[Lariette: I might clock out at five. Will text you first]
[Ruediger: Okay. Think of what you want for dinner tonight :)]
As Lariette read Ruediger's next message, soft laughter spilled from her lips while the look on her face softened. She shot him with a quick reply, saying she would definitely think of a dish she craved.
Leaving the back garden, Lariette returned inside the building, her steps slow. Nora's words from earlier lingered in the back of her mind, but she tried not to let them bother her too much.
Lariette believed no one among her colleagues would dare openly ask her about Chairman Alvord's bribery scandal. Even if they did, she had the right not to answer them.
'No need to overthink.'
Exhaling a sigh, Lariette reminded herself that. From the years she spent working in this middle school, her colleagues and the other staff were not people who would heavily invest themselves in others' lives.
