Chapter 10

Rachel woke up as soon as the cell phone in her blazer pocket vibrated. She reached into it and found several missed calls from Nancy. The call reappeared.

"Rachel, where are you? I've already separated a place for you."

Rachel cleared her throat for a moment, trying to answer calmly so that Nancy wouldn't suspect anything. "I-I just finished. It's on the way now."

"Okay, what do you want to order? Let me order from now on," answered Nancy on the other end of the phone.

"A beef steak."

Rachel disconnects the call. Then got up and stood in front of the sink.

For a moment he looked at her face in the mirror reflection. She hoped Nancy wouldn't realize she'd just cried.

She washed her face, then smoothed her slightly messy hair. Just at the same time, someone appeared inside.

A beautiful woman with a slender body. Wavy hair is typical of a stylish order or beauty salon. Her white skin looks radiant. It seems that this woman's body is never separated from treatment. Seeing her clothes in a pastel knee-length casual dress, she was sure that this woman was not an employee in this office.

For a moment Rachel admired the woman's beauty from the mirror reflection. Then immediately cut off her gaze and resumed her activities by reaching into the lipstick pocket in her blazer, as soon as she realized that the woman was now staring at her too.

Nervous about being caught staring at her in awe, she accidentally dropped the lipstick and fell into the wet sink. Rachel took the lipstick and threw it in the trash.

The woman arrived and stood next to her than did the same with her. Washing hands.

"I saw your lipstick drop earlier. You want to borrow mine, don't you?" she said as she took out a lipstick from her handbag, then handed it to Rachel. "This is new. I just happened to buy two. So, just use it."

Rachel looked at the lipstick and the owner's face alternately. Her speech was very soft, and her smile was sincere, it made her uncomfortable to refuse.

"Uhm...thank you." She accepted the gift. "Somedays I will replace it."

The beautiful woman laughed softly as she waved her hand. "No need, it's just lipstick."

Rachel smiled uncomfortably then looked at the branded lipstick in her hand. If this expensive lipstick means nothing to her, then it can be confirmed that this beautiful woman isn't from a random circle.

Rachel quickly opened it and applied it to her lips.

The woman stared at her for a moment, then her gaze went to Rachel's arm which had been exposed.

She looked concerned when she found that there were several slashes and claws hidden behind the blazer that covered her.

The woman knew very well that the wound was not from someone else but from Rachel herself. She knew very well because they had the same problem as Rachel. Both suffer from psychological problems with self-injury or self-harm as a symptom.

Feeling that she had found someone with the same fate, she suddenly felt the desire to make friends with her.

"You're a new employee here, aren't you? I just saw your face," the woman said, starting the conversation again.

Rachel turned to find her holding out her hand, offering her a friendship.

.

.

"What's your name? I'm Nathalie."

(*)

"Rachel, what's wrong with you? Are you in trouble?"

Nancy asked as soon as she noticed that her friend just silent while feeding food into her own mouth.

Rachel smiled wryly, then nodded slowly.

"What problem? Office problem?" she asked. "Just tell me, Rachel," Nancy said back with pursed lips. "You seem to be under a lot of stress. Don't keep it alone, you can share your problems with me. Maybe I can help."

Office problems. Personal problem. Both of them. More precisely personal problems that occur in the office. And it was impossible for him to tell Nancy. At least not for now, not yet.

Rachel wasn't ready if anyone else in the office found out that Mr. Alexandre, their idol, was her lover— Ah, err, her ex-boyfriend.

"I promise I'll tell you later, when I'm ready, okay?" said Rachel looking at her new friend gently.

Nancy was Rachel's only friend in this office. The chatty and cheerful Nancy has always stuck with Rachel since she was first placed at headquarters a few weeks ago.

The quiet Rachel often responded to Nancy's chatter with just a nod or a shake of the head, sometimes even just a smile.

Hearing Rachel's answer, Nancy looked a little disappointed. Even though they haven't known each other for long, she already considers Rachel her best friend.

For Nancy, in this office only Rachel is what she is. Not two-faced, let alone sycophants in front of superiors. Two traits that Nancy usually found in almost all of her coworkers.

Then not long after, both of them looked up in unison when they found the sturdy figure of a man standing next to Rachel.

The man greeted the two of them, then sat down next to Rachel, whose seat had been empty for a long time.

Nancy nodded politely briefly. Meanwhile, Rachel chose to look ahead without returning the greeting. Treat the man as if he doesn't exist.

Nancy kicked Rachel's leg lightly. The blonde-haired woman felt that her friend's behavior was a little disrespectful because this man was their boss.

"Nancy, I'm done, I'll go first," said Rachel as she lifted her tray, while Nancy just stared at her in confusion.

Nancy then turned to look at Xavier, the man just smiled but it was clear that his expression was gloomy.

In her heart, Nancy was a little relieved because her boss was a good person, so he didn't really mind the attitude of employees who behaved a little impolitely like Rachel.

Finished returning her tray to the catering department, Rachel walked towards the elevator to return to her cubicle. At the same time, she ran into a woman she had met in the toilet.

"Hi, Rachel," said Nathalie with a friendly smile. "We meet again."

Rachel replied with a polite smile. "Hi, Natalie."

"How are you now? Are you feeling better?" asked Nathalie with a questioning look mixed with concern. "From the moment you were in the toilet when we met earlier, you looked so pale."

While still in the toilet earlier, this woman had asked the same question. Why are she asking again now? Even though Rachel had already said that she was okay.

"I'm really okay," said Rachel with a smile. "Then I'll go first."

This woman is very considerate, thought Rachel.

"Uh, wait." Nathalie prevented Rachel from leaving by grabbing her arm, so Rachel turned to look at her with a questioning look. "By the way, have you seen X?"