“Sure. What’s up?”
“Can you send me the address of the company? I’m bringing lunch for Armond today. By the way, I can’t enter the office without an appointment, right? So you’ll need to come downstairs and get the food from me when I arrive!”
“Sure!” I was just thinking about what to get for lunch. “Armond has gastric problems, and they’re flaring up now. If you could bring along some gastric medication, that’d be great!”
I heard her cackling laughter through the receiver. “Leave it to me. I’ll be there in half an hour.”
I hung up and finished preparing the milk. Linda showed up at the pantry to get some coffee, looking exhausted.
I couldn’t help but ask, “Linda, did you have a rough night?”
She took a deep breath and nodded. “School’s starting in a couple of days. My daughter hasn’t completed any of her assigned work, so I’ve been up the past few nights making sure she finished them properly! Really, women shouldn’t have kids at all. They’re adorable when they’re still young but become absolute nightmares when they’re older! Here, look at my wrinkles. There are so many extra ones now!”
She moved her eyes closer to me and pulled on them dramatically.
I burst into laughter. “How old is your daughter?”
“She’s entering third grade soon. I’m telling you, you can never run out of things to worry about them!”
“My daughter’s entering first grade soon!” I replied on instinct as I thought of Summer. Though judging by Summer’s nature, I probably won’t be the only one worrying about her.
My reply startled her. “You have a daughter? Wait, are you married?”
I nodded as her astonishment grew. “I’ve been married for almost ten years.”
She clicked her tongue and immediately launched into gossip mode. “Then what’s going on between you and Mr. Murphy?”
I was flabbergasted at her question. She must be mistaken. I laughed as I explained, “He’s just my boss. We seem familiar with each other because we’ve met on a few occasions before this. It’s not what you think it is!”
She rubbed her temples and sighed, “I should’ve known. Men like him are hardly approachable by women. He’s almost forty and still single; old Mr. Murphy must be going bald with anxiety.”
I couldn’t think of a suitable response and left with the glass of milk.
I knocked on the door to Armond’s office before entering. He was still reviewing documents as I walked in. I called out to him, “Mr. Murphy, I brought a glass of milk for you.”
The sweets on the table were gone, and I saw sweet wrappers in the trash can. So he ate the sweets after all. Who knew a frosty, reserved president like him would be a fan of sweet things?
He lifted his head when he heard me. His gaze fell on the glass of milk on the desk. Frowning, he said dismissively, “I don’t drink milk.”
“Well, you should at least drink a little bit of milk. It’ll help to soothe some of the pain.”
He shook his head adamantly. “I’m not drinking this!”
He paused for a moment and stared at me. “Linda didn’t tell you that I don’t drink milk?”
I shook my head.
He smirked and gestured for me to bring the milk away. I pursed my lips and retorted, “Even if you don’t normally drink milk, a little bit right now will definitely help with your gastric pain. Plus, milk doesn’t taste that bad.”
I didn’t wait for his reply and left his office. Nora had arrived.
She sounded excited through the phone. “I’m downstairs. You should come here ASAP. I spy a hottie here. He looks like an absolute bad boy. He’s even more enigmatic than Armond.”
Speechless, I hung up and hurried downstairs. She ran towards me when she saw me and pushed the lunchboxes into my hands.
She said in a rush, “Scarlett, I prepared lunch for both you and Armond. Don’t tell him I made it, or he might not eat it. I’m off to ogle the hottie now, bye!”
I… Didn’t she say she wanted to drop off lunch for Armond? She’s literally just dropping it off?
I watched her running towards another floor and couldn’t help but laugh at her antics. A woman’s infatuation with handsome men is probably similar to how men are obsessed with the idea of college girls; they all boil down to human nature.
I got back to the office just in time for lunch. She didn’t forget about the gastric medication, and she’d prepared dishes that were gentle on the stomach.
“Hmm? Did your friend bring this over?” Linda poked her head into the office as she walked past.
I smiled happily and replied, “Yup, she is free today, so she prepared some lunch for me. Would you like to have some too?”
She shook her head as she raised her own lunchbox. “I packed lunch here too.”
I guess she is on the way to the pantry to reheat her food.
I walked into Armond’s office. He was still knee-deep in work, though he seemed to sense my presence. Thinking I was here to drop off some documents, he didn’t lift his head as he said, “Just leave it over there.”
The glass of milk I’d brought over was now empty. I stared agape at the glass and exclaimed, “I thought you wouldn’t drink it!”
He finally tore himself away from his work and stared at me. He said jokingly, “It’s not bad!”
Noticing the lunch bag in my hand, he raised his brows and asked, “What did you bring?”
“Lunch!” I sat down next to his desk and continued, “My friend made this herself, so it’s going to taste great. She also made some for you. Want to try it?”
