The Odd One Out

Chapter 7

At first glance, Oriella's words seem plausible. However, on closer examination, it is full of loopholes, and the whole thing is a bunch of nonsense from start to finish. Not to mention the fact that the cheek was a mock hood or something else, but Oriella's reaction was not as lighthearted as she made it sound.

To top it all off, there was no more than a three-second gap between the time Oriella ran out the door and the time she followed her out. That's not enough time for her to get through the small hall and into the back kitchen unless she could teleport. There was no one outside when she chased her out, not even the sound of an argument in the silent dining room. Thinking carefully, there was no explanation anywhere.

Summer wondered why Oriella had lied and what she was hiding from her. She thought the company was the only thing wrong with her, but now it seems that Oriella has secrets she can't tell. The situation could not be worse as she had lost her memory and knew nothing about these people. Summer wiped her face in annoyance, the idea of calling the police was out of the question, no matter how strange it was, it was all for nought without proof. There was no way to prove it, so the matter had to be put to rest. But it was a wake-up call that she was in too passive a position and she wasn't going to get involved with anyone, including Oriella until she knew what was wrong.

Considering her situation, and in case she forgot everything that had happened today or tomorrow, Summer wrote down everything that had happened around her since she woke up, including everything that felt unnatural to her. After finishing her diary, she felt a little more at peace and tucked it back into her bag to continue her work from the morning. There was not much work left to do and she finished it all in half an hour. With no intention of going out and actively looking for something to do, Summer looked at her computer screen for a while. As soon as her brain emptied, a rhythmic chirping sound came from her empty belly.

Well, she was hungry.

Even if she hadn't eaten lunch, she had just vomited up all the remnants of the morning's noodles in her stomach. As her body slowed down until now, nausea receded, and she began to scratch her heart with hunger.

Summer looked at the two bags of biscuits and chocolates left by Oriella on the corner of the table and hesitated for a moment before reaching for them. She rummaged in her coat pocket and found two pieces of white rabbit milk candy and some change, remembering that Oriella had given her the milk candy that morning. Summer didn't dare to eat what Oriella gave her now, so she found a drawer to put the snacks in, and took the change to go to the rest area.

Summer made her way through the work area in spite of a lot of burning stares, declined the requests for the company from some of the people who were asking for it, and slipped into the lounge at a brisk pace. Luckily there was no one in the lounge as everyone was working, so Summer bought a five-pack of jam buns and a carton of plain milk from the vending machine, looked around and found a corner sofa to sit on. She had just finished eating one of the buns and was drawing the milk when the translucent glass door of the lounge was suddenly pushed open and a man. A woman dressed in black professional clothes came in.

They came in and looked around as if they were looking for something. There were some large, leafy indoor potted plants in the corner where Summer was sitting, which from an outside perspective blocked her form, and Summer subconsciously shrank in, so the two men did not notice her presence. She saw the two men come together and say something, a little too far away for her to hear, but the disappointment on the upper half of their faces was unmistakable.

Yes, the upper half of the face.

It was an indescribably strange expression as if there was an invisible dividing line separating the faces in the middle, the top half of the face being visibly disappointed, while the bottom half of the face still held a perfect smile with eight teeth showing. Summer watched the unbelievable scene through a gap in the green foliage, a chill rising up her spine for no apparent reason, and an absurd thought flashed through her mind. She should be glad that they hadn't insisted on searching the lounge, but had gone to make coffee at the coffee machine in the opposite direction from the corner where she was.