Nobody Knows

The second the deadbolt clicked shut behind us at the loft, the celebration ended and the real work began.

While the complex, technical accounting mechanics were handled entirely by Claudia, I stepped in to handle the administrative grunt work. I sorted through the messy raw data Mr. Wang had given us and methodically inputted it into the spreadsheet framework she had engineered.

We worked in near silence for hours. Claudia was an absolute machine. In fact, she was so hyper-focused on the laptop screen that she completely forgot she was a human being. Several times, I physically had to nudge her shoulder and place a glass of water in her hand just to force her to hydrate.

When dinnertime arrived, she tried to wave me off, insisting she wanted to skip eating so she could maintain her momentum. I wasn't going to let her starve herself again. I cooked a fresh batch of meatball pasta and placed the steaming bowl directly over her notes to break her trance. It worked, but only technically; she mechanically ate the food with one hand while her eyes remained completely locked on the glowing screen. The moment her fork scraped the bottom of the bowl, she pushed it aside and resumed her relentless grind at the kitchen island.

Realizing I couldn't help her with the math anymore, I retreated to the mini-library with my iPad to maximize my own productivity. I needed to streamline our sales process. I built a comprehensive CRM dashboard, carefully categorizing Andrew's contact list into four distinct funnels: Cold Leads, Interested Contacts, Active Prospects, and Contracted Clients. This system would allow me to track the exact status of our pipeline and prioritize my follow-up calls for the morning.

I rubbed my tired eyes and checked the digital clock at the top of my iPad. It was 1:00 AM.

"Yo, Clau, it’s 1:00 AM. We need to take a real break now," I called out across the quiet living room.

Silence. Is she really still in the zone? Sigh.

I pushed myself up from the floor cushion, stretching my stiff back, and walked over to the kitchen area.

"Hey, it’s time to—" I froze, the words dying in my throat.

Claudia had finally crashed. She was completely passed out, her head resting sideways on her folded arms against the cold marble surface of the kitchen island. The soft glow of the laptop screen illuminated her exhausted face.

I walked over, standing beside her in silence.

Oh man, she is completely out.

I rubbed my chin, a fierce internal debate raging in my head. Should I carry her to the bedroom? No, absolutely not! That’s crossing a major physical boundary. It's disrespectful.

But as I looked at her, logic fought against my manners. She was slumped awkwardly over a hard wooden barstool, her spine twisted, using freezing stone as a pillow.

Should I just drape a blanket over her shoulders? No, her back and neck are going to be in absolute agony tomorrow if she sleeps like that. I should just wake her up. Yeah. Waking her up and telling her to walk to the bed is definitely the safest, most respectful move.

I reached out and gently tapped the back of her hand. "Hey, Clau. Let’s move to the bed."

"Mmhmm," she hummed softly, her eyes remaining completely shut.

Shit, is she already in REM sleep?

I placed my hand firmly on her shoulder and gave her a gentle shake. "Clau? Come on, wake up."

Nothing. She didn't even flinch.

Fuck. She’s dead to the world. What the hell should I do?

Suddenly, her brow furrowed slightly. She shifted her head against her arms, mumbling softly into the quiet loft. "…yes… I’m doing well… Mama…"

I froze. The breath completely left my lungs.

I'm doing well, Mama. I squeezed my eyes shut, a sharp, suffocating ache gripping my chest. She was dreaming about assuring her sick mother that everything was fine.

Fuck the boundaries. I am not letting her wake up in pain.

I stepped in close, carefully sliding one arm under her knees and the other behind her back. I gently scooped her up into my arms.

My heart twisted. God, she’s so incredibly light.

She felt dangerously fragile against my chest, her tiny frame hollowed out by months of starvation and exhaustion. Yet, this was the same girl carrying the survival of her entire family on her shoulders.

"Don’t worry, Clau," I mumbled into the quiet darkness of the loft as I carried her down the hall. "We are going to end this suffering soon. We will. I swear to God, I’ll make sure of it."

I carried her into the bedroom, gently laying her down on the center of the mattress. I pulled the heavy winter duvet up, tucking it securely over her shoulders. "Good night, Claudia"

I walked out of the bedroom, quietly pulling the door shut until it clicked. I grabbed a spare blanket from the closet and claimed the cold leather sofa in the living room, ready to close out the day.

**

"Daeron."

A soft, quiet voice whispered near my ear, cutting through the heavy fog of sleep.

"Daeron. Wake up."

This time, the soft whisper was paired with a gentle, persistent shake of my shoulder.

"Mmmhmmm," I groaned loudly, burying my face deeper into the cushion and blindly shuffling over to the other side of the cold leather sofa.

"Daeron... I’m done."

My eyes snapped wide open. The lingering sleep instantly evaporated from my brain. "Huh? What is it?"

"I’m done, Daeron."

