"What happened to your date? Was he cute? Come on, tell me," Jana asked eagerly. Then she noticed my broken glasses. "Wait, your glasses are broken. What happened?" She waited for me to respond as I pretended to be busy checking medicine bottles.

I already said the date went well, but she wanted more. Though I wasn't lying about having lunch with someone, in this case, Mino and I did have lunch together, but was it a date?

"Can we talk later? I'm busy," I said, hoping she would take the hint and leave.

"I could pretend to be sick and we could talk now," Jana teased, not giving up.

I sighed and gave her a look, suggesting she should leave. She backed off, saying, "Alright, I'll go, but we'll chat later."

Unlike me, who minds my own business, Jana always wants to know what's going on with me. We're total opposites.

I nodded and gestured for her to leave. As she left, I breathed a sigh of relief, but then panic overwhelmed me, and I sank to my knees. What should I tell her later? Should I just tell her the truth? But then she might be furious if she found out I was meeting Dom. Maybe I could say I had lunch with the CEO of Mino Cosmetics? After all, she didn't know that Dom and Mino were just one guy. But what if she asks how I know him? Mention the aquarium? But I already told her about meeting Dom there. I scratched my head in frustration. I felt completely doomed.

Suddenly, I heard a voice at the door, "Anyone here?"

Slowly standing up, I saw a young man, looking a bit nerdy, clutching his stomach with trembling knees.

"Yes, I'm here. Can I help you?" I asked.

"Um, can I get some loperamide? I think I have an upset stomach," he mumbled, clearly embarrassed.

"Ah, have a seat first," I said, gesturing for him to sit down."Is your stool loose? Any blood in your stools? What did you have for lunch?" I asked.

"Thanks, but yeah, kind of. No blood though. I had some fresh oysters," he replied.

"Ah, you had them raw?" I asked as I reached for the medicine from the cabinet. Instead of loperamide, I decided to give him Pepto-Bismol.

"Yeah, I didn't realize it could be this bad," he admitted.

"Do you usually eat them?"

"No, I was dared to try them. You know, trying to fit in," he confessed.

"Hmm, you shouldn't feel the need to fit in. Look where it got you. Also, eating raw oysters can lead to infections," I warned, sounding like his mom for a moment. Sometimes tough advice is necessary.

"I'm sorry, Nurse Cali. I'll keep that in mind," he said.

"If your stomach does not improve by the end of the day, I suggest seeing a doctor," I advised, handing him the medicine. "Could you write your name and department here?" I asked, giving him the logbook and he did.

In the afternoon, a few more patients came in — one had an asthma attack, and another got injured by a stapler. Time flew by, and before I knew it, it was 5PM. I began to pack my things to leave.

Stepping outside, I spotted Jana waiting for me. She was on time, clocking out just as I was. And unlike earlier, when she was very intrigued about my whereabouts at lunch, she's now unusually quiet. I had a bad feeling about this.

Throughout the afternoon shift, I struggled with the decision to tell Jana the truth. I couldn't keep lying to her. I knew I had to tell her, but the question was when? Perhaps in the car later when it's just the two of us.

Everyone stood around waiting for the elevator doors to open. Jana and I were there, patiently waiting as well. When it finally opened, it was already full, so we had to wait for the next one. After a few minutes, the doors slid open again, and I was surprised to see him. I turned away, hoping he hadn't noticed me.

"Cali!" Mino called from inside the elevator.

I slowly turned back, noticing Jana looking surprised beside me. "Hey," I said nervously.

"Coming down? Come on, there's space," he said, inviting us in.

I glanced at Jana, who was now giving me a questioning look, like she was asking for an explanation. "Yeah, J-jana? Let's go," I said, nudging her as we got in.

Nobody said a word in the elevator until it reached the ground floor. I was praying the whole time that Mino wouldn't bring up our lunch nor meeting him earlier. I thought I was safe, but then Mino called me over as we stepped out.

"By the way, Cali, like what I said earlier, make sure to stop by our office. I've got some free stuff for you," he said casually before leaving.

Jana and I walked to her car in the parking lot. Once inside, she grabbed my shoulders and bombarded me with questions.

"You know Mino from Mino Cosmetics?" she asked, clearly shocked. I was speechless, not sure how to answer.

