He stumbled toward me, flustered, rushing to explain, “Astraea, don’t misunderstand. We were just doing truth-or-dare! I would never actually…”
“Astraea wouldn’t be that narrow-minded, right? It’s only a game.”
“Quiet.”
Zaria jerked, her eyes instantly brimming with complaint.
A few coworkers who sensed trouble quickly stepped forward, “Astraea, we really were only playing around. Dr. Gordon kept saying he didn’t want to, but we pushed him into it. Please don’t get upset…”
I gave them a brief look, not sure why the whole group suddenly seemed frightened.
Wasn’t this exactly the sort of activity they always played?
“It’s okay. It’s part of the game. I get it. It’s just a dinner meetup, you all can keep enjoying yourselves.”
The people around me praised me for being calm and easygoing.
Only Chase’s face looked drained.
I nodded at them politely and went back to my own small room.
Right away, Chase’s messages came one after another.
[I didn’t ask Zaria to come. She showed up on her own.]
[I won’t join anything like that again.]
[Don’t stay upset. I picked up a cake so we can make up for our anniversary.]
More than ten texts in total.
I didn’t answer any of them.