Chapter 302


    It was not the first time Alicia experienced this. At this point, it was as if she had been transported back to the school cafeteria days of yesteryears.


    Because of Nichas''s reputation, her ssmates were wary of her in high school. Not to mention that her best friend, Cynthia Duff, was a bold girl


    with a crush on Nichs. As such, she became Alicia''s patron saint. If this had happened before, she wouldn''t have had to do anything but give a


    lock, and Cynthia would have just helped her get rid of the people


    Back then, when Alicia first entered the college canteen, she faced a simr situation. At that time, many students from other courses were also


    queuing up to peek at her. Still, she wasn''t very mature back then. When she got tired of being pestered by others, she would get angry and chase


    them out. As a result, she ended up with the title ‘Princess Unapproachable’, ranking first on the hard-to-chase list. Although her reputation was ruined


    at the time, at least she had a peaceful college life.


    She didn''t mind being watched by others, but she would get upset if people surrounded her every day, disrupting her meals and schedules.


    But now that she thought about it, she believed it was a blessing to be looked up to! Either way, it was an affirmation and apliment to her.


    As she looked at the men in uniform before her, all smiling at her in a rather kind manner, Alicia returned the smiles politely and nodded


    "Hello. My name is Alicia nchard, you can call me Alicia.”


    Seemingly not expecting her to be so nice, the few men all visibly paused for a moment. The group of men then all gave their names one by one.


    Each one of them was excited, lining up and talking without stopping.


    Just then, Joel said, "Miss nchard, not only are you beautiful, but you have a beautiful voice too! Since we''re all colleagues, let''s hang out. Miss


    nchard, can you give me your number?"


    "Miss nchard, you should give him your number!"


    "Yeah! Joel is a well-known figure in the sales department and in Scaver International as a whole. He''s one of the best in sales! He''s 28 years old,


    and he doesn''t have a girlfriend yet. Not to mention that this is the first time he''s this forward with a girl"


    The corners of Alicia''s mouth twitched after hearing this. How could it be his first time when they were talking so smoothly and in such a tacit manner?


    While Alicia was torn about giving him her number, it was her turn to grab her food. She smoothly changed the subject. "Why don''t we choose our


    food first? The scrambled eggs with tomatoes today seem great. There are even pork ribs too!"


    ncing around, Alicia chose two greens, a shredded pork dish, and a drumstick. As for the carbs, she chose rice. She also took a bowl of soup. As


    soon as she stepped out of the queue, nk stares were delivered before she could find a seat.


    "Her good looks definitely have benefits. Look at how she got a bigger share of the food than we did."


    "Are there even spring onions in her shredded pork? It''s all meat! She got most of the scrambled eggs too!”


    "You''re right. Her drumstick is bigger than mine too. Isn''t she afraid of eating too much?"


    Unconsciously looking down, Alicia nced at her te. What were they talking about? Wasn''t the food just fitting thepartments well? Was she


    to me for that too?


    She thought that only children could be bothered with such things. Unexpectedly...


    Heh!


    "Whatever!"


    Locking at her te and sniffing the food, Alicia got ready to find a seat. She saw an empty seat and was just about to walk over when a ss of


    waternded on it with a thud. The next thing she knew, a woman ced an empty te on the table.


    At that, Alicia couldn''t help but feel a little annoyed.


    Even so, there was nothing anyone could do when something like this happened in a public ce like a canteen. Therefore, she had to turn around


    and find another seat


    There were individual tables for two and long rows of tables for four to eight people. Basically, all the seats were upied, except some vacant seats


    at those upied tables. However, she was new to thepany and didn''t know anyone well. She didn''t know if anyone had taken the seat.


    Therefore, it was not easy for her to get a seat


    For a long time, Alicia was looking for a seat while holding her tray. Of course, she wasn''t the only one looking for a seat.


    Just as she noticed someone get up from their seat and walked over quickly, someone else took the seat. This time, it was a colleague from the same


    department as hers.


    At this point, the woman even waved her hand and shouted, "Sam, over here! Please get me some soup. I''ll eat with you."


    Helpless, Alicia could only turn around again...


    Just then, one of the male colleagues who had just greeted her in the queue earlier suddenly waved and shouted, "Miss nchard, why don''t you sit


    here?"


    With that, the man pointed to the empty seat opposite him, next to Joel.


    The five of them were sitting at a long table with ten seats in total, with two men upying another end. Obviously, they were not in the same group.


    The three empty seats separated the party into two groups.


    Normally, these three seats would not have been filled by anyone else. After all, it would be overcrowded and cramped. Furthermore, no one would


    want to be so close to a stranger. In apany of this size, there were probably hundreds of people in the canteen. Not everyone here knew each


    other for sure.


    With all the men around the table, Alicia felt a bit ufortable.


    But, as she had been carrying her te for a long time and hadn''t found a suitable seat, she considered going over to sit down


    No sooner had the thought crossed her mind that a voice reached her ears.


    "Is she the new one? What a fancy dresser! She locks like a vixen!"


    "She is outstanding. After all, she''s hooked up with the men in the sales department so quickly!”


    "I wonder which senior she slept with. Ch, how do you think the management team will react when they find out about this? Will the president be


    charmed by her too?"


    "How is that possible? I heard that the president has a girlfriend and even brought her to thepany before. She must be a heavenly goddess who


    doesn''t seduce men and reeks of a vixen." "Gosh, let''s stay away from her! People like her are the best at pretending to be whiny and pathetic to win


    men''s hearts.”


    Alicia was in a tizzy as she heard all the barbs. She hadn''t even done anything, and yet she was mistreated already!


    What a misery! She couldn''t even eat a meal in peace!


    Pursing her lips, she mentally cursed Frederick from head to toe again. B*stard! It was all his fault!


