The Daily Life Of A Foodie In The Office - Volume 1 Chapter 86 Ch86

“The food you eat can be either the safest and most powerful form of medicine

or the slowest form of medicine.”

– Ann Wicmore

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As December slowly approaches, the work at the Kang Company was also slowly declining as most people had quickly done their work just so that they could book an early vacation.

Although it was not encouraged to have many people get an early start to book their vacation since the office was still open, some would protest that they would want to spend their time with their family since their children had a school holiday as well.

Delilah dislikes people like these. Just because they have children, it was as if they were entitled to book their vacation so early, without thinking about their other colleagues, who might need those dates as well. Even though Delilah was not married yet, it was not as if she has no family commitments as she still has her father and other siblings.

And some of the employees in the Kang Company knew that they shouldn’t use the ‘I have children, pity me’ card when they booked for vacation dates, especially for the end of the month. Delilah would look at them with mockery in her eyes and talk sarcastically at them if they did that to her.

Delilah was finalizing the dates requested by the employees from each department regarding their leave when Fawkes walked over to her cubicle.

After knocking on the wall of her cubicle, he grabbed a seat from nearby and sat down behind Delilah.

She did not know that Fawkes was behind her, hovering and keeping quiet, hence why she continued to read the papers, oblivious to the waiting young man. Because she had been absorbed in reading the papers, she did not like to be disturbed. In short, she was in the ‘zone’ that cannot be interrupted.

After a few minutes, Delilah decided to take a break and turned around in her seat.

She had a fright when she suddenly saw Fawkes’ face in front of her that she stifled her light scream. She immediately smacked him on the arm and admonished him for frightening her.

Fawkes scratched the back of his head awkwardly, giving her a sheepish smile.

“What are you doing here?” Delilah asked as she leaned back against her seat, giving a bit of space between them.

Fawkes leaned closer, his hands on his knees and his voice very soft. “Hey,” he whispered. “I heard you’re finalizing the dates for the leave.”

Delilah narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Yeaaaa” she said, dragging her words.

“I know I’ve already submitted mine but I need to change my dates again,” Fawkes said softly.

“No can do.”

The young man’s eyes widened. Delilah did not have to think twice as she immediately rejected his plea.

“But why?” he asked.

“Because it has been finalized.”

“But you can edit it, can’t you?”

“If I did that, I have to cross check everything again from the beginning to ensure the dates won’t clash.”

“What if I found someone to exchange with?”

Delilah looked at him, her eyebrows raised. “Did you?” she asked, in doubt.

Fawkes then looked dejected as he looked down at his hands. “Not really.”

She shrugged and turned back again. “Sorry, can’t help you. I don’t have the final say, anyway,” she said airly, her back to him.

The young man let out a sigh before getting up and leaving the cubicle.

A few hours had passed and it was already past lunchtime. Because of the slightly busy schedule Delilah has at that moment, working on the leave report, she only had her lunch at the office cafeteria. She did not want to waste more time by going out of the office to have lunch when she can eat at the office.

Before the office hours have ended, she finally was done with the report and was about to go over to Aubree to submit the papers when she saw Fawkes talking to a couple of their colleagues near the pantry. When Delilah looked over, probably sensing someone was watching them, the three of them looked over. Delilah then saw a flash of guilt on Fawkes’ face before it disappeared. The three of them just waved at her before continuing their conversation.

Delilah frowned, feeling something amiss.

When Delilah arrived at Aubree’s cubicle, she was surprised to see the woman had her head in her hands, looking haggard and tired. Delilah knocked on the wall of the cubicle softly, feeling a bit worried that she might disturb the other woman.

Aubree looked up and there were stress lines on the corner of her eyes.

“Whoa, Aubree,” Delilah exclaimed. “You don’t look so good. What happened?” she asked bluntly.

Aubree let out a long sigh before saying, “Ugh, I didn’t sleep last night.”

“Didn’t you get some rest during lunch time?”

Aubree looked at her with wide eyes. “Lunchtime is over?”

Delilah nodded. “Its already two in the afternoon now.”

Aubree rubbed her hand over her tired face. “Ugh, I missed lunch.”

Delilah walked closer in her cubicle and tried to peered in to see what the other woman had been working on. There were lots of statistics reports and others laid on top of her table with more stacks of papers stacked up on the side, near the monitor.

“What are those?” Delilah asked.

Aubree turned to look at where Delilah was pointing at and let out another sigh. “These are the works that Howard had left so I’m reviewing them all over again.”

