Anthony noticed that I was eyeing her. Frowning, he asked, “What’s the matter?”
I turned around to look at him, my annoyance with what happened back in the elevator just now dissipated into thin air. “Is Joseph going to stay for long at Moranta?”
He nodded. “The project is quite demanding. He wouldn’t be able to come back for some time.”
I noticed that he was wolfing down on the food that I brought over and asked, “Does it taste good?”
Maybe I had changed the topic too abruptly, as the man paused and looked at me. “Why do you care about when Joseph is coming back suddenly?”
I pursed my lips in frustration. “So you like having Stella around?”
Bemused, the man furrowed his brows. “Something is off with the way you talk. Aren’t you quite close to her? What’s the matter with you lately?”
“What do you mean I’m close to her?” I was surprised at his remark. What have I done that made him think I was close with that woman?
He raised a brow in response. “It seems like I’ve misunderstood. No big whoop. I’ll just swap her out after a few days.”
I frowned at his nonchalant reply. “What will other people think when you promote her and dismiss her for no apparent reason? Since you like having her around, just put her to good use, as long as it doesn’t interfere with your work.”
Maybe I was being too sensitive about the matter.
His phone rang after a few bites. He picked up the call, and dived right back into work. Noticing that it was almost time for him to get off work, I decided to just wait for him for a visit to Summer later.
A document appeared right in front of me when I was preoccupied with my thoughts. Anthony handed over the document to me and said, “Mrs. Featherstone, would you be a dear and send this over to the Finance Department?”
Despite furrowing my brows, my face split into a grin. “You’re good at ordering people huh!”
He gave me a slight smile and put the document in front of me. “You’re going to get so bored just sitting around. Why don’t you take a walk instead?”
I walked out of his office after taking over the document. I had been feeling quite bloated recently, perhaps because the baby was developing in my belly.
Meanwhile, at the Finance Department.
Perhaps my visit to Featherstone Corporation was too frequent, the staff over at the department was not at all surprised by my unannounced appearance. However, it was surprising to bump into Stacey there. It suddenly hit me that I had not seen her for some time.
She had lost some weight, and her figure was lean. Her long hair was now short, and there was a certain dignified aura to her. Her clothes accentuated that aura, but not because she was piling on designer pieces. Rather, it was her keen sense of style that brought out her noble vibe. Overall, she looked like a shrewd iron lady.
We locked gaze, and I smiled. “I thought you weren’t at K City!”
She replied with a smile too. “This is my battlefield. I can’t get used to the environment out there anyway. This feels right to me.”
I shrugged. “Yes, obviously. K City really agrees with you.”
One thing that bugged me was that we were in the same building, and it was not like I was a rare visitor here, but we had never bumped into each other. Fate has a funny way to bring people together.
She kept the document I brought over and looked at her watch. “I’m getting off work soon. Want to have dinner together?”
“Not today,” I said, smiling. “I have a lot going on at home recently, and there’s not much time for me to have a night out. Let’s take a raincheck, and maybe we can go shopping next time?”
She nodded. “I notice that you’ve gained some weight. Are you pregnant?”
I was taken aback at how spot-on she was. However, I did not want to deny nor confirm her guess and merely replied, “It’s only normal because I have a little bit too much to eat these days. Anyways, go get busy first. Let’s meet up next time.”
She hesitated for a moment before asking, “Are you and Mr. Featherstone doing okay recently?”
I chuckled in response. “Are you saying that Mr. Featherstone has done something over the line to make you guys misunderstand him?”
“No, it’s not that. I’ve just heard some rumors going around, and it’s just me being nosy. You know how women are, we gossip.”
My lips curled into a smile once again and said nothing. “I think it’s because there are too many women in Featherstone Corporation.”
Stacey smiled, and changed the topic. “Alright, I’m going to get busy first. We’ll meet up some other day!”
I nodded and headed out of the Finance Department, lost in my thoughts.
I took the elevator to the floor where Anthony’s office was, and headed toward the bathroom. I’ve heard other people saying that pregnant women were more likely to be constipated. I did not whether it was true, or I was merely conditioning myself to conform to the stereotype.
