Between the Lies

12| Stranger

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Stranger

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Chapter 12: Stranger (Aaron's POV)

I walked from Celia's desk to Julian's. "What's the problem?" 

"The layout," he huffed. 

"Tell that to Thomas then." 

"I did but he's saying it can't be changed if we want to keep the photographs in." 

"Wait," I huffed, going over to Thomas' desk. 

He shook his head, turning his laptop screen towards me. "It doesn't work. If I keep the photographs like this then the pages change, the book will be longer. And if the pages change then so does the layout." 

"Then make that kind of layout work. It would work in a printed copy, wouldn't it?" 

"It would but we're not printing the entire book, it's just a sample for the pitch and presentation." 

I paused. "Can't one sample be printed?" 

"Not the whole book, Aaron," he deadpanned. 

"Then make it work. Change the font or the format. Change the spacing then." 

He sighed, contemplating it and then nodding slowly. "I'll try." He glanced at the door while saying, "But then doesn't..." He paused, blinking. 

I hit the back of his head with the papers in my hand. He shifted in his seat and then focused on his screen. "Get to it," I demanded. 

"On it," he sighed, glancing at the entrance out of the corner of his eye. 

I stood upright, resting my elbow on Thomas' chair, finally looking at the door. I blinked once, my elbow slipping off the chair. I straightened up, my eyes taking her in. 

She laughed, talking to one of the employees from the HR team who were on their way to the elevator but stopped her to ask about her dress. She shook her head with a grin and then waved them bye as they left before walking into the room. She stopped at her chair, the chaos in the room slowly dying down and the room going into silence. She hung her purse on her seat and then sighed, throwing her hair over her shoulders and looking at the room. She glanced around in confusion and then finally looked at me. "What?" 

Everybody from my team suddenly resumed working, acting as if nothing had happened while people from her team sat calmly. They were most certainly working better than my team for this project, probably because Vanessa's idea didn't mess with the entire layout of the book whereas mine did. 

She sat in her chair and then faced Jade who was also staring at her. "What?" she asked again. 

"Nothing, you're just... a bit... more dressed up than usual, you know? What's the occasion?" 

Vanessa shook her head softly. "There's no occasion. I just felt like dressing up." 

"Not that that's not a possibility but you seem chirpier than usual. Almost excited."