Hiding Behind Her Superficiality novel Chapter 25

Chapter 25 Locked in the Washroom
It was near afternoon when Elspeth finally woke up to a terrible headache. She groped around for her phone, and when she finally found it, she saw she had received more than a hundred messages and numerous calls from Harper.
She first sent him a message to assure that she was safe before she started to recall what had happened last night.
She remembered how she had met Callum and gone all out teasing him, and…
She had no idea what happened after that.
After massaging her temples, she quickly freshened up and went to the company.
Even though Ophelia was a bit of a b*tch, she did a good job in planning the dinner party. Having someone of her status decorate the venue in such a novel and unique style won her the praise of everyone.
“Oh, stop it, you guys. This really is nothing much. Callum was the one who taught me everything. I am only copying his skills,” Ophelia explained with a flush on her cheeks.
Everyone naturally knew what was going on when they saw how bashful she was, so they teased her again.
“Miss Fleming, you and the president must be childhood sweethearts. We can tell that he likes you a lot!”
“Gosh, this is like a TV drama!”
Elspeth felt emotions she couldn’t pinpoint, and she soon returned to her own seat. Still, she could hear the mindless chattering going on.
Someone had to pick now of all times to ask the wrong question. “But… isn’t Elspeth the fiancée of the Winthrop Family? What if she chooses Mr. Winthrop when the time comes?”
Ophelia was in the middle of being praised when her face suddenly fell upon hearing the question.
However, she had to force an awkward smile to keep up with her image. “Don’t worry. Elspeth told me she doesn’t like Callum.”
Elspeth raised an eyebrow at that. She couldn’t help the laugh that slipped when she heard Ophelia uttering nonsense with that serious face on.
“Please don’t make things up, Miss Fleming. I am not close enough with you to talk about something like this.”
Surprised that Elspeth suddenly came over, Ophelia’s face turned pale, but still she lowered her head and chewed on her lower lip. “Elspeth, you were the one who said that. It is alright if you regret your words. After all, Callum—”
“What is wrong?” Elspeth cut her off with a laugh. “Am I not allowed to like him?”
Ophelia immediately fell silent. She was so embarrassed she couldn’t say another word. When she caught sight of Callum, who happened to be walking toward them, she smilingly laced her arm around his. “Callum, I have decorated the banquet venue for tonight. Do you want to go take a look?”
His gaze was firm as he impassively looked at Elspeth, who was not far away. “You were late today, Elspeth. I will be deducting your three days’ worth of salary.”
Elspeth was so angry she could laugh, but all she did was grind her teeth and give the man a deadly stare.
However, Callum avoided her gaze as he swiftly went with Ophelia to the venue.
After half an hour, Callum’s secretary suddenly came to Elspeth and whispered in her ear, “Elspeth, Mr. Winthrop wants you to drop by his office.”
As much as Elspeth was reluctant to be in contact with the man, she could only stand up and trudge to Callum’s office despite sighing when she saw the troubled look on the secretary’s face.
She then opened the door, where she found Callum sitting in the lounge with a grim face.
“Why did you call for me?”
She didn’t approach him when she saw that he wasn’t in the best of moods. Instead, she stood in a distance that was neither too far nor near and studied him.
He pointed to the gift box on the table and stated, “You will come with me to the dinner party tonight.”
Even though his tone was stiff, it was obvious that he was asking her to be his partner.
“Me?” Elspeth repeated in surprise. “Your childhood friend isn’t going to be too happy about it.”
Ignoring what she said, Callum had a scowl on his face as he picked up the gift box and stuffed it into her hands. “This is your dress for tonight. Remember to wear it.”
“And what if I say no?”
Unlike him, her face was smug as she wrapped her arms across her chest and looked at him.
“I will deduct one month’s salary, then,” he announced in a low voice.
Rendered speechless, Elspeth glowered at him before she walked out with the box against her chest.
Ophelia happened to see Elspeth leave the president’s office hugging a huge gift box. Her jealousy that started to bubble up inside was so close to consuming her.
What a shameless fox! she fumed.
At night, Elspeth took the box and went to the bathroom to change into the dress.
Ophelia also went into the washroom to fix her makeup a while after Elspeth had gone in.
She had on a baby pink dress that was the cherry on top of her adorable and gentle appearance.
Glancing at Elspeth, she no longer had the façade she had on. The look in her eyes had been replaced by unadulterated hatred.
“I am warning you, Elspeth—don’t you dare get ideas about Callum. I won’t let you off the hook otherwise.”
Elspeth brushed her fingers through her fringe, her face still calm. “Even if I did, it has got nothing to do with you, no?”
Ophelia itched to tear Elspeth’s mouth open when she saw how stubborn the latter was being. “Elspeth, I grew up with Callum. No one can get between us. I hope you back off before you come to regret it!”
Hearing that, Elspeth shook her head and clicked her tongue. “He still doesn’t like you even after all those years you spent together? Tsk! You poor thing.”
“What the h*ll did you say?!” Ophelia swiftly let out an angry shriek.
“Do you think he likes you? Ophelia, has he ever shown you that he likes you? Even a little?”
Elspeth had asked the questions that Ophelia had avoided thinking about because she was reluctant to learn of Callum’s true feelings. She was afraid she would get the answers she didn’t want to accept.
However, she had never seen Callum pay attention to any woman so much. It suffocated her to see how he occasionally showed he cared for Elspeth.
“He is just confused about his own feelings, but no matter what, he will never fall for you!”
Elspeth nodded and commented lightly, “Fine. We will wait and see.”
Ophelia’s eyes were sharp when she smashed the lipstick she was holding on the floor and stormed off.
After she left, Elspeth went to change into the dress, only to find out that the dress had been cut into shreds when she opened the box. She could tell at a glance that someone had done it on purpose.
She threw the dress into the bin, and was about to head out to get a new dress when she realized that the washroom had been locked from the outside.
Her phone happened to have run out of battery as well.
“What is with this sh*tty luck?” she muttered to herself with a frown.
At the same time, Callum had been waiting for Elspeth for a while now, and he was starting to worry when she still hadn’t appeared.
Did something happen to her?
He felt even more uncertain after he called her, only to reach her mailbox.
Just as he was about to go look for her, Ophelia suddenly came to him with a sweet smile on her face. “Callum, are you waiting for someone?”
He nodded with his eyes looking into the distance.
Ophelia couldn’t help feeling jealous again when she saw the distraught look on his face.
“I bumped into Elspeth earlier, Callum. She was on her way to the washroom. She told us to head in first in case we waste time waiting for her because she will take a while.”