"Done?" I lunged upward, sitting bolt upright on the edge of the sofa. My heart immediately started hammering against my ribs. "What do you mean you're done?"

"I’m done with the contract, Daeron."

What?! Oh, fuck. She's quitting. Is it because I carried her to the bedroom last night?! Did she wake up and freak out?!

"Hey... let’s just sit down and talk about this. Why are you done?" I asked desperately, my eyes locked on her face.

She frowned, her head tilting in complete confusion. "Because... I’m done, Daeron."

I took a deep, shaky breath, dragging both hands through my messy hair. "Look, I am so incredibly sorry if I crossed a physical boundary, Clau. I swear to God, I didn’t mean to harass you or make you feel unsafe in my home."

"What?" She squinted at me, taking a half-step back.

"Listen to me, I couldn't just leave you to sleep slumped over a hard wooden barstool like that! You would have completely wrecked your spine! And I swear I tried to tap you and wake you up first, but you were already in a dead sleep!"

"Daeron, what on earth are you talking about? What exactly did you do?" she demanded, crossing her arms defensively over her chest.

"Nothing bad! I just picked you up and carried you to the bed so you wouldn't wake up in agonizing pain!"

"What??" she gasped, her cheeks instantly flushing pink.

"I swear, Clau!" I leaned forward, my voice tight with absolute panic. "Please, we can’t just stop working on the agency halfway through our first contract! Mr. Wang already trusts us with his business. Please don't quit on me."

"Daeron…" She slowly uncrossed her arms, staring at me like I was a mental patient. "Are you actually awake right now?"

I squinted back at her, thoroughly confused by her calm reaction. "Of course I am! Look, let me just go to the bathroom and wash my face, and then I’ll come out and help you finish up the contract work, okay?"

I stood up from the sofa, determined to salvage the partnership. But before I could take a single step toward the hallway, Claudia stepped into my path and placed her hand flat against my chest to stop me.

"Listen to me very carefully, Daeron," she said slowly. "I already finished the contract."

I glanced down at her face. "What do you mean you finished the contract?"

"The math. The accounting. The contract is done, Daeron," she smiled, her eyes sparkling with amusement.

"What??" My jaw practically unhinged. "You finished the entire Wang account? All of it?!"

She giggled, pulling her hand back. "Yup!"

"Are you completely sure the numbers match?"

She nodded confidently, practically vibrating with pride.

"But….. how the hell did you do that???"

"Because it’s already 10:00 AM, Daeron."

I quickly snatched my phone from the coffee table, checking the bright white numbers on the lock screen. "Okay, so you woke up early. But…. what does that have to do with the contract? You specifically told me yesterday that cleaning up a quarter's worth of books was an entire four days' worth of work!"

She grabbed my wrist and pulled me toward the smell of food radiating from the kitchen island. "Let’s have brunch first! I cooked us something good, and I’ll show you the spreadsheet magic afterward," she smiled, radiating pure, unadulterated victory.

*

While we sat at the kitchen island eating the bacon and toast Claudia had whipped up for brunch, she spun the laptop around to show me her work. My eyes locked onto the screen. I was completely blown away. The spreadsheets weren't just finished; they were perfectly formatted, color-coded, and incredibly detailed. She had built automated macros to do half the math for her.

"So, we just need to meet up with Mr. Wang to submit the tax cleanup, and then I can officially migrate his physical books into the digital system," she smiled brightly, taking a bite of toast.

I looked at her, my eyes wide in sheer disbelief. "God damn, Clau. You are genuinely brilliant."

Her cheeks flushed a pretty, dusty red, and she giggled into her hand. "And now, it’s your turn to earn your keep and make the appointment with him, Cap’n."

"Of course!" I paused, my smile fading into something much more serious. "But, Claudia... please, no more overworking yourself like this, okay?"

She paused, looking at me with a puzzled expression. "What do you mean, Daeron?"

"Look, it’s incredible that you managed to finish this so fast. This is a tremendously fast turnaround!" I sighed, leaning forward. "But you need to take care of yourself, Clau. We built this business to create sustainable financial freedom, yes, but it’s for your physical well-being, too. All of this money will be completely useless if you keep pushing your body until you pass out on a barstool."

She looked deeply into my eyes for a long, silent moment. The defensive armor she usually wore didn't go up. Instead, she gave me a soft, subtle smile and nodded.

"Great!" I said, aggressively biting into my bacon to break the serious tension.

"Thank you, Daeron."

I glanced toward her. "You thank me way too much, Shaggy," I chuckled.

Her voice dropped, remaining quiet and intensely sincere. "Without you... nobody knows what would have become of me." She smiled gently, her dark brown eyes curving into warm, beautiful crescent moons. "I’m so glad I have you on my side."

Thump. My heartbeat violently kicked against my ribs. A sudden, scorching heat flooded my cheeks, and my ears felt like they had been dipped in boiling water. My brain completely short-circuited.

