Julie wasn't sure how she came up with such a phrase, and now she could hardly suppress her laughter at work.
Not until her colleague glanced at her did she regain her composure.
She awkwardly fetched a sanitary pad to the restroom. The image of Kieran's surprised face upon hearing "Bedroom Guardian" this morning was still replaying in her mind.
He mulled over the phrase "Bedroom Guardian", looking down at Julie, his voice teasing, eyes sly, "Aren't you scared that this Bedroom Guardian might do something inappropriate?”
Julie struggled to hold back her laughter, "I'm scared..."
Kieran didn't know what to do with Julie. He sighed, leaned down, and playfully nipped at Julie's red lips, "Remember this, I’ll keep my promise, but it won’t be forever. So you better behave!"
He let go of her appetizing lips, his eyes narrowed, adding, "I definitely will!"
Julie was speechless.
While Julie was reminiscing about this morning, gossip from outside the door started to get louder.
"Mrs. Hernandez is really something, taking a day off yesterday, coming in late today, who knows what trouble she'll stir up tomorrow.”
"Well, it's Mrs. Hernandez. Since she suddenly came to our department, it was all thanks to Mr. Hernandez anyways. Why are you so serious about it?”
"Yes, indeed. She managed to get into Mr. Hernandez's bed and even gave birth to a kid. That must make her feel quite entitled, right?"
"What do you think Mr. Hernandez sees in her?”
"She knows how to please Mr. Hernandez in bed!”
Sitting on the toilet, Julie just chuckled at their sharp tongues.
Julie was scrolling through Facebook and had no intention of confronting these hypocrites at that moment.
Then, a familiar voice came from outside, "Spreading rumors in the bathroom during work hours, do you think this company is your own?”
Several timid female voices came from outside, chorusing, "Ms. Davina......"
Then came Davina's authoritative voice, "Mr. and Mrs. Hernandez have known each other since school. They grew up together. Instead of discussing Mr. Hernandez's love life, why not calculate if your bonus this month is enough to buy a set of makeup in your bags!”
Outside, there was silence.
Julie didn't realize that Davina, who usually seemed gentle and pretty, could be so domineering.
"Shouldn't you be getting back to work?" Davina said coldly.
Then, the sound of high heels gradually faded.
Julie silently praised Davina in her heart. So tough!
"Julie, come out!" A soft voice came from outside, it was Davina, completely different from her stern tone moments ago.
Julie was a little surprised. Davina knew she was here. She furrowed her eyebrows, put away her phone, went out, washed her hands, and asked Davina with a laugh, “How did you know I was here?”
"I saw your seat was empty, so I thought you might be here. I actually came to use the restroom and overheard them talking nonsense. It's all untrue, don't mind them.” Davina comforted Julie, her tone very gentle, making Julie feel as if she was being softly stroked by feathers.
In contrast to Davina's caution, Julie's behavior seemed a bit casual. She smiled at Davina in the mirror, saying, "Don't worry about it. I've never been afraid of rumors. Let them talk, it doesn't bother me.”
Davina paused for a moment before laughing, "You're too nice, that's why people always take advantage of you.”
Hearing Davina's words, Julie burst into laughter, "Me, nice? Haha, seems like you have a bias against me!”
Davina immediately laughed, and they walked towards the office side by side. On the way, Davina asked Julie, "Shall we go to the cafeteria for lunch?”
Julie remembered that Kieran had sternly told her this morning that she would have lunch with him today.
So she had to refuse Davina with a smile, "No, I'm having lunch with a man.”
"Are you flaunting your husband to me? Stop showing off!" Davina laughed and entered the office with Julie.
The tasks Davina assigned to Julie were not particularly important, mainly photocopying some documents, and other trivial things.
After finishing her tasks, Julie realized it was almost noon. She quickly texted Kieran, asking him, "Where are we having lunch?”
She thought Kieran would only reply after work, but to her surprise, he replied immediately, "Cafeteria."
Julie was speechless.
Comments
The readers' comments on the novel: Love's Cunning Ruse