Maria replied, "I won't."

Then she set down her phone and rested her chin on her hand, watching Aveline work.

"A beautiful woman indeed," Maria thought, shaking her head in admiration. After a while, she picked up her phone to order takeout.

Aveline had been trying to decide what to have for lunch, but right as her break started, the food delivery showed up.

Maria came out of her office, smiling. "Lunch is on me. It's a tradition here for the boss to treat new employees for three days."

Aveline sighed lightly. "If your studio grows into a publicly listed company, you'll spend a lot on treating people!"

Maria shrugged. "We'll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, it's our tradition!"

"Yeah, the boss is really nice!"

"This tradition should be kept forever!"

Three new people had recently started at the studio. One was another architect like Aveline, one was in charge of keeping projects on track, and the third was a fresh college grad interning in architecture, still figuring out her specialty.

Maria had kept her on, giving her three months to decide which direction she wanted to go.

Maria appeared to have no idea about the industry, running the studio as if it were her hobby, coming up with these offbeat ideas.

Aveline simply nodded. "Thank you, boss."

Maria swung her hips playfully. "No need to rush your lunch. Take it easy afterwards. I'm off."

"Okay," everyone responded.

Aveline opened her takeout box and started eating.

Another architectural designer, Charlotte Rogers, walked over with her own takeout box. "How are you settling in?" she asked. Aveline nodded. "Pretty well."

Charlotte said, "Maybe it's because the studio is new, but we haven't had any projects. I've been idling for two days." Aveline looked at her and said, "You can reach out for projects yourself. It's common for new studios."

Charlotte replied, "Yeah, I'll start looking. What about you? Any plans?Published by Nôv'elD/rama.Org.

Charlotte paused and asked, "Why did you leave DK?"

Aveline's expression remained calm. "Sorry, I have my personal reason."

Charlotte pouted and said, "So what if you came from DK? It's not a big deal."

Muttering under her breath, she returned to his desk.

Aveline didn't take her words to heart. After finishing her meal, she got back to work. Designing required inspiration, and sometimes she'd delete sketches she wasn't satisfied with.

As she planned to draft some preliminary sketches before leaving, Maria approached. "Time to clock out. Our studio doesn't encourage overtime. Go home and rest."

"Alright, we're leaving," the others said as they stood up.

+15 BOHUS

Seeing that Aveline wasn't planning to leave, Maria walked over and blocked her computer. "Work never ends. Take it easy."

Aveline looked at her. "You don't seem worried at all."

Typically, new studios were eager to sign deals and generate

revenue to sustain development.

Maria smiled. “Like I said, work can't be finished in a day. If I made you work 24 hours, would you be able to complete the designs?" Aveline raised an eyebrow. "That's true."

Maria added, "Alright, go home. I have a date."

Aveline nodded and shut down her computer.

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