"We-well…. I-I just helped you input the data, though!" I stammered out, chewing my food at lightning speed so I wouldn't have to look her in the eye. "I am going to call Mr. Wang right now! And we will meet up with him right away!!!" I practically bolted from the barstool, grabbing my phone and fleeing to the hallway.

I could hear her bright giggling echoing from the kitchen.

When I called Mr. Wang, he was just as shocked as I had been. His voice dripped with heavy skepticism; he clearly didn't believe we had completed four days of accounting in a single night. But he still agreed to meet us at 1:00 PM to review the "draft."

After the call, I prepared our physical folders, stopping by a local print shop to rush-print some sleek, minimalist business cards. At 12:30 PM, we drove straight to the restaurant to ambush him early.

**

Mr. Wang met us in the lobby and immediately escorted us to his back office. Claudia didn't miss a beat. She opened the laptop and began presenting her results.

For the first five minutes, Mr. Wang just leaned far back in his heavy leather chair, his arms crossed defensively over his chest. He was waiting to find a mistake. But as she systematically broke down his Q4 estimates, he slowly leaned forward. His eyes became glued to the screen. For the rest of the presentation, the stern restaurant owner just stared at Claudia with wide, awe-struck eyes.

"So, that concludes the tax cleanup, Mr. Wang. Do you have any other questions before I step out to the front desk and begin installing the QuickBooks software on your devices?"

Mr. Wang slowly turned his head to look at me. "How many people do you have on your team?"

I smirked proudly, crossing my arms. "I only helped her sort and input the raw data. The formulas, the math, and the framework are entirely Claudia’s work."

"Holy shit," he breathed, looking back at her like she was an alien.

Claudia looked puzzled. "Is something wrong with the numbers, Mr. Wang?"

"No! No! The numbers are perfect! You can go install whatever you need, Miss Bianchi!" he smiled awkwardly, waving her toward the door.

Claudia nodded, picking up the laptop and slipping out of the office. The heavy wooden door clicked shut, leaving me alone with Mr. Wang.

"Hey, let’s drop the formalities, Daeron. I want to ask you something man-to-man," he said, lowering his voice conspiratorially.

"Yes? What is it, sir?"

"Bah, just call me Steve!"

I chuckled, relaxing into my chair. "Sure. What is it, Steve?"

"Is Claudia your girlfriend?"

I squinted, completely caught off guard by the personal pivot. "No, she’s my business partner."

His face lit up with a massive grin. "Fantastic! I want to introduce her to my son! I think they’d be an incredibly good match!"

My polite smile instantly vanished. Without me even consciously realizing it, my posture shifted. I stared him down, my jaw clenching so hard a muscle feathered in my cheek. My eyes locked onto his, completely dead and devoid of any warmth.

Steve swallowed hard, his smile faltering as his survival instincts kicked in. "H-hey! I was joking! Just joking!" he laughed nervously, holding both his hands up in surrender.

Why is he asking me about her? What the fuck does he want with her? She isn't a prize for his kid.

The room temperature seemed to plummet. An absurd, suffocating silence filled the office as I glared at him across the desk.

"L-listen, I was just making a bad joke, Daeron. I’m sorry, I completely overstepped! I didn’t mean to harass her or treat her like an object! I am just so incredibly impressed by her work. She’s truly a genius! Real wifey material, you know?"

I closed my eyes for a fraction of a second. I took a deep, steadying breath. "I understand. But please refrain from talking about her like that again, sir."

He let out a massive, heavy exhale, practically melting into his chair with relief. "I know, I’m sorry. You know, sometimes an old man like me lets his mouth run ahead of his brain. It’s incredibly rare to meet brilliant young people like you two." He leaned forward, looking genuinely apologetic. "Because I spend too much time isolated behind this desk, my social skills are absolute shit. Even my wife frequently smacks me with a frying pan because of my terrible jokes."

I chuckled, the dark, violent tension finally breaking. Gradually, our mutual laughter eased the room back to normal. "Once again, Daeron. I'm sorry, yeah?"

"Yeah, we're good, Steve. No harm done."

He extended his hand across the desk, and I shook it firmly. "Seriously though, I want us to keep this partnership going! I will definitely be retaining your services for the future!" He smiled, his shoulders relaxing. "And we should get drinks together with Andrew sometime, too."

"I'll hold you to that, Steve," I said, giving him a professional, warm smile.

An hour later, Claudia returned to the office, having successfully migrated his physical ledgers to the cloud. After she patiently guided Mr. Wang through a brief tutorial on how to operate the software, he pulled up his internet banking portal.

He didn't hand us a check; he immediately wired our fee directly into Claudia’s checking account. He paid the agreed $1,400 for our services, plus an extra $200 as a tip for the impossible overnight turnaround.

We said our warm goodbyes to Mr. Wang, walked out of the restaurant, and headed back to my car.