Page 15 of Mr. Hotshot CEO

“Courtney.”

“Courtney, it would never occur to me to go for a long walk and have gelato.” I pause. “You’re planning to do this alone?”

She sighs. “Yes, I’m so cool that I was planning on doing this by myself.”

Ah. She doesn’t want to be alone. We’ll be helping each other.

“This is what I want,” I say. “For you to spend the next two weeks teaching me to enjoy the little things in life, a skill which I believe you have mastered and I know nothing about.”

“You want me to be your manic pixie dream girl.” She bursts into laughter. “You wantme.To be your manic pixie dream girl.”

“I have no idea what that is.”

“Of course you don’t. Because you don’t watch movies and it has no relevance to your business career.” She has a sip of her latte then sets down her cup. “It’s a quirky, free-spirited girl whose only purpose is to teach an uptight man, such as yourself—”

“I’m not uptight,” I say. For the second time this evening.

“—how to enjoy life.”

She seems to find this a hardship, but I have lots of experience in convincing people to do things they don’t want to do. Throwing money at a problem usually works wonders, and I don’t think this will cost me all that much.

“How about this,” I say. “I’ll give you five thousand dollars for your troubles.”

Chapter 5

Courtney

Julian Fong appearsto be off his rocker. He’s offering me five thousand dollars to help him enjoy his vacation from work?

Me, Courtney Kwan. The depressed girl.

I might not be depressed right now, but still.

I shake my head. I’m stereotyping myself. Some people think that those with depression are depressed because they don’t appreciate life’s little joys.

Not true. Definitely not true for me.