Chapter 31: Setting the stage III

Paul nodded his head rather aggressively at my words, and as if to change the topic, he immediately said, "Anyway, how were you able to persuade the Rivers Shipping Company for us? We already contacted them once, and we were out of luck."

"Rivers is our partner shipping company, and having such connection with them really helped with the negotiations," I replied, reciting what I practiced last night.

I was quite certain that they would be asking that question. Since Luke wanted to hide his connection with the company as much as possible, I made an excuse last night that will not include divulging Luke's personal information, and based on Paul's expression right now, it seemed like he believed it.

"Since it's already lunchtime," Paul said after taking checking his wristwatch. "Would you like to join us for lunch?"

I was quite hesitant to accept his offer at first since I'm not exactly sure how I should act around the other project team members after the rumors and this incident, but with the expectant look on Paul's face, I was not able to muster up the courage to decline his offer.

"Sure, I'd loved to," I responded.

Also, I should at least maximize every opportunity presented at me. If my plan is successful, this might be the chance to show to the other employees of the Chadwick Group that I'm perfectly getting along well with the project team, and it would cast doubt on the credibility of the rumors.

"Do you have any place in mind?" Paul asked.

"I'm not quite familiar around the area," I replied with an apologetic expression on my face.

"Then, we will bring you to one of our favorites around here." Paul beamed. He stood up from his seat and continued, "I'll just bring these papers back to my office."

I nodded at him in reply, and afterward, Paul left the conference room. Some of the members followed suit, but not before greeting and smiling at me. The cold expression on their faces from the other day was now gone, and I could only smile in response to them because of their sudden change in attitude.

I was planning on going to the restroom to freshen myself up before lunch, but before I could stand up from my seat, Rachel approached me.

"Hey," Rachel greeted with a hesitant smile on her face.

Since it seemed like Rachel wanted to talk, I gestured for her to sit on the chair that Paul was sitting at earlier and replied, "Hey."

Once Rachel sat beside me, we were suddenly cloaked with an awkward silence. Although we were able to talk honestly to each other last time, there seemed to be a sense of uneasiness between the two of us.

After a few moments, Rachel finally broke the silence by saying, "Thank you so much for doing this for us."

I smiled at her and said, "It's nothing."

Rachel let out a sigh and stared directly at me, her eyes filled with remorse. "I thought you would come to hate us because of those terrible rumors about you, and honestly, I won't blame you if you did."

"We were all making assumptions about you based on those rumors and even treated you coldly," Rachel paused before shifting her gaze downwards. "But instead of hating us for it, you even helped us with our problem."

Rachel and I may not have known each other for a long time, in fact, we barely know each other, but from the honesty that she showed the other day, and from the sincerity in her words right now, I can sense that she is truly a wonderful person, and I'm glad that I took the courage to approach her the other day.

"Honestly, I wanted to be angry," I said, letting out a small laugh. "But I know where you guys are coming from. As you've said, you don't know me well, plus, I have not been entirely honest with you about my past."

"But that's it," Rachel interjected. "You don't owe us any explanation. We were at fault for just believing those rumors and assuming the worst."

Rachel let out another sigh and leaned a bit towards me. "I wanted to apologize for treating you harshly the other day. I'm honestly ashamed of my actions at that time."

"You don't have to apologize for anything," I said, smiling at her and hoping she'd hear the sincerity in my words. "You were the only person who was honest with me. You told me about the truth about the rumors, and you didn't hold back with your words last time." Rachel groaned and covered her face in embarrassment at my last few words and a chuckle left my mouth after seeing her expression.

"So you don't have to worry because I actually admire your honesty," I ended, beaming at her.

After Rachel recovered from her embarrassment, she smiled widely at me, and as she opened her mouth to reply, someone interrupted her.

"Alina," Leah greeted excitedly once she arrived beside me. "I heard you helped with the shipping problem? That's amazing."

This is my first time seeing Leah after the company dinner as she was not included in the attendees of the previous meetings. Although it was my first time meeting her at the company dinner, because of her outgoing personality, Leah was the type of person who easily befriends others.

"Everyone's been talking about you," Leah said while pulling one of the chairs around the table. She sat between Rachel and me, and continued, "Do you know that there were some nasty rumors about you and the CEO." She sighed while shaking her head in disapproval.

I was quite surprised at how easily she brought the topic up, and it seemed like Rachel was shocked as well. I knew that Leah was quite straightforward based on my recollection of what happened during the company dinner, but I never thought that she would be this blunt.

