“I’m seeing one, and seeing another behind his back,” Victoria admitted, bitterness in her voice.

“Why someone else, if you’ve already got the one?”

“So I don’t have to need anything, Lanushka,” Victoria said, pressing her lips together and giving her friend a weary look. “My sweet guy is broke as a church mouse. Gave everything to his ex and walked out the door.”

“And who is it you’re seeing?” Lana asked, getting a little tense.

“Rob. By the way, I keep forgetting to ask—remember that morning you came to get your stuff?”

Lana nodded and turned a little pale. Of course she remembered that morning. She would never forget it for the rest of her life. Unaware of anything, Victoria continued:

“Did you happen to see him?”

“Who?”

“My Robert?”

Your Robert, Lana repeated to herself. Out loud, she said, “I actually saw him naked.”

“Excuse me?!”

“He walked in, dropped his towel, and got dressed right in front of me,” Lana explained in a calm tone. “Then said goodbye and left.”

Victoria burst out laughing.

“He probably didn’t notice you.”

“Oh, he noticed. First, he winked at me. Then he said you were expecting me later. He even showed off his muscular butt,” Lana added, keeping her eyes fixed on her friend as she recalled the fateful morning.

“What a shameless man! Strange—he didn’t even mention it to me…”

Lana shrugged, still staring at her lucky friend with a hint of anger. Victoria, oblivious to the storm in her friend’s heart, waved it off and said,

“Probably forgot.”

As if her friend had been too insignificant to remember or even mention. That pushed Lana over the edge.

“Then I noticed the stain on his shirt and remembered how I’d accidentally bumped into him, spilling his drink.”

“That was you?!” Victoria laughed again.

“He told me some drunk girl couldn’t keep her balance and ruined his expensive shirt.”

“I wasn’t drunk.”

“Well, he didn’t know that,” Victoria replied.

Lana’s serious tone finally hit its mark, and Victoria stopped laughing. Studying Lana’s face, she asked gently,

“Are you upset, Lan?”

“No,” Lana answered immediately. She sighed and seemed to regain a little composure.

In truth, Lana was barely containing her anger—not over that one incident, but over the situation as a whole. Suddenly, she realized she was jealous of her brighter, more dazzling friend. It was as if she’d just woken up from a long sleep and realized she was a living, feeling person. A person who had every right to want the things she had only ever observed from the sidelines.

And for the first time, she wanted a man—desperately. She was drawn to him like never before. But he was taken.

Victoria had a kind of magic about her. She attracted not only with her looks but also with genuine warmth and charm. That made her even more irresistible. It was impossible to stay mad at her for long. Her sympathetic gaze and heartfelt concern melted anger and any other negative emotion, which only infuriated Lana more. She loved her friend, admired her—and envied her. And the worst part was, there was nothing she could do to change it.

Later, when Victoria met up with her boyfriend again, she briefly told him about Lana’s situation. They were lying in bed in a hotel room when Robert asked thoughtfully,

“Do they want to hire a manager with a fixed salary or on a percentage basis?”

“I don’t know,” she said, giving him a questioning look. “Why, do you have someone in mind?”

Nodding slightly, he said,

“I could be that someone.”

“You know that stuff, baby?” Victoria asked, surprised.

“I’m head of a department at a small metallurgical plant. And if the pay’s better than what I get now, then why not?”