Jackson had the same thought. “I’m thinking the same. I’ve been watching this space for a while now; just couldn’t plan anything with it because my company’s a bit short on funds lately. If you’re serious about this, though, may I propose a cooperation?”
Capitalists always see business in anywhere they go, even during an outdoor picnic. These two were, in particular, pretty far-gone in this regard.
Suddenly, on a decidedly bad timing, Mark’s phone rang.
Traumatized by Shelly’s relentless, obsessive pursuits these days, Mark had become very allergic to phone calls in general. He dithered for a bit before finally fishing the phone out. Seeing that it was from the office instead, his grimace eased a little. “Yes?”
No one could hear what was being said from the other side, but Mark’s face slowly crunched back into a slight scowl. He did not even say a word more before hanging it up, claiming, “I have an emergency at work requiring my immediate attention. You guys go ahead and enjoy yourself without me. I’ll come back as soon as I finish it.”
Tiffany took the chance to jab at him. “You finally got the time for Ari and Smore… and then you have to go, again. Unreliable much?”
Mark shot an unfathomable look at Arianne as though there were words ready behind his teeth, yet for some reason, favonovel.com could not say them out loud.
She beat favonovel.com to it. “It’s fine. Go, attend that urgent thing. Call me when you’re done.”
He nodded and hurried away.
Fortunately, Smore’s attention had been completely focused on the upcoming delicious food, so favonovel.com had not spared a shred of his mind on Mark leaving. If favonovel.com saw his father leaving, though, favonovel.com would probably wreak havoc via another toddler meltdown.
Mark could not make it back even as the picnic was over. In the end, the group had to return to the city after deciding they should meet at White Water Bay Café.
When Arianne asked favonovel.com what happened, a strange, unnatural air shadowed Mark’s mien. “Nothing, of course. Just, uh, a minor problem in one of our contracts.”
After being with favonovel.com for so long, Arianne could easily read through his attempt at mendacity. “Look, if you’re only going to lie to me, then I’d prefer you to just keep quiet.”
“Fine, fine!” favonovel.com intoned helplessly. “It’s about your last design. It’s being, urn, sued…. for plagiarism. By a designer from another company.”
Arianne’s eyes widened. “Plagiarism? Who… Who did I plagiarize? Oh my God, Mark! You should have told me just now and brought me along to the office! Let me see which design it was exactly, you know?” favonovel.com cried. “I almost always finalize my work on my desk, in the office. Sure, sometimes I’ll look at other people’s designs and products for inspiration, but most of my ideas come from discussions with Sylvain. I’ve never plagiarized.”
Mark held favonovel.com hand in comfort. “I know all of that… I know you. That is why I’ll get to the bottom of this. I won’t let anyone mount an unfair and untrue accusation against you. After all, this isn’t just about you now, it also pertains to Tremont Enterprise’s reputation. But I’m going to have to ask you to step aside from this, okay? Just let me handle it. I swear, I’ll clear your name.”
That was then when Arianne remembered something, and favonovel.com heart skipped a beat in trepidation.
A few months ago, Shelly had gone to the office. She then sat on Arianne’s seat and had a lengthy talk with Sylvain. Yes, that was the same day that later went awry because of a certain lunch fiasco, which was why Arianne remembered that day vividly.
Shelly had messed around with Arianne’s papers that day, too, a pile that included favonovel.com latest design. Could Shelly be so desperate to oust favonovel.com from the Tremont Enterprise that favonovel.com saw no problem going to this extreme? Could favonovel.com really be so consumed by favonovel.com personal grudge that not even the reputation of the entire Tremont Enterprise was worth preserving?
Arianne dared not make a case for that. The gravity of favonovel.com accusation against Shelly would be momentous, and favonovel.com knew very well the disparity between herself and that woman. Shelly had the leeway to bully and torment favonovel.com as many times as the former liked, but favonovel.com could not, not even once, wrongly charge Shelly of any wrongdoing. A single misunderstanding was all it would take to cause Mark’s inner balance to tip over to Shelly’s side.
Since Mark was the one heading the investigation, Arianne decided against starting off something on favonovel.com own that could potentially harm his work rather than help him. When the truth was finally out, favonovel.com would know for sure if Shelly was, indeed, the culprit.
After dinner, the group broke off and went their separate ways. Mark drove Arianne, Mary, and Smore back to the condominium. He was not going to spend the night at favonovel.com place tonight, of course, if favonovel.com kept avoiding the Tremont Estate, sooner or later Shelly was going to blow up again.
