anwhile...
Nina glanced around the grocery store, listening to the casual conversations of the shoppers. Since walking in, she had overheard the Smith family ntioned at least five tis.
Almost everyone is talking about it, she thought, sighing and shaking her head. Though I can’t bla them.
The recent case involving the orphanage and the Senator’s granddaughter had been making headlines. That’s why Nina had stopped watching the news for a while—she didn’t want to dwell on it too much. After all, she was only concerned about one thing in this whole fiasco:
Finn.
Finn was on a short business trip, sothing he had to fulfill before taking another long break. The two of them had plans, and since Nina’s unemploynt, he wanted to spend more ti with her. They also wanted to focus on their wedding preparations.
However, Finn would be coming ho today.
He could’ve heard the news or not, but the point was that Cassandra was still his childhood friend. Despite everything that had happened between them, Nina knew Finn wasn’t heartless enough to ignore everything about it.
A nice al might cheer him up a little, she thought, smiling as she continued her usual grocery shopping.
The supermarket wasn’t Nina’s usual place. However, it was the closest to Skyline Plaza. It wasn’t a big change, though—the prices were usually the sa, maybe just a centavo higher.
Just as Nina was picking out so fresh produce, she heard a familiar voice from the side.
"Nina?"
Turning her head, her eyes widened the second she made eye contact. "Boss!"
"Haha. Boss? Oh, dear. You don’t have to call that anymore," her forr boss chuckled. She glanced at Nina’s cart before lifting her gaze back to her. "I didn’t expect to run into you here. Do you shop here often?"
"No, just lately, since I moved out of my previous ho."
"Ah, that explains why I never ran into you here, despite doing my weekly grocery shopping here."
Nina smiled happily, forgetting her previous thoughts. Her eyes glead with satisfaction at seeing the person who had trusted her while they were still at the sa company.
"Boss, do you have any other plans for today?" she asked. "If not, how about we grab so coffee after we’re done with our groceries?"
Her forr boss smiled and nodded.
****
"So, you ended up resigning, huh?" her forr boss repeated, almost laughing as she shook her head. "Well, why am I surprised?"
Nina smacked her lips. "Boss, I’m sorry. I know you fought for and even lost your job for . Yet, I ended up resigning as well."
"Haha. Why are you apologizing? I already told you what I did wasn’t for you, it was for —taking a stand. I can’t bla you if you resigned, especially since the company finally lost it," her forr boss quipped. "So, what are you up to these days?"
"Well..." Just before Nina could answer, she tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, trying to hide the blush creeping onto her cheeks. "I’m freeloading at my fiancé’s place. No plans to look for a new job right now since we’re focusing on our wedding. Maybe after the wedding, I’ll start looking for one."
"Oh..." her forr boss nodded, chuckling. "Look at you. I’m glad everything’s working out for you. I an, you’ve been engaged for a while, and I even heard at one point that the engagent was called off. I guess office gossip isn’t always reliable, huh?"
All Nina could do was awkwardly chuckle. She didn’t feel the need to tell her forr boss that the office gossip was, in fact, true—that she had broken off the engagent for a while, only to get back with Finn later.
"Once the wedding invitations are ready, would it be okay to invite you?" Nina asked, causing a surprised look from her boss. "Only if it’s okay with you."
Her forr boss chuckled, pleased to be included in such an important event in Nina’s life. "Of course. I’ll do my best to attend."
"Thank you." Pleased, Nina huffed quietly before her curiosity got the better of her. "Uhm, boss, what about you? How have you been? Did you find a new job yet?"
"Ahh..." For so reason, her forr boss’s smile faltered for a brief mont before she shrugged. "Well, I haven’t thought much about it yet. Since I was kicked out of the company, I decided to take care of my son. He’s been the happiest since I’ve been around more lately."
"Oh..." Nina nodded, studying her forr boss’s expression.
Her forr boss was a single mother with a six-year-old son. Though she wasn’t the type to open up about her personal life, everyone knew this fact.
Still, sothing about it struck Nina as odd.
She knew that her boss’s son needed dical treatnt because his immune system was weak, requiring frequent hospital visits and a lot of money for his care. It wasn’t that Nina doubted her boss had savings, but she was aware that treatnts like that were expensive.
"But, well, soone has to bring ho the bacon," her forr boss added with a light tone. "So, I’ll probably start applying to companies soon."
Nina blinked, then blinked again. "Boss," she called out.
"Hmm?"
"No one is accepting you?" Nina blurted out, testing a thought that ca to her mind. As she did, she studied her forr boss’s face.
The latter didn’t react much, but Nina noticed how her boss’s smile faltered. It was a brief look that seed to say, How did you know?
Nowhere in their conversation had the forr boss ntioned applying to other companies. Instead, she had given Nina an excuse for why she was still unemployed.
However, her silence spoke volus.
"..." Nina pursed her lips. "I’m sorry."
Her forr boss sighed and smiled wryly. "Told you. It’s not your fault. I think this is more like a personal vendetta from that bastard who replaced . He didn’t like much when I was his boss, after all. So, don’t apologize. I don’t bla you at all."
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