Next One Is a Babe

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"Yes," Cindy said. "I just got it today. Haven't finished it yet."

The woman pursed her lips. "There should be a lot of useful stuff in there."

Cindy told her honestly, "I guess so. At least I think it's useful so far."

That was how adults worked—they wouldn't be straightforward. They would poke and prod, but that was fine with Cindy. She would act dumb as long as they wouldn't say what they wanted explicitly.

The woman wouldn't be so explicit, so she stopped talking after Cindy refused to tell her anything.

Cindy went back to the office after lunch, and she wondered if she should skip the cafeteria entirely next time and go somewhere else for lunch. I get stared at every time, and I guess everyone will want to talk to me because of this file. Can't I have a simple workplace? Everyone just has to scheme, huh?

She came back to the office, but for some reason, everyone wasn't there, so she was alone, though she liked how it felt. She wanted her workplace to be one where she wouldn't get disturbed. She kept reading through the file, and when inspiration struck, she would come up with a design of her own.

Before this, she would still come across a designer's block even when she had inspiration, but thanks to the file, that block seldom happened that day. She worked a lot that afternoon, and time flew by.

Gary called her when she was about to get off work, but instead of asking her out for dinner, he just called to make some small talk and asked her if work was going well. Cindy felt that he knew what Mr. Kaufmann did, so she told him about it.

Gary grunted. "He's a smart man. That's why I told you to see him if you need anything."

Cindy wanted to laugh. He hasn't thought this through. I won't ask Mr. Kaufmann for help. What's more, he seldom shows up, so I can't see him even if I wanted to. Still, she said, "Yes. I understand."

Gary wasn't busy, so he chatted with her for a while longer, though it was only small talk. When she hung up, it was time to get off work, and this time, Cindy didn't go anywhere else, not after what happened the night before. She quickly packed up and went home. When she reached home, Ian called her, and she picked up at once. "You're done too?"