Dinan learned the news from the office group chat just as she was biting the end of her pen and reading a revised brief the client had written with the line, “Make it feel more premium, but still relatable, okay!”
The message came in at 8:03.
**Today we’ll be introducing our new finance manager. Please have the entire team present in the conference room at nine.**
Dinan read the message once, then returned to the brief. Exactly a week ago, Mr. Handoko, her supervisor, had officially stepped down from his position, and today his replacement was arriving. There was nothing strange about it. A new person came in, the old one was asked to smile, and then everyone went back to work. That was the office.
“Dinan!”
Dinan turned toward the source of the shrill voice calling her. From the doorway of their team’s workspace, Tara waved with her sweet smile, then pointed repeatedly toward the conference room with her other hand.
Come on! she mouthed without a sound.
Dinan immediately closed her laptop and hurried over to her.
“Here!” Tara held out a cup of Dinan’s favorite iced Americano. “For you.”
Dinan took the coffee and lightly flicked the girl on the forehead.
“Your paycheck’s going to disappear in no time if you bring me coffee every day.”
Tara giggled. “An intern’s paycheck isn’t much to begin with. Don’t worry, I bought it with the allowance Dad gives me.”
Dinan snorted softly and went back to enjoying the bitter taste, with a hint of acidity spreading across her tongue.
“Do you already know who Mr. Handoko’s replacement is?” Tara asked in an unusually cute tone.
Dinan merely shrugged, not particularly interested in discussing it any further. Except for Tara’s excessive enthusiasm, which was a little suspicious.
They entered the conference room, which was still mostly empty. Tara stirred her iced coffee with a straw. The girl was fun, a quick learner, and had enough energy to bring an entire room to life.
She was just a little difficult to control sometimes.
Dinan chose a seat in the very back, a position she considered safe enough to avoid unnecessary small talk. She wasn’t in the mood to interact with her prospective supervisor. She could blame Mr. Handoko, who had suddenly decided to resign and dumped all his work on Dinan over the past month.
Five minutes before nine, the conference room began to fill up. Dinan stopped drinking her coffee when the door opened. Arya Winata entered first, wearing the expression of a father trying to look more dignified, especially in front of his daughter. Tara greeted her father with an enormous smile, so enormous that Arya shuddered. A man in a dark blue shirt and black pants walked in behind him.
Dinan didn’t recognize him right away. Not someone she’d ever seen at an official event attended by the clients and contacts her company worked with, she thought.
“Good morning,” Arya greeted them. “As announced in the office group chat, today I’d like to introduce our new finance manager… Ganindra Wibisana.”
Dinan’s eyes flew open, and she stared sharply at the figure beside Arya. Then she quickly lowered her head. She was incredibly grateful she hadn’t been drinking her coffee. Dinan was sure she would have spit it right back out, considering how shocked she was when Arya said the name that had vanished from her memory long ago.
Ganindra Wibisana.
Ganin.
Dinan closed her eyes for a moment. A morning that had previously contained nothing but an annoying client had suddenly acquired a new threat: memories from her high school years that should have quietly rotted away in the trash heap of puberty.
“Damn it!” she cursed under her breath.
Ganin stood at the front of the room with a sufficiently intimidating aura. Beside Dinan, Tara clasped her hands together and bit down hard on her lower lip, trying to hide the unmistakable glow of happiness radiating from her bright face.
“I’m glad to be joining you,” Ganin said. His voice was deeper than Dinan remembered. “I hope we can work well together.”
A safe statement. Professional. Nothing to take issue with.
Ganin’s gaze swept across everyone, polite and brief. Then it stopped at the back row.
Where Dinan stood.
Their eyes met for a fraction of a second, so quickly that Dinan was sure no one else noticed the hint of a smile at the corner of Ganin’s mouth.
Ganin recognized her.
Just her luck!!!