How Can Two People From Different Sides Ever Fall in Love? - Chapter 12

◎ The biggest taboo at work is a high-level whim ◎

In the conference room, Raven and Silver followed their routine and found a corner to sit in.

A pale and dry opening speech drifted past their ears. Chairman Verdi finally became stingy with his saliva and began to get to the point.

“The annual San Loria Light and Shadow Art Week is coming up soon.”

The two parties took turns organizing it once a year; this year it was the turn of their People’s Rationality Party.

Raven’s mind was wandering through the heavens, but when his gaze swept across Verdi, he was slightly startled.

The Chairman’s expression seemed somewhat solemn.

“This year is a bit different.”

No matter how different it was, the solemnity should belong to the subordinates on duty. As long as the leaders did less meddling and fewer “brilliant ideas,” the task could be implemented more smoothly.

Raven grumbled inwardly but still didn’t pay much attention, merely offering two seconds of silence for the colleagues about to take on this job out of a sense of “fellow sufferers in a foreign land.”

“This year, a colleague from the Dawn Party will be joining us.”

Silver’s “especially” had actually not been an exaggeration.

Raven became a bit interested, but the interest lasted only a moment before the object of his silent mourning transformed into a reality.

“Our party is sending Silver and Raven. As in previous years, others are on standby at all times. Alright, everyone, let’s clap to welcome our new colleague.”

The crowd was silent for two seconds; the applause was sparse before finally catching up with the rhythm.

Raven clapped mechanically.

He finally understood. A lucrative assignment only turns into a hot potato when it passes into his hands.

In the next moment, a knock sounded at the conference room door.

The door wasn’t closed, and a tall figure appeared in the doorway.

The crowd instantly took a sharp intake of cold air, looking at Raven one after another with horror in their eyes.

Raven was still surprised by the appearance of the person outside the door and didn’t notice the undercurrents surging in the conference room or the probing gazes of his colleagues around him.

Realizing who the partner was, his suspended heart fell halfway back into place; unexpectedly, he felt the potato in his hand wasn’t that hot anymore.

“Light and Shadow Art Week” was established by Olo Federation workers to commemorate May 1, 1886, when over 200,000 workers in Chicago, USA, fought a hard and bloody struggle to win the eight-hour workday. In the capital, San Loria, they held high torches and marched, intending to “break through the darkness and light up the future.”

As technology continued to develop, the form of “lighting up the darkness” was no longer restricted to torches, and an Art Week presenting the charm of light and shadow in multiple dimensions came into being.

Every year, during the week before May 1, the public gathers at Phoenix Square near San Loria Cathedral to celebrate the festival together.

Over the years, the administrative staff had accumulated a lot of experience, and case studies were right there in the archives; it was hard to make a mistake. Thus, it was known as a “lucrative assignment.”

In previous years, no matter who took this lucrative job, others would have quite a few complaints.

This year, they felt sympathetic instead.

At the moment, the object of everyone’s sympathy was in a fairly bright mood.

He was packing his luggage, about to move to a new office.

Many colleagues ran over to help. Those whose hands were idle didn’t let their eyes stay idle, looking left and right, their gazes either on the office or on Raven and the new colleague.

Those whose eyes couldn’t squeeze in didn’t let their mouths stay idle, talking in low voices with suffering colleagues nearby at a short distance.

“As expected, the biggest taboo at work is a high-level whim.”

“They move things around, and we’re the ones who suffer. It’s hard on Raven, such a good assignment…”

“It was originally just a bit of superficial courtesy; now it’s great, who knows how much of that superficial courtesy is left.”

The colleague who was sighing just now instantly became interested: “Hmm? What’s the story?”

The colleague who knew the inside story went “shh” and gestured behind him.

They saw Raven carrying a box, nodding with a smile as he passed by.

They fell silent in unison, with a tacit understanding as if they had agreed beforehand.

After seeing Raven off, they exchanged glances and then sneakily disappeared.

Raven didn’t yet know what was happening outside.

The three successfully settled into the new office and closed the door. In the “convex” shaped area formed by three tables pushed together—Raven sat in the middle, with Hollis and Silver seated on either side of him respectively.

Two people, four eyes, all looking over at the same moment one look indifferent, one earnest. Even Raven found it a bit hard to handle.

He cleared his throat a few times.

Since things had come to this.

“Before we formally begin, let’s introduce ourselves,” Raven pointed to himself. “I am Raven Griffith.”

Raven looked back. He first looked at Hollis, then at Silver. The curve of his lips was about to freeze; still, no one gave him a response.

Since the mountain would not come to him, he would go to the mountain.

He first said to Hollis: “This is Councilor Silver Bellamy.”

Silver twisted her upper body to face Hollis directly, saying somewhat awkwardly: “Hello.”

Hollis paused for a moment, his expression unchanged: “Hello, Hollis Lancelot.”

Raven smiled gratifiedly, like an old father who had just seen his young children resolve a conflict and quickly make up.

Out of the corner of his eye, Hollis caught a glimpse of the “old father” and curled his lip imperceptibly.

The stalemate broken, the subsequent progress was much smoother.

By the unanimous decision of two out of the three people, Raven was elected as the leader of the planning group for this “Light and Shadow Art Week.”

