C22 The Gossip Spread

The news of Eve's closeness to Mrs. Daphne and her appointment as Gery's assistant certainly did not escape the whole company's attention. News began to spread that something was going on between Eve and Gery. And unpleasant gossip was inevitable.

Eve was now facing a bad atmosphere because whenever she was in the cafeteria, she would hear the other staff whispering and glancing at her. It was obvious that they must be talking about her. Eve initially tried to ignore them, but she got fed up. Finally, she never went to the cafeteria anymore. She deliberately asked her mother to prepare a lunch box for her every day because she didn't have time to queue for food in the canteen.

"Eve, did you hear about the rumors circulating about you among the employees?" Dave asked one day when they decided to have lunch together at a spot in Vinestra Park.

"I don't know; it must not be far from the gossip about my closeness with Mr. Gery and Mrs. Daphne, right? I've heard it many times but ignored it," Eve replied calmly, even though she was very bothered by it.

"That's true. But you can clarify them, Eve. If you want, I will accompany you to announce that nothing happened between you and them," Dave suggested hopefully. To be honest, the man also objected to the rumor because it disturbed his feelings. He harbored feelings for Eve, so hearing the untrue news would hurt him, too.

"No need, Dave. You know yourself that confirming a rumor already circulated is not easy," Eve replied resignedly.

Dave looked closely at the girl in front of him. He was surprised because Eve's resignation was not like her usual attitude.

"How strange that you can be so resigned? Or--is that news true?" Dave finally guessed. While asking so, his chest was beating fast, afraid that the answer would be completely undesirable.

"It's a fact that I'm close to Madame Daphne. That can't be denied. So what do I have to protest?"

"Yes, but about Mr. Gery ... are you guys also ...?" Dave paused his question because he didn't expect to hear the answer later.

"I already know why Mr. Gery turned out to be as bad as he is now, Dave. If you know his story, you'll sympathize with him, too," Eve said confidently.

"Oh, no. I don't know what story you're referring to, but a person's personality doesn't change that easily, Eve. You're not too innocent to be fooled," Dave warned.

"You're just not hearing the story, Dave. Why would Madame Daphne deceive me anyway? There's nothing advantageous for her," argued Eve, who was beginning to dislike Dave's poor response to the madam who had been so kind to them. Hadn't Madame Daphne also saved Dave when he was about to be fired by Gery from Vinestra?

"Well, it's possible that she has some ulterior motives like... wanting to persuade you to get close to Mr. Gery or--"

"Oh my God, Dave, stop your absurd thoughts! There's no way!" Eve interrupted in a loud tone. She then repacked her lunch box and put it in her lunch bag because she had finished eating and was not in the mood to continue the conversation with Dave.

"Okay, I'm going back first." With that said, Eve got up and walked quickly, leaving Dave disappointed.

The man had seen and smelled that there was indeed something that Mrs. Daphne and Sofia were planning to Eve. He had overheard about their plan that time, although he only managed to hear a little.

"Eve is too innocent. She must not have thought that she would be fed to Mr. Gery by her grandmother," Dave muttered to himself.

He then resolved to reveal his feelings to Eve first so as not to be preempted by whatever plan Mrs. Daphne and Sofia were executing.

Not wasting time, he immediately intercepted in front of Eve's car after work.

"Dave? Why are you here? Where's your car?" asked Eve as she searched the parking lot for Dave's car.

"Over there," Dave replied, pointing in a direction some distance away from where they were standing.

"So, why are you here?" asked Eve, her eyebrows rising in astonishment.

"I wanted to give you this, Eve. Don't open it yet; just go home and answer over the phone!" Dave held out a box neatly wrapped in baby blue wrapping paper. After Eve accepted it, Dave immediately turned to his car.

"What's this, Dave?" asked Eve, who could no longer hear Dave because he had run to where his car was.

"Oh my! What's happened with Dave? What does he say? I don't know; I'll leave it at home like he said." Eve then carried the box to the car and decided to go straight to the car.

However, out of curiosity, Eve opened the box on the way. But inside was a small agenda book. There was a date at the top of each sheet, and Eve was curious about why Dave had given his agenda.

Eve finally gave up because she couldn't read them one by one while driving like that. She put it back in the box and ignored it until she got home; she forgot to bring it in because she was in a hurry to be greeted by Mrs. Kate, who served her new evening snack menu.

"You should try this, Eve. The neighborhood ladies tried it earlier, and they said it was delicious. Oh my gosh, I finally have my great recipe!" she exclaimed, tapping on her daughter's windshield as she watched the car pull into the driveway and stop on the porch.

Yes, Mrs. Kate was always eager to try many new recipes even though most failed and ended up annoying herself all day.

To please her mother, Eve also showed her enthusiasm. She hurriedly whipped up a piece of cake that Mrs. Kate called by a long, complicated name that Eve didn't bother to memorize. It looked more like a steamed sponge cake with chocolate cream to her. That's all.

"Wow, this is delicious, Mom. It's perfect," Eve commented, lying a little because the cake tasted ordinary, not as delicious as her mother had just said. But, of course, she didn't want to break her mother's heart. She had to eat it all to make Mrs. Kate happy.

"Right, Eve? Oh, thank goodness. Then I'll make more tomorrow, and you can bring some for your boss, the kind Mrs. Daphne," said Mrs. Kate with sparkling eyes.

Eve was wide-eyed and regretted her earlier lie. Oh God, Gery would insult her so much if she brought this weird-tasting cake made by her mother to Mrs. Daphne!

***