She needs someone to steal her fate. Gigi has a gut feeling she’s right.

Walking with her coffee towards the elevator, she sees Sue who turns to wave at her with a happy expression.

If it has to be anyone, it needs to be her. Because she just has to have everything that’s Gigi’s.

Just as the elevator’s doors are about to close with Gigi, Sue, and their manager (a detestable man with no respect for women in the workforce), an unexpected arm slides in to stop them.

Jay materializes rather quickly as he steps in. It’s a strange encounter; Gigi can’t stop wondering how odd his behavior is, for he’s intensely gazing at her for that fraction of a moment before stepping onto the elevator.

Meanwhile, inside, the manager directs a derisive attention to Gigi. “Are you working on your proposal? I won’t hold back if it sucks again”.

The proposal in question was a good one that she submitted but he insisted she revise due to quality. In truth, that same proposal Sue had stolen and resubmitted under her name in Gigi’s past life—he’d accepted that one without complaint and even praised it.

Sue admonishes the man for saying it like that, suggesting that Gigi doesn’t work hard. She slides closer to Gigi, is that coffee in her hands the good one from the café across the bus station? Here’s another thing of hers she can’t help but desire.

Look at this slacker, leaving work to go buy coffee. The manager found another negative out of seemingly nothing. “Women never work, they only want to eat…” a loud bang on the side of the elevator jars him to a stop.

They all turn to the silent Jay for it was his fist banging on the side but there’s no explanation or acknowledgment from him.

However, as they’re about to get out of the elevator, Jay requests to have a word with Gigi. They head to the rooftop where a perplexed Gigi assumes maybe she needs to explain her coffee.

He tells her to drink her coffee, it’ll be awkward for her to drink it alone in there. That’s why he called her here.

“Thank you. I’m not quitting the company,” she informs him in continuation of their last conversation. “Do you want to see this?” she holds up the bill with the small black heart on one side. Jay’s eyes lock on it.

“My dad gave it to me. Whenever he’d give me an allowance, he always drew a heart on it. I told him not to draw on money like that, but I guess he couldn’t suppress his artistic soul,” Gigi goes on as Jay becomes even more intrigued by the heart and her words.

She’s a daughter who received that kind of fatherly love, she’s going to try harder. Also, he said that she’s talented, which helped her make up her mind.

“Honestly, it’s been so long, I forgot what I wanted. I’ve been busy just trying to get by, but I won’t live like that anymore,” she resolutely informs him.

That’s a good idea, a slight smile spreads on Jay’s serious and impassive handsome face.

“Oh, you smiled! It’s my first time seeing you smile,” Gigi can’t help but comment with a smile of her own.

Jay asks her if she has any plans that weekend, however, before she can reply Sue approaches claiming they do have plans.

Sue grabs onto Gigi’s arm, allegedly with affection, as she informs her she wants that coffee, and they should go get her one.

Gigi turns her down leaving Sue thinking her “other half” is ungrateful and no fun. She even saved Gigi from their General Manager right then claiming they had weekend plans. Yet Gigi doesn’t want to have coffee with her, all she does is work!

• ◘ •

Jay heads into his office, a man on a mission. He does a quick employee search on Gigi in their internal database before he makes a call to have his man confirm a high school reunion that’s to occur that weekend.

Interestingly, the reunion he’s confirming is taking place at the same restaurant Sue mentioned she’ll be visiting with Gigi that weekend (part of “their” weekend plans).

He notices from his office Gigi and Mino walking in the same direction, and his face becomes even more serious.

Meanwhile, Mino pulls Gigi into an empty storeroom. Did she dump him for their General Manager?

He’d just seen Gigi go into Jay’s office, the two exchanging something. Jay is young and he’s a General Manager, but does she really think he has power?

What he’d witnessed was Gigi taking pain meds to Jay for his wrist burn (acquired at her expense and also the same injury she’d had on her hand in her past life). Jay had accepted them but he handed half to her for her injury, she must also be in pain.

Mino keeps on going, this little vixen only knows half of the story. “I told you, you need to share a man’s looks and their tact,” he says in a patronizing tone.

Is he being like this because Jay asked her for a bandage? Gigi plays onto the man’s cluelessness.

How dare the old fart ask her for a bandage when she’s hurt? Mino makes it as if he’s heading to confront Jay (both of them very well aware he wouldn’t dare in a million years).

Gigi stops him, “I asked you to break up because our relationship isn’t the same as it used to be”. She plays coy, she’d only thought his feelings towards her had changed hence the whole breakup talk.

Yep, that’s it, she just wants a relationship that everyone’s envious of. She wishes him to be someone she can be proud of, one that other women would want to steal.