    Meanwhile, Frederick had just put down the phone in the office and realized that it was after lunchtime. Just as he got up, his secretary, Doris, walked


    in.


    "Mr. Clements, lunch is ready. Shall I bring it up?" The canteen had already called several times, but she had not dared to enter when she heard


    voices inside the office.


    "It''s fine. I''l be eating in Canteen No. 6."


    "Huh?"


    Locking up, Doris’s eyes were full of disbelief.


    "Have someone bring the meal to the private room. I have something to talk to Chet about!”


    As if something had dawned on her, Doris hurriedly nodded. "Yes, Mr. Clements!”


    But, why was Mr. Clements going to Canteen No.6 and not to Canteen No.8, which was close by? Doris couldn''t wrap her head around this.


    Although her mind was still flickering with doubt, she stepped out of the way when she saw that Frederick had buttoned up his suit. "I''ll call Mr.


    Reynes right away."


    "Mmm."? 2024 N?v/el/Dram/a.Org.


    Frederick was already out of the office as they spoke, and Doris followed him while she made the phone call.


    In the lift, the two met up just in time and then went to the canteen together. Chet was rather puzzled. "What''s so urgent?"


    Why wasn''t he even allowed to finish his meal?


    Without even looking back, Frederick said calmly, "Nothing. I just wanted to invite you to a meal." Frederick wanted to go take a lock as well!


    "What?"


    With a startled cry, Chet suddenly realized that the two of them were in Canteen No. 6 as it dawned on him. Gosh! What a dumb brain he had! What


    was he thinking about? There wasn''t anything urgent! Why else could they be doing here?


    As their eyes met, Chet swallowed his words with resignation. Frederick was his boss after all..


    As soon as the trio appeared, it was as if a bomb was dropped on the canteen. All eyes simultaneously turned to the door, regardless of whether they


    were eating, ying on their phones, chatting, or queuing


    "Wow! It''s Mr. Clements!”


    "Mr. Clements and Mr. Reynes are actually here at Canteen No. 67 What day is it today? I must buy a lottery ticket after work."


    "Oh, my goodness! He''s so handsome. I didn''t know Mr. Clements is so handsome. He looks so manly!”


    Doris was half{- confused as she


    followed along and listened to the


    conversation’ between the two. She.


    had interded to settle Frederick’ S$


    lunch before returning. But as soon


    as she-Stepped into the canteen and


    noticed the difference in her


    surroundings, she couldnthelp but


    adjust the sses on her nose.


    What was going on that day? When had the canteen be so crowded? Did everyone have a premonition that the president wasing here for


    lunch?


    As Doris wondered, an icy gaze swept over. Following Frederick''s line of sight, she saw Alicia who was still standing in a distance with her tray. With a


    nce, it instantly dawned on Doris.


    "Let''s head to private room number three!"


    Frederick said before heading off to the side. Before stepping away. he gave Doris two seconds of obvious nces while Chet motioned at her.


    Taking the hint, Doris said, "I''ll get Miss nchard over there."


    Rushing over and grabbing a tray, Doris then strode over to Alicia.


    "Miss nchard! There are a lot of staff here today. Would you like to eat with me if you don''t mind? I''m on my own. I have a regr seat and am


    worried about having no one to talk to."


    In fact, having just seen Frederick at the door, Alicia felt angry and aggrieved. However, she was more afraid of himing over. If that happened,


    she would probably be the target all the more.


    Fortunately, she met Doris before. It was better to have her meal with a woman than a man. Indeed, she was worried about not having a suitable


    seat, not to mention that she didn''t want to ept an invitation from a man. Hence, she nodded her head.


    "Please and thank you."


    "Miss nchard, you''re most wee. I''ll hurry up and get my food then!"


    At that, the two of them headed off to one side of the aisle. As the queue was almost empty, Doris ordered two dishes, grabbed a bun, and quickly


    returned


    "This way please.”


    With that, the two walked toward the private room area at the side.


    The private room had a separate partition from the canteen. There were also manyrge and small rooms inside. The canteen was again abuzz with


    discussion as soon as the two disappeared behind the partition.


    "What is this woman''s identity? Why does she seem to know the president''s secretary? I heard that she was sent in by Mr. Reynes this morning too.


    Is that a coincidence?”


    "She just got lucky! It seems like they don''t know each other. Didn''t Mr. Clements and Mr. Reynes turn away without even locking at her? Could Miss


    Doris have only taken pity on her because she was alone without a seat?”


    "If I''d known, I''d have given her a seat and gone to stand. Maybe, I could have shared a table with the president!”


    "Get a facelift before you dream. Look how beautiful she is! She locks so slim, and her skin is so perfect that you can''t even see her pores! Seriously,


    even I, a woman, can''t help but feel sorry for her when she was standing there.”


    "Since you put it that way, I feel bad


    too. When I first came to work here,


    almost couldn’ stay either. At that


    time, I looked up at people. I always?


    felt like ‘eouldn''t do anything right...


    I had fow self- esteem and doubted


    myself Luckily, I was oF


    average ooking and didn’ have so


    many people targeting nee.


    Sometimes being beautiful can be a


    burden!"


    "Right? The prettier you look, the more the people of the same sex repel you. Would you like to bepared to her? Cne is more at ease with one''s


    own kind, right?"


    "Yeah, right! Why go and set her off?"


    Meanwhile, Doris smiled upon arrival at the private room.


    "Miss nchard, private room


    number thregis just ahead. You can


    go in first No one''s here today, 80 ~~


    make yoirself at home. I''ll head


    back aid get some soup. I forgot


    that &antt eat spicy food because


    ofmy cold. I''l have to exchange


    dfghes with someone." Cantent


    belongs to