Chapter 550
Back to work after the long holiday, Joy bumped into her team leader waiting for the elevator. As the doors slid open, the embodiment of capitalism himself was standing inside. She had almost let it slip from her memory, but the sight of Austin's face brought back the memory of that inexplicable kiss in the car.
Suddenly, she forgot how to walk. Her limbs felt uncoordinated, and her hands seemed to flail awkwardly around her until she managed to shuffle into the elevator.
Austin acted as if nothing had happened, exchanging pleasantries with the team leader who was trying hard to make small talk. Austin responded with a warm attitude, albeit briefly.
Joy stood in front with her back to them. When the elevator reached her floor, she swiftly moved to the side, pressing herself against the wall and half-bowed, "After you."Content rights by NôvelDr//ama.Org.
Austin glanced at her and stepped out.
By coincidence, Joy ran into him again when she went down for lunch with her colleagues.
Austin played the caring boss, asking them where they were headed for lunch. Her colleague, not realizing the significance, blurted out how Joy could down two servings of pulled pork sandwiches in one go. Austin's gaze shifted slightly, "Why so quiet today, Joy?"
Caught in the awkwardness of not knowing how to act around him, she pointed to her throat and croaked, "Caught a cold, my voice is gone."
Austin smirked, "Didn't seem like it when you were yelling at your friend over the phone about her husband. I could hear you all the way in my office."
"What kind of super hearing do you have?" she thought.
"I was just a bit too emotional then, my voice might have gotten a tad louder."
Austin continued, "Oh, doesn't seem like you're hoarse now. Recovered that quickly?"
"Damn." She cursed in silence.
Her colleague tried to stifle her laughter, shaking with the effort. The moment the elevator doors opened, Joy dashed out like she was on rollerblades. During lunch, her colleague mused, "Is it just me, or is there something off between you and Mr. Austin?"
"Because we kissed." Joy thought to herself.
She was no longer the pure, cynical worker who thought society owed her a fortune. She had been defiled by the lips of capitalism.
In her heart, she cursed her boss for potentially ruining her proletariat purity, yet part of her desperately wanted it to happen again.
It must be the drought in her love life, she reasoned, as her feelings for Austin began to shift dramatically.
Every time she saw him, whether
she was talking or he was, her
attention would inevitably drift to his
'n'
lips. Her ears would plug up, her mind overtaken by the refreshing scent of mint, seeing his lips move but hearing nothing.
She didn't know what that kiss meant, but Austin seemed to brush it off.
Putting aside their professional hierarchy and her previous
prejudices, Austin was actually quite handsome. Tall, with long legs and a toned body, successful at a young age- he was out of her league.
Joy couldn't fathom why he'd even consider dating through setups. Surely, women were throwing themselves at him, like Mia from the office who was always flirting shamelessly. During a meeting, Joy found herself sitting across from Austin.
The new colleague, still unscarred by the harsh realities of work life, had made an impressively flashy presentation. The veterans around the room all shared the same thought: Let me copy that template. Joy snorted internally; the naive newcomer was under her wing, and she had already sweet-talked her way into getting the template.
Fighting off sleep, her gaze
།
wandered and landed on Austin's lips, as if drawn by a magnetic force. She hadn't paid attention before, but Austin had really nice lips that she figured would be soft to kiss.
Who wouldn't want to kiss a hunky man like him?