Noreen’s figure quickly disappeared into the crowd.
Momentster, Bianca came downstairs and immediately spotted Seth waiting by the door.
He looked uneasy, his brow furrowed–probably because so many people were paying attention to him.
Bianca quickened her pace, calling out, “Seth, have you been waiting long?”
“No, I just got here myself,” Seth replied, his earlier impatience vanishing as he faced her.
“Did you see anyone you know?”
Bianca asked on purpose.
She and Noreen hade down one after the other, so there was a good chance they’d crossed paths. That was why Bianca had hurried down.
Seth’s answer was cool and nonchnt. “No, didn’t see anyone.”
“I thought you might have bumped into Noreen. She just left Dn’s
office.”
Seth remained calm, barely reacting. “I was calling you just now–didn’t
notice.”
Bianca was more than satisfied with his response, and the corners of her lips curled up in a smile she couldn’t hide.
By the time Noreen returned to the studio, everyone was still working
overtime.
They’d finished the core of the project, but there was still a lot of testing and fine–tuning left to do. After a single day off, everyone was back burning the midnight oil.
Wanting to reward the team, Noreen shared the good news about the
2004
Omniva Group partnership, and announced she’d be treating everyone to
dinner.
They got to choose the restaurant.
After she’d finished arranging for thewyer to draft tomorrow’s coboration contract with Omniva Group, Carman came over with the name of the ce they’d picked.
Willow Brook.
What a coincidence.
“How did you end up choosing here?” Noreen asked.
Carman exined, “I think I saw you post about it online once. Looked nice, so it stuck in my mind. Is that okay? If not, we can pick somewhere else.”
Noreen shook her head quickly. “No, this ce is great–the food and the atmosphere are perfect for everyone to rx. Let’s round up the team and head out.”
She’d only been surprised because she hadn’t expected anyone to remember a random post of hers, especially from over a year ago, when she’d helped promote Willow Brook’s grand opening for the owner.
Carman had remembered all this time.
<i>Some </i>people are just thoughtful, she mused.
Not like Seth–she’d mentioned things to him countless times, and not once had he remembered. He always managed to forget, or bail at the
The group arrived at Willow Brook.
As Noreen stepped out of the car, she noticed another group getting out of the vehicle parked next to theirs.
It was Seth and his friends.
20:04
Chapter
They spotted Noreen first. Jude frowned instinctively at the sight.
Bianca, however, was perfectlyposed. She slipped her arm through Seth’s, gave Jude a bright, easy smile, and introduced the restaurant as if nothing were out of the ordinary.
“Seth’s brought me here a few times. It’s really nice, so I thought you all should try it.”
Jude immediately protested. “You two are terrible! Coming <i>to </i>a ce like this and not inviting me? That’s just rude!”
Seth shot back, “What, so you could be a third wheel?”
Biancaughed, her smile sweet. She leaned in closer to Seth, almost without realizing it.
The two of them made quite the picture–attractive, affectionate, and perfectly matched.
Noreen saw and heard the whole exchange, but her face remained neutral, betraying nothing.
It was Dn who broke the tension by greeting her, “Here for dinner too, Noreen?”
She nodded. “Yeah, bringing my team out to celebrate.”
Remembering their uing partnership with Omniva Group, she introduced Carman to Dn. “Mr. Wilder, this is Carman, our lead
engineer.”
Then she turned to Carman. “This is Dn, general manager at Omniva
Bank.”
They shook hands. “Nice to meet you,” Carman said.
Bianca spoke up, her fone casual but eyes bright. “I remember you. We ran into each other at a restaurant before–you and Noreen looked like you were on a date.”
At that, Noreen’s brow furrowed.
DIA
20.04
The others heard too. Seth nced over at her.