With this silly thought, Annabelle scrutinized her own eyes and glanced at Sylvie, who was still blabbering on and on about relationships, boyfriends, and virginity.
She looked at her up and down, then focused on her face. In comparison to her own, Sylvie's features might be considered a little inferior, but by no means was she ugly. In fact, she was beautiful, just not as much as her.
Then, glancing at Sylvie's bosom and the deep cleavage she was showing, Annabelle couldn't help but recall her nude body and the curves she had seen many times before when visiting her house.
She knew that Sylvie's body couldn't be more attractive and charming; her sex appeal was undeniable, practically oozing from her.
After taking a couple of moments to think, she ultimately arrived at the conclusion that it really was a silly thought. She couldn't imagine herself being with a girl, even less so than with a man.
'Or is the problem actually with Sylvie, and not the gender itself?'
'Well, I can think about these kinds of things later as much as I want anyway, since I'll have plenty of free time.'
'And I still want to see Chris get a girlfriend first and bring her to me.'
'I can think about getting a boyfriend, or a "lover," later. It's not like it's important anyway.'
Looking strangely at her friend, who was being far too blunt in front of her, and feeling uncomfortable, Annabelle wondered if her brother had felt the same way when he looked at her recently.
So she silently gave herself a warning, reminding herself to reflect on her own behavior more objectively later.
"Okay, listen, Anna. I'll compromise with you."
"You are because you feel your brother still needs to be taken care of, right?"
"So how about I make a visit to your house and see your brother?"
"If you want, I can help and take care of him even more privately."
"Like, you know what I mean."
Seeing Sylvie wink at her while saying the last sentence, Annabelle finally snapped back to reality and glared at her.
Annabelle had never allowed her friend to come to her house, not for any reason, other than not wanting her to meet her brother. She didn't want him to learn from this kind of bad example.
So being reminded or asked again didn't feel pleasant at all.
And she was genuinely afraid that her friend would try to seduce him; after all, her brother was very cute, ahem, or rather handsome.
While she wanted to argue that her brother was different and wouldn't be attracted to Sylvie, the examples of all the men her friend had played before couldn't help but loom in her mind.
She didn't want to take any chances or gamble with her brother's chastity.
So, glaring at her, Annabelle was prepared to deliver some admonishing and harsh words, but before she could even open her mouth, Sylvie interjected and said.
"Anna, calm down, please. Like, really, what is happening with you today?"
But seeing that the seriousness in Annabelle's eyes had not diminished, Sylvie decided to relent further and continued.
"Okay, I'm sorry. Maybe my jokes went too far, but you should also know that I wouldn't touch your younger brother, after all."
Closing her eyes to calm herself, Annabelle reflected on her agitation, realizing that maybe she was a bit too worked up today. However, as she recalled the content of their conversation, it dawned on her that it was actually her friend who was taking things too far.
It wasn't that she was overly emotional; it was Sylvie who seemed to be pushing her buttons.
So feeling worn out by the whole situation, Annabelle looked at Sylvie and finally said.
"Sylvie, that's enough."
"And I'm going to write my resignation letter."
Having all traces of teasing and joking erased from her eyes, Sylvie finally asked.
"Are you really sure about your decision? From what you said, you still haven't secured another job, so won't you regret your decision later?"
Annabelle, looking at her friend who was genuinely worrying about her, felt a trace of warmth toward her, but it was erased just as quickly by the memory of her frustration.
After adamantly confirming, feeling her heart soften a little, Annabelle said.
"Don't worry too much."
And Sylvie, finally relenting, walked away to her desk and said.
"Well, if you need anything, just tell me."
After reluctantly thanking her, Annabelle went to her desk, opened the computer in front of her, and carefully wrote the resignation letter.
While she heard some of her coworkers whispering about her stopping work, thanks to Sylvie's loud voice, she didn't care much.
She took her time, making sure everything was right in the resignation letter, and finally walked toward her superior's office.
After knocking on the door and entering, Annabelle looked at the woman in front of her, taking in her classic white shirt and pencil skirt, her beautiful face framed by glasses, and her elegant pose.
She was just a couple of years older than her and had started working later, yet she had still become her superior in the end.
Annabelle didn't feel an inferiority complex toward her, but she would occasionally wonder if she had continued her studies, would she be the one sitting there instead of her, or perhaps even in a higher position?
She couldn't know, so in the end, she just shrugged it off. She had given up on all those thoughts already and didn't have any lingering feelings about it.
After greeting her and walking closer, Annabelle handed her the resignation letter and said a few polite words.
Her female boss didn't argue much; she took a moment to consider it and finally said concisely.
"We will try to hire or look for someone to fill your position from the other staff as soon as possible, so I hope you can continue working for a couple more days."
After giving her initial response and discussing a recommendation letter if Annabelle wanted one, as well as asking if she could think of someone to fill her position and various other details, she finally ended with.
"Once again, thank you for your service to our company."
Thinking that after enduring eight years of working here with all the annoying clients, a few more days of facing a few couldn't be too difficult, Annabelle simply consented, responded politely and then left the office.
A couple more days of work was no problem for her after all, and despite the terrible company, her current superior was quite nice.