[Boss, I forgot to ask, how much is the rent?][How much can you pay?]When the excitement ran off, and there was time to think about it, she had a feeling that his apartment wasn’t affordable at all, and she was a case of charity. He didn’t seem to have a need to rent his place, and maybe he wouldn’t do it if she hadn’t cried out so blatantly about her problems.“Joy, what did you do to your hair?” Emilia opened the door for her and was surprised to see her new look.She smiled and walked into the living room.“Hey, I got a place. I’ll be moving tomorrow.”“Really? That’s amazing!” They hugged each other tightly. It was a good thing happening that deserved some celebration.However, when she gave the details to her friend, Emilia had frowned and warned her to be careful. “When a man is too friendly, you ought to be cautious.”“I know. I know.”Emilia was right, of course. Joy knew that the sense of trust and comfort she had around Adrien was more related to the image she’d built of this person for years. However, she preferred to trust people until there was a reason not to, and in the face of the current situation, he was indeed her savior.Her friend didn’t press and changed topics.“I like this new style of yours.”“Should you do it too?”Emilia laughed and ran her fingers through her long, silky hair.“I don’t think Louis would like that. Talking about that, he will arrive in an hour or so, why don’t we prepare a delicious dinner to celebrate that everything is looking bright for you? I’ll tell him to bring a cake.”“Sounds good to me. Thank you for everything, Emi.”Perhaps she wouldn’t have survived without this support. It was true that most of her life she was glued to her family, and living in a different way… without them, was hard. Who would have thought that the friend she made during high school when they joined the cover music club, would remain part of her life after so long?“How could I not? I never repaid you for the kick in the balls you gave to that idiot Dani Kim, did I?”Ah, how could she forget? It happened in their senior year, when Emilia was dating Dani Kim from the house across the street from Joy’s home. They thought he was cheating on her, and later it turned out to be a misunderstanding cleared up by his neighbor, but Emilia remained grateful anyway. Joy just thought it was embarrassing.“Let’s not talk about that anymore. Should we make fried chicken and mashed potatoes?”It sounded like a neat plan. They kept talking about their day at work until dinner was ready and Louis arrived timely with a vanilla cake in his hands, and Joy made sure of taking enough pictures to keep the memory of that day.******“Nice new look, Joy!”The first person to compliment her was the big boss, Nora, who coincidentally arrived at the same time and they took the elevator to the office together.“Thank you, boss.”“I’ve told you to call me Nora, no need to be so formal.” The woman smiled. “I heard you call Adrien ‘boss’ too. How is he your boss? Don’t treat him so formally, or his self-importance will go up over the clouds.”The thing she liked about the magazine was how everyone got along, occasionally joking around with the person in the desk across the room. Nora was the chief editor, but she was young and friendly, and when she spoke it didn’t feel as if she were above anyone.But Joy still had to defend Adrien.“He doesn’t seem to be like that.”“Oh, you just don’t know him yet.”Joy bit her lips, otherwise curiosity would make her ask questions she shouldn’t ask.“Courtney told me you were looking for a place to rent. Have you gotten something already?”“Ah, yes… for now. But if you know something affordable for someone like me, let me know.”They reached their floor and walked out the elevator.“Sure. I’ll pass the word. Have a nice day.”“Have a nice day, boss.”Nora raised an eyebrow.“I mean, Nora.”“Much better. See you around.”Some heads turned towards her when she crossed the cubicles until reaching Adrien’s office, and she heard some ‘nice look’ and ‘I like the hair’ on her way which she answered with a smile.“Boss, did you receive the photos from yesterday’s session?”“Yes, I’m taking a look at them now, that's why I didn’t reply to your mail yet.” Only after speaking did he lifted his head to look at her. “Oh, new hair?”“I thought it was time for a change.”He barely changed his expression (not that she expected him to) but still complimented her. “It suits you.”“Thanks. I’m leaving then.” She still had to contact the models for Courtney’s next session.“Wait, here are the keys of the apartment. I’m sending you the address by text, but if you need help to move your things, I’m free around five.”“You’re too nice, boss. You don’t need to, I don’t have that many things, so I’ll just call an uber.”Joy decided Adrien had a strange feeling about him, he was demanding but kind. He didn’t seem to be an approachable person, yet he helped her when she needed it. And if he’d do this for a person he’d barely known for some weeks, then wouldn’t he be the same with others?But he still seemed to be… lonely.After four, when she knew Emilia would be back home, she went to pick her travel backpack and then headed to Adrien’s building.Just looking at it from outside she could already guess it was a very fancy place, and thought back about the amount they’d agreed on for the rent. No matter from what side one looked at it, she ended up winning.[I’ll be there in fifteen minutes, but you can make yourself home. Your bedroom is the one on the right of the corridor, and the bathroom next to it is for you to use.][Thank you. I’ll do that, then. Don’t worry boss.]The elevator stopped on the fourth floor.It was a good thing it wasn’t a place on the top, other days she could just use the stairs.“6-B… 6-B… here it is.”The door opened without making any noise, and her eyes grew wide as she stepped into the living room. This place was huge!Adrien didn’t overdo it with the furniture, but there was no doubt everything was very expensive. Joy could smell the money invested on it, and felt a bit guilty, as if she was taking advantage of his charitable heart to get to live in such a place.“This is so cool.” She let herself fall onto the couch, and closed her eyes. It all felt like a dream, a fantasy that could end at any moment.Then she opened her eyes, and she looked at the portrait hanging on the wall right in front of her, two pairs of eyes staring at her.It was Adrien’s wedding portrait.“He still has this?”There wasn’t much about his personal life on the internet, but as a fan and now coworker, she knew he’d been divorced for years. Why did he still have the wedding photo in the living room of his apartment. Could it be that he wasn’t over it yet?Of course, Joy couldn’t know what it felt like as she’d never been married before, all she could count in her romantic life was the boyfriend who cheated on her with her roommate, and the boyfriend who shamed her and abused her verbally most days. None of them were great examples, with time she knew that couldn’t have been love.A broken marriage was surely a different thing, but… it was still very sad.She quickly stood up and took her things to her new bedroom, not wanting Adrien to find her staring at his past… or was it his present?