Next One Is a Babe

Back when Cindy was in school, her teacher often gave good comments on all of her drafts, perhaps because her teacher was just being nice. She hadn't received any distinct negative comments throughout that period. Things were the same with Naomi's designer, who also praised her work most of the time. However, Cindy finally noticed her issues after she started practicing under Serena.

As Serena explained some details to Cindy, Cindy noticed a chop at the bottom of the draft paper. Cindy had been graded a C—in other words; she ranked third in all four of the grades. This wasn't an exceptionally high grade, but this wasn't considered low in her eyes, either. Cindy had expected herself to get a D at first.

With the results Cindy received, she felt a little more at ease, for she now knew where her standards were, and her grades this time had exceeded her own expectations. Serena continued to talk to Cindy until it was time for lunch. Cindy felt bad for taking up too much of Serena's time, so she offered to do her own research and get back to Serena if she needed help.

Serena knew that Cindy was being considerate, so she beamed at the girl. "Let's have lunch together. I can tell you more about the details that I missed out on over lunch." Cindy thought about her offer for a while before agreeing to it. She figured that it wouldn't be nice to reject Serena's offer.

After that, Cindy returned to her desk to tidy up a little. She took this time to send Aurora a text. She wasn't sure if Aurora was home, but she decided to just inform Aurora that she wouldn't be back for lunch. Soon enough, Aurora responded with a text. 'Got it. You take care of yourself!' Once Cindy was done tidying her desk, she went back to Serena's office to wait for her.

Serena had a really busy morning, and she looked pretty drained. She looked as if she no longer wanted to speak for the rest of the day. They didn't bother traveling too far—they simply went for a meal in the office's canteen. Cindy was pleased with this idea. If they had gone out for a meal, others might have thought that Cindy was receiving preferential treatment. Since they were eating in the canteen, other colleagues could watch and listen to their conversations, so Cindy wouldn't have to feel bad about anything.

They made their way to the canteen, which was rather packed during lunch. A few staff members knew Serena even though they weren't her students, and they walked over to greet her. Serena nodded politely at these people, and Cindy was reminded of her schooling days once more. It felt as if these staff members were students from another class who had bumped into their teacher. I've been away from school for so long, but it feels like I'm in school all over again. How amusing, Cindy thought.

After ordering their food, Cindy and Serena found a spot in a corner. Even though they were sitting in the corner, Cindy could sense a lot of people sending glances in their direction. Serena seemed to be used to this, and she didn't seem too bothered by it. She chatted with Cindy for a while before returning to some of the topics related to Cindy's draft. Cindy had quite a number of questions as she felt like she had a lot more to learn, and Serena patiently answered all of Cindy's queries.