Chapter 9 Small Talk

Seeing Lina's cheerful gloating, Ashley replied with a sneer, "Don't worry. Mr. Synder and I are over. He's all yours Congratulations!" Then, she slipped past Lina and let the bathroom.

Ashley's uncaring response gave Lina pause. She didn't expect the other woman to be so accommodating-it was too easy. Anxiously, she yelled after her, "No take backs, and don't regret it!"

Ashley thought that the woman's fears were ridiculous. She whirled around and reassured Lina, "Don't worry, I keep my word. Let this be a gentle reminder, however-if you want him, you better make sure to hold on to him."

Lina stared at Ashley's receding figure, excitement slowly filling her. She paid Ashley's reminder no heed. As long as Ashley would keep her word and back off, Charlie would be hers. She went back to work in a good mood.

Ashley returned to her office, sorted out her thoughts, and started working.

At the end of the work day, the employees filed out of the office building one after the other. As usual, Yasmin rambled about what happened to her.

"By the way, Ashley, my mother is forcing me to go to a blind date again! She keeps on talking about this young man, as if he's the best in the world," Yasmin complained to Ashley, pulling at her friend's sleeve as she began to lament her hardships during blind dates.

Ashley knew that Yasmin's family constantly arranged blind dates for her. Actually, Yasmin was not a native of Ariosa-she actually hailed from Olkfield. According to word of mouth, she came to Ariosa to chase after a senior she liked in high school. Then, she met Ashley and found a good job in the city, so she decided to stay. Probably due to the fact that Yasmin lived apart from her family and hadn't had a boyfriend for so long, her family arranged blind dates from time to time because they were worried about her ever marrying. However, Yasmin had only attended three or four of those dates, and she usually never went out with the same man twice because the men she met during those blind dates were not her type.

"Well, you could always just choose not to go. After all, it's not like it would be the first time," Ashley comforted her friend calmly.

"No way! My mother said that if I dare not to make an appearance this time around, she will come here and haul me back to Olkfield herself! She will marry me to someone as soon as I get back. Ugh. Why do I have such a mother?" Yasmin continued the barrage of complaints. "She also said that the man is absolutely outstanding, and that he also came from Olkfield. Jeez, there's no way out for me this time around!"

"Your mother always says that about your blind dates, but you always end up finding fault in them. Well, who knows if she's telling the truth this time?" After a pause, Ashley added, "Since you can't escape, you should get used to such a miserable life."

"Ugh. That makes sense. Fine, I'd better deal with it! Let's stop talking about me, okay? Do you have something to tell me?" Yasmin prodded, thinking of her friend's uncharacteristic absence from work this morning and her low spirits.

Ashley shrugged. "It's nothing serious-I just broke up with Charlie." The flatness of her tone contrasted with Yasmin's sharp exclamation.

"What? Break up? What are you talking about? How is your breakup not a big deal?" Yasmin cried out in surprise.

"Keep your voice down!" Ashley growled out to get her friend to control herself. At that moment, they were seated in their favorite restaurant where they usually had dinner. The diners were, more or less, people from the same company. Ashley wanted to keep a low profile. After all, a lot of people in the company were aware of her relationship with Charlie.

Suddenly realizing where they were, Yasmin calmed down and whispered, her eyes clouded with confusion, "Why? I thought you two had a good thing going on. Besides, Charlie's a good catch."

Ashley sighed. "I'm telling you right now-Charlie is not quite the good man we all thought he was. Oh, and he had sex with Lina from my department." As she spoke, Ashley's face was expressionless, as if they were discussing the weather or something equally mundane. "You see people's true colors with the passage of time. After everything, some people are just not meant to be yours."

Yasmin heard the self-mockery in Ashley's voice and smiled at her to comfort her. "Cheer up, you will have tons of handsome men lining up for the chance to be with you. You've broken it off with Charlie, so what? Good riddance! Don't forget that I've been suffering with blind dates from hell while you have your pick of the good men."

"You're welcome to all of them. Take them all!" Ashley teased her with a smile.

"Fine, fine, let's stop this conversation here. It's time to eat! Let's toast to a much happier life in the future for us single ladies!" Yasmin commented as she eyed the dishes on the table eagerly.

After dinner, they went back to their respective homes.