More Than Meets The Eye [Englot]

Chapter 9

Charlotte's pov

On my way to work I stopped at my favorite stall to get a selection of freshly cut fruits. I had taken the habit of getting most of my fruits and veggies here almost two years ago so I had become one of their regular clients.

"Hello Miss Charlotte. What brings you here on a Monday morning?" the youngest girl working here asked.

"Hello Nong Paya. Can I have a little bit of every fruit? And could you make it pretty?"

"Oh, so it's a gift. Who's the lucky one?" she asked as she started to check her containers.

"Well, it's for the team where I just got hired. So I'd like fruits for 10 people, please."

"You're such a nice person, Miss Charlotte." she said, starting to arrange the various slices of fruits in the largest container she had.

We chatted for a bit and her mom came to help her at some point to add little bits of fresh herbs. The finished display was beautiful and I thanked and praised them for their hard work while paying. I carried the container as best as I could but it quickly appeared to me that I couldn't stop for a latte... Balancing it on top of the container would probably end with me having no coffee anyway and dirty shoes...

Coffee from the vending machine it would have to be then... I sighed and walked towards GI. A few minutes later, I greeted the doorman and entered the elevator. I tried to press the 4th floor button with my knuckles then my elbows but didn't succeed. I was debating using my foot when someone came in.

"Oh... Hello." Engfa said, looking at me from head to toe.

"Hello, Miss Waraha. Would you mind helping me?" I asked, nodding towards the buttons.

She did as she obviously needed to go to the same floor and then she stared at the container in my arms.

"I bought fruits... for the team... You know... To thank you... all for..."

Why was I getting so weird suddenly?? I felt like I needed more air... Thankfully the ride to the 4th floor was pretty fast and I was so happy to get out.

"For... welcoming me... here." I finished stuttering as I started to walk to the break room.

"Oh? Is there some sour mango?" Engfa asked.

I stopped and turned around, surprised that she would care about what fruits I had brought.

"Oh what do we have here???" a voice said behind me.

I turned again, seeing Pitchy learning against the break room door frame.

"Hello Pitchy, you're here early." I said, walking in her direction.

"Yeah. Guess my instincts told me there was going to be a free breakfast here this morning."

I heard Engfa scoffing but I didn't dare looking back at her and I followed Pitchy inside instead. I placed the fruit display on the table and took a sticky note to write : Thanks for welcoming me into the team. Charlotte.

"You're so cute, you know that?" Pitchy said with a really Fake smile while picking a pineapple slice.

I smiled back not really knowing what to say. I wanted to leave anyway and start my day.

"Hope you'll enjoy the free breakfast." I winked at Pitchy before walking towards the hallway.

But as I reached the door Engfa came in. Thankfully this time I didn't have any cup filled with coffee. She sighed, trying to hold back her frustration with me.

"There's mango, both regular and sour, if you want some." I said, stepping aside to let her come in.

"No thanks."

"You should try the pineapple, it's delicious!" Pitchy said, licking her fingers.

Engfa looked at her with empty eyes, like there were absolutely no emotions inside.

"Thanks but it's almost time for the managers meeting." she replied.

She turned around and started walking. I watched her as she made her way along the hallway but suddenly she stopped.

"You're a manager or not?" she asked looking back at me.

I couldn't stop my own jaw from dropping on the floor. She never told me she was expecting me to come to the managers meetings. I gulped and nodded before catching up with her. Fuck... I wasn't prepared for this, like at all... Did she purposely say nothing to test me? As we walked to the meeting room countless thoughts came to me. Why was I feeling so anxious? We walked up the stairs to the 10th floor. Basically, there was nothing here except Mister Nawat's huge office, the meeting room and a large venue that was used as a catwalk rehearsal for the models.

I went up here only one time, last week, when Nawat's assistant welcomed me and gave me a little tour before leading me to the meeting room to be introduced to the managers. At that time I was feeling ok. I was even quite eager to start. But now... with Engfa being so silent next to me, step after step... Oh damn! I didn't even have coffee! Nooo!

I just wanted to bring some fruit, then to buy some coffee at the vending machine and get ready for my meeting with Engfa around 11am... And here I was, walking side by side with her, going to a meeting with all the managers with no idea of the upcoming agenda and with no caffeine in my system to cope...

