Zhu Li had always had a strict routine for every morning. This wasn't a new development: she was always an extremely organized child. Wake up at six, shower and get dressed, breakfast at seven, head for work at seven-thirty. It was in her nature, and it worked for her.
But being Varrick's assistant was a whole other matter. Mainly because he had absolutely no routine or work schedule or anything. He could sleep in until one in the afternoon, or get a suddenly genius idea and wake up Zhu Li at two in the morning to jot down some notes.
It took some getting used to, but she soon came to expect her employer's unpredictability. In some ways, it was a breath of fresh air. He added some spontaneity to Zhu Li's life that she came to enjoy.
But there was one aspect of her nightly routine that Zhu Li refused to budge on: reading for exactly an hour before bed. It calmed her, relaxed her, and helped to broaden her mind. There was never a specific genre that she liked to cuddle up with. She would read anything: trashy romance, erotica, sci-fi, mystery, fantasy, scientific journals, biographies, etc.
It was her favorite part of the day, curling on the couch flipping through pages of a riveting book. It was her quiet time.
Varrick, however, didn't do quiet time. He would whine and complain, and sometimes even intentionally make loud noises. His immature actions to get her attention always grated on her, and it was one of the few times that she would just ignore him.
But on this particular night, he was especially insufferable.
"Zhu Li," he whined, "I need you to write something down for me."
"No, you don't." her eyes never left the romance novel that she was reading.
"But I'm bored!"
"And I have three more chapters of this book. Give me another half an hour."
"I just want someone to talk to."
Zhu Li rolled her eyes. When he was like this, it was nearly impossible to shut him up. She looked over at her boss, who was pouting at her, his blue eyes wide and bottom lip sticking out. She sighed, "Come over here, sir. I'll read to you, and you can talk all you want after that."
"I don't want to listen to a story." However, when Zhu Li flashed him an angry look, he shrunk, remembering how unnaturally strong she was, and sat down next to her on the sofa.
As his assistant began to read to him, Varrick realized how soothing her voice was, and how comforting it was to listen to her. He eventually tuned out the story, and simply listened to her voice. How it rose at certain exclamations, sped up at a particularly fast-paced paragraph, and how it lowered during the final sex scene. That particular part he especially enjoyed, seeing the slightly pink tinge of her blush. The joy in her voice at the conclusion was her favorite, however, because she seemed so overjoyed because of the happy ending of fictional characters.
When she closed the book, Zhu Li looked at Varrick to see if he was asleep. He wasn't, only staring at her with a satisfied smile on his face. He hummed appreciatively.
"I take it you liked the book?"
"I liked you reading to me."
Zhu Li blushed, "I liked reading to you."
"Maybe we could do it again?"
"It would be a nice addition to my nightly routine."