Chapter 3 Dress Up as a Man for Life
That afternoon, Jordan met with her friend in a café by the street.
“Jo, did you get the job?” Xena Tucker chirped happily.
Xena had a lovely and bright personality. She had a round face and two big, bright eyes. She had been best friends with Jordan since their university days.
Jordan took a sip of her coffee in disappointment. “Yeah, but I didn’t get the role of special assistant to the CEO.”
“Huh? What happened?” Xena looked confused.
Jordan had no choice but to tell Xena every detail that had happened.
Xena shook her head. She knew that Jordan stood no chance of being a special assistant, but working as an administrative clerk was a no-go.
“You’re a top graduate of Talbot University! I wonder what the people in the Kinsler Group are thinking.”
How could they hire a Master’s graduate to work as an administrative clerk?
Jordan lowered her head in silence. Seconds later, she muttered, “Competition among fresh graduates is steep nowadays. I’ll get a foot into the door of Kinsler Group and work my way up from there.
“Not getting the special assistant role might be a silver lining, after all. Did you know that Ezra Kinsler looks cold and unfriendly all the time, like everyone owes him money? He doesn’t seem to be interested in anything.”
Jordan wrapped it up with a casual chuckle.
Xena immediately perked up. Curious, she inquired, “So, is he hot?”
The CEO of Kinsler Group was rumored to be a looker, but nobody knew for sure because he almost never showed up on the TV or in the news.
“Hmm…” Jordan tried her best to recall Ezra’s face.
Ezra was tall and bulky. His complexion was fair. He was blessed with chiseled features, thick brows, and a pair of sexy lips.
His deep, dark, icy eyes—aloof and distant—added to his perfect, aristocratic air.
Jordan concluded succinctly, “He has cold eyes and a handsome face, but he’s unfriendly.”
“Heh! That’s a pretty good summary,” Xena remarked with a chuckle. “If he’s really that hot, you can consider dating him! You have the advantage of being near him.”
“What nonsense is that? We’re boss and employee. Besides, just look at me…” Jordan glanced at her male outfit.
Xena immediately became indignant when the topic was brought up. She scanned her surroundings.
Once she confirmed no one was watching, she inched closer to Jordan and whispered into her ears, “Are you really gonna dress up as a man for life?”
Jordan replied in exasperation, “What else can I do?”
Even her official IDs showed her gender as male.
“I wonder what that bitch was thinking when she did that!” Xena slumped back onto the couch and released her anger on the cup of coffee before her eyes.
She couldn’t understand why Molly would raise Jordan as a son.
In fact, Jordan already looked great in that business suit. If she dressed up as a woman, she’d surely win over most men in Huxville.
Sighing, Jordan stirred her coffee.
Her mom, Molly, explained it this way, “Darling, your grandma plays favorites. When I was pregnant with you, she threatened to kick us out of the family if I gave birth to a girl.
“When you were born, the hospital made a mistake and registered you as male. I did not correct them and raised you as a son. That’s how I managed to marry your father.
“I want a comfortable life in the Gallagher family, for your sake. That’s why you should never let anyone know you’re a female.”
Jordan let out a sigh again. She had struggled over the years to keep this secret. Apart from Molly and Xena, no one knew about her secret.
Looking at the time, Jordan picked up her bag. “Let’s keep it short today. I need to pick Bella up from her school. Wanna join?”
“Sure! It’s been a while since I saw Muffin.”
At the thought of meeting Bella soon, Xena happily grabbed her handbag and ran after Jordan.
…
Three days later, Jordan glanced at the Kinsler Group building and marched into the place.
She had arrived early, just like she had done two days ago. Once she arrived, she aired the office, plugged in the water cooler, refilled the papers in the printer and copier, and went through the wastepapers—putting aside usable ones and feeding the rest through the paper shredder.
Ezra had been watching her from the door as she busied herself with these tasks.
He thought, “If only she were a woman! I’d do anything to win her heart.”
Alas, Jordan was a “guy”. There was an insurmountable gap between them.
Ezra leaned against the doorframe, arms crossed and staring at the floor with conflicted feelings.
He had always been decisive. He did not enjoy having mixed feelings.
After Jordan was done with the menial tasks, she checked the time. Her colleagues had all clocked in by now.
She made herself a glass of milk and went back to her seat, then tidied up her desk.
Ezra approached her with curiosity when she started writing something. She appeared to be listing down the current business partners of the Marketing Department.
She surely worked hard.
After writing for a bit, she reached out for some materials. She got up and turned around while sipping milk from her mug.
Having no time to step aside, he knocked over her mug. The milk spilled all over her chest and his pants.
Jordan was enraged, but when she recognized Ezra, she immediately grabbed a few pieces of napkin and started to wipe off the spillage on his pants before he could stop her.
Since it was summer, Ezra wore a thin outfit. He felt his blood rushing to his groin when Jordan tried to wipe off the milk stains on the lower part of his shirt and his crotch area.
He instantly grabbed her wandering hand.
She looked up in confusion. She had to wipe off the stain fast, or the milk would seep through the fabric and feel icky on his skin.
“Stop wiping. It was my fault,” he croaked.
Jordan stared at his hand on her wrist and awkwardly pulled back her hand. Head hung low, she muttered, “Oh. Alright.”
She had grown up hanging out with guys, but she wasn’t comfortable touching them.
