Getting Along

Roland heaved a sigh of relief; the meeting had finished successfully.

'Those old codgers didn't throw me any difficult questions today, but I should probably thank those two for that,' he thought as he glanced at Roni and Anna, who were stand on the other side of the room chatting.

'I should finish saying all the pleasantries with this board members first before I go and chat with them.'

A bright smile appeared on Roland's face.

'I'm glad they seem to be getting along at least; I was worried Anna might have some weird misunderstanding about Roni and me.'

…

The two women were stood to the side of the room by a water dispenser. With a pleasant smile on her face, Anna asked Veronica, "So, how long have you known Roland for?"

Veronica just smiled and nodded as she stared at the aforementioned man to the side. A slight rosy hue appeared on her cheeks as she watched him contently.

Although she was somewhat irked by being ignored, Anna continued to make polite conversation, even if she was just talking to herself.

"You seem to be very close. I think Barov mentioned that you are childhood friends; that must be nice.

"I was never particularly close with anyone as a child, so that bond is something I'll never know."

Veronica's lack of response was making Anna nervous, so she started rambling about some irrelevant topics.

Veronica was fixedly watching Roland's every movement; it had been too long since she'd seen him in person. Her eyes glued to him, she blocked out everything else and focused solely on him.

However, despite her best efforts, an annoying buzzing persisted.

She turned to Anna and snapped, "What is it with you?"

What was impressive was that Veronica maintained her casual smile and kept her voice low, so no one around them noticed the slight outburst.

Anna was shocked by the sudden harsh tone of Veronica; an important meeting was supposed to be civilized, with any arguments being veiled behind flowery words. This was not something Anna had expected.

"What did I do? I was simply asking some question about you. I'm working directly for Roland now, and you and Roland are very close friends. I simply wished to know more about you," replied Anna, slightly shaken still.

"You want to know more about Roland and me?" sneered Veronica. "You don't need to know much about Roland or me. All you need to know is that you will never be good enough for him.

"I have been friends with him before he was rich.

"I have been friends with him before he'd even used a computer.

"Roland is my everything; you are his nothing.

"For you to ask about my relationship with Roland, just where did you get the nerve?

"I thought you'd have wound your neck back in after I framed you, but it appears not!"

Anna's mouth was wide open at this point as she gawked at Veronica.

Veronica glanced at her with a hint of derision and said, "Shut your mouth and smile. We don't want Roland thinking anything's up."

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Author's Note: (the proper author's thought section isn't working properly)

What a busy couple of weeks I've had. I've brought peace to the Korean peninsula, I've brought war to the Middle East, and most importantly, I've ended the feud between Katy Perry and Taylor Swift.

After taking into account my recent achievements, I'm sure you'll all forgive me for going AWOL. However, your forgiveness isn't enough; I need you to love me again. Hence, there'll be double releases for the next week to make up for it!

(I had an emergency and had to go out of town for a while.)