“You mean, basically you are cleaning up his sh*t,” Delilah said bluntly.

The other woman could only smile weakly at her.

Delilah grabbed some of the reports and said to her, “Let me help you.”

Aubree’s eyes widened and she quickly shook her head. “No, no, it’s alright,” she said, rejecting Delilah’s help.

Delilah frowned. “It’s fine. It’s just reviewing and cross-checking, right? I’ve done this before when I helped with Howard a few months back. Unless this is something confidential?” she said, unsure.

Aubree let out a light chuckle. “Nah, this is fine. You sure?” she asked back.

Delilah nodded as she took the papers from Aubree, reading them. She then looked at the other woman and said, “I’m also done with the leave report.”

“Any changes?”

Delilah shook her head. “Not that I know of, why?”

“I heard Fawkes want to change his dates with Sophia,” Aubree said, referring to one of the HR employees. “Did he tell you?”

Delilah shook her head once more. “I don’t think so. But then again, I don’t think we can change it now since it has already been finalized. We’ve already given them time to choose the dates,” she said.

“Even so, do you think it’s possible?” Aubree asked again. “I’m sure it won’t affect much.”

Delilah kept quiet at first as she thought of the possibilities. Then she said, “I guess it’s fine since the both of them are from the HR department.”

They continued their small talk before Delilah said goodbye to the other woman, bringing along with her a stack of papers to work on. And just as she was about to leave, Delilah did not forget to remind her to get some rest whenever she can.

On her way to her cubicle, she saw Fawkes still talking with the other two. Delilah c.o.c.ked an eyebrow at them.

Seeing the displeased look on her face, they smiled awkwardly and said goodbye to each other. Fawkes then walked over to Delilah.

“Did you meet with Aubree?” he asked.

Delilah stared at him first before she answered, “Yes.”

“Did she say anything?” he asked again, beating around the bush.

Delilah rolled her eyes and then said, “Yes, I did. And yes, you can change your leave with Sophia but the dates won’t change in the system so it’s between you and her. Make sure your schedule with her doesn’t clash as in, if you are meeting someone, make sure it’s not on both of those dates so there won’t be any confusion.”

Fawkes nodded as he broke into a huge grin. “Thanks!”

Delilah narrowed her eyes at him suspiciously. “Why are admanent in wanting these dates at the last minute?” she asked curiously.

The young man scratched the back of his head awkwardly. “Uh, I have a last minute dance class.”

Delilah nodded in understanding. “I see.” From what she recalled, Fawkes actually teaches dance classes after work and during his leave days as his side job.

After warning him to not make any repeated mistakes, Delilah went back to her cubicle to continue working on Aubree’s task.

When the clock hit five o’clock, Delilah quickly packed her things. After saying goodbye to her colleagues, she went straight to the parking lot to her car.

Instead of going straight home, she went to the nearest cafe as she was dying to eat some sweets.

The nearest cafe wasn’t that far at all. It was only a few minutes drive from her office. It was actually a new cafe that just opened a couple of months ago. She has been meaning to go there but did not have the time.

The cafe looked quaint, rather like a typical cute cafe, with cake displays and little chairs and tables. The atmosphere inside was cosy with a soft classical music being played in the background. It was not crowded with only a couple of tables being occupied.

Before going to grab a table, Delilah went to the cake display, looking over at what cakes they were offering. There were many cakes being displayed; chocolate crepe cake, red velvet cake, crepe cake, black forest cake, carrot cake and more. Although all of the cakes looked yummy, she chose a slice of Victoria Sponge Cake, in the end.

Once she had placed her orders, she went to grab a seat that was on the corner, a bit quiet and secluded.

Soon after, her orders arrived. Other than a slice of Victoria Sponge Cake, she had ordered a cup of hot chocolate as well.

Cutting through the sponge, it felt soft under her fork. And when she took a bite, she could taste the lovely buttery and soft sponge cake. The fillings were a mixture of sweet and sour as it was mixed with buttercream and raspberry jam. The slice of cake looked pretty even after being cut with buttercream in between the two sponge and the raspberry jam dripping down the sponge. She liked how the sponge easily melted in her mouth, bursting out with the flavours and how light and fluffy it was.

After finishing her slice of cake, she took her time drinking her hot chocolate as she went to read a chapter from her mobile phone. It felt good relaxing after work, with a sweet meal and a good chapter to read. InDEEd, a slice of cake can be a good medicine for the tired.