woman wearing irish linen shirt

"You didn't answer my question." I took the mask back and put it on again.Miss Pan De narrowed her eyes, and immediately returned to her old style.

"You didn't answer mine either," she said.

I stood up.I really couldn't sit so close to her and ensure that I could control myself all the time. I just adjusted my mask and asked, "Are you hot? I can turn on the air conditioner, but you must wear a mask. I really don't want You're sick, and that's too much of a burden for you."

"Thank you." She shook her head. "The temperature of the air conditioner here is always very low. After staying indoors for a long time, people forget that it is tropical. I usually don't turn on the air conditioner at home."

"The dry season is hard, right? Especially when Indonesia burns..." I reacted and smiled, "You are on a business trip, right?"

Her eyes also bent: "That's it. I rarely have the opportunity to stay in Singapore for a long time, and this year is an exception."

"It's too small here." I looked out the window. "In the past two years, I went to Manila almost every two weeks, and occasionally stayed there on weekends. Manila is not the same as Singapore... Of course, it is not as safe as here , at least I don’t dare to hang out outside at midnight.”

"That's true." She put on a mask, showing little emotion, "Which hotels do you stay in Manila? Most of the hotels over there are old and not my favorite place for business trips."

"Our company's contracted hotels are all in line with your impression of Manila." I mentioned a few names and said in a timely manner, "But now we don't have to travel so frequently. Our market there has been relatively stable. more than enough colleagues to handle most business.”

Miss Pan De looked at me suddenly: "Philippines? That's what you want to talk to me?"

I kept smiling and pretended not to understand her expression: "I'm sorry. Would you mind talking about work with me on the weekend?"

Her eyes changed again, and it made me feel more stressed.Miss Pan De frowned slightly, and said with a smile: "Of course not, please speak freely."

She was angry.

I bit the bullet and went back to the single-seater sofa, but didn't dare to lean back.She is not as cautious as I am, she monopolizes the entire sofa, with one pillow behind her waist and one in her arms, much more comfortable than me.I tentatively asked, "Are you still not going to tell me why you want the previous Philippine data?"

"You want to know?"

"Well, I wouldn't say I want to know, that's kind of weird." I avoid her eyes. "I'm just trying to do my job."

"Okay." Her tone was calm, "I heard that was the first market you were in charge of, and I'm curious about what you did. After that, you changed to report directly to Li Song, right? I think my The considerations are easy to imagine."

She was really pissed.

How can Miss Pande speak so directly, the most frank thing she told me was the day when she made clear the purpose of BCG and invited me to cooperate with them.But that day she won a big victory, the more direct she expressed, the more she tested and beat me; today's situation is completely different.

Today's words are purely for myself.

I know she's not telling the truth.Before the framework was put forward, BCG’s people on the project worked more than [-] hours a week. This framework does not have such a heavy workload that children have to work overtime.They must be rushing something behind the scenes, and the work must be done before the framework passes.Thinking about it this way, it is very likely that it has something to do with the implementation of the split company. Ms. Pan De played a trick, and the giant team model is probably the skeleton of the subsidiary company.

Paoding relieves cattle, according to the law of heaven.We are cattle and sheep waiting to be slaughtered, our eyes are black, and we can only see the skeleton; BCG has bones and flesh in its eyes.

How are they going to do it?

I don't have evidence, and I can't expose her. I just say, "I'm honored to have you attach so much importance to her."

She smiled coldly: "You don't look like what you said."

I'm in no rush to act.Instead of shutting me out, her anger made me hot and dry, as if she was about to set me on fire.She is so angry at the moment, her eyes are barely concealed, no matter how sharp her words are, no matter how coercive she exerts on me, I don't even notice it.I just feel hungry, and she is like a delicacy, meeting me on a narrow road.

I sat motionless on the sofa.I'm afraid that if I move, the situation will be out of control.

"You are very quiet." Miss Pan De spoke again.

"I'm just thinking about it. I kept you waiting," I said. "It's probably more detailed to ask me than the data. I'm open to interviews."

"Data don't lie."

"I do not know either."

She turned a deaf ear to my words: "Data is more objective."

"I'm more comprehensive."

Miss Pan De's chin rested on the pillow, and her eyes seemed to have deep meaning: "You have no plan to provide data to BCG, do you?"

"I'm much more useful." I looked directly at her.

She sat up immediately.I had no doubt irritated her, and Miss Pender was burning with anger.Years of good education allowed her to maintain her dignity, but being in a high position made her forget patience.The aggressiveness in her eyes diffused little by little, and she couldn't hold back at the end, it was only a few seconds of staring at each other.I know she wants me to back down.

