Chapter 12

The sound of Bruce's glass landing on the table made a crisp noise. I wasn’t sure whether it was intentional. Bruce glanced at me indifferently while he picked the glass up again. He tapped the tabletop and then downed the drink in one go. I continued to sip my juice. The atmosphere appeared pleasant on the surface, yet an inexplicable tension lingered in the air. Feeling like I had acted recklessly at someone's birthday party, I couldn't help but regret my impulsive behavior. David, who was engrossed in his meal, seemed oblivious to the tension and remarked, "Douglas, since Nancy has praised you so, shouldn’t you say something in return?" Great, now the atmosphere became even more awkward. I wished for the floor to swallow me whole. Luckily, Douglas was emotionally intelligent. He raised his glass and said, "Since Nancy appreciates me so much, let me toast you in return." His tone was teasing, and he subtly signaled me with a glance. Following his lead, I lifted my glass, and the atmosphere gradually warmed up again. The meal lasted over an hour. When we left the restaurant, Bruce's Maybach was already waiting outside. John came out of the car to assist Bruce—who was drunk—into the back seat. Cindy followed suit. After a moment, she leaned out of the car window and asked, "Nance, do you want to join us?" I politely declined with a smile. Who would willingly become a third wheel? Isn't the five-dollar subway ride much better? "Nance, let Douglas walk you back. It’s not safe to take the subway at this hour," David reminded me. I looked at Douglas, whose cheeks were slightly flushed, and said, "It’s fine, I—" "Let’s go," Douglas interrupted me. "The university has arranged a two-bedroom apartment for me, which is on the way." I couldn't tell whether his words were true. It was too sudden. Sensing my hesitation, Douglas opened his briefcase and showed me an access card. "Do you believe me now?" Thus, I ended up catching the subway with Douglas, who was slightly tipsy. He even escorted me to the lobby of my apartment. Reflecting on my actions during the dinner, I sincerely apologized to Douglas. Douglas smiled and said, "Nancy, I actually enjoyed today. You... did well." I was puzzled. "That’s our pride in the Computer Science Major, Nancy Fisher." Douglas used the word "pride". It felt unfamiliar yet familiar as the word resonated slightly in my heart. Back at my place, I sat silently by the window. As I contemplated my battered life, I forced a bitter smile. The present me couldn’t bear the word "pride". My phone unexpectedly lit up. It was yet another friend request from Bruce, along with a question mark. After hesitating for two seconds, I ignored the notification and went into the bedroom. Unintentionally, I had overslept. I was in a hurry to the subway station when Caroline called. "What’s Bruce's intention? Why did he suddenly set up a Planning Department when everything was going smoothly?" I immediately stopped and took some time to understand the situation. It seems that Bruce wanted to establish a game planning department in our studio with Cindy as the head planner. You see, the development of a game mainly involved three prominent departments. Planning, technology, and art, with planning being the most crucial—speaking volumes about its importance. But the entire storyline and theme of the game have already been planned out thoroughly. It didn't seem appropriate for Cindy to intervene now. "I think it's necessary to talk to Bruce. He invested money, but that doesn't mean he can do whatever he wants," Caroline suggested. After some consideration, I asked, "Did Bruce mention that Cindy could intervene in planning out the details of the game? " "Well… he didn’t." "Let's wait and see then," I analyzed rationally. "Cindy needs a title. As long as she doesn't go overboard, we don't need to offend the investor because of her. Bruce probably wouldn’t mix personal and professional matters." After a brief moment, Caroline responded, "Makes sense. Then let’s wait till I get back." I hurried to the studio as soon as the call ended. When I entered, I saw Vanessa from the front desk standing on a stool to remove the sign on the office door. The sign that read "Technical Department" was slowly being taken down in front of my eyes. At this moment, Cindy walked out of the pantry with a cup of coffee in her hand. She smiled and greeted me, quipping, "Nance, I have just set up a group for work. I’ll add you in after you accept my request on Facebook. " Although her tone was no different from before, her eyes flashed with a hint of pride. I could understand why. Being pampered by a man like Bruce, what kind of woman wouldn't be infatuated? Joining a new work group was also within my expectations. With a firm belief that it was better to be safe than sorry, I cooperated sincerely. Unexpectedly, Bruce was also in the group. Both of their profile pictures side by side conveyed the impression of an employer and his lovely wife. It seemed like his investment firm wasn't as busy as I had imagined. I closed the conversation window as if nothing happened and continued to focus on coding. Soon, the first message in the group appeared. It was from Cindy. She requested that I share some code data and politely informed everyone that the progress report—which used to be bi-weekly—would now be changed to weekly. Caroline saw it and immediately sent me a private message, "She hasn't even officially taken over, and she's already giving us orders?" I made light of it, "Our investor hasn't objected; let's just follow accordingly. Maybe he'll increase the investment based on our attitude?" Caroline immediately responded with a thumbs-up emoji. "You've developed a different perspective." I politely replied, "It’s all thanks to your guidance." Jokes aside, Cindy's small moves didn’t seem to be a big deal anymore. However, I didn't expect Cindy to accidentally delete a line of data when she entered our back-end in the afternoon. David was furious and roared, "Do you know that it took us over a month to build these codes? With your single click, our entire month's effort has gone down the drain!" David wasn't exaggerating. The seemingly insignificant code was critical. Any problem in one area would collapse the entire framework. Cindy seemed guilty. "I didn't mean to. I just wanted to see if there was anything I could help with..." "Please, Cindy. I’m begging you, can’t you just sit still and not do anything?" David's words were a bit over the top. After hearing this, Cindy lowered her head, and her eyes glazed over. She seemed on the verge of tears. As I watched the two argue, I said calmly, "There’s no use arguing about this anymore. Cindy, there won't be a next time." Cindy’s expression cracked, and she ran out with a flushed face. I was slightly taken aback by her response. David angrily exclaimed, "Shouldn't we be the ones crying? If tears could fix this, I'd probably flood the studio!" I rubbed my temples and brought David downstairs to look for Cindy in hopes of maintaining our team harmony. Unfortunately, we couldn't find her. I had no choice but to leave a message for her. I then returned to the office to solve the issue. Unknowingly, we worked late into the night. When I finally came to my senses, I noticed that Cindy had sent a message to the new work group two hours ago. "Nance, it's my fault. I'm really sorry. I know my mistake has troubled everyone. I sincerely apologize to you all." She added a sad-looking emoji at the end. At that time, David and I were unable to find her downstairs and had just returned to the studio. Considering her young age, we couldn't hold onto her mistake forever—no matter how frustrating. Thus, I was about to call Cindy when the studio door suddenly opened. Bruce walked in with a stern expression and said to me in front of everyone, "Let's talk." Looking at his indifferent expression, I felt somewhat tongue-tied. Not long ago, he had appeared in our studio like this too, waiting for Cindy after work—only to find her in tears. This time, he directly came to defend her.