"Are you sure about that? Three pieces of Pai Tee is for your lunch?" Giselle inquired as she looked at Drew and seemed surprised by the choice of food.
Drew just nodded her head as she closed the book menu and confirmed, "Yup, that's all I want for my lunch and a Thai milk tea will do."
"Okay." Giselle grinned at her senior while politely giving a small wave at the server to make their orders accordingly and she quickly added, "Oh, let's get an all in one Tom Yam noodle."
Drew was surprised the cutie did this for her and the brunette gazed at her with a grin, "Those are appetizers and drinks, and you shouldn't miss your favorite Tom Yam noodle."
"Well, I'm supposed to diet for today," Drew chuckled, deep down she knew the food was decent but pricey, and she never wanted her nice friend to spend too much for the lunch treat.
"Nah, no diet. Besides, you lost weight," Giselle smiled softly and pointed out, "Food would make us happy. And please, this is my treat, and I want my friend to enjoy the lunch." Giselle never forgot to purse her lips a little at her senior.
"You don't have to. I'm happy with so much food and snacks that you traded with me," Drew chuckled softly at the cutie.
"You did too," Giselle chimed in and she looked into her senior's eyes and said, "I'm doing this because I just want to thank you for saving me from the trouble, and problematic people whenever I work. To be honest, I was stressed when the first day I started on duty, but you gave me the confidence to overcome it. I'm glad I made it this far, and it's because of you." Giselle grinned as she gently used a hand to pat the back of her senior's hand, "Also, let's celebrate that my probation finally passed the other day."
Drew smiled at the cutie's delicate hand covering hers before looking at the brunette and said, "I appreciate your nice treat, but I didn't do much for you. It's all from you."
"No, you played a big part in this, Drew!" The pair of mesmerizing light brown eyes were twinkling while the smile was warm and bright, and her delicate hand chastely squeezed her senior's hand sending a gentle tingle through Drew's skin.
The feeling was good and comforting, but Drew kept reminding herself that everything the adorable brunette sitting across from her was doing was because she was a wonderful friend. She had been doing this for her since the funeral because she was kind. Besides, this was normal whenever she did that since she would occasionally do this when she got excited or appreciated her.
"Aww, here we go! Our favorite appetizer is served!" Giselle squealed like a little girl while her hand already slipped away from her senior and looked in the direction of the server sending the food for them. The taller woman couldn't help but admire the adorable brunette who was getting excited about the food.
Lately Drew had to stay up late, rushing her work which had left behind since she had only taken three days of annual leave for her late mother's funeral. Besides, partly it was her excuse for staying up late because she would rather occupy her head instead of thinking about her mom and dad who were never with her anymore.
Drew was living with her nanny in her house without her parents for close to two weeks. But she knew she couldn't keep Delilah for too long since her daughter was pregnant and the nanny would have her life to go on with her family for her retirement.
It might need to take baby steps for Drew to go through it, but she had to pull herself together and quit depending on Delilah and Giselle's company since they had spoiled her too much by taking care of her. In fact, she hated to keep them from moving on to the next page of their lives because that was a selfish way to keep her comfortable if she never got better.
Drew started packing her stuff and was ready to leave once she realized the time was 8.30 p.m. knowing the cutie wouldn't move if she never left.
Perhaps, the brunette across from the taller girl could hear the window shut down voice which was a sign for her to go home, she quickly switched off her PC and shut her notebook and grouped it together with her clutch and standby like a good girl patiently waiting for her senior.
Obviously, the taller girl needed more time to pack up her stuff since she had the habit of taking her stationeries, files, and laptop to go home to continue her work. Eventually, Drew stood up after finishing packing her stuff and she smiled softly at the brunette across from her and ready to go.
"Okay, let's get going!" Giselle flashed a sweet smile which became their pleasant manner whenever they were leaving their office, and this became a habit for them which Drew liked very much.
Neither of them was a chatterbox, but Drew was comfortable sharing a silent time with Giselle. Drew rarely made friends, part of it was that she worried she would get the others bored since she wasn't an outgoing person. She thought Giselle was an outgoing person like Amy, but surprisingly she wasn't.
Drew just realized since Giselle didn't talk much with the others like Amy, and she could see the difference. However, Giselle was a little better than Drew since she would always be nice to greet the others, but without small talk.
Drew didn't give a damn about anyone else at the office, since the co-workers barely communicated with her either aside from work.
