Next One Is a Babe

Chapter 2138

Cindy agreed with what Otis said wholeheartedly. "You're right—everything will fall into place. We're only so young, and we haven't seen enough of the world yet to know where things are going to land, which kind of explains why we're such romantics." Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

She said this with a gentle tone. Otis eyed her for a beat or two before he nodded. "You're quite the astute one, young lady."

She wasn't sure if he was only playing up the compliment. She didn't think she was astute, but there had been plenty of occasions where she ran into dead ends and found herself completely at fate's mercy, so she had no choice but to let nature take its course.

After this, Otis went on to share little tidbits of his and his wife's married life. He spoke so calmly and affably that Cindy found herself resetting her mind and relaxing into the conversation, as though talking to him soothed her.

The three of them talked over the meal, but Cindy and Otis were mainly the ones who supplied the chatter in the room. Toward the end, Gary was the only one who had gone silent.

Gary paid the bill when they were finished with lunch, and the three of them stood at the entrance of the restaurant.

Otis glanced over at Gary's car and said, "You drive way too fast. You're still young, so stop rushing everywhere and take your time while doing things. It's how you build character, you know."

Gary chuckled as he turned to look at Otis. "You ever think that maybe you just drive too slow?"

Even Cindy had to admit that Otis was a slow driver, and it seemed like his manners on the road were evocative of his actual personality. He was always calm and behaved as if he had all the time in the world, which meant he worked at a slower pace than most. She wondered what his wife was like and if she was an impatient sort, because if that were the case, things would be interesting and chaotic in their household.

The three of them exchanged a few more pleasantries at the entrance of the restaurant before making their way over to the cars. This time, Cindy decided that she would hitch a ride with Otis, and she had suggested this on her own accord. She looked at Gary as she said, "I'll be going back to the company with Mr. Kaufmann to spare you from having to drop me off."

Gary gave her a look and drawled somewhat sarcastically, "How thoughtful of you."

She shrugged this off and ignored whatever implication there might be in his words. Then, she smiled as she waved him goodbye. "I'll get going. Goodbye, Mr. Frye."

With that, she went into Otis' car.

On the other hand, Gary walked down the front steps of the restaurant and stood there on the sidewalk without moving toward his car at all.

He was still rooted in place when Otis started his car and began to slowly pull away from the curb. In the passenger seat, Cindy did not turn to look at Gary, but from her peripheral view, she could tell that he had turned to look in her direction. In fact, she could sense his gaze lingering on her.

Both of them might not have said it in so many words, but it was clear to see that their friendship had been watered down by awkwardness.

Having pulled away from the curb and driven down the street, Otis waited for a moment before he asked, "How did you and Gary meet? You guys don't seem like particularly close friends."

He had a keen eye; Cindy had a feeling that he could already sense the dynamics between her and Gary during the meal earlier, but he had continued to play dumb and go along with her act.

She answered, "Well, I don't think we are particularly close at all. We do get along well enough, and that's probably why Mr. Frye invited me to join the both of you for lunch." Then, she dragged Ian into the conversation and said, "Perhaps he's just looking out for me on behalf of Ian."

Otis chuckled at this, but she wasn't sure if he believed her story or not. He nodded and said, "Perhaps. I mean, there is that possibility."

The both of them did not talk after that, and when the car stopped outside the company building, Cindy got down. However, she turned to see that Otis did not budge at all from the driver's seat. "Is there somewhere you have to be off to?"

He rolled down the window on his side and gave her a kind smile as he hummed in affirmation. "I do have some things to take care of. Alright, go on and get to work."

Cindy flushed when she heard this. She hadn't wanted to trouble Gary to drop her off, but it looked like she ended up troubling Otis instead.