After heading into the bathroom, I stayed in my stall, taking my time. Suddenly, I heard sobbing outside. And then, someone spoke up to comfort the sobbing woman.
“Don’t cry. Just stay away from her radar. You already know what kind of person she is. Why get on her nerves then? See, now you’re going to have pull an all-nighter.”
The sobbing woman spoke, “I did not do anything wrong. She’s just coveting something that doesn’t belong to her, and yet doesn’t want others to talk about it. It’s so obvious that Mr. Featherstone has no feelings for her at all. Is she oblivious to how pretty Mrs. Featherstone is? Does she think she stands a chance just because she’s working closely with him? She really needs to take a piss and take a good look at herself in her own reflection.”
“Forget it, there’s no use grumbling about it. You’re the only one who’s going to suffer while she’s still out there living the best life. She’s been taking care of all Mr. Featherstone’s meals. You know for a fact that Mr. Featherstone has rewarded that woman with what she deserves.”
The woman continued to sob, “What do you think Mr. Featherstone has in mind, exactly? It’s not like Mrs. Featherstone is only here once in a blue moon. How does he think he can get away with this? Is Mrs. Featherstone really not aware of it all?”
The other woman replied, “I don’t think she’s totally oblivious to it. But maybe Mrs. Featherstone doesn’t think that Stella is a threat at all. Anyway, that woman is not going to be able to stir anything up unless Mr. Featherstone gives her a chance to do so. Otherwise, she’s just going to be a clown entertaining herself. Well, it’s not going to last.”
There was a hint of anger in her voice as the sobbing woman continued, “She is a clown! Mr. Featherstone doesn’t even care about her. She knew that Mr. Kroner had a crush on her, and she wouldn’t have gotten this chance if she hadn’t begged the man to recommend her to Mr. Featherstone for a promotion. Otherwise, Mr. Featherstone might even not be aware that she exists. That woman really has no shame.”
The other woman sighed. “What can we do, though? She’s on the crest of a wave right now, and you’d better not offend her. She will be punished once she steps over the line. We have no backer to do anything like that. Don’t forget that Justin is going all out for that woman. The only thing we can do right now is to just wait.”
“I have something that might work!” The sobbing woman muttered excitedly before she paused and whispered, “I am not going to take this silently any longer. Why do I have to put up with her? I’m going to make her burn her finger, and yet there’s nothing that she can do about it.”
“What do you plan to do about it?”
I could only hear hushed whispers, but not what they were saying clearly. However, I felt oddly amused by their demeanor. No wonder people were looking at me all weird whenever I came into the office recently. It looked like this was the reason.
After hearing nothing for some time, I thought the two women had left. My stomach was still wringing in pain, and there was no rush to leave the bathroom. However, I could hear heels clacking coming from the outside all of a sudden.
Then, someone chimed, “Hi, Ms. Collins!”
Stella? I was stumped.
Suddenly, the air grew still in the bathroom. A text came in on my phone. It was from Hailey. She asked when I would be able to meet her as she was planning to go back to K City.
I replied to her and kept my phone. Then, I heard a scream from my neighboring bathroom stall. “Ahh! Who is that?”
Sounds of water splashing could be heard, and I was stumped for a brief moment. I headed out of my stall, and bumped into two women holding two big buckets.
Are these two women trying to teach Stella a lesson?
“Who is that? Have you lost your mind?” A voice berated from inside the stall. I turned around to the bathroom stall, and noticed that someone had locked it from the outside. The person inside had no means of getting out of there unless someone unlocked the door for her.
The three of us exchanged glances in astonishment. We were still reeling in from the shock. I could have pretended that I didn’t know if I hadn’t seen the culprits, and just treated it as a prank. But now that I’d seen them…
I had no interest in meddling in their business as well. I gestured for them to shush while they were still eyeing me in trepidation. Then, I signaled using my hands that we could all get out of here, quietly.
The two women were dumbfounded at my response. Then, all of three of us tiptoed out of the bathroom in silence.
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
Leave a Reply