Placated, Mino appears satisfied all of a sudden. He’d thought Gigi was being silly but since that’s not the case they should make up!

He grabs her hands as she makes to leave pushing her towards the closest supply rack. He aims for a forced kiss, Gigi trying her best to escape his grasp without making him suspicious after all the placating she just achieved.

His phone rings but it’s no help, he outright ignores it. This won’t do, Gigi’s hand reaches for one of the tools on the wrack behind her. As her hand grabs what appears to be a wrench, the door opens revealing Mrs. Y, a coworker.

Mino pretends to grab something and leaves while Gigi walks back with the other woman.

“I know it’s not my place,” Mrs. Y pauses and turns towards Gigi, “But even between lovers, unwanted physical contact is bad. So…I was just reminded of my past, I have many regrets. You’re a smart person, don’t make mistakes like I did,” she kindly advises her.

Gigi wonders if Mrs. Y also came because she worried about her. The thought makes her feel warm inside. Having others worry about you, and step in to protect you, is rare.

She’s not going to let petty people take advantage of her any longer

In the cafeteria later for lunch, Gigi is stuck with Sue and Mino whom she’d tried encouraging to have Indian food (since Sue proclaimed that’s what she craved and apparently all should have) without much success.

As she watches Sue pile large portions on her tray, Gigi is on the defensive. Sue always acts out when she doesn’t get her way in a very subtle way.

She recalls in her past life the same event. They’d headed to the cafeteria despite Sue having wanted to grab something outside. Though Sue had gone along, she’d purposefully bumped into Gigi while looking for a seat making Gigi fall to the floor, food spilled all over her clothes and face.

Anticipating the same exact move this time around, Gigi expertly maneuvers and successfully trips Sue instead who topples onto Mino making both of them fall onto the floor, food and sauce spilling over them.

Oh no, did Sue just trip over her feet? Is her “babe” hurt? Isn’t that his favorite shirt? It’s all ruined now, what to do?

Gigi won’t just take what they throw her way anymore passively.

Heading to the restroom, she comes upon a young woman, a coworker, who thankfully finds someone to help her get a sanitary pad. She’s exuberant in offering thanks, there was another woman before Gigi who’d just grumbled and left (that’s Sue for you). Showing such kindness to someone in need isn’t what anyone would do.

Deciding to have lunch together, Gigi brings the young woman over to a table occupied by Sue and Mino (who had attempted to clean up).

The young woman, Helen, has a bubbly personality and is a welcome change to the table’s atmosphere.

Sue doesn’t seem to approve much. Seeing Gigi and Helen get along so well, she decides to point out how Gigi has such a well-rounded appetite unlike herself who’s a picky eater.

“Come to think of it, Gigi was always able to eat everything, she could digest steel,” Sue informs Mino. Isn’t that right? Mino joins in, he very well remembers Gigi gobbling up another dish just like an old man.

Helen’s earlier smile starts dissipating as she picks up the undercurrents from different members of the table.

Later, meeting Helen alone by the water station, Gigi hears the young woman confess she’d recognized Sue as the woman in the restroom who had ignored her call for assistance. She makes a displeased face at the memory.

The two decide to head for coffee and cake at break time, Helen’s treat to express her thanks. Helen asks Gigi if she’d like to hang out on Sunday which Gigi would be happy to only she can’t because of the “plans” with Sue.

In fact, Gigi recalls that Sue may have proposed the two of them going to check out a new restaurant but she knew that was the location of the class reunion.

“Then you should go! You should go to see your first love and be disappointed so you can move on with your life,” an excited Helen exclaims.

No one knows where Gigi’s first love lives or where he is. “I wasn’t very popular in school,” Gigi confesses, “Is there any reason for me to go and dig up my shameful past?”

“Isn’t that more reason to go? If you don’t go, it’ll remain a shameful past. But if you go and fix it, it’ll become your history!” Helen proclaims.

• ◘ •

Gigi received a text from Jay during her break asking if she was available for work on Sunday (the day of the reunion).

Seeing him in the lobby, Gigi tells him that if there’s urgent work on Sunday, she’ll be there. Work comes first, after all.

“You come first Gigi,” he replies in earnest.

It’s fine, she was debating whether to follow through with her plans on Sunday anyway. But Jay tells her to go, she should give it a try and, by the way, she owes him. With that, he leaves.

Gigi stares after him not understanding any of the last cryptic words. What did the man mean? Had he always been this complex? Not knowing, for she never had this much interaction with the General Manager in her past life, Gigi can only wonder.

She’s now on a mission heading to the roof to meet Mrs. Y. She’d handed her proposal to the woman hoping she’d make time to read it.