But I just want to make the following mistakes.

I didn't want to show the slightest desire for her, so I took the lead in avoiding her.She didn't seem to feel that she had won against me at all, and the anger in her eyes didn't lessen at all.I was a little panicked, so I accepted it as soon as I saw it, and said, "The Philippines is not the most beautiful project I have done. It is not difficult to say that it is difficult there, but it is difficult to start, and Sanjay is in charge of the preliminary work."

"I thought he was following Kevin the whole time."

I was keenly aware of something, and then said: "No, he joined the company very early. Before our project team became independent from the department, he served as the deputy to the director. Sanjay is doing the expansion in the Philippines."

Miss Pender's eyes gradually returned to calm.The calmer she was, the more haunted I felt.She is covering up.

What is she hiding from me?

"Then he's not good enough." She said lightly, "at least not as good as you, otherwise he won't be standing still for three years."

My heart suddenly became clear.What about the Philippines, she is not interested in the situation of the Philippine market at all, and her focus is not on how I or other people in charge make progress—what she wants is the data before the department split!I kept my face open and used Sanjay as a cover: "I'm sorry I can't agree. He is extremely capable, and his logic is meticulous, and he hardly makes mistakes. Such excellent industry sense is very rare. I was lucky to be promoted quickly. .”

She was thoughtful: "Your luck is indeed not bad. But there is also a competitive relationship between you..."

"It's part of my daily job to measure the professional level of employees and make correct judgments on job assignments." I looked at her. "Smearing my colleagues is not."

Miss Pan De raised her brows, she didn't say much, she just turned on the phone screen.

It's 05:30, time flies by.

"I hate working weekends," she said. "Don't make me do it."

"Okay." I immediately complied with her.I got up again, and since she was visiting—or at least she claimed to be—I had planned to keep her for dinner.But dine-in can't be used now, it seems too good to buy something in the food court, and I don't know how to cook, so I plan to order takeaway with her.In my vision, we would each sit in a corner, and I would pick a suitable restaurant, and she would choose the food first, and then hand me the phone.We kept social distance, got something to eat together, and I could have her watch a movie if she wanted to.

Not anymore.Doing it now, it's like I want to go on a date with her.

——It's not that I don't want to.I can't.

"I don't know if you have plans for the evening." I said, "I was supposed to entertain you, but unfortunately, I can't cook. Do you have any ideas for dinner?"

She also got up, looked at me and said, "Thank you. I will continue to practice tonight. I have booked a dance class for the whole day today, which is very rare during the quarantine."

She didn't look at all lost, as if she didn't care if I was being treated well or poorly.I maintained a polite manner with a sense of distance, resisted the urge to keep her, and prepared to see off the guests.

Miss Pender took out a section of cardboard box from her bag and handed it to me.There is no outer packaging, I subconsciously thought it was plastic wrap.

"Gift." Her tone was very flat, "I didn't find the dress mentioned earlier, it may be at home. I will bring it to you when it arrives," she glanced at the box, "This one is not bad. Hope Can help you with decorating."

"Oh, thank you! You're so sweet." The box was so light, I thought it might be some kind of fabric or a picture.Out of politeness, I should have opened it now, but I hesitated for a moment, Miss Pender was already waiting at the door.I have to send her.

I hesitated and stretched out my right elbow.As silly as it is, I always have to show kindness - the first person to come up with the elbow bump was a genius, and I regretted it as soon as I lifted my arm.

Miss Pender suddenly approached.I was stiff all over, hesitated for two or three seconds, and gently hugged her back.

I control my breath and control my emotions.The two arms obeyed the command, but the heart didn't mean it at all.My heart tightened, it turned out that this is how it feels to hold her in my arms.

Her curves are close to mine, gentle yet sharp.My nose is full of her fragrance, together with the almost unbalanced heartbeat, it became my first feeling.I refrained from wrapping my arms around her waist, keeping my palms far away from her, but it turned out to be self-defeating, as if I was wrapping her in my arms.

What will happen if you hold her tight?What would happen if I let go of the restraint and became intimate with her?

I hugged her like a fire.

"I'm not." Her voice was so low it was almost criminal, and even though the words didn't match up, I immediately understood what she meant.My arms were further away from her, but Miss Pender moved closer, so close that she could peer into the depths of my calmness.I held my breath, for fear that something inadvertently would mess everything up.

"Also," Miss Pender's vague heat remained in her ears, "don't pretend to be a straight girl with me. I won't buy it."

The door opened and closed, almost just for a moment, and her warmth came to an abrupt end.