With that, Sigurd and Marten understood that there was no more to be said, and stood up to leave, ending the meeting throughout which only one person smiled from the beginning to the end, even though they were all family. At least, they were supposed to be.
"Goodbye, Uncle Sigurd!"
Sigurd sent an affectionate smile Jenny's way and stepped out of the office after his elder brother. Silence descended for a moment before Alex turned to Sharon:
"What is it?"
It was only then that the latter snapped out of her contemplation and recalled the reason why she had come to the office hoping to speak with her superior. She shifted her hold on the folder in her arms, and replied:
"I have finished putting your schedule in order. I came to take care of the details with you, sir."
Alex accepted the answer, and turned to Lance. Without having to speak, the latter understood, and he took the initiative to offer his justification:
"I have completed the tasks you gave me. I came to report."
Alex nodded, then said nothing. He instead stood up and walked toward the third person in the office, his steps inconspicuous like a background noise in their rhythmic sound. It was when the sound stopped, and Jenny noticed the leather shoes before her while playing with her head down that she suddenly became aware.
She snapped her head up and let out a startled exclamation:
"Brother Third!"
Seeing his still impassive face, the nervousness she had hidden behind her fawning expression before came back. Her eyes moved as she craved a way out, and they fell on her purse. Her face brightened up immediately, and she held the purse toward Alex:
"Here! You can search through it. I only cut off contact and disappeared to give you a surprise. I didn't relapse, I swear!"
Alex looked at the younger woman for a moment, then took the purse. As he opened it, she relaxed a little, managing to breathe easier. When she spoke again, her tone was calmer:
"First and second were in the know. First didn't mind, and Second…"
Speaking till there, she paused. Alex calmly looked up from the purse he was searching through without much fluctuation on his face, much less any expectation, and narrowed his eyes at Jenny:
"And Second?"
The question he spat out came in a voice just as flat as his expression, but his eyes didn't hide the newfound sharpness that peeked out of their depths as he awaited the answer to his prompt.
Jenny's eyes turned evasive, but she didn't clam up and try to keep the information secret. She subtly swallowed her saliva, and let it out:
"Second encouraged me to try giving you a heart attack."
Alex stilled, a smiling face flashing through his mind and making his pulse heat up for a second, before he looked at Jenny with no outward disruption in his demeanor. Calm returned to his eyes and nodded slightly:
"Is that so? I see. And what did you do to try to make that happen?"
Jenny sneaked a glance at him from the corner of her eyes, and grinned when she didn't see any fire or thunderous cloud on his face. Puffing her chest up, she brightly replied:
"I created a company."
"Huh!?"
The corner of Alex's eyes twitched, but it was not him who reacted audibly. Jenny snapped head toward Lance, glaring at him with indignation for his disbelief. She gritted her teeth, and snapped at him:
"What 'huh!?'? Do you have something to say? Do you think everyone is like you, always playing around and unable to do anything? I'm a Lenner! There is no trash among the Lenner!"
Lance winced and raised his arms in surrender, his expression full of regret at the reaction he had failed to hold back:
"Yes, yes. Of course, you are right. My bad, okay? I was just surprised."
Alex glanced at Lance, and at Sharon, then returned his eyes to the fuming young woman. His stare calmed her down, and after one sidelong glare at the misfortunate source of the interruption, she smoothly changed her expression into a smiling and obedient one to face Alex and wait for his reaction. But he said nothing. He closed her purse, and held it toward her.
She beamed with pride after taking it:
"See, brother Third, you didn't find anything. I didn't lie to you."
Alex gave her a deep look:
"The only thing I'm seeing is that you have too much energy. Come with me."
Jenny blinked, but Alex didn't wait for her to answer. He turned around and started walking to the door, so she could only hurry after him. She caught up with him as he opened the door. Before following outside, she did not forget to pull her tongue at Lance behind his back. Only after that did she run to catch up with her cousin and hook her arms around his with a cheerful appearance.
Lance's lips twitched, before he shook his head with a look of defeat, and let out a helpless exhale. He glanced at Sharon:
"We should follow them."
Sharon thought for a moment. With Alex in a bad mood already, it would be best to not let him find any fault with her. She was unlike Lance who was his friend, so she'd better remain around until explicitly told to leave. She nodded:
"Let's go."
Hurrying out of the office, along with Lance, she barely managed to catch up with the two who had left before them just as the door of the elevator opened with a sound of notification.
They rode it in silence, with only Jenny showing her dissatisfaction at their presence just like one would be at pollution. As Lance worked to keep himself unbothered by her grimace, Sharon looked on with curiosity.
*Ding*
The weird atmosphere in the elevator was broken when the elevator arrived at its destination. Alex resumed leading the way, and Jenny seemed to catch on what was coming, as her face started to take on a bitter hue.