I left her office in silence, walked to my desk in silence, connected my graphics tablet in silence, and silently began drawing all my ideas that had been lingering in my head and heart for so long also in silence.

"What did the evil princess say to you?" asks Midori, first making sure there's no one else in the office but us.

"Nothing special," I reply evasively. I have no desire to share my conversation with her. I'm so happy and scared about the upcoming meeting that I can't bring myself back to the real world. I understand it's not a date, but a business meeting. Still, I just want to be alone with my dragon once more.

"If you don't want to talk, fine, just forget." Midori-chan gets upset with me and leaves the office. I know where she's headed. She always gossips with the girls at the reception, and the information will spread throughout the departments, distorted and embellished through the office grapevine. Before, Midori had never gossiped about me, and I thought this fate would pass me by, since we were friends and good colleagues. But I believe not this time.

I was right. Towards the evening, all three floors of our office building were whispering about me. Some came into our office, pretending to take something or saying their printer wasn't working, but in the end, they all wanted to know why the head of the company personally called me – a replaceable minion without higher education – to her office. I neither confirmed nor denied the rumors, just tirelessly drew and made notes, writing down ideas for Sato-sama.

Deep down, I knew Midori was unreliable and would never become a close friend, but she had always been kind to me, and that was appealing. It was hurtful, but what can I do? I'm bad at gossiping, I'm introverted, and I'm pathologically honest when it comes to conscientious work, several qualities that don't contribute to making friends with some classic straight women. It's a pity that we live in a world where girls are fed ideas from a young age that women can't be friends with other women, and gossiping behind a female friend's back is entirely normal.

Credit where it's due to Matsui-san; she chased away all uninvited office "guests" from our department and didn't bother me with assignments. She probably thought Sato-sama had just fired me, and I was gracefully finishing my last day at work.

Closer to the evening, I keep glancing at the clock: 5:15, 5:30... 5:55... 6:00!!! Time to leave. I quickly tidy up my hair, adjust the white collar of my shirt. I rummage in my bag, hoping to find at least lipstick or mascara, but there's only my yuri manga, my forgotten bento, a bunch of work junk, and something pink in a bag. Damn, I need to text Mom that I won't be able to stop by the market. How thoughtless of me.

"Are you leaving already? Everyone was supposed to stay overnight at work today." Midori-chan naively asks me. Today she has already received reprimands from all departments, and her presentation was worse than ever; unwillingly I overheard the girls from the next office discussing the meeting I didn't attend.

"I have much more interesting plans today. You'd better rest before working overnight; you've spent all day on gossip and didn't have time to work properly."

"Suzuka-chan, why are you like this! Why so mean... We're friends," my colleague says plaintively. "Anyway, you started it first. If you hadn't asked your silly questions about dreams and fantasies, I wouldn't have been distracted, and that idiot Matsui wouldn't have bothered and humiliated me all day."

"You're to blame for not wanting to work and constantly being lazy." I don't want to spend another minute of my precious time on her. "You act meanly spreading rumors throughout the company. Is that what you call friendship? I always covered for you when you were late or chatting on the phone during working hours with your boyfriend. At first, I was upset with you, but I realized it was pointless. I just don't want to be friends with you anymore. Now we're colleagues, Kimura-san." It's bitter to say this, but it's time to stop wasting my time on straight friends. I read on a forum that it's very typical for young lesbians: they're always tender, due to their nature, towards their straight female friends, and the latter simply take advantage of their kindness and easily forget them or frame them, finding someone new.

I rush out of the office, passing by the whispering colleagues, and exit into the hall.

❣️ ❣️ ❣️

The book is finally complete! The access to all chapters of "The Evening Stroll" you can find on
• Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/treepipit
For more wlw content join us on
• IG: treepipit_and_bibinomad

Nota bene: some chapters feature mature content!

The cover and illustrations belong to ©treepipit

No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events or locales or persons, living or dead, is entirely coincidental.

All rights reserved
© treepipit 2019-2024