Leader Raven, newly appointed, set his first “fire” on the distribution of tasks.

Each of the three took their own tasks, and the second “fire” was ready to go.

“Alright, if there are no problems, we’ll implement according to this plan first.” Saying this, Raven glanced at his watch. Having been busy all morning, it was almost time for the lunch break.

“Let’s leave it at that for now,” Raven put down the documents and said with interest to the two of them, “Next, we should discuss what to eat for lunch.”

Silver raised both hands high: “Woohoo! Long live!”

Raven naturally picked up the thread: “No feudal superstitions in the twenty-first century.”

“But the beautiful spirit is immortal!”

The two smiled at each other. Hollis blinked his azure eyes and said nothing.

Raven sensed that someone was out of place. He tucked away his smile and tried to pull this person in: “The Mr. Councilor is considered a guest; let’s let the guest decide.”

The guest’s expression did not improve; upon closer inspection, it even looked worse.

The guest with the bad expression didn’t decide, but instead picked up the empty cup on the table and stood up: “I’ll eat whatever you eat.”

Raven wanted to offer a few more polite words, but a broad palm was stretched out in front of him.

The palm was facing up, as if asking him for something.

“The cup.”

Raven looked at the cup filled with dark brown liquid.

He had been too busy just now and hadn’t managed to drink it. Now that things had quieted down, the coffee had gone cold. He took one sip and put it back.

Hollis knew he didn’t like drinking cold things. Since he was getting one cup anyway, he might as well get two.

Raven placed the cup on that palm and said with a clear conscience: “Many thanks.”

Then he said to Hollis’s back: “By the way, does the Mr. Councilor know where the break room is?”

“I know.” Hollis’s answer came from behind the door.

This time, the person out of place turned out to be Silver.

Once Hollis left the office, she hurriedly slid her chair over to Raven’s side and whispered in a low voice: “You two seem to be very familiar.”

After saying that, she tilted her chin toward the figure disappearing at the door.

Raven said with an unchanging face: “The Dawn Party’s rising star, the data fanatic, he’s famous. Aren’t you familiar with him, our People’s Rationality Party’s busybody?”

“The Dawn Party’s rising star and data fanatic gets you coffee?”

“Didn’t ask you, not convinced?” Raven quirked an eyebrow and cast a look at her full cup. “Not a single sip, just because the ice melted?”

Silver inadvertently spoke the truth: “And you only drank one sip, just because the coffee went cold?”

“Mutually so.”

“I yield, I admit.”

As the two spoke, they laughed again.

Hollis returned carrying two cups of coffee and saw such a scene.

His expression, which had softened slightly, turned sour again.

Sour as it was, he still had to follow the two to the cafeteria for a meal. They had originally agreed that he’d eat whatever they ate; as it turned out, there were three people and three different types of dishes.

Silver had a traditional Olo Federation food combination: a bread roll with sausage, along with fries and a salad.

Hollis had plenty of meat, eggs, and dairy, with a small amount of vegetables on the side.

Raven had rice, meat, and vegetables, plus a bowl of thick mashed potato soup. Perfectly balanced, three dishes and a soup.

Hollis had the largest portion and also finished first.

While he was returning his tray, Silver leaned toward Raven again, whispering in a low voice once more: “Have you noticed? Ever since we went to the office, Councilor Lancelot’s expression has seemed not very wonderful.”

“Really? Hasn’t he always had this expression?”

In fact, Raven had seen it long ago, but he was at a loss for the reason and even more so didn’t want Silver to have a bad impression of Hollis. He played it off, preparing to move past the subject.

“You’re usually quite observant; you can even notice if the Chairman’s hair is one millimeter shorter.”

The effect was significant; Raven smiled but said nothing, keeping his achievements and fame hidden.

However, the main subject didn’t appreciate it at all; upon returning, his face seemed to have darkened by another degree.

Until the end of the workday, they never quite understood why Hollis’s wheat-colored skin had actually darkened repeatedly.

Silver, harboring her confusion, made her escape at high speed just as the second hand pointed toward twelve.

She had stayed up late last night and needed to hurry back to catch up on sleep now.

Only two people were left in the three-person office, and Hollis’s face finally stopped darkening.

Raven was busy packing up and didn’t manage to solve the mystery immediately.

In the elevator without a third person, Raven took the opportunity to relay the leader’s instructions: “The Chairman asked me to tell you that if you have anything you need during this time, either tell him directly or tell me. Don’t be shy.”

The final sentence “Treat it like your own home,” Raven truly felt too embarrassed to say out loud. Regardless, the content was complete and enough to convey the leader’s concern.

Hearing this, Hollis nodded, clearly not taking these words to heart.

Raven thought for a moment and found nothing else to say. Bored, he used the mirror on the elevator wall to observe Hollis beside him.

His height of nearly one meter ninety made the elevator with only two people feel a bit cramped.

In the reflection on the wall, the tie fastened at his shirt collar was still crooked. His deep gray suit jacket was wide open, and the waist cinched by his large palms was lean and powerful. Even the thin shirt fabric couldn’t hide the burgeoning strength beneath.

Hollis was nearsighted, but also very sharp; he captured Raven’s gaze in an instant.

He quirked his left broken eyebrow at Raven in the mirror: “Does Councilor Raven want to help me straighten my tie again?”