It was mid-August, and it was payday.
Norman handed me the pay slip and said with a smile, "You should treat me to a meal!"
Seeing that the salary had doubled on the pay slip, I nodded and said, "What do you want to eat? It's on me!"
Someone heard our conversation and shouted, "Since you are treating, you can't treat one person only. Arianna, we're all your colleagues. Since you got a promotion and a pay raise, you should bring us together to celebrate with you!"
"That's right! I haven't gone out for two months."
Norman looked at me with a faint smile but did not express his opinion.
I chuckled and said, "Then, how about we have dinner together tonight, and go to the bar after that?"
"Wow, that's great!”
They were all young and lively girls. Eating and playing were the main things in their life.
Once the hubbub subsided, Norman could not help but laugh at the sight of me. "Your salary is only eight thousand dollars, and there are more than twenty people in the company. You will need to spend at least one or two thousand dollars on the meal. I guess you won't have much of the money left after going to the bar."
I smiled and said, "It's okay. I don't have much expenses right now. I don't need a lot of money. I don't mind as long as everyone is happy!"
"Alright. I'll ask my mom to pick Anne and Bennett up tonight so that we can go back a bit later. What do you think?" he asked.
I nodded.
The restaurants in Hovell were not expensive. I found a relatively large restaurant and booked two private rooms on the second floor. There was not enough space in one room to fit in all the people, so I simply booked two.
While several colleagues were ordering the food, someone started to joke. "This place that Arianna had chosen is probably the best restaurant in Hovell. It will cost more than two hundred dollars per person to eat here. She is really generous!"
"That's right. You will spend more than half of your salary on this meal," a colleague told me.
This topic was pretty scandalous indeed.
Immediately, everyone turned to look at me. One of them said curiously, "Arianna, it seemed that I had never heard you mention your daughter's father."
I pursed my lips and took a sip of wine. When I saw that the waiter was serving the dishes, I looked at everyone and said, "We've been chatting for so long. I believe you all must be hungry. Let's eat!"
I didn't like to talk about other people's gossip, nor did I like to become the center of discussion. Cecil had also deliberately brought up this topic.
People in Hovell were pure and kind. But because they had a lot of free time, they tended to gossip a lot.
You would either not mention this kind of topic at all or explain it clearly. However, it was impossible for me to explain it clearly to the others. So, I chose to remain silent about it.
After hearing what I said, everyone did not continue to ask me about it. We enjoyed quite a harmonious meal together.
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