RETAKE

Part 22

To see their teeth beaming made her nod her head before resuming her eating.

In her thoughts, she doesn't believe in their assumption. Brent went out last night. If it is to his mother he went to last night, he will be back immediately. She is sure he went to his fiancee.

Good thing that they never know her entanglement with Brent, or else she will be the gossip's subject. The most horrifying will be if she becomes the third party.

"By the way, Anne, I saw Gary while I was walking here," the teasing voice of Olivia stopped her thinking.

"Did he ask you anything?" Suzan asked.

"He asked if we are going to eat our lunch outside. Of course, I told him that we are too busy nowadays and that we will eat here. He looked disappointed, by the way."

Olivia said the last words while looking at her, smiling as if telling her it is because of her.

"Anne, I hope you don't mind me asking, Are you not attracted to Gary?"

Suzan's questions made her almost choked on the food in her mouth. Immediately, Olivia offered her the water in which she took a sip before answering.

"It is not that I don't find him attractive. Right now, I am concentrating on my career. Maybe when I have already done my apprenticeship, then I would date."

"What?" Olivia reacted and then added, " so Gary will need patience," and then laugh.

"Yeah." Anne agreed.

They had finished their lunch in silence after the conversation about Gary and then returned to their work.

While she is pinning fabric in the dummy, she can't help but not think about what Suzan had asked earlier.

Gary is an attractive man, and if she is not in her present predicament. She will find him attractive, but she is unsure what his reactions will be once he finds out about Matt. Who knows, he is also like other men who were prejudice in dating a single mother.

Anyway, she will think about it if he becomes persistent enough in courting her. Now, she has to focus on her work and throw it down in the bin; those irrelevant thoughts keep creeping on her mind.

The opening of the door, the gasping sound of Suzan, and then the sounds of Good afternoon made Anne looked up from her pinning. It was then she saw Mrs. Winters standing at the door with Brent.

Immediately, Anne straightens up.

What is he doing here right now? She looked around at those inside the room. Suzan also stands beside her mannequin while holding scissors. Emily, another senior designer, who was cutting on a cloth earlier, is walking towards Mrs. Winters and Brent.

Then she looked at Brent, who by now is walking towards her, chest puffed out in his painstakingly neat suit. She almost laughs at the thought that his smugness will not work if Matt is around, especially if her son is eating ice cream. Those immaculate cut suits will look dirty as a rug, and he can't say anything but let his son have his way on it.

"Is there something funny, Miss...? Brent's voice startled her.

"It is Miss Lewis, Mr. Jefferson." Mrs. Winters supplemented before she can say her name.

Anne blinks twice before focusing on his amused face.

Didn't this guy get disheartened in her behavior towards him this morning? He still looks so happy and in a playful mood.

Before the fashion house merges to Brent's company, the heads visit once in their department but not in their working area. In fact, in the whole time that Anne became an apprentice here, she had not seen the former owner coming to this room. It was only Mrs. Winters or her assistant that directly check on them. How come a CEO of a conglomerate came here not once but twice? The first time was okay as it was the time they acquire the fashion house but, now? What is his purpose in coming?