It’s good, Mrs. Y tells her. Gigi looks at her, “Do you want to do it together?”

Ah, well that’s not how things work in the company. Their manager, Mr. K (the rude belittling man from the elevator) has his own vision…

“He didn’t even read it,” Gigi cuts her off. She saw him pretending to flip through it, pretending to read. It’s not the first time, when it comes to Mrs. Y’s work as well, he’s always ready to shoot the idea down.

You tend to lose objectivity if you’ve been gaslit for too long. Mrs. Y’s reluctance to admit the truth of their manager’s actions is a fact of that.

But Gigi doesn’t let Mrs. Y go easily, she’s determined to try her best to make the woman confront her reality. She knows Mr. K only does what he wants at work. Ever since he hit on Mrs. Y and she turned him down, he’s been opposing her.

He’s been immature for the past seven years despite getting promoted to manager. After all, he got that position by turning in Mrs. Y’s proposal with his name on it.

Just like Sue became a full-time employee with Gigi’s proposal.

Persistence with good intentions does win over. Hearing Gigi’s confidence in her proposal and the truths she willingly brings to light with words, Mrs. Y takes the plunge. She’ll do it.

Back in the office, Gigi puts her plan into action. She needs to hand Mr. K a new proposal that’s better than the last one (which he didn’t read). Since she’s 100% certain the man didn’t bother to read it, she reprinted the same proposal with different colors.

Holding her breath, Mrs. Y looks on from her seat afraid for a moment when the man exclaims if Gigi is kidding with him. Even Gigi wondered in that brief period if she’d been wrong.

Yet Mr. K erupts in an angry display because the last proposal was way better than the new one she handed in. He throws the proposal away in disgust!

Trying to reel in her victorious smile, Gigi plays the mousy subordinate rather well as she apologizes and rushes to her desk to fetch the first proposal. Since Mr. K liked the first one better, she’ll submit that one again. It’s the same proposal, after all, just a different color.

People in the office start whispering to each other. He didn’t recognize that it was the same one? He really doesn’t work, does he? What a disappointment.

Digging up her shameful past is the only way to transform it into her history

Standing alone on the rooftop of the company building overlooking the expanse of the city and that busy world below her, Gigi can’t help but think that getting a second chance in life means she can do anything.

She managed to get back at Sue and Mr. K. She can do anything!

Heading to her desk, she finds a small gift bag with earrings and a note from Sue. She wants Gigi to wear them on Sunday during the planned meal, it’s a matching set.

Gigi recalled those earrings. In her past life, she’d headed to the restaurant thinking it would be a casual dinner with Sue. She’d been wearing a hoodie and hat but had made sure to at least wear the earrings her friend gifted her to show sincerity.

However, when she arrived at the location she saw a flyer that it was the destination of a reunion. Her class reunion to be precise. Sue had decided not to divulge that information because she didn’t think Gigi would come.

They were over 30, Gigi should forget about the past, their “friends” are all nice. With that, she’d pulled Gigi inside despite her protests.

It was while seeking escape in the restroom later that evening that Gigi, silent inside a stall, overheard the conversation of the “friends”.

She has no friends, why’d she come?

She must have come to eat.

Did they see her, she looks so poor.

The most mind-boggling thing was that Gigi was still hanging out with Sue. The women thought Sue to be a softie who was far too nice.

Those women had bullied Gigi mercilessly at school. That’s when Gigi’s bathroom stall door bangs, they find her in there.

Present Gigi snaps out of the terrible memory. Heading home for the night, she comes across Jay on her way out.

“Wait,” Jay says as she bids him good night.

Gigi notices he’s staring at the gift bag.

“That’s…a replica brand. People who know can tell,” Jay informs her, “You shouldn’t wear them”.

She remembers. They were in the elevator, just the two of them when he’d pointed at the earrings she was wearing saying those very words.

He said the same thing to her before and she’d thought he was rude. That was because she hadn’t known what would happen to her at the reunion.

Pulling a smile, Gigi sincerely thanks him this time.

“Should I take you home?” Jay asks. What? Gigi thought she misheard.

It’s just so late but Gigi declines, buses are still running.

“I want to take you home,” Jay insists.

“I’ll decline. I have plans with my boyfriend,” Gigi departs.

She needs to lay out the scene so Mino and Sue will end up alone with drinks. What better way to hurry them getting together?

Unfortunately, she gets home to find Mino had planned a surprise of his own. She finds him exiting the shower in her house, readying for a romantic night.

As he pulls the towel from his hips, standing like a proud naked man in all his twisted and messed up glory, Gigi can’t help but let out a scream.

She really wished she’d not witnessed the display in front of her. It’ll take another life to cleanse the sight from her mind.