Her Irresistible Manager

Laura combed her bright red hair and tied it up into a high ponytail. It had been a very long time since she went out to have fun. She felt like jumping around as she got ready, from how she was excited to go. After living with Rachel over the past five years, she barely went out, as her friend's introverted nature influenced her.

Seeing that she now looked good, she picked up her things and went to the living room where Rachel was waiting for her. Laura looked at her friend's outfit and sighed in her heart. She understood why she wore such modest clothes, but whenever she saw them, she couldn't help but think that it was too unfortunate.

"You are ready, right? Nancy told me they have been waiting for the past fifteen minutes," Rachel said to her, resisting the urge to lecture her friend.

"I'm done," Laura said and smiled guiltily.

"Let's go then. You looked fine before. Why did you have to change your clothes again?" Rachel said as she gathered her things, ready to go.

"Ah! Wait! I forgot to pack my swimsuit," Laura said, and ran back to her room. Rachel looked at the door that slammed shut behind Laura and grit her teeth in annoyance.

"Then you can come downstairs yourself," Rachel said and left the hotel room. She mumbled in annoyance the whole way down. Everyone ended up waiting for another fifteen minutes before Laura went downstairs.

When the three other girls saw that she had finally appeared, they were all visibly relieved. When Laura got in the car and started excitedly telling everyone how happy she was about seeing them again, Rachel asked David who was driving them to go first. She didn't know when Laura will say she had forgotten something and insisted on going back to the hotel.

They had all been invited to their friend's boyfriend's birthday, and he was generous enough to find someone to drive them there and accommodate them overnight. They were all excited and nervous about who was going to be there. It was obvious that the most excited person was Laura. It had been so long since she had looked forward to doing anything or meeting anyone, so it was inevitable.

She had also heard that her friend Jen's boyfriend's brothers were also going to be attending the event. Seeing how handsome and attractive the boyfriend was, she was looking forward to seeing his brothers. Even if they were a bit less attractive, she was certain that they wouldn't be ugly.

Nancy, who had been talkative the last time they met, was not as talkative today and the girls in the back observed how she would keep glancing at the man who was driving the car. Laura finally took notice of him because of this.

She looked at him through the rearview mirror and almost couldn't contain the surprise she was feeling. Who has such a handsome man as a driver? Sir, do you want to change your life? I can help you become a popular model, she thought to herself unabashedly.

She looked at Nancy and the way she was currently staring at him in a daze and felt a bit bad for this new friend she had just met. It looked like she was already interested in him, but he hadn't said a word since they got in the car.

As they all chatted about everything and nothing, Nancy, who was still staring at David, was startled out of her daze when her phone rang. David was also not expecting her phone to ring, so he turned to look in her direction before keeping his eyes on the road. The people in the back silently watched their interaction with amusement, but the people involved were completely unaware.

"Hello?" Nancy said into her phone without even checking who it was that called her.

"Hi! Have you all arrived already?" Jen, who was on the other side, asked. She had gone to have lunch with her boyfriend and his family for his birthday and it looked like they had just finished.

"No, we've been on the road for ninety minutes," Nancy said after checking the time and putting the call on speaker so everyone could hear what was going on.

"They should have arrived then," a male voice said from the other side.

"Is that our brother-in-law? Happy birthday!" Laura said from the back seat and everyone joined in on the fun, with the exception of the driver.

"Hehehe, thank you," Lucas responded and became silent.

"We aren't there yet because Laura took forever to get ready," Nancy said with some annoyance. Laura did not argue because she knew that she was the reason they were going to be late in the first place.

"It's no issue, we'll probably arrive at around the same time," Jen said with a laugh.

"Okay, then we'll see you later," Nancy said, and all the girls said goodbye before the call ended.

"Why do I feel like since Jen is dating, she doesn't want the surrounding people to be single?" Laura asked seriously as she pointedly looked at Nancy, who was still stealing looks at their driver.

