Chapter 31

The next day, our department had another team-building event.
I wasn't in the mood for the department dinner party. I didn't want to go.
"You're in this state, obviously heartbroken," my team leader shook his head. "Got dumped?"
"Well... kind of..."
"What kind of man does this? He dares to dump my subordinate! She may not be that smart and diligent, but..." My team leader immediately jumped up.
"I thought you said I'm useless?" I felt insulted.
"Well, even if you're useless, you're still a hundred times better than those women out there!"
I want to kill him...
"Don't be down, let's go out for a drink tonight. Whoever catches your eye, I'll make sure they get drunk!" My team leader insisted on dragging me along.
"Ah...isn't that a bit inappropriate?" I asked.
"Well. I only do that for you."
My team leader's theory was really something. I had no choice, in the end, I was still dragged by him.
"Aren't you going to invite Boss?" a colleague reminded him.
"You guys go ahead, I'll go invite him."
Usually, during gatherings, everyone would politely invite Brian, but he never attended.
As a result, when we arrived at the barbecue place, my team leader's face paled.
"Let's stick to the rules, Boss is here." He gave us a signal.
"Ah..." a colleague who was eating frantically almost choked on the pork belly.
I was surprised and kept my head down, not looking at him.
"Boss, please sit here." My team leader wiped the top spot with a tissue over and over again.
"I'll sit here."
A low voice sounded above me, and in the next second, a pair of shiny black shoes appeared at my feet. I had no words!
"Can I?" he asked me, his tone gentle and soft.
I had nothing else to say, so I simply moved the bag on the chair and replied, "Sure."
The presence of the man next to me made me slightly uneasy. My colleagues began to toast to him one by one, and he accepted without refusal, tilting his head back to drink.
I felt worried about him, but it wasn't appropriate to remind him, so I just buried myself in grilling the meat.
Every time I looked up, I would notice him occasionally casting glances at me, and I would quickly look away.
A colleague offered him a cigarette, to which he calmly declined, saying, "It's too stuffy in here, I won't smoke."
After he said that, the other colleagues agreed with him, and no one dared to smoke anymore.
Throughout the whole process, he hardly ate anything, and only drank alcohol. It was clear that he didn't enjoy grilled meat at all.
When the waiter brought over the steamed cheese sweet potatoes, I was lost in my thoughts and stood up to uncover the aluminum foil.
"Be careful, it's hot," he suddenly reached out and grabbed my hand, even though he was drinking with the others.
I looked up and saw that he was looking at me without any reservations. Then he signaled for me to sit down and opened the aluminum foil himself, using a spoon to carefully scoop it into my bowl, little by little.
"Is that enough?" he softly asked me.
"Enough... it's enough," I stuttered in my speech.
My colleagues looked shocked. The atmosphere was incredibly awkward. But he remained composed and continued drinking with them.
After a while, he lowered his head to look at me again, and when they weren't paying attention, he quietly asked, "Did it burn you?"
"No," I replied.
I was afraid of being caught by my colleagues, so I didn't dare to talk to him. But he had been drinking and became more audacious. Finally, he even grabbed my hand under the table without saying anything, just holding on to it.
I felt a bit panicked and wanted to pull my hand away, but he didn't let go.
"Brian," when everyone was getting excited and joking around, I pinched his hand and softly called his name.
"Yes?" He turned towards me, leaning his head towards me. It was clear that he was a bit drunk, just staring at me like that.
"Let go of my hand," I whispered, "People will see."
He squeezed my hand in response, "I won't."
This man... A respectable boss, how could he resort to acting so unreasonably?
I felt dizzy. In order to avoid being discovered, I timidly stayed by his side, not daring to move even an inch. He saw me like that and couldn't help but smirk.
Many girls came to the adjacent table. They kept glancing in this direction. Of course, I knew the reason.
Brian, with his exceptional looks, after drinking a bit and taking off his jacket, unbuttoning the second button of his dress shirt, exuded a kind of restrained charm. Who wouldn't be swayed by this appearance?
I glanced at him, then glanced at the girls secretly taking pictures nearby, and let out a silent sigh.
But he just lowered his head and asked me, "Are you jealous?"
I remained silent.
"If you're so jealous, what will you do when I attend drinking parties in the future?" he teased me with a smile.
"Don't talk to me," I couldn't take it anymore. This constant thrill of being exposed was driving me crazy.
As expected, he didn't say anything more. In the next second, he used one hand to button up the top button of his dress shirt. Seeing him do that, even though I remained silent, my heart was in turmoil.
He could lose interest in me. It will also turn into nothingness.
However, in love, the most feared thing is being looked down upon by the other person. Clearly, having a crush on someone is already as humble as dust, yet I still consider my self-esteem more important than anything else. That's how contradictory I am.