It wasn’t until she drew her hand away that he realized how tiny her wrist was—tinier than the average male’s! It was like a woman’s hand.
Ezra wondered if he was slowly going crazy. Did he try to see Jordan as a female just because he would love to court him?
After snapping back to his senses, Ezra handed Jordan a few pieces of napkin.
“Did you bring a change of clothes? Quick. Wipe it down.”
“Thanks.”
She accepted the napkins and started to wipe the stain off her clothes.
“I’ll clean myself up in the bathroom. The weather’s hot now. It won’t take long for my shirt to dry.”
Ezra realized how ridiculous his question sounded right after. Who in their right mind would bring a change of clothes to their workplace?
He watched Jordan wipe the stains on her shirt. Her chest area was completely drenched, revealing a glimpse of the undershirt.
“Do you always feel cold?”
“Huh?” She gave him a puzzled stare after hearing that random question.
He pointed at her chest.
“Are you wearing two shirts?”
She stared down and noticed her shirt had turned wet. She could see the cloth she wrapped around her chest.
She hurriedly turned to the side, saying, “Yeah. The AC in the office is too low for me.”
Ezra felt sorry when he saw Jordan looking flustered.
“Come to my office.”
With that, he left.
Jordan wiped her shirt and hurried after him. She assumed that he had some important work matters to discuss.
During the interview, she hadn’t had the time to take in the entirety of Ezra’s office. Now that she had the time to look around, she realized it was a spacious office that took up the entire floor.
“Hm?” Jordan clearly saw the sign “CEO’s office” on a door, but Ezra walked past it without stopping.
She had no choice but to follow behind him.
Ezra entered a room without any sign. Jordan went in with him. Only then did she realize it was Ezra’s private meeting room.
“The restroom’s that way. You can go in and freshen up. It comes with a hair dryer too.” He pointed at one of the doors.
Jordan quickly turned down his offer.
“Thanks, Mr. Kinsler, but that’s too much trouble. I can clean my shirt in the restroom on my office floor.”
“And how exactly are you going to do it? Do you plan to wear a damp shirt throughout the workday under the AC? What if you catch the cold? And do you think it’s appropriate to take leave after your first day at your new job?”
Ezra felt angry for some reason.
Jordan was puzzled by his sudden anger.
Anyway, she dared not go against his wishes. She hurried into the restroom. There, she took off her shirt and rubbed the stains on it before hanging it up.
Staring at her reflection in the mirror, she then quietly removed the cloth she had wrapped around her chest.
Thankfully, she managed to keep her chest hidden with just a cloth instead of a bra since she was rather thin and flat-chested anyway.
Right when she was carefully blow drying her chest cloth and shirt, she heard a knock on the door and jumped.
She immediately covered her chest. “W-Who’s that?”
“Open up.” It was Ezra.
She hurried over to check the lock.
A wave of relief washed over her when she realized she did lock the door.
“What’s the matter, Mr. Kinsler? I’m about to be done soon.”
“I’ve asked for fresh clothes to be delivered. Open up.”
While knocking on the restroom door, Ezra couldn’t help but picture a vague scene of a male standing under a shower.
The idea shocked him. Frowning, he felt disgusted at himself at that moment.
He thought, “What’s all this nonsense in my mind?”
He blamed it on Connor, who had been pestering him lately and talking about inappropriate, corrupted ideas.
“Um, it’s fine. My shirt is almost dry.” She turned down his offer.
“I made a mistake just now. Just accept the new clothes as an apology.” Ezra snapped back to reality and insisted that Jordan accept his gesture.
No one in their right mind would accept the apology of their boss—the CEO—in the form of a gift!
Jordan was nearly scared out of her wits.
After some deliberation, she decided to graciously accept Ezra’s gift.
“It’s not all your fault. I’m to be blamed too. I’ll accept those clothes since you insist.”
She opened the door a little. Hiding behind the door, she reached out to grab the bag of clothes from Ezra, but she couldn’t reach it.
Ezra had the urge to grab her tiny arm that was currently waving in the air. Shaking that unbecoming thought out of his mind, he handed her the bag.
Once Jordan grabbed the bag, she immediately retracted her arm and closed the door.
The bag contained a new shirt and singlet of her size.
“Mr. Kinsler doesn’t seem as cold as he came across.” She grinned, hugging the bag in her arms.
Then, she wrapped the cloth around her chest, put on the clothes gifted by Ezra, and exited the restroom.
Ezra, who was reading newspapers on the couch, watched her appear from the restroom with increasing interest.
Still, he sounded cold when he addressed her. “Go back to work.”
“Okay.”
She pouted, thinking that he looked funny. She turned around.
Suddenly, an idea struck her.
“Mr. Kinsler, thank you. How much are the clothes worth? I’ll pay you back later.”
Despite smiling on the outside, she felt pained by the thought of paying him back for the Rosch Couture outfit. She estimated that these clothes were worth anywhere from a few thousand to tens of thousands of dollars!
Devoid of expression, Ezra replied, “Forget about it. I don’t need the money.”
She happily thought, “Well, that works for me!”
“Thank you, Mr. Kinsler. I’ll be off working.”
Jordan quickly escaped from Ezra’s private guest room before he could change his mind and ask her to pay up.
After Jordan left, Ezra’s gaze lingered at the empty doorway. Feeling irritable, he violently tossed the newspaper onto the floor before setting off for another meeting.