"I wouldn't be surprised," Rachel mumbled to herself. She did not take her friend's words seriously at all. Relationships? She had no time or energy to invest in such a useless thing!

"I think so too," Leanna said as she stared outside the window. With these comments, silence gradually spread in the car.

Laura pulled her phone out of her purse and went through her social media. As a popular model, she always had to pay attention to what was happening online. Although she was signed to work with Rachel's company, she still managed to gather a large crowd of fans, and her popularity was much higher than other models who were busy working with other brands. She had to admit that she was only so popular because of her looks, and she did not feel bad about it.

"Oh? Looks like we've arrived," Nancy said from the front seat, drawing the girls' attention. Laura could feel her mouth drop, but she couldn't bring herself to close it. When they went through the large gate, she saw that there were some villas built in the area. There was quite some distance between them and they all looked quite luxurious.

What stood out the most, however, was the large castle-like mansion in front of them. She knew that her friend managed to get herself a billionaire boyfriend. The house in front of them showed just how much money the owner had.

"This is where the party will be held," David said, startling the girls. It was the first time he spoke beside from when he greeted them when they were getting in the car.

"I thought it was a hotel," Nancy said as she too was also in awe of what was in front of them.

"No, we built it," David said, referring to himself and his group of friends. The excitement in the car suddenly turned into silence. Laura took another look at David. It looked like the 'driver' wasn't really a driver.

There were a few cars driving in front of them and a couple of them following them from behind. They soon arrived in front of the house and parked their car with everyone else. The place looked even more magnificent up close. Laura, who felt suffocated from being confined to the car for too long, was the first one to get off.

She got off to the sight of Lucas opening the door for her friend, who was still in the car. She watched with fascination as the two talked briefly and her friend Jen suddenly smacked his chest and the guy laughed happily before helping her out of the car.

Whenever she saw such interactions, she would feel envious of couples. But whenever these thoughts popped up, she remembered how Rachel stayed in the ICU because of how hurt she had been after being assaulted by her boyfriend and she would come back to her senses.

"You girls are here!" Jen said and walked towards Laura and the others, with Lucas following behind her.

They all greeted Jen, who looked very excited. It was as if she was the one who was hosting her birthday party.

"Happy birthday Lucas," Rachel started, and everyone started giving him birthday wishes at the same time.

As they stood there, the car door to the car next to Lucas's opened, and another man stepped out. Laura was still chatting with Jen and the others before she noticed him and became silent. Rachel noticed her abnormality and turned to look at what she was looking at and also became stunned into silence.

"I told you that you would definitely be surprised," Jen said to her friends, who were looking at the newcomer in stunned silence.

Laura snapped out of her daze when she heard her friend and stepped closer to her as she continued to look at the newcomer.

"Isn't that Daniel Zate?" she asked her, as if she needed someone else to verify that she was not seeing things.

"Yes," the silver-haired man said, and Laura had to stop herself from screaming in excitement. Five years ago, before she left, she used to be Daniel Zate's hardcore fan. Seeing him standing in front of her with a dimpled smile looking exactly like her friend's boyfriend made her feel complicated.

"My actual name is Jason Lewis," Jason said to the star-struck girls, and Laura rushed forward to shake his hand. What handsome brothers? She didn't think it could get better than this. She doubted the other one was going to be better looking compared to a celebrity.

Although she was feeling excited about meeting a star as a fan, she also only loved Daniel like a fan did a star. She had never looked at him as a man and she didn't think she was going to start now. Not just her. Rachel, who normally walked around with a neutral expression, was beaming at the moment and things became even more chaotic when two other men who used to be in the same group with Jason showed up.

Laura was feeling so excited that her face became flushed and her green eyes shone brightly like emeralds. She did not think that she was going to meet proper celebrities when she woke up that morning. Seeing them made her feel nostalgic about the days she used to go around chasing stars.

"Where is James?" Jen asked Jason after things calmed down.

