At Christine's insistence, Gloria came back to Fittro Club to work again only after she was a hundred percent recovered.
Gloria felt that her life was back on track, and nothing changed.
The only difference was that no matter how hard she tried, there was no work arrangement for her, which made her particularly idle.
Emily, her supervisor, would not arrange work for her either.
And Christine would never go against Patrick's words.
Gloria sat alone in the Public Relations Department's lounge. It somehow became her routine till she got off work.
"Time to get off work, finally! I'm beat. But I've got to say. The guest today is so generous."
There were gradually more people in the lounge. Everyone was talking and laughing, discussing today's work. Only Gloria was sitting at the side in a daze.
She looked up and saw a woman pull out a neat wad of bills. Judging from the thickness, there should be at least 10 thousand dollars. The call girl caught Gloria's gaze when Gloria was looking at the bills.
"Gloria, what are you looking at?" The call girl came over and looked at Gloria playfully.
"So? Do you like this too?" She waved the money in front of Gloria's eyes. Then she continued, "Gloria, stop making a fool of yourself in the Public Relations Department. When was the last time a guest wanted you?"
"Jenny, stop showing off. Gloria doesn't give a damn about your peanuts, OK? She has bigger plans. She makes big money. Your money means nothing to her."
Jenny curled her lips and said, "That's true. Who can be as cheap as her? I'll never say yes to them no matter how much money they pay me."
Gloria looked at the clock on the wall. She got up in silence, took her things, went around Jenny, and was about to walk out the door.
"Stop right there!" Jenny shouted. "Gloria, what do you mean?"
Gloria looked back at Jenny, puzzled. She asked slowly, "What?"
"You!" Jenny glared at Gloria. She pointed at Gloria's nose and said angrily, "I'm talking to you! And you're leaving without uttering a word? What do you mean? Are you looking down on me?"
Being accused of something she didn't do, Gloria felt a slight headache. She explained patiently, "It's time to get off work, so, I'm leaving."
Gloria thought, 'It's time to get off work, so I'm supposed to go back to the dorm. What's wrong with that?'
"What do you mean by that?" Jenny frowned and asked.
Gloria didn't know when she had offended Jenny. She didn't want to argue with anyone.
So, Gloria sighed, looked at Jenny, and said slowly, "My apologies if I have offended you in any way." She figured that this would stop the fuss from fermenting.
Hearing Gloria's apologies, Jenny didn't respond for a time. Her expression changed. Of course, she knew she was picking on Gloria. She wanted to go to Emily and tell on Gloria after Gloria was provoked and quarreled with her.
To her surprise, Gloria didn't want to quarrel with her at all and didn't want any interaction with others. Instead, Gloria apologized to her, which made her look mean and unreasonable.
"Alright then. You want to apologize, don't you? Then do something more than lip service." Jenny raised her hand and was about to drop it.
Suddenly, a stern voice came from the door, shouting, "Jenny, what are you doing?"
"Emily..." Jenny was stunned. In the next second, she cried out, "Emily, you have to call the shots for me. Gloria looks down on me!"
"Jenny, you quarreled with Annie the other day, and today you quarreled with Gloria. If you enjoy squabbling so much, then, I don't think this is the right job for you," Emily said angrily.
If it was in the past, Emily wouldn't have said so.
Emily glanced at the silent Gloria in front of her. If she hadn't known the truth, she wouldn't have believed Gloria was involved with Patrick.
"Emily, she started it!" Jenny didn't give up.
"Do I look like a fool to you?" Emily looked at Jenny impatiently. The latter shut her mouth with a face full of grievance.
Emily looked at the others around and said, "Enough. Time to get off work. Go now."
Emily turned to look at Jenny and warned Jenny in a cold voice, "The most important rule of being an employee of Fittro Club is to behave yourself. Do not cause any more trouble."
Emily thought, 'Well, I've warned her in every possible way already. What she will do next depends on whether she gets my points. That's not up to me.'
Gloria sighed silently, took her things, and left the lounge.
After leaving Fittro Club, she walked in the direction of the dormitory.
The night wind was chilly. As she walked alone on the sidewalk, her figure looked fragile and lonely.
A car drove slowly behind Gloria, following her.
The car window was down, and a magnetic male voice rang out, "Miss Carter, we meet again."
Gloria turned around. She saw a man in the car, as handsome as a vampire. The man's eyes gleamed under the flickering streetlights.
"Hello. You may go ahead if you have something to do."
She thought he was just passing by, so she said so politely. She figured he would leave after that.
She went a few meters forward, while the car was moving alongside her.
She looked over suspiciously. "Sir, is there something you need?"
The man in the car smiled and said, "Miss Carter, do I have the honor of inviting you to my car?"
"I'll pass. My dormitory is right ahead."
Gloria thought, 'He is a dangerous man. I don't want to get close to dangerous things and people.'
"What if I insist on taking you back to your dormitory?"
Gloria stopped, turned around, and said to the man in the car, "Sir, I'm off duty."
Lucas chuckled. He picked up the wallet from the passenger seat and waved a stack of bills at Gloria. "Miss Carter, fancy some overtime?"
Gloria knew she should say no. She should keep her distance from this man named Lucas.
But she needed the money, especially when she hadn't had any work for days.
She needed to make money to pay off that one-million-dollar debt.