bChapter /bb290 /b

Carman was still at the office when she heard Noreen was on her way over, so she asked Noreen to swing by Ascendancy Group and pick up some documents for her.

Noreen went as a favor, and as usual, she was greeted by the ever–gossipy deputy director.

She took the chance to ask about Vincent.

The deputy director replied, “Mr. Vincent is on vacation, and he hasn’t returned yet. Normally, Director Lowell would be in charge, but Mr. Harcourt was in a car ident, so Director Lowell is at the hospital with him. That just leaves me here to hold down the fort.”

Her love for office gossip hadn’t dulled a bit.

Noreen, however, couldn’t care less about Seth’s ident. She took the documents and left.

Back at Carman’s office, the two wrapped up their work. Only then did Noreen bring up the other night.

Sophia had mentioned that Carman was the one who drove her home.

So the person who picked her up from the club was Carman.

Maybe he remembered something useful.

But Carman just looked as puzzled as she felt. “Wasn’t it you who asked the club staff to call me and have me pick you up?”

Did that really happen?

She’d cked out from drinking–she couldn’t remember a thing.

Oh well. At this point, it didn’t really matter what had happened.

She decided to chalk it up to one night of recklessness, a reminder to be more cautious in the future.

***

The next morning, Noreen received an invitation to NaviTech’s anniversary g, delivered by Hugh Summers himself.

It was NaviTech’s biggest annual event, with all their business partners invited to attend.

This year’s guest list included InnoCore and Winrich.

Of course, Aurelion Group was also a NaviTech partner and on the invite list as well.

In other words, unavoidable run–ins all around.

Noreen would be representing Winrich, so she needed to look her best. She made an appointment at Myriad Atelier to pick out a dress.

She invited Carman to join her, and they arrived at almost the same time.

Carman seemed nervous–he didn’t have much experience with this sort of thing.

12:27

“Rx,” Noreen reassured him. “I’ll help you pick something out.”

She was a pro at this.

Well, all thanks to her years of picking out suits for Seth. fnd9ae Content originallyes from F?nd-Novel/fnd9ae

When Seth arrived, Noreen was busy adjusting Carman’s suit.

“This color of tie suits you better,” she said, holding a deep brick–red tie up to Carman’s chest to

Carman just smiled. “I’ll take your word for it. Whatever you say goes.”

“Here, let me tie it for you.” Noreen’s eyes sparkled as sheughed and began knotting the tie, her smile warm and gentle, like a soft breeze that could lift anyone’s spirits.

Carman was so mesmerized he nearly forgot to breathe.

The store clerk chimed in cheerfully, “Your girlfriend has great taste–the tie looks perfect on you.”

Carman’s face instantly turned crimson.

At the entrance, Seth stood frozen, watching the two of them.

He saw her pick out Carman’s suit, tie it for him, and heard the clerk call them a couple–Noreen didn’t correct her.

Seth lowered his gaze, expression unreadable, and walked inside.

The clerk spotted him and hurried over with a bright smile. “Mr. Harcourt, are you shopping alone today?”

“Yeah,” Seth replied, heading straight to the men’s section to browse for a suit.

Noreen nced at him.

Not because she was especially interested, but with only two or three customers in the whole shop, it was impossible not to notice.

There was a bandage on Seth’s forehead and a healing scrape on his right cheek–he really had been in a car ident.

But judging by his movements, it hadn’t been too serious.

Noreen looked away and told Carman, “Let’s go with this one. We’ll take it.”

The clerk led Carman to the fitting room to change.

That left just Noreen and Seth in the men’s section.

Seth browsed the suits, then stopped in front of the ties and lingered for a few seconds before saying, “Noreen, help me pick out a tie.”