"He'll be out soon," Jason said and, as if on cue, the passenger's side of his car opened and another man stepped out. Laura turned to look out of curiosity, but she could not look away once she did. She could feel her heartbeat accelerate and her flushed face became an attractive shade of pink. Even the surrounding noise seemed to disappear.

She made eye contact with him, and she had to resist the urge to walk towards him. James looked at the tall red-haired lady, who was staring at him with a flushed face. He leaned against the front of the car and smiled in amusement.

Laura looked at the bottle of wine he was holding in his hand before looking at his face once more. There were tiny dimples at the corners of his mouth that appeared when he smiled, and Laura thought her heart stuttered for a moment.

"Let's go inside then," Jen said and took Laura's hand and pulled her along with her. Laura was still in a daze as she continued to watch the slightly tipsy man who was walking towards the house in front of them.

For the first time, she met someone who moved her heart to this extent. She only saw the back of his head, but she still couldn't take her eyes away.

"Who is that?" Laura finally asked her friend.

"Oh, that's Lucas's oldest brother, James," Jen answered as she smiled at her dazed friend.

"How can he be so beautiful?" Laura mumbled in a low voice. Jen couldn't help but laugh when she heard what her friend said.

"Coming from you, he should be flattered," Jen said, amused at Laura's reaction. She had never seen her friend like this. She just hoped that the shock was big enough for her to reconsider her decision of not getting into any relationship.

Jen did not know that Laura was now thoroughly fascinated by James. James, who was drinking his wine directly from the bottle, could feel Laura's burning gaze on his back. Although he was used to seeing people, regardless of gender, get taken with his looks, he hadn't seen anyone look at him as if they were determined to have. He found it to be a very interesting experience.

He turned to look back briefly and those shining emerald coloured eyes looked at his face greedily. He chuckled in amusement before turning back and saying hi to his friend Ethan before going into the house. He didn't think he was drunk enough to deal with this situation.

Ethan, who had burst out of the house earlier, became much calmer when he saw so many faces he did not recognise. He ended up drawing everyone's attention, including Laura, because of the fact that he was also good looking.

"Your boyfriend has so many good-looking friends," Laura said as she looked at Ethan, who had been shyly introducing himself.

"That's why I called you all here," Jen said and stepped forward to say hi to him. There had been an incident that happened a while ago and she knew to be grateful since he had helped her resolve it. Laura also stepped forward with her friend and greeted the new handsome man that appeared.

If she did not know that it was her 'brother-in-law's' birthday, she might have thought they were all gathered there for blind dates. Ethan didn't keep them for long and soon they were in the house, making their way to Lucas's wing.

Lucas showed them to their rooms and quickly ran off with his girlfriend. Seeing how happy her friend was, Laura couldn't help but feel a bit envious.

She has never dated anyone. She was too scared of meeting the wrong person, especially because she had personally witnessed what happened to Rachel because of all the wrong people she had fallen in love with.

Besides that, Laura had never really met anyone who piqued her interest. With the exception of the long-haired man, she had seen earlier. She had always been aware that she was attracted to people with beautiful faces, but with the way her heart skipped when she saw him for the first time, she knew that maybe she had found someone she would like to be with. How did she know? It was a gut feeling!

With these thoughts filling her head, she unpacked her suitcase and placed her things in the closet. She then went to take a shower to get rid of the fatigue she was feeling and went to pick something to wear. As she did so, she heard someone knock on her door before the door opened.

"Who is it?" Laura shouted from the walk-in closet.

"It's me," Jen said as she followed her voice.

"Oh, come in," Laura said as she continued to pick out her clothes.

"What are you doing?" Jen asked as she walked into the closet that was smaller than the one in their room.

"Picking something to wear," Laura said and picked up a crop top.

"I was about to go to the stables with Lucas. Do you want to join us?" Jen asked and smiled when she saw the way Laura's eyes lit up with excitement.

"Horses? Then I'm definitely coming," Laura said, and pulled out a pair of blue jeans.

