After hearing so much from Mrs. Wallace, Clarissa started to see her colleagues in a different light. Every time she thought of the secrets they were hiding, she had a strong urge to laugh. Susan, who scolded her yesterday, had a useless husband. Yet, she boasts that she was married to a young master from a wealthy family. Amanda, who seemed friendly to her, was actually someone who loved to snatch things from others, even boyfriends, by using ruthless methods. Other than the two of them, there were also many others with a shady background.
Clarissa was sure that her article would not lack gossip materials.
As for serious company affairs, she never got to experience much of it. The closest experience she had was when she had to serve water during meetings and hand out documents. That was the only time she could overhear their conversations. Therefore, she had to use her imagination to fill in the gaps.
In the evening, Clarissa had to handle things that were not completed in the day. It was getting late, and there were not many people left in the office.
As she packed up to get off work, Matthew’s video call came.
Finding a corner, she answered the call.
Looking at her surroundings, Matthew frowned. “Where are you?”
“Oh, I… found a place to work in, so I can experience what it is like to be in a workplace,” Clarissa answered.
“Work?”
Matthew narrowed his eyes, and Clarissa could not tell what he was thinking. He continued to question, “How long will you be working for?”
“Hmm, I guess a month? I will see how it goes.”
“Good!” Matthew said.
What does he mean by that?
Clarissa could not fathom what his words or smirk meant. Frowning, she decided not to think too much about it.
“I’m getting off work now, so I have to go,” she said.
Just then, a familiar voice sounded from behind her, “Oh? Clarissa, you’re still here? Coincidentally, I am leaving too. I can give you a lift. Where do you stay?”
“Oh, Mrs. Wallace, it’s fine, I don’t want to bother you,” Clarissa replied, a little surprised.
“No worries! Come on, let’s go to the parking lot. I drove here.” The older woman waved.
Unable to reject Mrs. Wallace’s kind gesture, Clarissa followed her into the elevator, forgetting that her video call was still ongoing.
When they reached the parking lot, Clarissa raised her brows when she saw Mrs. Wallace’s car. It was a Mercedes-Benz.
Seated in the car, Mrs. Wallace continued to chat with her. Clarissa found out that the lady had been working hard in D City for the past twenty years and managed to buy a house and a car. Her children had also grown up and are now overseas, waiting for her to retire so she could join them.
Then, she started to ask Clarissa for her age, her relationship status, and her ideal type. She even suggested matchmaking her with someone else.
Clarissa hurriedly tried to placate her while diverting her attention elsewhere by asking about the company.
“Mrs. Wallace, how long have you worked in Tyson Corporation? Have you worked longer than Mrs. Zeller?”
“I worked there for almost eight years. Mrs. Zeller was already working there when I joined. That being said, if you want to be well-informed about what goes on in the company, you should come to me or my other colleague. Although, Mrs. Zeller did get transferred to where the president and other high-ranked management offices are. So I guess she has a higher rank than us. Since you’re asking me so many things about Mrs. Zeller, can I take it that you’re thinking about being the president’s wife or something?”
Clarissa denied Mrs. Wallace’s suspicions immediately, “No, of course not! Mrs. Wallace, don’t misunderstand me. Do I look like someone like that?”
Mrs. Wallce sighed, “Well, I do have to remind you though that our president is gay. Besides, all of the women I’ve seen wanting to attract the president’s attention came out empty-handed. While some managed to keep their positions, there were others who tried too hard that got fired in the end. Clarissa, you are still young, so it’s best to not have such unrealistic ideas. Other than that, our president is so old. You never know if he has any hidden sickness. And because he’s gay, even if he wants to marry a wife in the future, I’m sure she will be just for show. I think you should forget about it.”
“Of course, I don’t have such funny ideas. Mrs. Wallace, I am young and pretty, so why would I be interested in someone like him?” Clarissa announced.
“That’s for the best then. Anyway, I don’t think I need to remind you that older men tend to not perform as well as the young ones would, right? With my age, I can tell you that I’ve experienced all of it before. So don’t be shy, because this is an important aspect…”
“I understand,” Clarissa laughed it off.
“All is well as long as you understand. Oh, and that colleague who’s always chasing you, he’s bad news. Joseph changes girlfriends as often as he changes his clothes. His girlfriends are either pretty or rich. So he is not a good man for sure. I hope you don’t get fooled by his appearance or sweet talk,” Mrs. Wallace continued.
“Got it, I won’t.”
Mrs. Wallace grinned. “By the way, although our department manager is divorced, he’s a reliable man, and I think he might be interested in you.”
“No way! Mrs. Wallace, don’t spout nonsense!”
“Haha, are you shy? He’s not bad, to be honest, so you should consider him…”
As soon as they reached Clarissa’s house, she rushed home as though she was running for her life.
Although Mrs. Wallace knew many things in the company, she was a chatterbox.
Clarissa ran up the stairs in one breath. Walking into her apartment, she collapsed onto the sofa and sighed.
“Clarissa.” A faint, low voice sounded.
Shocked, Clarissa shot up from her sofa. Her house was silent, and there was no one at home.
Am I dreaming?
Suddenly, a chill ran up her spine.
Terrified, she picked up the kettle from her coffee table and held it in front of her chest, looking around warily. “Who’s there? Come out this instance!”
On the other end of the line, Matthew was speechless for a moment.