The pair bid goodbye after taking the lift and the brunette would never hide a toothy grin before getting into her car. Drew knew she was sharing the same face as the cutie while she dipped into her car, swiftly locked the car doors, and buckled the safety belt before taking out her phone from her pants pocket and making a call.
"Whoa! Fine, fine. I have to give up. Your speed is unbeatable!" The brunette was giggling from another line because Drew was always the person making the call before Giselle could do it every time since the first day she returned to work after the event.
Drew laughed along with the bubbly laughter, and she pressed the loudspeaker before igniting her car engine and joked, "I have to since you do so many things faster than I do, especially packing up your stuff before going home."
"No, that doesn't count because you never give anything for me to work on at home. Also, you're a fast eater. How did you do that?" The brunette seemed intrigued.
"Well, you would have something to beat me with if I told you so," Drew chuckled at Giselle's cuteness and she started driving her car while her side mirror could see Giselle was driving her car and ready to go as well.
"But, please let me beat you at something so I would have a little achievement for that," Giselle from another line sounded serious with that.
"What makes you think that's your little achievement?" Drew asked and she was interested in why Giselle would be a little ambitious to win something from her.
"If I win something from you, I feel proud of it because you're my inspiration." The tone from Giselle was dreamy.
"Miss Tang, you better stop that before I'm flattered by your kind words. Besides, I'm nothing like the great person you thought," Drew chuckled and she was happy since rarely had people showered her with tons of compliments aside from her family. But she had to keep her pride low even though Giselle had shared kindness with her.
"It might be silly, but I mean it, Drew."
Drew was silent since she was speechless that Giselle was really sweet to her, she didn't dare to hope since this nice girl probably did not share the same feeling as her. But sometimes she might get carried away.
A soft and long sigh escaped from Drew's lips while she pulled over to the park which would have another 5 minutes before reaching her home. She had to wait another 30 minutes for the brunette to reach home, and she still remembered their first phone call at her home had spent 50 minutes talking. She didn't want to end the call, so she just pretended to still be driving.
"I'm sorry, I was focusing on the road just now because the people are reckless on the highway," Drew tried to make a decent excuse.
"That's okay! I'm happy you keep me company while we're driving home."
"It's my pleasure, and thank you too," Drew trailed off and hesitated a while and added, "For everything you've done."
"That's what a friend is supposed to do, right?" Giselle's voice was delighted, and she said, "What would you have for supper?"
"I used to eat roti with my parents and Delilah," Drew said with a wistful smile but Giselle was piped in from another line, "That would be perfect with Teh Tarik!"
"Exactly!" Drew grinned and asked, "What do you like your roti mixed with?"
"It depends. For a light lunch, I would like to mix it with curry chicken. But I would prefer something sinful late at night. I would like to dip it in condensed milk and my drink would be plain hot Milo."
"That's so sinful, I could never have a roti at night like that, or I might gain ten pounds!" Drew said. She was shocked the brunette could enjoy so much sinful food, but her figure was still perfectly slim.
"You should try that with me someday, and you're gonna love it!"
"I'd love to," Drew smiled at the sweet offer and pointed out, "But, not the sinful sauce for the roti."
"Aww... You're gonna love it. Maybe try a little," the brunette was giggling and said, "Now I would like to grab a grilled burger instead. I'm trying not to scroll down my window and smell it."
"Go grab some if you're hungry," Drew suggested and pictured the brunette eating the burger cutely and moaning happily with every small bite since that was what she did whenever she was enjoying the dessert or snacks.
"You have good advice in everything, except in diet plans."
"I don't think you need that. You have the privilege to enjoy it," Drew said genuinely.
"You too! Your height is just perfect with your figure," Giselle hummed for a while and asked, "Anyway, I almost reached home. What about you?"
Drew checked the time on her phone. It was about 5 minutes left for the brunette to reach her home and she responded, "Me too. In just about a minute I will be there." Drew started to continue driving and it took her a nice 5 minutes to get to her home, and it would be the right time to bid goodnight before they ended the call.
"Good, and I'm home!"
"That's good to know, you can hang up if you want to," Drew said softly.
"It's okay, I'll be off after you're home."
"Okay, just give me a second and I'll park my car," Drew had to act out and smiled, "Okay, I'm home too. I'll see you tomorrow."
"Good night, Drew. See ya!"
"Bye, and sweet dreams," Drew replied with a smile and waited for the brunette to end the call. However, she frowned a little and called out softly, "Giselle, are you still there?"
"Yup, can you hang up this time?"
Drew chuckled, "But I prefer you do that for us."
