The Indifferent Ex-Husband: Heartstrings in the Mall of Fate novel Chapter 86

Two Years Later

At the end of June, Wye City was all sunshine and the perfect kind of warm, with a hint of early summer humidity in the air.

Sophia had just stepped into the office when her buddy Sylvia slid a design proposal across the desk to her, and didn't miss a beat to remind her, "Hey Sophia, don't forget we've got graduation coming up in a couple of days."

Sophia paused momentarily, then remembered indeed there was such an event and nodded, "Yeah, got it."

She shot Sylvia a grateful smile, "Thanks a bunch."

With a chuckle, Sylvia clapped her on the shoulder, "No need to be formal with me."

Sylvia and Sophia were classmates. She was a local. They'd entered Dempsey Architects as interns together, worked as a team on studies and now on the job too. Sylvia was one of the few good friends Sophia had in Wye City.

Sophia had joined Dempsey Architects a little over a year ago.

Initially, she hadn't planned on joining, and despite a year of persuasion from Don and Ivan, she hadn't budged.

But as it turned out, she couldn't find a better fit for her internship. As a student and newbie, no other firm would dare to let her dive right into project design. Usually, she'd start as a glorified errand-runner, with limited chances to really cut her teeth, plus the cultural differences and fixed office hours. After scouting around, Sophia eventually went with Dempsey Architects.

They must have really dug her design style, because Don gave her plenty of freedom and responsibility at work.

Right off the bat, she was the lead designer, and they seriously respected her ideas and inspiration. She didn't have to clock in and out every day, just needed to show up for the big brainstorming sessions and other creative meetings. Aside from that, it was mostly online chats.

For the first six months, with work and studies, Sophia hardly had to stick to office hours.

Only in the past few months, after wrapping up her final design project, did she start to settle into a more regular routine. But Don didn't really enforce the whole clocking in thing for her, so she was mostly free to manage her own time.

Sylvia had also started the daily grind of clocking in only in the past few months when her coursework eased up. She had less experience, having gone straight from undergrad to grad school, and didn't have any big projects under her belt, so she started out as an assistant.

Sophia might not have officially worked a day in the company. But thanks to her crisis awareness during her student years, she knew from the get-go that her family wouldn't be able to help her career-wise. Since her freshman year, she'd been itching to push her skills further at Apex Engineering University, knowing full well her family couldn't provide that support, whether financially or emotionally. So, she was mentally gearing up for her future early on.

From the moment she set foot in college, she kept an eye out for any potential money-making gigs.

She was studying architecture, leaning towards design, and had a knack for drawing and designing. Initially, she started with cover designs and original character drawings for books through a friend's referral.