"Then I'll wait for you outside," Jen said in a rush as Laura had already discarded the robe she had been wearing and started dressing up.

"En," Laura responded, and heard the door to her room close. She quickly got dressed and put her hair in one long braid so it didn't get messy later.

After putting on her boots, she went to take her phone before leaving her room. When she opened the door, she saw her friend sitting on the sofa with her boyfriend's head resting on her lap. For the first time, Laura felt like maybe she had been too hasty in agreeing to go with them.

"You are ready, right?" Jen asked as her boyfriend sat up.

"Mmmh, it's not far, is it?" Laura asked. She hoped they would say it was so that she could bail on them. She had become reluctant to leave with the two because she knew that she was going to be a third wheel and feel awkward the whole time.

"No, barely ten minutes away. Let's go," Lucas said as he stood up and led the way. Laura could only sigh inwardly because it looked like she had to be a witness to this couple's love for god knows how long.

The three of them walked across the green field to go to the stables, with the couple leading the way while Laura created some distance to provide some privacy for herself. She was happy that her friend looked happy with her man, but she was unwilling to be a third wheel that served to contrast the difference between single people and lovers.

Laura picked up her pace when they got closer to the stables as she knew that once they got on horses, then she could go her own way. It was at this moment a man walked out of the stables carrying a familiar figure in his arms.

Laura hadn't registered who they were until she realised that the person being carried was her good friend Rachel. She watched curiously as Rachel guiltily looked at them as she hurriedly released the tall tattooed man, only to hug him again when she almost fell. He then took her to sit on a bench before greeting them properly.

Seeing the way he hugged Lucas, Laura figured that he was another close friend and not some random person, but she still couldn't let go of her wariness.

"This is Jen, my girlfriend and her friend Laura," Lucas introduced. Brian politely shook their hands in greeting and stepped back to create some distance. He did not know what it was, but he could feel that the two girls were a bit hostile towards him, especially the red-haired one.

"Are you alright?" Laura asked Rachel, who was massaging her legs. Rachel looked at her friend and saw that she was genuinely worried.

"I'm fine. My legs were numb from horse riding," Rachel explained, and Laura looked at her skeptically.

"Is that so?" Laura said, finding it hard to hold back her sarcasm. She was very close to Rachel, and after getting beaten up by her last boyfriend, she had to uproot her life and emigrate to another country to keep her safe. Seeing her like this, with yet another man who looked like trouble, made her very uneasy. Jen, who was standing next to her, nudged her with her elbow to remind her to keep her expression in check.

"Well, we were curious about the horses so we'll let you two do your thing," Jen said and pulled Laura, who was short of glaring at Brian, before leaving them alone.

"We left too quickly," Laura said jokingly to Jen as she tried to ease the tense mood. She knew that she was just projecting her fears and that the guy wasn't necessarily dangerous like Rachel's past boyfriends.

"It was getting awkward. Besides, it looked like they were having a good time," Jen said as she looked at the horses in their stalls.

"I also wanted to come now to make sure she wasn't being forced into interacting with him," Jen continued. Laura finally understood why Jen asked her to come as a third wheel. It was to scope out the guy who showed an interest in their friend.

"I have told you he is a good guy," Lucas said, as if helping Brian explain. The two girls knew of Rachel's past, and those good guys turned out to be the incarnation of the devil himself.

"I know, but still," Jen started to say, but was pulled over by Lucas.

"Can you guys not do this in front of me?" Laura asked them as she turned to leave, it looked like she was not wanted around anymore. She silently promised herself that when she started dating, she was going to make all single people and couples suffer from the amount of PDA she was planning to dish out.

She continued to lament and mumble to herself as she walked back to the mansion. She didn't feel like riding horses anymore, the fact that she could see Brian carrying Rachel back to the house did not help with her annoyance either. She suddenly remembered the long-haired man that disappeared after getting into the house. She silently promised herself to have him enamoured with her by the time they leave.

With her naïve thinking, she thought it would be easy because of how effortless it had always been before.