Bianca didn’t hesitate–she had a thousand portions ordered, generous as
ever.
After all, Seth never imposed a budget on her.
He stood quietly by her side, watching as she bustled back and forth, handling every detail. When she finally paused for a break, Seth twisted open a bottle of water and handed it to her.
That small gesture drew an excited gasp from a girl nearby who was filling out a suggestion form. “Your boyfriend is so sweet to you!” she
eximed.
Other girls nced over, eyes full of envy.
Bianca’s smile never faded.
Just like the sweat that refused to leave Noreen’s brow…
But in Noreen’s case, it was from sheer exhaustion.
Finally, when the work was done, she sat down for a sip of water, massaging the sore spot on her heel where her high heels had rubbed her raw. Just as she was catching her breath, she happened to witness this little disy of affection.
Honestly, it was touching.
Even she felt a tiny pang of emotion–almost.
Harry, meanwhile, was grateful for Noreen’s help. “Miss Gilmore, I’ve arranged a pretty good spot for your disy.”
“Oh, thank you so much!”
“It’s nothing, really. You’ve done a lot for us too.”
Harry enjoyed working with women like Noreen–sharp, socially savvy, and never demanding. She was attentive and helpful, without ever asking for anything in return.
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So, he was more than happy to help her out.
Noreen shared the good news with Carman, and the two of them immediately started gathering their materials to head to the disy area. But just as they were about to set up, Harry’s supervisor strode over, looking stern. “Wasn’t this spot reserved for Summit Peak Group?”
Harry exined that Summit Peak Group had chosen a different spot.
“Even if they declined, you can’t just give it away to someone else! Remove them!”
“But sir-”
“I said remove them!” The supervisor wasn’t budging.
Harry could only obey, and their disy was dismantled.
He apologized to Noreen, but she quickly reassured him, “It’s really okay!” Still, after all themotion, there were hardly any prime spots left.
Carman worried Noreen would be discouraged, but tried tofort her. “Even a spot on the edge is fine. What matters is the product and our core technology.”
But Noreen bounced back quicker than he expected. “You go set up the booth–I’ll hand out flyers.”
Without missing a beat, she pulled a thick stack of flyers from her bag and dove into the crowd.
She wore a bright smile, bowing slightly as she handed a flyer to each person. If someone refused, she didn’t mind–just moved on to the next.
Watching her work so hard, Carman felt a surge of motivation himself and set about arranging their booth with renewed focus.
But just as he finished, disaster struck. Someone bumped their table; theptop tumbled to the floor.
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A pointed red heel stepped right onto it.
Crack.
The screen shattered instantly.
It all happened so fast, Carman barely had time to react.
Noreen heard themotion and rushed over.
“Sorry, didn’t see it there. How much do I owe you?” The words sounded polite enough, but the tone was anything but.
Like a rabid dog, Noreen thought grimly.
She looked up–of course, it was Jude. That mad dog.
As Noreen arrived, Jude shot her a look full of challenge.
Clearly, he’d done it on purpose.
“Is theptop still usable?” Noreen asked Carman first.
Thatputer was their most important tool.
“The screen’s busted, but everything else works. We can use an external
monitor.”
Noreen let out a breath, then turned to face Jude–the culprit.
Maybe her re was too fierce, because Jude, who’d never seen this side of her, faltered for a split second.
Just then, Seth and Bianca walked up–right before Noreen could explode.
“What happened?” Seth took in the mess at their feet, then looked at Jude.
“I just identally knocked their stuff over–and now Noreen’s looking like she wants to tear my throat out,” Judeined, ying the
victim.
Seth seemed to buy it, only saying coolly, “Whatever the damages are,
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pay up.”