Novel Square
Chapter 219
Chapter 219
Chapter 219 Strange Nick
Cinder and I turned to look at Nick on the computer screen in union and then exchanged glances
because he made us feel unfamiliar!
Thinking carefully, I realized his state had also been strange during the last few FaceTime calls. But we
had both bought his story, believing it was because he hadn’t adapted to the high-pressure life at
Harvard.
“Sorry, I didn’t mean to lie.”
Before Cinder and I could speak, Nick took the initiative to apologize like the previous few times.
He looked at me with a guilty expression and said, “Baby, please believe me. I do hope you lead a
happy life, but my work has been too stressful recently.”
Then, he lowered his head and spoke incoherently in a hoarse voice.
I remember he had once been in such a state before, but it was not because of work pressure. We had
worked with the same professor for several years, so I knew his reaction in a high- pressure work
environment well.
Back then, he had become talkative, frantically complained as soon as leaving the lab, and tried his
best to have fun after work.
He had worked out in the gym, gone camping, hit bars, or just had a crazy snack purchase in Walmart.
But in most cases, he had stayed with his ex who was a scumbag.
Although these were all past, I could not believe his current state was because of “work pressure”.
“Nick, you know we’ll always be your friends, right?” Cinder suddenly said.
She had spoken my mind.
Nick looked up at us with moist eyes and laughed, “Of course. I don’t need to hide anything from you!
You know my depth better than my exes!”
Well, his joke always amused me.
“Since you are worried, I will briefly tell you about it. After joining the new team, I have a minor problem.
My colleague Dr. Craigie Reuben hates gays, especially bottoms like me.”
Hearing him talking about his unpleasant conflicts with the homophobic man in the lab, I suppressed
my doubts. But my instinct told me this was not the real source of his stress. However, since he did not
want to say, I was willing to respect his will.
Anyway, he just needed to remember we would always be his friends as Cinder had said. As long as
he needed to talk, he could contact us at any time.
Hearing his words, Cinder said, “Some people are sanctimonious. They look educated, but their heads
are full of shit!” Belongs to NôvelDrama.Org - All rights reserved.
Her words aroused our curiosity.
I teased, “It seems weird guys appeared in your world again.”
“Although I don’t want to admit it, you guess it right. I met one of the five most disgusting and
despicable clients in my life.”
“Who are the other four?” Nick asked.
“There are no other four! This list is specially made for him.”
Nick and I had relatively closed social environments, but Cinder needed to deal with more people at
work.
As a professional landscape architect with a firm career pursuit, she was striving to make everyone she
met her client or an intermediary who could introduce clients to her. And the more people she met, the
more weirdos she knew.
“Eliott was busy studying in the hospital last month, so I attended a business party alone. A man took
the initiative to talk to me. After learning about my occupation, he said he happened to have a newly
completed villa and invited me to design for him.”
On the screen, Cinder stood with arms akimbo with a distraught face.
I grabbed a bag of snacks, adjusted to a comfortable posture on the sofa, and teased, “It seems the
man made you suffer a lot. I’ve known you for many years, but you have never lost control like this
because of a client.”
Hearing her tone of voice, I was pretty sure she would begin her rant.
Sure enough, Cinder took a deep breath, exhaled heavily, and said, “Although I don’t want to admit it,
you are right again. I did misjudge him. But I have never expected a man from the Middle East to be so
stingy!”
Nick also took a sip of water, looked at her with interest, and asked, “Does he think your design fee is
too expensive?”
Cinder rolled her eyes and said, “Many clients bargain with me on design fees, so I will not get angry
about such a thing. He is ridiculous because he not only demanded a free design but also sued me!”
“What?” Nick was stunned.
I was also shocked, so I asked, “Well, he deserves to be put on the list of the most disgusting clients.
Tell us the details.”
“First of all, this strange client has a long family name. Let’s call him Mr. Jamaal for short. And he has a
Sheikh before his name.”
“What does it mean?”
“Sheikh is an honorific title, indicating the person is the head of an Arab tribe, a family, or a village, an
important member of the royal family, or a religious scholar. Because of this title, I relaxed my guard. I
thought since he has a high status in Saudi Arabia, he must be rich.”
“So, he’s a fake rich man?”
“Yes, and he is a jerk! I attended the party alone, so he mistakenly thought I was single and took me
out of the party on the pretext of talking business.
Nick interrupted with a gossipy face, “Was he trying to chase after you?”
Cinder lowered her head in frustration like a leaky balloon, saying, “Yes.”
Then, she raised her head and angrily said, “When he first expressed his feelings for me, I decided to
endure it for money. When I worked out the design plan for his villa and gave it to him, he nodded to
express his satisfaction. But after I refused to date him and told him I was seeing someone else, he
kicked me out of his residence and blamed me for playing with his feelings! What disgusted me more is
that he refused to pay me the design fee and accused me of fraud. He claimed our contract has an
imparity clause.”
Nick and I exchanged glances with each other, mourning for Cinder.
I thought Mr. Stranger was indeed a disgusting man.
“Can you solve it?” I asked.
“Yeah. After I told my dad about it, he arranged a professional lawyer team for me. Even if Mr. Stranger
were the king of Saudi Arabia, he would have to pay me the design fee!”
I couldn’t help applauding her spirit.
Cinder looked at me and said, “Nick and I have both talked about the weirdos we met. What about
you? Have you encountered any interesting things at work?”
Nick showed an interested expression on the screen.
I pondered for a while and said, “Yes, I have one!”