Inside Lab 3, there was a tiny woman sitting on a clean counter and swinging her legs in front of her. Her short pink hair was messy and sticking up in spikes, and thick glasses were perched on a cute button nose. When she saw the group enter, she hopped off the counter and bounced over to them.
"Senior Chiu," she squealed, landing in front of him and balancing on the balls of her feet. "It has been so long since you have come to see me!"
"Hello," he greeted with a smile. He ruffled her already messy hair, and she pulled away with a pout.
"Don't do that!" She said, lower lip sticking out. "I had it just how I liked it!" She looked around, noticing the others for the first time. "Oh, hello, Boss! What did you need me to do for you?"
Chiu Leong beckoned for Zaria to step forward, and she did so, pulling the two phones out of her pocket. She handed the broken one to the sprite like girl. "My phone is broken, and too damaged for me to even turn it on. We...I was hoping that it might still be possible for some of the data to be saved and moved to a new phone."
The girl took the phone, frowning as she turned it over in her hands. "I've never seen this type of phone before. Or the manufacturer, and I know every company that is making phones right now. Where did you get it?"
Zaria put on her polite smile and hugged her cast to her body nervously. "My dad bought it a few years ago, I don't remember where from." She figured it was better to tell the truth, just not the whole truth.
"Hmmm...." The girl moved toward a station at the back of the room, and the group followed her. She pulled out an anti-static mat and placed it on the worktable there, followed by special gloves. "Theoretically, even if it is a model that I don't know, I can still move information between the two devices. As long as the data is not too corrupted. What happened to it?"
"I kind of...fell in a briny lake while it was in my pocket. I was stuck in the middle of nowhere for quite a while, and I had no way to clean it off or dry it out quickly. It dried on it's own and I was too worried about the corrosion to try more than just pressing the power button." She watched as the girl pulled the back off using a small flat tool and stared at the battery area.
She looked up at Zaria, her large eyes blinking quickly behind the lenses. "Let me take a look, see what I can do. Can you leave the new phone you wanted things transferred to, just in case I am as amazing as I think I am?"
Zaria felt a real smile peak out, and she quickly handed the new phone to her as well. "I was kind of figuring it was all lost for good, so if it doesn't work out, then it is really alright."
"Low expectations, I can work with that!" The girl chirped with a smile. Then a serious look replaced the jovial one, and she sternly spoke to the group, "If I am going to work on this, I can't do it with everyone staring at me. You can all leave and I will call big boss when I am done."
Dismissed, they all filed out of the lab, stopping just outside to talk. Zaria subtly moved so that Chiu Leong was between her body and Gu Cheng. The cold man watched her, his brows pulling in slightly in a scowl. Mo Ye spoke up politely from the side.
"Miss Joseph, would you like something to drink while we wait? Perhaps some tea or juice?" Behind him, he could hear the whispers of some of the female employees who had desks close to the labs. If his boss heard what they were saying about Miss Joseph...women could be mean when they were jealous, and even the married women were smitten with the handsome head of the Gu Group. It was better to get them all somewhere quieter with fewer observers before something was said that would either ruin his bosses image or make life harder for Miss Joseph.
"I think water would be nice, thank you. Director Chiu, would you like something?" She turned to ask him out of habit. Even though she was not in a service job at the moment, it was a hard habit to break. He nodded and said that water would be fine and the two looked to Mo Ye to lead the way.
Mo Ye sighed internally in relief and started to lead them toward the R&D departments conference rooms when a cold voice spoke up. "Miss Joseph, I thought you were trying not to be rude anymore. Are you not going to ask me if I would like something to drink?"
Zaria tensed and counted to ten before answering. "I'm sorry, Mr Gu. You are looking a little puffy, I was worried that too much liquid could make it worse. Would you like Assistant Mo to get you something to drink?"
Obviously, counting to ten did not work. Gu Cheng clenched his teeth hard enough that a vein began to throb in his forehead. He did not answer, instead walking ahead of them to the conference room. The whispering grew louder, the female employees who could overhear their quiet exchange shot ugly glances at Zaria. Mo Ye prayed to his ancestors for guidance in dealing with the two children before smiling and walking with the two guests toward the conference room.
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"If that was you trying to be nice, you are really, really bad at it," Chiu Leong whispered to her as they stepped into the room. Gu Cheng was across the room, talking quietly on his phone.
"I'm sorry," she apologized, "But he started it. He has been picking at me since he got in the elevator!"
He had no response to that. Gu Cheng's behavior was indeed provoking. He had never seen his old friend behave like that before, even when he was a teenager. It was as though he was purposefully trying to be irritating. Chiu Leong looked at the older man, an idea entering his mind. He looked back at Zaria, but both were looking intently anywhere but at each other. He sat down in a chair at the end of the table, a contemplative gleam in his eyes.
