Chapter 5

[So, what happened earlier?] Liyana spoke through the phone.

“A girl hit my car because she was playing with her phone,” Azlan replied but the tone of his voice was a bit cold.

As someone who had dated Azlan for many years, Liyana could easily pick up his bad mood. Although most of the time he talked coldly due to his personality, there were also subtle changes to his coldness when he was displeased and Liyana could feel this clearly from his voice.

[Is the damage that bad? Are you okay?] she asked.

“The back of my car was crushed and my rear windscreen cracked, I am fine,” Azlan replied.

[Is the girl okay? Are you on the way to the hospital?] she asked with concern.

“She is fine or she claimed to be, I don’t know. I am sure she is smart enough to get a check-up after this. I also remind her about that. Still, she is one arrogant girl,” Azlan sounded displeased.

[Arrogant? Is she not acknowledging the accident?] she asked more and added, [But, it is not that surprising to meet people like that here]

“No, she readily admits to her wrongdoing but when I decided to let her go, she suddenly flipped on me. Saying she will take responsibility and pay for the damage. She is also calling me rude for asking about her family’s situation, I apologized but then, she is still throwing tantrums,” Azlan replied.

[Whoa, really?] But then, she was silent for a bit as she knew how blunt and straight Azlan could be in a certain situation and this one might be the same too.

[Maybe you said the wrong thing to her without realizing it?] Liyana had her doubts.

“I know that the damage will cost a lot of money, so I ask whether her family is rich or not. She said average and I knew that she would not be able to pay for the damage. So, I decided to let this incident go. Asking her to pay the damage will be too much for her and her family.”

“She flipped and said I am rude,” Azlan explained. “She even saved my phone number with a funny name as she is displeased with me,” he added.

[...] Liyana was speechless when she heard that. Considering how Azlan talked most of the time, she could see that he could be rude.

As a genius businessman in the country, Azlan was well-known in the industry to be able to always make a project extremely successful. Many people would want to collaborate with him.

They also knew that Azlan disliked dishonesty when working. So, when he wanted to talk business with someone or some company, he preferred to get straight to the point instead of talking flowery stuff to please the other person.

Thus, his business partners and everyone in the business industry in the country knew how blunt and too straight to the point he could be.

With his usual cold tone plus his bluntness, it did sound displeasing to everyone’s ear. More so, when it hit right at the sore spot.

Even if it did not hit the sore spot, it still sounds infuriating to most people.

Liyana was sure that the girl’s family situation was not her sore spot but the way Azlan talked might have infuriated her a lot. Moreover, this was concerning her family and thus, Liyana could see she was infuriated.

[You know, you need to learn to put layers to your sentences. People like them have their pride. They dislike it when people talk about their family especially when it is involving their income] Liyana gave her advice.

[Also, why did you want to let her go? This is not a small matter and you should let her pay for it] Liyana added.

“You know the repair will cost a lot. I don’t want to burden her. Moreover, she will not be able to pay for it after all and it will just increase the problem later. I am already busy with my job and I don’t want to add more to it,” Azlan replied.

“Also, I can afford it and I can even claim for the insurance if I want to,” Azlan added. “I feel bad to ask her to pay for it considering it will affect her family too.”

[So, you let her go in the end?] Liyana asked.

“I want to but she refused. She insisted on paying stubbornly, so I can just follow her wish,” Azlan replied.

[Heh, let her pay and suffer. She didn’t know how expensive the repair would be. Let her learn how to take on opportunities instead of flipping out. Moreover, she even rudely put funny names in front of you. She says others are rude but she is the same too]

“...I don’t plan on making her pay,” Azlan said and he continued, “I will just show her the bill and once she sees it, she will know I mean well today.”

[What? Why will you do that? Let her be. Her pride is so swell that she did not consider this to happen. Let her learn a lesson. I disagree with your decision] Liyana spoke bluntly.

Liyana was fine in the beginning but when she heard that Maisarah put on a funny name, she could not help but get displeased.

“I don’t want to make this matter bigger. Since we are both not that happy with each other, it’s better to meet this once and part ways. I don’t want to see her many times and I am sure she is happy to not meet me too,” Azlan said.

[Heh, whatever suits you. I tell you that you should teach her a lesson.] Liyana said.

The duo stopped talking about Maisarah and chatted about other kinds of stuff.

***

Maisarah finally arrived at her workplace. ‘No parking?’ she frowned. She was late and it was normal to find it hard to find a parking spot.

If the workers all parked their motorcycles properly, there would not be a shortage of parking spots. However, many of them parked like they own the parking.

After looking around for a bit, Maisarah decided to squeeze in a little bit. She succeeded.

After she got off her motorcycle, she looked at it again and sighed. “My bike’s repair and the car’s repair too… I may need to skimp on my spending for this month.”

Maisarah checked on the time and she was 40 minutes late. “Urm, Miss Li must be angry…” Maisarah walked inside dejectedly. She knew that her supervisor would scold her for being late.

“Why are you late?” Miss Li asked domineeringly.

“Urm, I got in an accident just now,” Maisarah replied.

“Accident?” Miss Li frowned and stared at Maisarah up and down. “Are you hurt somewhere?”

“...no, I feel fine,” Maisarah replied hesitantly. ‘Why is she so nice today?’ Maisarah thought.

“What? You find it weird that I ask this?” Miss Li snorted and she continued, “I may be strict with rules and regulation but I know to be flexible too. Moreover, you are not late because you oversleep but met with an accident.”

“Do you believe my excuse?” Maisarah blurted in surprise.

“Are you lying then?” Miss Li raised an eyebrow.

“No, no, no!” Maisarah shook her head immediately.

“I know you are not that type to lie about something like this. You are a model employee too. I will let it slide this time.”

“Also, you need to make sure to show a good attitude for the next few weeks. Your promotion is on the line,” Miss Li reminded kindly. “I vote for you to get a promotion.”

Maisarah’s eyes lit up and she replied excitedly, “Yes!”