Chapter 5
+15 BONUS
Hearing that, my acting skills were back in action.
I lowered my head, my face full of guilt and shame. “This is embarrassing, but yesterday, I accidentally tripped and fell, right into Mr. Thompson. Thankfully, he’s a nice guy and caught me, but it was pretty awkward for me.” I waved my hand dismissively.
“Please don’t bring it up again. Just thinking about it makes me want to dig a hole and crawl in.”
“I see,” Leah replied.
The colleagues who had been eavesdropping on the gossip all turned away, uninterested. Leah blinked, her expression hard to read, as if unsure whether to believe me or not. “Well, that’s good. Office romances can be… tricky.”
She paused before continuing, “By the way, I have a project with an unreasonable unit price. I need to meet with the contractor, but I’m tied up, so I’m leaving it to you.”
The team was already waiting in the conference room when I walked in, and the moment I entered, I spotted a familiar, annoying
face.
Oh, great. It was the same college classmate who had confessed his feelings to me. What a coincidence.
I grumbled inwardly but kept my smile on the outside as I extended my hand. “Mr. Campbell, it’s good to see you.”
He recognized me too and greeted me with a forced smile. “Ms. Hayward, the pleasure is mine.”
When it came to construction projects, it all boiled down to who could talk the talk and play the game. Even though it was a
project worth a few hundred thousand, the negotiation felt like haggling at a street market.
I got straight to the point. “Mr. Campbell, the price for the epoxy flooring is a bit high, and the higher ups aren’t happy with it.”
He immediately played the poor card. “Ms. Hayward, you can’t be serious. This price is already rock–bottom. We’re barely
making any profit at all.”
After a bit more back–and–forth, he finally sighed, looking resigned. “Alright, how about this? Give me your best price. If it works
for us, we’ll go with it.”
I felt a jolt of unease.
