June knocked on Saigon's door with sudden afternoon showers. The air-conditioning in the StarBrite office was always kept at its lowest temperature these days, but the heat from all the projects had everyone feeling like they were sitting on a bed of hot coals.
During Wednesday's lunch break, while most employees had scattered downstairs to the canteen or the office-lunch spots around the building, Lam Moc Tra remained glued to her laptop screen. Setting aside the pile of complicated budget reports for the moment, she was using the time to tackle the final assignment for the Google Data Analytics Professional Certificate program on Coursera. Having to process a massive dataset with complex SQL commands and visualize it in Tableau made Tra furrow her brows tightly. She lightly bit the end of her ballpoint pen and murmured as she read through each line of code.
"Are you torturing yourself during lunch again?"
That familiar low voice rang out at the same time as the clink of an iced black coffee being set down on her desk. Tra looked up in surprise. Vu Hoang Hai stood there, one hand tucked into his dress-pants pocket while the other lightly flipped through the notebook already open on her desk. Today, he was wearing a dark navy shirt that emphasized his broad shoulders and sharply handsome features.
"Yes, sir..." Tra hurriedly took off her headphones and straightened her posture. "I'm using the time to learn more about data analysis. The company will be running the StarConnect fan app project soon, and I thought that if I knew how to read data and analyze user behavior, it would help a lot with developing the content strategy."
Hai pulled over Mr. Tuan's swivel chair and sat down casually. His eyes swept over the screen crowded with Tra's tables and charts, revealing completely undisguised approval.
"You surprise me. A Journalism and Communications student who can hand-draw 3D designs, and now you're branching out into Data Analytics too. Are you planning to take over every job in this company?"
Tra laughed, her cheeks turning slightly pink. "No, sir. I just feel like I still have a lot of shortcomings. Oh, boss..." She quickly opened a new browser tab displaying an electronic registration receipt. "To make up for the fact that my sketches are still a little instinctive, I registered for an intensive fine arts workshop on July 4. I want to learn how to handle lighting and perspective more properly, so I won't mess up the proportions when I help you with the visual concept later."
The corner of Hai's mouth lifted slightly. He reached out and tapped his index finger lightly against the wooden tabletop, producing a series of soft little clicks.
"A strong drive to improve is a good thing. So this afternoon, put what you've learned into practice. I need to create a massive communications strategy for the app launch event. Help me establish the core objectives. I want to see whether your logical thinking is as sharp as your data analysis."
At the mention of her area of expertise, Tra's eyes immediately lit up. She grabbed a pristine sheet of A4 paper and a marker.
"You can count on me, boss. Back when I worked as an English teaching assistant for twelfth graders, I often helped teachers design lesson plans according to SMART goals. I'll use that same framework for this project: Specific, Measurable, Achievable, Relevant, and Time-bound. Every app-download metric, engagement figure, and user-retention period will be clearly quantified!"
"Good. Stay late and finish that plan with me tonight." With that, Hai stood and returned to his glass-walled office, leaving Tra with her heart pounding from a mixture of pressure and pride.
That night, only two lights remained on in the entire fifteenth floor of the office. The steady clatter of typing filled the air. By the time Tra typed the final period of the nearly ten-page plan, the clock read 9:45 p.m. Her spine cracked repeatedly, sore and exhausted.
Hai stepped out, a black suit jacket draped over one arm. "Save the file. I'm taking you out to dinner. You must be about to collapse by now."
Fifteen minutes later, Hai's expensive SUV screeched to a stop in front of a modest restaurant bustling with customers coming and going. The bright red neon sign flashed the words "Mi Cay Sasin." Tra's eyes widened in surprise. She hadn't expected a man who always maintained the cold, domineering air of a CEO and ate with such rigid discipline to choose something so spicy and so quintessentially street-food.
"What is it? Can't handle spicy food?" Hai raised an eyebrow when he saw her hesitating at the entrance.
"No! I absolutely love this! It's just... I was a little surprised you eat spicy noodles too, boss."
They chose a secluded corner upstairs. Hai calmly ordered a bowl of level-three seafood noodles, while Tra timidly ordered level one, afraid she'd have a stomachache at work the next day. When the two earthenware bowls came out boiling furiously, glowing red with Korean chili powder, their pungent, spicy aroma shot straight into their noses and made both of them salivate.
Tra carefully blew on the chewy noodles to cool them down before biting into a fish cake. The tongue-searing heat spread through her mouth, yet it was incredibly satisfying. She looked up at the man sitting across from her. Vu Hoang Hai, StarBrite's famously fearsome Project Director, had now undone the top button of his shirt, beads of sweat dotting his forehead. He gulped down a large mouthful of ice water, but his hand never stopped picking up noodles. His thick brows were drawn tightly together, and his usually thin lips, so often used to deliver cutting remarks, were now bright red from the chilies.
"Boss... are you okay? Level three seems a little too much for you." Tra couldn't hold it in and burst out laughing. Her smile was bright and natural, lighting up the entire corner of the little restaurant.
Hai coughed softly, trying to preserve his dignity. "I'm fine. Work has been stressful lately, so I eat something spicy to stimulate my nerves and sweat it out so I can stay alert. Eat faster. The noodles are going to get soggy."
His words were tough, but the way he kept reaching for napkins gave everything away. In that moment, through the hazy steam rising from the bowls of spicy noodles, Tra suddenly realized that the distance between them had never been so small. They were no longer a boss and an intern, but simply two people sharing the exhaustion and pressure of a long day over a simple late-night meal.