"But anyone who met you can tell that those rumors are not true," Leah said while rolling her eyes, and at this point, it's rather amusing how she can be this frank with her words, especially since this is technically only our second meeting. "The rumors are much exaggerated, and you know what, even my friend from another department thought that those rumors were bogus because she said that she met you before and you don't seem to be the type of person the rumors paint you to be."

I furrowed my eyebrows at her questioningly as I don't think I have met a person from the company who will vouch for my personality, and noticing the confusion on my face, Leah said, "My friend is called Sheila, and she's from the procurement department. She said you guys met before?"

"Yes, I remember her," I replied once I recalled the person Leah was talking about. She was the one who walked me out of the building after my meeting with the procurement department, and I remembered her as being a cheerful and talkative person.

Leah nodded at my response. "So don't worry about those petty rumors. Those people need to get a life," Leah said, shrugging her shoulders.

Rachel nudged Leah on her side, and Leah gave her a questioning look. It seems like Rachel was embarrassed at her friend's straightforwardness, but instead of getting offended, I found Leah's attitude refreshing since I don't usually meet people who are as frank as her.

"Anyway," Leah said, ignoring the warning look that Rachel gave her. "The three of us should get together some time! I need to de-stress after this problem."

"It's not like you were stressed because of what happened," Rachel said while rolling her eyes at Leah. "You just need an excuse to drink."

"The same thing," Leah replied, shrugging.

I laughed at the exchange between the two in front of me. My mood has been grim for the past few days, but being with these two felt like a breath of fresh air.

"Sure," I said, grinning at them. "We should get some coffee or dinner together sometime within the week."

***

Paul brought me and some of the project team members to an Italian restaurant a few blocks away from their office. Paul said that the restaurant is famous among the employees for being affordable yet authentic, and also for having an aesthetic setting.

Once we arrived at the restaurant, the atmosphere around our table was rather heavy at first, but because of the friendly personality of the majority of the project team members, the mood lightened up eventually, and our table is now enveloped with talking and laughter.

Leah and Rachel are sitting beside me, and I tried to become as engaged as possible to the conversations going around me. Although I was quite surprised at how fast the members changed their attitude towards me, I kind of appreciate their sudden nonchalance to the rumors about me and how they are subtly trying to make up for it right now.

"You know what we should do," Leah interjected during one of the conversations, catching everyone's attention. "We should go and celebrate this success!"

The others laughed at the sudden suggestion of Leah, and it seems like everyone knew how much Leah loves to drink. Paul, on the other hand, shook his head disapprovingly before saying, "We have a lot of work to catch up on because of this delay, and--"

"Leah's right!" A man from the opposite side of the table interrupted Paul. "It's just one day, and Miss Morgan helped a lot so we should at least treat her somewhere."

"That's right," Leah exclaimed. "Alina worked hard for us so we should appropriately thank her for it. Isn't that right Alina?"

Leah stared at me expectantly, and I almost wanted to cover my face in embarrassment because of the spotlight she placed on me. Now, everyone is looking at me, their eyes almost pleading, and I'm not sure anymore if they truly want to do this for me, or if they just want to have fun using the company card.

Perhaps, the latter.

Sighing inwardly, I replied, "Karaoke sounds nice?"

The members voiced their enthusiasm at my suggestion, and Leah squealed excitedly beside me. I don't know what I unleashed because of my suggestion, but it seems like everyone is now excited about it, and Paul could only groan in defeat before saying, "I'll check our schedule."

The noise from our table soon gathered the attention of the other guests inside the restaurant. Now that I've noticed how loud we are, I wondered why we were not yet thrown out for being too rowdy.

I started looking around at the people inside the restaurant and found that there are a lot of people wearing the thin dark blue lanyard from the Chadwick Group, and some were looking at us with strange looks, and after seeing those strange looks aimed towards us, I suddenly felt conscious of the other people inside the restaurant. Although my face in the photo with Ansel was blurred, there were still plenty of resourceful people who got my photo somewhere, and though I might just be overthinking about it, I suddenly became overly aware of the eyes of the people around us.

I know that this is one of the reasons why I agreed to eat lunch with them, to be seen with the project team in order to cast doubts on the rumors, but now that I'm here, I suddenly felt like I'm placed under a microscope for everyone to scrutinize.

Especially since I'm not exactly the type of person who loves being under the limelight.

"Ignore them," Rachel suddenly whispered from beside me, a comforting smile decorating her face.

After seeing her expression, I scolded myself inwardly for being affected by the gazes from the other people. I honestly have nothing to hide, and knowing that, I should be more confident about myself and learn not to cower under their stares.

"Thanks," I replied to Rachel, a wide grin forming on my lips.