Zaria sat down as well, in a chair at the same end of the table. She was scolding herself mentally for her reaction. There was no excuse for it. It would be different if she had not spent her whole life dealing with people making snarky comments about her background. Or if she had not been working at the restaurant for the last three years, dealing with angry customers who wanted to get free meals for the slightest inconvenience. There was just something about this man who shut off the verbal filter in her brain. She tried to bury her face in her hands but bonked her nose on her cast. So she dropped her forehead down onto the table instead.
The quiet murmur of conversation from the other side of the room ended. Zaria lifted her head up from the table to see Gu Cheng scowling at her from across the room. With a sigh, she stood up and walked to the door, opening it to see Mo Ye with his hand outstretched, reaching for the hand. In one hand, he held a small wooden tray with two cups of light brown tea and two glasses of water.
"Oh, Miss Joseph, is something the matter?"
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, but could you point me toward the restroom? I think I need to splash some water on my face to cool down." She squeezed out a small smile as he answered, dipping her head in thanks before leaving the room. A small corridor branched off just past the conference room, and she followed it to the women's restroom. She turned right into the clearly marked door, escaping inside like she was being chased by wolves.
A glance showed that all the stalls were empty and there was nobody else in the clean restroom. After taking care of business, she left her stall and jumped when she spotted a person standing directly between herself and the sinks. The woman was smartly dressed, a light pink button-up shirt tucked into a crisp knee-length pencil skirt. Her dark hair was pulled back into an elegant chignon, and her face would have been model perfect if it were not for the frown pulling at her crimson lips.
"As an employee of Director Chiu, I would expect you to behave yourself in a more fitting manner," she said with a sneer.
"Excuse me?" Zaria walked around her to get to the sink, lathering her hands and washing them in the sink.
"How dare you talk to CEO Gu like that? I have seen a lot of shameless women throw themselves at our male god, but I have never seen anyone use such vulgar behavior." Zaria could see the woman step closer as she looked in the wall length mirror, but she shrugged and dried her hands before heading for the door.
"Hey, I am talking to you!" The woman followed her into the hallway, lowering her voice after making sure there was nobody else in the passage. "Stop throwing yourself at CEO Gu. He doesn't need trash like you."
Zaria turned toward her with a sigh. "Okay, first of all, I am not throwing myself at him. Second, he should have the right to choose whomever he wants, not whomever some random woman in his office picks for him. Thirdly, don't worry. If he happens to mention that he has a fetish for loud women who wear more lipstick than a clown, I will send him your way."
There was a loud 'clap' sound, and Zaria was knocked sideways into the wall. Her cast bounced off of the hard surface, and tears sprung to her eyes. She stood upright with some effort, her arms and face both throbbing. Without saying another word, she curled her fingers into a fist and drove it straight into the other woman's face.
"You bitch!" The woman cried out,her hand covering her nose, which was gushing blood down her face. "You hit me!"
"Yes," Zaria replied heatedly. "I am a bitch. If a mangy, flea ridden cur bites me then I will bite her back."
Before either woman could say another word, a cold voice called out, "Assistant Mo, do we employ ruffians in my company now?"
They both looked toward the office proper, where Gu Cheng and the other man were standing at the start of the hall. His well tailored suit clung to his broad shoulders, his dark eyes flashing with anger. The other woman recovered first, running up to him with tears in her eyes and blood covering her hand.
"CEO Gu, this woman is a vixen! She attacked me!" The previously arrogant woman was cowering in front of him, glancing fearfully behind her. Zaria did not have the energy to even roll her eyes. She leaned against the wall and held her arm tight to her body.
"Miss Joshua?" The owner of the mesmerizing voice spoke to her, ignoring the woman in front of him as he stepped past her.
"Yes," she said, resigning herself to another one of his sharp remarks. "I did hit her. I won't let myself be hit and then do nothing in return."
"Good." He responded, his voice far warmer than she had ever heard from him.
She looked up in surprise at the kind tone. He reached up and placed two fingers on her chin, turning her face to the side. The skin was obviously red and beginning to swell. "Does it hurt?"
Zaria shrugged with a grimace. "My fist hurts worse. Her face was hard."
Gu Cheng let out a low chuckle and she felt something warm in her stomach. "Was that your first time hitting someone?" He steered her gently away from the bathroom, one hand lightly holding her good elbow. Zaria let him do so, too tired and pained to argue.
"Outside of my mind, yes."
"Mmm, it wasn't bad." They walked past the shocked woman, her hand dropping slowly in her surprise. "Assistant Mo, why is this woman still here? Have security escort her out."
Mo Ye hurriedly nodded, trying to hide his own surprise. He looked back at the woman in disgust as the two others continued past and went back to the conference room.