"Just one time, please?"
"Alright, bye Giselle, and now I'm gonna go, okay?" Drew inquired.
"Okay, maybe you're off after I count 3?"
"I like that idea," Drew agreed.
"1, 2, 3... I will see you tomorrow!"
The pair effectively burst into laughter and Drew never forgot to bid goodbye before ending the call. Drew sighed, shaking her head while pulling up her car into the garage.
After half an hour of freshening up, Drew was sitting on her rolling chair behind her desk and pulled out the drawer as she smiled at the jar of cookies that was given to her by Giselle during the day before their Christmas break, but she didn't have time to open it. Drew was startled a little after she heard the soft knock on the door, and she quickly pushed the drawer and shut it.
"Come on in," Drew called out while she turned her chair and faced the door. In a beat, Delilah opened the door as she was having a blissful grin at her favorite kiddo, "Look at that smile. It seemed like someone is in love."
"Quit that, Lilah!" Drew quickly waved her nanny off without hiding her smile.
The nanny giggled as she reached over to her kiddo, and sat at the foot of the queen size bed, then gently put a hand on Drew's knee with a pat, "I know maybe neither of you isn't ready yet, but I can tell this girl likes you too."
"No, she does not," Drew stubbornly denied and the nanny gently slapped the side of her lap and said, "I'm not blind, Min Min."
"Maybe, you're not wrong with that. But I still doubt it," Drew shrugged.
"Take it easy, Min. I know what you would worry about. But, if she likes you too, I don't think either of you would have any problem with that, and things could still work," Delilah assured.
"I hope so, but I don't wanna think about this at the moment since we're happy with what we are now. I don't wanna lose her as a friend," Drew admitted as she leaned in closer to grab a small pillow and hug in her chest with her chin hooked on it while propping her feet on the bed.
"I can see the difference in the way you talked about Giselle and Amy," Delilah looked into Drew's eyes and said, "When you mentioned Amy, you were sharing her intelligence, appearance, and her charisma. Maybe you had more chances to spend time with Giselle, so you shared about Giselle with me a lot. When you mentioned Giselle, you were sharing her background with her family, her hobbies, her dream, and how much you liked anything she had done with so much laughter which I have rarely seen before. You even told me how much you're happy she improved with her work. Yes, you don't even need to mention how pretty she is because the way you looked at her already proved that."
Before Drew could interrupt and the nanny quickly added, "Min, I'm serious. You can't hide your feelings. There is nothing wrong with you liking her so much. She is a sweetheart for you."
Drew's face softened and smiled, "I know she is. But I just want her to be happy. A girl like her deserves to get a perfect man."
"And that person would be you, the person who makes her happy is you," Delilah assured and smiled, "You don't have to rush. You'll eventually find the right time for both of you."
Drew reached over and enveloped her nanny in a firm hug and said softly, "Thank you for saying this to me, Lilah. That's all I want to hear from you."
"Be brave a little, Min Min," the nanny gently patted her kiddo's head and said softly, "I won't leave if you never be brave."
"Don't worry about me, Lilah. I promise I will be brave enough to live alone before I'm taking care of the one that I love," Drew assured her nanny and tried to keep a hold on her emotions at the idea of her living alone without her nanny. Also, she couldn't bear that Giselle might have her own life without her.
"You have grown up, Min. Your dad and mom would be proud of you," Delilah said with her teary smile and kissed the top of Drew's head.
Drew put her laptop on her desk and was ready to continue her work after her nanny went to bed. Meanwhile, she turned to pull her drawer and took out the jar of cookies from Giselle. She carefully opened the lid of the jar and took a cookie pop into her mouth. She smiled at the sweet taste and the adorable brunette's bright smile popped into her head.
The cookies were delicious, and Drew would never want to finish them sooner. She also hoped her mom and nanny would forgive her for not sharing the cookies with them. The sweet tooth was reviving Drew's energy to continue her late work and she happily put the jar of cookies in the drawer and worked.
There was something precious about taking care of and getting protected since most people would look for it. No matter how, those who were taking care of it, they would rather keep that for their own instead of letting others take it away.
Giselle was a born angel, and Drew didn't see any flaw in this girl. She could only have a romantic dream that they were together since in reality was a modest chance for them.
~~~
A/N: The link above is what Roti looks like. It is actually called Roti Canai. It is a kind of Indian snack, breakfast or supper that people in my town love very much. The best mix would be bean sauce, curry or chili paste. Are you hungry now? ;)