89 CH89: Not shameless like that!

Real food is ingredients."   

- Jamie Oliver

=========================

That morning, Delilah was in the pantry, having her snacks and drinking her green tea. Outside, it was raining heavily and for Delilah, it seems like the perfect time to relax and enjoy a cup of hot drinks with a snack to munch on. And that's what she did.

It was fortunate that she did not have a lot of things to do so she could afford to slack for a while.

It was quite peaceful at the office where there were only sounds of keyboard tapping and people walking around. There wasn't anyone to disturb or bother her about work and so forth so she felt peaceful.

But alas, she spoke too soon.

She was about to dip a biscuit inside her cup of green tea when Aubree slammed open the door, startling Delilah, making her drop her biscuit in the cup.

With a frown, Delilah could only watch her biscuit sink in the cup, becoming soggy. With a sigh, she grabbed her teaspoon and scooped the biscuit out. And with a cringe look on her face, she finished off the snack. She then gulped down the green tea.

Ignoring the woman who was now fuming as she sat across Delilah, the latter got up from her chair and went to make another cup of green tea. She rinsed her cup first before making another cup.

Luckily, the water was still hot so she did not have to wait for the kettle to boil. She easily made another cup of green tea.

Once she was done making it, she returned back to her seat. Blowing on the surface of the drink to cool it, she cautiously took a small sip. She then placed her cup on the table and looked at the woman, sitting across her, who was also watching her with a scowl on her face.

"Do you want one?" Delilah asked politely.

Surprised with the sudden question, Aubree quickly said, "Oh, sure."

Delilah gestured behind her with a jerk of her chin and said, "Go make yourself one then."

Aubree rolled her eyes as she crossed her arms across her chest. She thought Delilah was offering to make her one and since she just told her to make it herself, she rather not.

Stirring her tea, Delilah looked down at her cup. "So what's wrong?" she asked, not looking up.

She then paused. Why does this scene seem familiar? Even though the place was different, the plot was the same. Delilah narrowed her eyes suspiciously at Aubree. 

Aubree was just too nice of a person. It made her look like a person that can be easily taken advantage of and how she was being disrespected and all. This wasn't the first time Aubree had come to her, letting out her frustration and dissatisfaction on her. 

Aubree let out a sigh. "Tracy just gave me her resignation letter. Effective immediately," she said.

"It is," Aubree said. "But she said she needed it to be effective immediately because her father wanted her to quit."

"Why?"

"I don't know. Something like a personal problem." 

"Even so, it's supposed to be within two weeks. If it's not, she will be penalised. She did sign a contract with us, right?" 

Aubree nodded. "She did."

Delilah then shrugged nonchalantly. "Then go quit after two weeks. Her request for an immediate leave should be rejected unless she wants to pay for the penalty."

Aubree nodded but she looked a bit hesitant.

Delilah knew what the other woman was thinking and cut off her thoughts. "No, Aubree. It's not the time for you to sympathise or feel sorry for her. This is the rules. You can't expect to give them leeway or they will crush you down.

What? You're going to pay for her penalty fees?" 

Aubree quickly shook her head. "No, no. Of course not."

"Then don't think much and tell her, it's either two weeks or pay the penalty." 

Aubree let out a sigh. "Alright then." 

The two continued to talk with each other. Aubree also went to make a cup of hot tea for herself. 

Shortly after, they went out of the pantry and went to their perspective cubicles. 

Hours have passed by without any hitch so it was quiet at the office. 

The clock just strikes twelve o'clock on the dot and Delilah was preparing to get herself some lunch. She was quite lazy to drive so she decided to have her lunch at the office cafeteria instead. 

After placing her order at the cafeteria lady, she went to look for an empty seat. As usual, it was quite crowded and there were many people inside, talking among themselves. 

Looking for a familiar face, she looked around. It was then Jafar, who had already sat down with his meal, saw her lingering around, apparently looking for an empty seat. 

Disregarding the fact that he was loud and probably might be disturbing people who were eating, he just shouted, calling out Delilah's name to come over. 

Hearing her name being called, Delilah looked around and saw Jafar waving madly at her with one hand. When he saw that she had turned to him, he furiously pointed at the empty seat across her, telling her that there's an empty seat. 

Looking over to see that there was indeed an empty seat, Delilah quickly walked over. In fact, there were more than three empty seats at the table. 

Other than Jafar, there were also Travis and Sam sitting there. 

It had been a long time since she had seen Travis and Sam so she was pleasantly surprised. Nodding hello at the two men, she turned to Jafar, thanking him as she sat down. 

Jafar waved away her thanks and said, "Hey, how are you? HR's been pretty busy lately?" 

Delilah let out a light chuckle as she placed her purse and phone on the table. "Nah, not really," she disagreed. "Same ol', same ol'."

Sam gave a wry smile. "How lucky," he murmured. "We've been busy the past few weeks, ever since that new regulations had been posted up. Had to review everything from scratch." 

Travis then snorted. "Whereas for us, we've been having weekly meetings non-stop. We even have meetings twice a week," he complained. 

Delilah frowned. "What's the purpose of having too many meetings?" she asked, curious. 

Travis rolled his eyes. "Don't know. Ask that boss of ours," he said grumpily. He then looked at her and continued, "You're lucky to have a supervisor like Aubree. She's lenient."

'But there are times that her leniency can be a turn-off,' Delilah thought to herself. 

Out loud, she said, "Even so, leniency is not all that good."

Travus just shrugged. 

Before Delilah could say another word, the restaurant pager near her just sounded off, indicating that her meal was ready to pick up. 

Excusing herself from the table, she got up and went to grab her meal. She had ordered baked rice with crabsticks and mentai sauce. 

The food was served in a small baking plate, hence it was still hot, steam could be seen rising up from the baked rice. 

The three men looked at her with an 'O' look on their faces. Delilah rolled her eyes. "It's as if you guys haven't seen this before," she said. 

Sam and Jafar just laughed while Travis smirked. 

Delilah grabbed a spoon and scooped the rice onto it. Blowing at the rice a bit which was smothered with crabsticks and mentai sauce, she then ate it. The rice and the crabsticks were a bit sweet, probably because it was already mixed with the mentai sauce. The mentai sauce has a bit of an umami flavour and a hint of sweetness as well to it. It also has that spicy creamy kick that Delilah likes. In short, it was a bit of a flavourful and sweet dish. She liked how they torched the cheese and the sauce on top of the rice, giving out a smoky flavour and it also makes the cheese to be more creamy. 

While she was eating, she also talked with her colleagues at the table. 

She was halfway done with her meal when she sensed someone was sitting next to her. Turning her head, she was surprised to find Aubree, looking a bit worn out and slightly frustrated. 

Delilah frowned. This morning, when she last saw Aubree, she didn't look this tired. 

"What happened again?" Delilah asked. 

The other three men just kept quiet but they were looking at Aubree as well, waiting for her to answer. 

Aubree snorted. "Guess what?" she said. "That girl said it's fine that she's working off her two weeks notice." 

Delilah frowned again. "Isn't that good?" she asked, confused. 

"It is. But then, she asked whether she can borrow a room for her Farewell party," Aubree said. "And the date is AFTER she quit the company." 

Delilah and the other two men burst out in laughter. More of mockery, rather than amusement. Sam just smiled wryly.

"Okay, that's weird," Delilah commented, still smiling. 

"I know, right?" Aubree said with disbelief. "I don't know how she has the gall to request that. No one ever asked for that!" 

Jafar laughed again. "So, were you invited?" he teased. 

Aubree just rolled her eyes. 

Delilah then chuckled. "I know I can be shameless but not that kind of shameless!"