Kāi Mén Jiàn Shān - 开门见山
aerysian
"Do you want to have lunch together?" Erxi asked.
I almost felt guilty for the hope in her eyes, knowing I'd put it there during our quote-unquote moment last week. Her hands curled around a container I knew had the same basic rice, meat, and vegetable combo as every other time she ate in the break room. She'd admitted home cooking wasn't her specialty, and she did her best when funds for ordering out were low.
My fingers skated across the keyboard as I pulled up a new document. PROPOSAL FOR W TECH, it read across the top. Not my file, but I scrolled through, erasing words only to re-type them.
"Sorry, I'm busy."
Ever the happy person, Erxi chirped a Next time then! and left alone, like she had almost every day since she started working here. I waited ten minutes, enough for her to find a spot away and get settled, before leaving for my own lunch break.
Ten minutes wasn't long enough because I ran into her by the main entrance.
"Finished early?" Her tone held no suspicion, only her usual cheer.
"Yes, I had less to do than I thought." And if she thought I was lying, she didn't show. "Just heading to lunch now."
"Me, too," she said, and her face brightened once someone walked up to my other side. A girl I'd only seen in passing from PR. Erxi waved to me as they left the building. "See you in a bit!"