“Mr. Ju’an, please save me! I didn’t offend Ms. Ju’an and she wants to hit me. Isn’t it improper for an employee to do that?”
It was as if Jason didn’t hear Mia’s words. There was a big frown on his face as he looked at Annie. Both he and Priscilla were surprised. Although Priscilla also looked angry, Jason was simply confused.
Priscilla wanted to convince herself that she was seeing a ghost. Even in her dreams, she never thought Annie would ever think of returning. “Annie, you… What are you doing here?”
Annie let go of Layla’s hands and turned around. With a small smile on her face, she raised a brow. “What does it seem like I’m doing here, Mrs. Ju’an? Like every other employee, I’m here to work.”
“But-“
“I must apologize to the Manager for skipping work yesterday.” Annie turned to Jason, cutting Priscilla’s words short. “If Mr. Ju’an could forgive such an offense, I’ll be glad. Otherwise, Mr. Ju’an is free to punish me.”
“Annie- I mean, Ms. Lin.” Jason looked unsure. He didn’t even know what to say. The helpless look from the days before returned to his eyes and he looked at Priscilla.
“How gutsy of you, Annie. Why won’t you give up already?” Priscilla screamed. “Why are you so hellbent on-“
“Snatching your husband?” Annie controlled herself from laughing. “Mrs. Ju’an, you are so full of yourself, yet so insecure. Have I told you I don’t use the same shoe twice?”
Literally, what she meant was obvious. The employees were once again flabbergasted. This girl wasn’t a pushover, but they didn’t know she could possess such a sharp tongue.
By comparing the manager to a shoe, what was she aiming at?
Priscilla looked so green that she wanted to faint. In front of all the employees, Annie not only insulted her but also her husband. “Annie, are you tired of living?”
“To your disappointment, no,” Annie replied. “And if Mrs. Ju’an will keep on acting like a baby, don’t blame me for treating you like one. Troublesome babies are hard to coax. I might as well allow you to keep playing your game since you’re so good at it.”
The more Annie spoke, the more astonished the employees were. Before, she would hold back while speaking to the troublesome girl. However, now, she didn’t even allow Priscilla to recover from the first blow.
“Honey!” Seeing that she couldn’t win the argument, Priscilla turned to Jason. “Why are you just watching? Can’t you hear what she’s saying?”
“Enough of that, Annie.” Jason’s senses returned to the present. “Meet me in my office. Priscilla, please wait here.”
With that said, the man walked into his office and Annie followed him.
Priscilla’s jaw dropped when he asked her not to follow. The girl took a long time to digest his words. After recovering from her shock, she looked angrier than before. What the hell was happening?
“Just sit down, Priscilla. It is always trouble when you go in there. Why can’t you give him face for once?”
Unlike the other employees, Layla didn’t find the girl’s expression funny. She was only more irritated.
“Watch your tone, Layla.”
“Otherwise, what?” Layla stood in front of her. “Annie is right. You’re just acting like a baby. You managed to snatch my brother away yet you’re not satisfied. Don’t you know that even if you beg Annie, she’ll never look at him again?”
Layla’s statement was like adding insult to injury. Priscilla glared hard at her, her eyes turning red. She couldn’t even speak and her eyes went to the door.
“Why are you being troublesome?” Layla held her back as she wanted to storm into the office. “Just leave them alone, Priscilla.”
Layla purposely put on a knowing smile, making Priscilla’s heart more insecure. Under the employees’ gaze, she could feel they were all mocking her.
Those employees who couldn’t even look into her eyes yesterday were now staring straight at her.
“What are you looking at?” She snapped. “All of you, go back to your work. Do you want to get fired?”
“Erm, Mrs. Ju’an, are you still the Assistant Manager?”
“Since Ms. Lin is back, doesn’t it mean she’ll automatically get back her position too?”
“Y-You!” Priscilla pointed a shaking finger at them. “Do you want to lose your job?”
“Mrs. Ju’an, please take it easy. We only wanted to clear the misunderstanding, fearing we might be working under the wrong person.”
The response was more brutal than the employees’ questions. Priscilla’s eyes swept across the employees and she clicked her tongue.
“Sabrina, come here.” Among the employees, Sabrina didn’t even hide her happiness and Priscilla called her forward.
“Mrs. Ju’an.” Sabrina left her cubicle and walked up to her. “How may I-“
She didn’t finish her words because Priscilla sent a hard slap across her face. “You guys will never stop underestimating me, right!” she yelled, facing the other employees.
“Fine! Very soon, one of you will leave this department. Even Annie is just wasting her time. Do you think she can survive up to an hour here? Just wait and see… Once she comes out, she’s going to get out of this place.”
Sabrina held her cheek, staring at the girl with reddened eyes. “Why did you hit me, Mrs. Ju’an? What did I do wrong?”
*PAK*
Priscilla slapped her again. “I don’t like you, Sabrina. Is that reason enough?”
Feeling deeply offended, Sabrina swallowed her hurt and went back to her cubicle. No employee dared to comfort her, and Layla was just too angry to speak.
She couldn’t handle Priscilla’s haughtiness really. She couldn’t even wait to leave the department.
No one knew what the Manager was discussing with Annie, but she was taking too long in his office.
Priscilla couldn’t sit down. Her eyes were fixed deeply on the door. She finally got tired of standing and sat in her cubicle.
“You are so pitiful, Mrs. Ju’an. Do you think Annie is back for a normal reason? That girl must have come back prepared?”
“What do you mean?” Priscilla glared at Mia.
“You might be able to chase her out of this department, but what if she gets a better position? Will she not be above you then? This way, she can easily snatch Mr. Ju’an back. Oh, I heard a lot of employees have been applying to be part of the CEO’s office.”
Mia was whispering and the other employees wondered what the two were talking about. Moments later, Annie came out of the Manager’s office. Instead of picking up her bag and leaving, she came out with her things which had been packed away.
With Layla’s help, she set up her cubicle. And they all watched with mouths agape as the girl resumed working.