We entered the room, a few people were already there. I recognized some of them. Miss Malisorn smiled and nodded towards us as we sat in front of her. Engfa seemed to like her as her face brightened a lot when their eyes met. This annoyed me for no apparent reason so I blamed it on the lack of coffee...

Mister Nawat came into the room last and started the meeting, going through a list of subjects that seemed quite random to me. Everybody seemed to be taking notes so I did too but it did feel quite weird. Maybe they were all sending messages to each other on GIchat or working on their own stuff, just faking to follow what he was saying...

One hour later, he asked the managers to share rundowns of what was going on in their different team. I was afraid that Engfa would put me on the spot since I was finished interviewing our coworkers. I wanted to run my analysis through her first and not expose our touchy subjects to everyone here, not knowing yet what could be shared and what couldn't... Even if I could guess, I didn't want to make us look weird or anything...

Thankfully, when it got to her turn, Engfa took the lead and went over balance sheets for the different teams. I was even surprised to see her use the ones that I filed on Friday... Did she work on them during the weekend? I watched her ways carefully as she talked to the managers around the table, how she would address them, how she would act, the little expressions on her face...

When she was done it was Miss Malisorn's turn. Then again I tried to catch as many little details as I could when she talked. I couldn't help myself and glanced at Engfa too. She seemed way more interested in what Miss Malisorn was saying than our boss... And it seemed that she couldn't stop nodding and approving during her whole presentation... At least, I now knew that I could maybe learn more about Engfa by talking to Miss Malisorn...

We got out of there a few minutes before 11am and headed down together. She remained silent all the way down and only started talking when we were back on the 4th floor.

"I need coffee, do you want one?" she asked.

"Oh, yes!" I replied quite fast and eagerly.

She smiled a little before visibly stopping herself from doing so and took out her phone to type as we walked in the hallway.

"Iced latte, right?"

"Y... yes." I said, so surprised she knew what I liked.

"Sun's going to get us some."

Oh poor Sun... Engfa was still making him run errands to the café down the street... Because of me... I should treat him out for lunch some day...

"Thanks." I replied, trying to act normal.

"That meeting always drains my energy.." Engfa confessed suddenly.

She made a turn and entered the break room.

"Thanks for the fruits, that's a nice gesture." she said, taking a piece of sour mango.

I realized that a bunch of pieces were missing, meaning that our coworkers already had some and I was quite pleased. Plus, if I wasn"t mistaken, Engfa just complimented me... I looked at her as she took a bite of mango. She giggled a little, like she was really happy to eat some... And that made me weirdly happy too...

"Charlotte!!" someone yelled behind me.

"Oh, hi Nudee." I said, feeling happy to see her and also a little off as I was sharing a nice moment with Engfa for once...

"Thanks for the fruits, they're so delicious! Where did you get those??" she asked.

I looked at Engfa who seemed way to absorb by her mango to say anything/

"Mmm, from a fruit and veggie stand I like to go to..."

"They are amazing!" Meena added, bursting into the room too, cutting me off.

They chatted for a while about how happy they were when they found the fruits and assured me that Pitchy had told everybody to come and get some. So Pitchy could be helpful sometimes...

"I'm sorry ladies... but Miss Waraha and I have to go, we're late for our next meeting. Talk to you during lunch?" I asked.

The three of them looked surprised. Meena and Nudee because I asked them to stop talking and Engfa because she seemed to have realized that she has lost herself enjoying mangoes and forgot that we were supposed to go through everything I had worked on last week. Did she just blush?

"You sure like mangoes, Boss Lady, huh?" Meena said to her.

Engfa coughed a little bit, trying to finish chewing without dying before answering.

"Yeah... You chose well, Miss Austin, thank you. Shall we?" she asked, pointing towards the door.

I nodded and walked out of the room. At first I wanted to lead Engfa to my make believe office but being in Engfa's would probably be better as Sun's presence could be some sort of safety net if the conversation went sideways. I knew he was loyal to her but I also knew that he was just a good guy who would prevent her from raging down on me too hard if she didn't like what I had to say. Not that I was afraid of her or anything... but... just in case...

