Chapter 42 A Very Uncomfortable Stare
The whole encounter with Felicia left Sabrina feeling incredibly awkward, wondering if her friendship with Felicia would ever be the same after being unwittingly dragged into one of Felicia’s “affairs.”
On the other hand, Felicia didn’t seem too bothered by the situation. She smiled sweetly and remarked, You’re a little earlier than usual today.”
Sabrina hastily smiled and nodded while doing her best not to look at the client who was lingering nearby. “Yeah. I visited my grandpa and brother at the hospital before coming here. You’re pretty early yourself.”
The client’s eyes had been nailed onto her from the start. He did not look like he wanted to speak, and yet he seemed to have made it clear that he was not going anywhere. His gaze made Sabrina increasingly
uncomfortable.
When Sabrina mentioned her grandfather, the client’s eyes lit up. He saw an opportunity to get closer to her! The man had only been harassing Felicia because she was a looker, but Sabrina knocked the former out of the park! She was now his newest target.
“Is your grandfather getting better?” Felicia asked with genuine concern. She had wanted to visit Sabrina and Parker at the hospital a couple of days ago, but Sabrina had declined.
“The doctor said he’s fine. He’s old, so he’s going to need some time to fully recover,” Sabrina replied, still feeling uneasy due to the client’s unwavering gaze. “Come on, we should get going. Otherwise, we’re
going to be late.”
Felicia caught the hint and was more than happy to follow Sabrina, using her as a distraction to escape the persistent client.
The man, naturally, had no reason to stop them from leaving. He could only wordlessly watch them disappear into the company office.
Sabrina only felt safe after they went inside.
“You need to be careful around that guy,” Felicia began before telling Sabrina all about him.
The man was apparently a notorious horndog who couldn’t resist flirting and harassing attractive women.
Sabrina felt miffed. If this guy was such bad news, then why did Felicia drag her into this?
She could have used any other way to get the man off her, but she chose to use Sabrina. Even if Sabrina was the type to give people the benefit of the doubt, she still could not help but think the worst of Felicia’s motives-especially after knowing the kind of person she was.
“Is that so?” Sabrina smiled resentfully. Felicia ignored the bitterness in her grin and nodded firmly.
“You’d better be careful when you’re out on your own, Sabrina. He’s got his eyes on you, and that’s not good.”
Sabrina couldn’t help but feel a surge of frustration. If it was so dangerous, why had Felicia pulled her into the situation in the first place? She felt the urge to vent her frustration but realized she had little ground to do so. After all, Felicia had only called out to her.
They went to their workstations and were about to begin work when Sharon showed up. She was clearly in a bad mood. “Sabrina? Come with me.”
They went into Sharon’s office. Sharon’s scowl deepened after she closed the door.
“What did you do this morning, Sabrina?” she began.
Sabrina was taken aback. “Excuse me?”
“The PR department called me just now and told me they wanted you to join them. Why? What did you do that made them want you?” Sharon’s words were direct and left little room for misunderstanding.
As one of the company’s veterans, Sharon knew all too well just how much the PR department loved capitalizing on “assets.”
Now, if the PR people were looking for Felicia, Sharon would have found it less surprising.
In fact, they used to ask about Felicia. Sharon knew that Felicia had hated her job at the administrative department because she found it boring, menial, and unsatisfactory in pay. Sharon would have gladly transferred Felicia over if the latter consented.
Felicia said no, and that was the end of that. But Sabrina? Why had they suddenly turned their attention to
her?
Sabrina was bewildered. The only noteworthy thing that had happened that morning was the uncomfortable encounter with the annoying client who seemed fixated on her.
So, she told Sharon all about it.
Sharon’s scowl deepened. “Here’s what I think. I’m granting you a few days of work leave. Focus on taking care of your grandfather and brother. Leave company matters to us. As for Felicia… maintain some distance between yourselves and don’t take everything she says at face value. Do you understand?” she said.
Sabrina knew the sort of person Sharon was. Her superior’s implication could not have been more obvious. That client-was he really that notorious? Was he a stalker?
Sabrina left the office, a little dazed. Her break started today, and she was allowed to go home immediately.
Everyone else who saw her thought Sharon must have given Sabrina a mighty hard time. They could not help but look at her with sympathy. Felicia was one of them. “God, what happened, Sabrina? Is Sharon angry?”
It was even harder to smile with Felicia around. “N-Nothing. Sharon just thought I hadn’t been doing a good job lately and told me to take a break for the past few days. Anyway, I, uh, am leaving right now.” She grabbed her bag from the desk and hurriedly left the office.