"And those free products? Can you explain that?" Her eyes widened in disbelief, and with each question, her surprise seemed to intensify.

"Wait—was he the one you had lunch with?" she asked in shock, her hand covering her mouth. "Now it all makes sense why you couldn't tell me!" she added.

Jana kept on speculating, leaving me no chance to explain. "So, he was on the dating app?" she asked herself, still surprised. She turned to me, as if trying to read my thoughts. "I bet you didn't tell me because he wouldn't want everyone to know. I get it, with everyone admiring him and him needing to maintain his image as a young CEO," she said, sounding convinced by her own assumptions. Should I just let her believe that?

"But I heard he's a real player. You know, dating all those pretty girls and then ditching them. Are you really sure about dating him, Cali?" she continued, sounding worried.

Now I've got the chance to finally talk, "Chill, he wasn't on the dating app and we weren't dating," I said.

"What?!"

"I bumped into him outside, and he offered me a free lunch because he broke my glasses," I explained quickly. With Jana's reaction, I realized I might not tell her that Mino was actually Dom from my past. Maybe it's better this way, leaving everything in the past and focusing on the present. I'll just go along with the idea that Dom couldn't remember Cali from seven years ago.

"But didn't you say you were on a date?" Jana asked.

"Ah, I did, but I got stood up," I lied.

"Aw, poor thing. Come here," Jana said, hugging me. "I shouldn't have asked you to try the app. Do as you wish, you can delete it now," she said, as if she's accountable for it. I felt a sense of guilt again. How long will I lie to her?

After a brief moment of comfort from Jana, she started driving. She never asked me again about Mino. We first picked up Bambi from school and then went grocery shopping. I tagged along to stock up my fridge too. We also had dinner out to celebrate my first day of work.

When we got home, I quickly turned on my laptop to check for any updates from my agency, but there were none. Then a message from pride_Chicken popped up, and we had a little chat. I told him about meeting Dom and having lunch with him. He was curious about what happened, but I didn't mention that Dom doesn't remember me. After a while, pride_Chicken said good night. Although I've never met pride_Chicken in person, he mentioned meeting once he gets back from working in another country.

I was about to close the app and turn off my laptop when I noticed the amsterDom user was online. I didn't know what to feel or how to react. I thought Dom didn't remember, so why was he online now?

I opened our chatbox, hoping he would message me, but he never did. A few seconds later, he went offline again. What was that all about? I was sure he was online. Now, I couldn't help but wonder why Dom seemed to ignore any connection we might have had and even introduced himself as Mino. Was he just trying to avoid an awkward situation? He could've just said something.

The following day, I decided to confront Domino and ask him if he really remembers me. I honestly didn't know what to call him now. Dom or Mino? I don't know.

I went to their office, but the staff said that Mino was out on a business trip. What a convenient excuse. I asked when Mino would be back and even went as far as booking an appointment with him.

As I was about to leave their office, the staff handed me a box of Mino products, reminding me of his offer of free stuff. It was in a huge box, but I could still carry it back to the clinic.

I was waiting for the elevator door to open, my mind racing with thoughts about Domino. I still couldn't shake the thought that he might be pretending not to know me. If he does remember, is he angry at me for ghosting him and now trying to play games with me? Does he hold a grudge against me? That really got me thinking. Yet looking at box I was carrying, he still seemed kind, and I didn't feel like he was trying to deceive me. But you know how it goes, sometimes the devil wears a friendly face. Ugh! I just want to stop overthinking.

As the elevator doors opened, people stepped out. There, I saw someone in a mask who was looking down. He seemed oddly familiar, but I brushed it off thinking everyone seemed familiar these days. Carrying the box, I entered the elevator and pressed the button for the 8th floor.

As I looked up, I saw the man in a mask again, standing outside and gazing directly at me. I froze, recognizing those eyes. Wait — wasn't he supposed to be elsewhere?

I tried to stop the elevator, but it was too late. When the doors opened on my floor, my coworkers told me someone in the marketing department had collapsed.

I wanted to go back and check if it was Domino whom I saw, but I couldn't.

Back at the clinic, I found a staff member lying down, seemingly unconscious. After checking her breathing and pulse, I confirmed she just needed rest.

As everyone got back to work and a patient at rest, I found myself thinking about it again, was Domino really playing with me? Is he really up to something?