Nora held up the food container in her hand and said, “I know you have no time to take care of my man. So I brought him breakfast. And…”
She lowered her voice and whispered, “… And I came to see if he is alright.”
I winced at this display of affection and nodded gingerly. “Great, you go and check on your man. I need to go clock in. I’ll contact you in the afternoon.”
I scurried past the office entrance and felt relieved to get in finally. After settling down at my work desk, I caught my breath.
Linda saw me. She handed the bread in her hand over to me. “It looks like you have not had your breakfast. You’ll just have to make do with this. According to scientific findings, not eating breakfast is as bad as eating poop. In conclusion, eating bread is still better than eating poop. So eat up!”
I looked at her with befuddlement.
“But why do I feel like you don’t really want me to eat it?”
She smirked, “You’re overthinking it. How was last night? Did you sleep well?”
Linda was asking in a very suggestive tone.
Nora must have told her about my night. I shrugged and replied nonchalantly, “Oh, it was just normal.”
It was working hours, so it was not prudent to keep prattling. She asked me out for lunch later.
And I said okay.
I had to let Armond sign some documents from yesterday. After arranging them, I headed straight to Armond’s office.
Before entering, I knocked at the door. The deep and serious voice of a man answered, “Please come in!”
Pushing the door open, I found him seated in front of his computer. He was diligently working as usual.
Remembering what Nora told me piqued my curiosity. I wonder where did he sustain the injury?
“Mr. Murphy, these documents need your signature,” I said, placing the documents right before him.
Glancing at his table, I noticed the container that Nora was holding earlier. Ah, so she was here.
He murmured in response and looked up at me. Then he asked weirdly, “What are you looking at?”
I froze and realized that I was staring at him quite rudely. Awkwardly, I answered, “No, it’s nothing. I just wanted to ask if you have had breakfast. Last night, you…”
He stared at me so intently until I felt a little intimidated. He said, “Trying to set up your boss, Ms. Stovall? You’re getting bold, aren’t you?”
I shook my head and said in utmost sincerity, “Mr. Murphy, you have to believe me. I didn’t do anything. I did not know anything about last night’s events. Also, you saw me going after Linda toward the end. She had drunk too much. If I had let her leave on her own, it would have been dangerous.”
As I reached that part, testing the water, I asked, “Do you feel fine from last night?”
His brows lifted and settled into a frown. “What do you mean by that?”
“Your body!” I blurted out hastily. I was very close to asking if he had gone to the doctor to check if there were any problems.
He gave me an indifferent glance and asked coldly, “Why would my body be not fine?”
Um…
There was no point in asking further. I smiled pleasantly to conceal my embarrassment. “No, no. Your body’s great! Always in a good condition.”
I definitely could not continue with my queries. I took it as my cue to leave when he said, “Some people from Fuller Corporation are coming over for a meeting later. You are the person in charge of the project. The meeting is at nine. Don’t be late.”
While nodding and indicating that I got the message, I saw him reaching out to take a file. His outstretched hand was bandaged. I was surprised, and before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Mr. Murphy, your hand?”
He looked at his bandaged hand impassively and replied faintly, “I accidentally hurt myself last night.”
So…
The blood was not what I thought?
The air was heavy with awkwardness. I quickly exited Armond’s office and phoned Nora.
“What did you do last night? Why is Armond’s hand hurt?” I asked.
She seemed to be a bit taken aback and said, “I am not sure. I can’t really remember. When I saw his bandaged hand earlier, I was surprised too. I racked my brain but I just can’t recall how I hurt him. That’s it! I’m exhausted. I need my beauty sleep now since I didn’t sleep well last night. Talk to you later, bye!”
With that, she hung up right away.
Back at my desk, Linda sent over some files that were needed for the meeting. She went out of her way to remind me. “Today is our first meeting with the Fuller Corporation. You have to be alert and make sure everything goes smoothly.”
I nodded. Since I have taken over this project, I cannot just do the job perfunctorily.
After scanning through the meeting agenda and important points, it was almost time for the meeting.
I was making my way to the conference room when I met Armond and Linda. They both looked at me and said, “Let’s go! We need to go downstairs to welcome the guests from the Fuller Corporation.”
This welcoming requires the president of the Murphy Corporation himself? Something is up.
Trailing behind them, I was a little puzzled and had questions. But they were both walking too fast, so I did not get a chance to ask.
At the first-floor lobby, Armond marched ahead with a standard socializing smile on his face. “Mr. Fuller, welcome!”
I looked over to the entrance. Coincidentally, Ashton was walking in with his entourage. They were all dressed in formal suits and looked especially sharp.
It’s no wonder. I was right. Armond would not have needed to come out personally for an ordinary meeting.
I lowered my head and followed behind Armond. I occasionally looked up to smile and lead the visitors around.
