When Elmer saw the awkward, rueful smile on Niamh’s face, he knew he’d guessed right.
His paycheck had just come in, and he’d wanted to buy something nice for Niamh. By coincidence, she’d invited him out for dinner, so he brought the gift along.
The bag he gave her was a classic Hermès with the signature “H”—not as extravagant as the limited edition Jonathan had bought, but still elegant in its own right.
Elmer had already figured as much.
“I’m sure what I got you isn’t as fancy as Jonathan’s, right?”
Niamh could hear the hint of jealousy in his voice. Without hesitation, she slung the new bag over her shoulder.
“Well? Does it look good on me?”
“It doesn’t matter what you’re carrying. You make anything look good.”
Elmer’s compliment brought a flush of color to Niamh’s cheeks.
As she transferred her things from her old purse into the new one, she added, “That bag Jonathan gave me? I passed it on to Amy as her performance bonus this month.”
Across the table, Elmer’s eyes went wide with surprise.
Then he grinned. “Amy must’ve been over the moon.”
“She almost pinched herself black and blue before she believed it was real.”
“I can imagine…”
Elmer noticed how fondly Niamh handled the bag he’d given her, so different from her nonchalance toward Jonathan’s gift. The realization sent a warm feeling through his chest.
In a dimly lit corner, Jonathan’s hand tightened around his glass so hard it nearly shattered.
He hadn’t expected Elmer to bring Niamh a bag tonight, let alone one from the same brand.
But the way she treated the two gifts couldn’t have been more different.
His was a limited edition, far pricier than Elmer’s—yet Niamh had handed it off to her employee without a second thought.
But the one from Elmer…
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