“Your phone!” A male voice hissed. Clarissa heard the voice again. My phone?
At that moment, she remembered the video call with Mattew. Hurriedly, she fished out her phone from her bag.
She finally realized that the video call was still ongoing.
Her face turned a deep shade of red.
“Clarissa, you’d better give me an explanation. Your department manager is interested in you? Which department is it? What is his name? Also, that guy, Joseph…”
Before Matthew could finish raging, Clarissa let out a hysterical scream.
“Ahh! My data, my phone bill. Damn it! Matthew, why didn’t you end the call? You bastard! Pay me back for all that!”
Hearing her complaints, Matthew pursed his lips.
Is it really necessary to scream like that?
What is she talking about, anyway?
Exasperated, he replied impatiently, “Stop screaming. I will cover your phone bills.”
Clarissa whined, “Who cares about that? Matthew, you… Why didn’t you end the call? Any normal person would’ve ended the call once the other party stopped talking, you know?”
“If I ended the call, how else would I be able to hear about so much interesting information? Hmm? Especially the part where I heard that the president is gay?”
“S-So what if he is gay?” She stuttered.
Her volume was considerably lower than before. As of the moment, nothing else was more important than hiding where she was working from him.
She tried to cover up, “S-she’s not talking about you, anyway. There are many other presidents in D City. It’s not like she’s talking about the president of Tyson Corporation…”
“Haha!”
Matthew let out a burst of chilly laughter. “Are you sure she’s not talking about the president of Tyson Corporation?”
“O-of course I’m sure!”
I don’t think I mentioned that I was working at Tyson Corporation. In my conversation with Mrs. Wallace, I didn’t bring up the company name either…
“Don’t jump to conclusions on your own. Haha… Besides, you are definitely not gay. Haha…”
Matthew snorted. His eyes narrowed and he stared at Clarissa’s guilt-stricken face.
“That’s true. After all, you’re the best person to know whether I am gay or not, right?”
Clarissa chuckled awkwardly, unable to think straight.
As for Matthew, he seemed to believe her words as he stopped questioning her after that.
This time, he ended the call with Clarissa early.
Feeling as though she survived a war, Clarissa let out a deep breath of relief. What am I doing with my life?
Over the next few days, Clarissa was busy trying to record her experience at the office. Thankfully, Matthew did not contact her as he was probably busy with his work.
His absence made Clarissa feel relieved. Whenever she received a call at night from Matthew, she felt like she had to be on guard the whole time, having to deal with his flirtatious words and stare.
She felt that the man was always trying to dig his way into her heart. No matter how hard she tried to guard it, she knew that it was only a matter of time before she surrendered.
From the start, Clarissa knew that he was right, that she had fallen for him. But it’s just that she was still struggling to accept it.
“Clarissa, stop daydreaming! Do you think you can slack off just because you have a pretty face?” Seeing that Clarissa was in a daze, a colleague named Amanda took the opportunity to scold her.
However, Clarissa was already used to it. She knew that because Amanda could not get anything out of her, the woman had decided to make things difficult for her.
According to Mrs. Wallace, Amanda started going out with a seemingly rich man and did not want to work anymore. Therefore, she had been purposely sabotaging her work these days, as shown from her temper. She already planned to quit her job and become a housewife when she gets married.
Of course, there were many other women in Tyson Corporation like Amanda. But there were also others who aimed to be independent women instead. Those strong women were whom Clarissa looked up to, and that was her ultimate goal.
“Ms. Amanda, what do I have to do?” Clarissa asked with a smile.
In response, Amanda threw a document in front of her. “Go to the sixth floor and send this to the vice president.”
“Okay!”
The vice president was someone Clarissa dreaded to meet the most. The old man would always stare at her lecherously, which irked her.
Clarissa reckoned that Amanda must have picked up on that as the latter would always look for her to run such errands. However, since Clarissa was a patient woman, she knew that she would be able to tough through it as long as the old man did not try anything funny on her.
Picking up the document, she headed downstairs. After she struggled to get her job done in the vice president’s office, the older man grinned. “You are just in time. I have a meeting upstairs, so let’s head up together.”
As the elevator doors in front of them opened, Clarissa took a step forward and froze.
In the small space, a few serious and smart-looking men were standing in it. They gave off an arrogant aura, but that was not the point. The key point was the man standing in the middle. He was cool, tall, and had a strong aura. Anyone who saw the scene before them would not have dared to step in.
The moment she saw the man, Clarissa knew she would not have the guts to take another step. Instantly, a myriad of emotions flashed across her face.
Ding!
The elevator doors were about to close, but Matthew suddenly pressed the open button and ordered coldly, “Get in.”
“Yes, Mr. Tyson.”
The vice president was about to step in when the president gave him a warning glare. Taken aback, the former did not take any more steps forward.
“Ah, I realized that I have something else to handle here. I’ll take my leave first then, Mr. Tyson.”
He then fled the scene.
In the end, only Clarissa was left standing there alone. Gritting her teeth, she stepped forward and into the elevator. As there were already a few people in the space, it felt narrow.
When she entered it, Matthew took a step back to make space for her. Without a choice, she could only stand in front of him, with her back facing him.
The little space that Matthew left for her made sure that her trip in the elevator was awkward.
Because of the close distance, his body would brush against her back occasionally. Although he did not press himself against her, she could feel the man’s breath tickling her neck.
