena started the conversation.

Swallowing her chew, Melva replied, "Not really, it's just that his first impression of me was so cold and untouchable. I barely had a chance to crack a joke with him. A typical serious perfectionist. But he warmed up quite a bit after talking in the interview."

Helena's head nodded a few times and then asked, "How old is he?"

"Early thirties I think or maybe closer to thirty. His face still looks young and fresh."

And Helena was not surprised by that.

"Ah, I guess he's the company's successor."

Melva stopped her mouthful, looking at Helena, "Why is that?"

While Helena remained focused on her food but no doubt she answered with certainty, "You have to believe it. To get the CEO position at his current age, it's one in ten thousand if you know."

"That's right. The average age of new graduates in this country is 23-25 years old, right?"

"Yep. What's his name?"

"Zeon. He didn't mention his full name during the introduction and I felt bad asking."

"From his name, he sounds like a charming person."

"Ugh, very charming and sexy indeed. His height and stature could make anyone shrink. Maybe he has some mulatto blood."

Re-imagining Zeon's face and stature made Melva lose her mind for a moment. An established and mature man like Zeon was indeed a temptation for women who wanted to live a luxurious life but only needed to occupy themselves with pedicure treatments. In short, being the wife of a wealthy boss.

"Just approach him. We can double date later."

Helena's silly ideas always came out of nowhere.

"I'm applying for a job please. That's for later..." Melva took a sip of her canned drink, "If it's a match," Melva continued softly.

"Hahahaha." The two laughed together.

Zeon's handsome face had disappeared in Melva's mind, replaced by the annoying face he had said at the end of their meeting. Melva frowned again at the memory."Ugh but he's quite annoying. Hold on, let me show you something."

Melva put down her chopsticks, stood up and disappeared behind her bedroom door. When she returned, her hand held a lipstick. She opened it and showed Helena.

"Why, for me? No need, I don't want to use second-hand," Helena said in a joking tone. It was a joke because they had often shared and borrowed makeup.

"I'm not giving it to you."

"So what?"

Melva thrust the lipstick in front of Helena's serious face, "Do you think this color is too light for me to wear?"

Helena examined the color of the lipstick, "No. It looks normal and suitable."

Melva closed the lipstick and flicked it onto the table. The hotpot soup shook a little.

"Doesn't it? I wore this color during the interview with Zeon. But Zeon said it was too bright and he asked me to change to another color. This is the first time someone has called my favorite lipstick color too bright."

"That's right, it's suitable for work. I even have a lighter shade, so far no one has commented."

"Don't compare, just try working with Zeon. I'm sure you'll be sneered at like a sissy at a red light."

"Hahaha, so Zeon has a taste for nude colors."

Melva snorted, "What the hell? He thinks it's just like finding a life companion should be a matter of taste? Ugh, and I ended up buying another color."

Helena shook her head at her best friend's somber look. A second later a witty smile appeared on her face.

"You have to be careful. That could be the start of the comments he'll make to you."

"Oh that's okay, what he doesn't like I'll use to hurt his eyes."