Linda had them all wrapped around her finger.
Nydia rolled her eyes. “You say that like you’re something special. We’re all just employees at the end of the day.”
“At least I’m the director’s assistant,” Anna shot back, seizing the chance to show off. “Unlike you—you’re not as pretty as Yvonne, don’t have Grace’s experience, and you still act like you’re hot stuff.”
Nydia snorted. “Director’s assistant? More like Linda’s lapdog. And don’t start that ‘women competing with women’ nonsense—I’m not buying it.”
Yvonne glanced up from her phone, a small smile on her lips. “Come on, Nydia’s one of a kind. No one can replace her.”
Grace stood up, fetched herself a glass of water, and took a sip. “If you’ve got so much energy to argue, how about channeling it into writing a few more birthday proposals for Linda?”
Anna sniffed haughtily, tossing her hair. “Please. The CEO actually trusts me, unlike you lot. And you know, the CEO never celebrates his birthday. Only those who really know him would even know when it is. You’ll see—when the time comes, you’ll all be jealous.”
Yvonne exchanged a look with Grace and Nydia; none of them bothered to stoop to Anna’s level.
Unable to resist, Yvonne shot Marico a quick message: “When’s your birthday?”
Her phone buzzed a moment later. Marico, who usually couldn’t care less about birthdays, actually pulled up his calendar for once and replied: “Two days from now.”
Yvonne sent back a shocked emoji, followed by a cheerful celebratory one.
After thinking it over, she decided to just be direct: “What would you like for your birthday?”
Marico read the message with his usual composure, then replied bluntly: “I don’t celebrate birthdays.”
Yvonne felt a little awkward and, before she could stop herself, sent back a simple: “Oh.”
Their exchange was so straightforward it was almost comical—no flirting, no surprises, just plain and simple honesty.
Marico put down his phone and went back to work.
Yvonne, too, was buried in her own workload. They were all busy with a big project, forced to work late. The birthday planning Linda had mentioned wasn’t even part of their team’s responsibilities; it was Anna’s group burning the midnight oil for that one.
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