Next One Is a Babe

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Gary had received word of Cindy’s return and he was asking her whether she had the time to go out for a meal with him. While catching up with one another, he could also tell her about the investment.

Cindy didn’t think much of his invitation; she believed that it was his way of comforting her after she became the media’s victim following her involvement with the Morgan Family, which occurred back when Bryce’s incident broke out.

Gary must have thought she was upset about this, but in all honesty, he was overreacting.

She tightly clutched her phone as she considered his invitation before she looked up at Ian. When she saw that he was still talking to Aurora, she decided to keep this from him as she replied to Gary’s text, agreeing to meet up with him for a meal. Why am I getting all worked up over this? It’s only a meal.

Within seconds, Gary messaged back and told her that he would be free the next evening, thereafter asking whether she would be fine with having a meal at that time.

Cindy had nothing tomorrow evening and even if she had to follow Ian for a photoshoot, it would likely be concluded during the day, as these things usually would. She was free to do whatever she liked in the evenings and during the night.

She agreed to have dinner with Gary and ended the conversation with a brief, ‘Call me if there’s a change of plans’. After having done so, she kept her phone and leaned into the couch as she spiraled into a daze.

An hour had passed before Ian and Aurora’s discussion finally came to an end. Following that, the three of them rose to their feet and headed out to grab a bite.

They were halfway to the restaurant when Cindy felt her phone vibrate again in her pocket. She presumed it was yet another text from Gary. While she was still walking, she took her phone out to check the new text, only to see that it was from Yulia.

It took her by surprise, for Yulia was asking to talk to her.

Cindy nearly sputtered out loud. She had nothing to say to Yulia, and strictly speaking, they weren’t even acquaintances. We’re strangers with nothing in common, so what can we possibly talk about? With that in mind, she kept her phone away since it wasn’t as if she knew what the appropriate reply would be anyway.

In actuality, she had been brutally honest when she told Ian that she felt inferior whenever she saw Yulia, who surpassed her in every way possible. Now that Yulia was asking to speak with her, she could only imagine what the woman might say and how she would say it. Cindy could see in her mind’s eye the way Yulia would carry herself during the imagined conversation. She’d make me feel small, and she’d look at me the way one looks at a pest.

As such, Cindy saw no reason why she ought to subject herself to humiliation. Ian was hers now, and she shouldn’t have to waste time to entertain somebody who had tried to get her shot with him and failed—in other words, she had no business with a sore loser.

Having processed all this, she decided more firmly this time that she would continue to ignore Yulia’s text and that her gesture was justified.

Presently, Ian, Aurora and Cindy had arrived at the restaurant nearby the apartment complex, whereupon they entered a private room.

At this moment, Cindy’s phone vibrated once more and she fished it out of her pocket to see that it was yet another text from Yulia. This time, she didn’t even bother clicking into it and merely shoved her phone back into her pocket with an air of finality.

Seriously, though, what right does Yulia have to contact me so forthrightly? She thinks too highly of herself, that’s for sure.

The three of them ordered their food. Cindy was quiet throughout the entire meal and she obviously looked as if there was something on her mind.