Engfa's pov

I followed Charlotte to my office. Now that she was walking a few steps before me, I couldn't help but notice that she was very well dressed and that the way she walked was... Nevermind... We were there already. She sat down in front of my desk and I went around to plug my laptop back on my hub. I started the day feeling a little bit tense, like all mondays really. But today was on some other level. I really wanted to listen to her presentation about what she had gathered from our team...

I wanted and needed the masquerade to be over, proving that she was all an act as she would explain whatever nonsense she had prepared. Yet, something in me also wanted to see if she could really bring something to the table... And I wasn't thinking about mangoes... even though they really were delicious... I had given her quite a lot to do on Friday and I realized that she had managed to do it all when I checked it over the weekend... And I was pretty sure that Sun didn't help her.

This had been messing with my head all Sunday... So much so that I went through every file she had sent... But the verdict was final... the numbers were right and the graphs looked good... I even used them during my presentation this morning... because this had saved me a lot of time doing them myself for next week... But I couldn't let this make me lose sight of what was at stake here...

"So, let's start." I said, sitting in front of her.

"First, I would like to ask a few questions, if you don't mind?".

Of course... Why wouldn't we simply go over what I had waited a week for? Why not talk about something else first? That woman's goal was definitely to press on my buttons... The patience one seemed to be her favorite... I looked at her, saying nothing...

"I... I was wondering if Mister Nawat always asks the managers to go over their work each monday?"

"Yes, usually."

She nodded, taking notes on her laptop.

"Does he take into accounts what is being said?" she asked.

"Sometimes." I lied.

"I saw that you used the work I did last week in your presentation."

I knew she was going to go there...

"Yes, I did."

"So, I guess it means that what I did was alright?" she asked, looking somewhat smug.

Hurrrg... Was this necessary?

"Did you doubt it was? Would you send work that's not finished or half assed?" I asked back.

I saw the light in her eyes changing.

"I never half ass anything that I do. I always give everything I got." she replied, holding my gaze.

"Perfect. So now I'd like to hear about your "results" as you called them." I said, using air quotes with my fingers.

That was when Sun came back into the room with our coffee order... I quickly moved my hands back on the desk as I saw the look he gave me... I was still mad at him but I didn't want him to scold me back... We were such a weird old couple at that point... I sighed, smiling inside a little bit as he handed us our cups.

"Two iced lattes for the ladies." he said.

"Oh, you're drinking iced coffee too?" Charlotte asked.

"Yeah, sometimes..." I replied.

And Sun looked at me, behind her, raising his eyebrows while shaking his head. I took a sip, not responding to his taunt.

"I'm listening." I said to Charlotte.

"Sure. Before I start, I just wanted to thank you for trusting my method and letting me interview the team. I know it's always easy for managers to do so."

Why was I already mad? Damn... every word she said seemed to get to me so easily. When did I ever say that I trusted her? I found it so patronizing... And even if she didn't mean it like that... Because I could already see Sun looking back at me from his desk... Ugh... Whatever...

"I have a list of changes I would like to submit to you in order to use the team's skills in a more efficient way. The first one would be rearranging the distribution of the whole team in the different rooms we have at our disposal."

"I'm listening."

"This is our current situation." she said, turning her laptop screen towards me.

"I'm aware of this..." I replied.

"Based on what I perceived from our coworkers I would suggest this." she said, pressing the spacebar.

I looked at her little map... She wanted to give my office to Pitchy... And she had put herself with Sun and I... What the hell??

"There's no way I'm gonna agree on this." I scoffed.

"Do you like to play games, Miss Waraha?" Charlotte said, sitting up straight suddenly.

What the hell was happening, right now? And why was I feeling so tense?

"What do you mean?" I asked, dumbfounded by her attitude.

"I would like to bet on this. Whoever wins gets to decide the offices' distribution."

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Hello everyone!
Sorry for the delay... I hurt my index finger, like my joint, and it got all swollen 😑 it hurts like a bitch and it's really hard to type on the keyboard or my phone... I don't know how I did that but my finger looks like it's ready to be turned into a hot dog 🌭
So it took me days to finish writing this chapter... and I'm going back to work on monday... I'm gonna be so efficient... 😒
Hope you are all ok and that you still like the story.
Thanks for more than 2k reads already, you are the best! 🫶
Kisses! 🤍