15 - 15 You can't be neutral on a moving train (1)

"Is her boyfriend's d*ck not erecting anymore?" Mimosa spat her inner thoughts through clenched teeth, her expression twisted with disgust. Though she had never had any sexual experience, she had heard whispers that men sometimes suffered from such debilitating disorders.

Mimosa stormed out of the office, as though swept away by an unyielding gale. A shroud of darkness enveloped her vision, unable to bear the sight of Matthieu's affable demeanor towards Marie-Rose.

"That wretched b*tch deserves nothing less than death," she seethed. Marie-Rose had declined to support her in getting back at her crush. Refusing to accept the reality that her crush had chosen another, Mimosa simmered with an unrelenting rage.

Even when she discovered later that the boy had harbored affections for the other girl long before her, having known her far longer, her hatred for Marie-Rose persisted.

The memory of being advised to wait before acting impulsively by the very person she loathed only fueled her fury.

And now the whore dared to lay claim to Matthieu, befriending him as if she hadn't intruded on Mimosa's territory. Since the two had begun working on that damn project, they had developed an inexplicable camaraderie.

Fortunately, her circle of friends happened to be lingering in the hallway, relishing their lengthy break. Mimosa approached the first person she knew would lend an ear to her grievances and incessant grumbling.

"Guys, you won't believe what I just saw. The witch is making moves on Matthieu now," she attempted to seize the attention of her chosen audience. This was how the entire scene unfolded in her eyes. Despite lacking any concrete proof, Mimosa couldn't shake off her suspicions of Marie-Rose. "I'm certain she wants to add more d*ck to her collection," she added with a scowl.

"Oh, dear. I believe his manhood is perfectly functional. She's the problem," the woman waved her hand, rolling her eyes and gesturing towards the room where Marie-Rose was. "I mean, she's so unappealing. What does she even have to offer? Have you seen how small her chest is? And that unsightly belly fat," she added, shaping her hands to emphasize her point.

"It's not like she's even had children," someone added, provoking laughter from the gossiping clique.

The new accountant attempted to defend her. Even though Marie-Rose hadn't borne children herself, it didn't seem fair to denigrate someone based on their appearance. She knew this all too well, having faced ridicule for gaining weight after giving birth, almost reaching the brink of obesity.

"Yes, but she's a woman. Weight gain is natural," the new accountant took Marie-Rose's side.

"What are you trying to imply? That it's natural for women to gain weight and not for men?" Cezar, the department director, immediately countered.

"It's not quite the same," she retorted, her belief rooted in the idea that women were predisposed to accumulating fat by design, while men only grew fat due to their unhealthy habits. The notion of the "dad bod" was simply a feeble excuse for some inactive men. Her own husband remained in shape, not only working himself to exhaustion at the office but also dedicating considerable time to the gym to maintain his fitness. Moreover, he pitched in tirelessly at home, assisting with the baby and taking care of household chores.

Moreover, she had been as slender as Marie-Rose before giving birth, leading her to naturally side with her, as people often gravitate towards those who bear resemblance to themselves. She, too, was a redhead, though her eyes were a warm shade of blue. Like in Marie-Rose's case, they weren't married in their early thirties.

"What do you mean it's not the same thing?" the man challenged her with an authoritative tone.

The accountant clamped her mouth shut to prevent any further conflict, but the man continued to exude an aggressive demeanor toward her.

"It's the same thing," the blonde interjected, coming to his defense. "Oh, dear, it's all due to a hormonal imbalance. Women like that simply don't take care of themselves enough because of their negligence."

As Marie-Rose passed by with her team, she rolled her eyes, her expression falling upon hearing the blonde lady's words. The callousness in her tone struck a chord in her heart. Was losing weight truly that easy? She had been giving it her all.

She felt a pang of sympathy for the subject of the gossip. She was certain they were discussing the overweight girl from the accounting department. Just then, she noticed the office's handsome charmer crinkling his nose in the accountant's direction, subtly gesturing with his head so that his girlfriend couldn't help but notice her too.

He appeared appalled by her presence.

"Look at that!" he remarked to his girlfriend, his tone suggesting that he was referring to an object rather than a person. Purposefully ignoring her, they made it evident that they were displeased. It was almost as though, in their minds, she didn't belong in the building, so repulsed were they by her appearance.

She felt a pang of sympathy for the unfortunate girl, who was undeniably beautiful. With her pale blue eyes and vibrant red hair, she possessed a delicate allure. If she were to shed her excess weight, she would easily surpass the average appearance of the boy's brown-haired girlfriend.

Nevertheless, even though she wasn't the intended target, Marie-Rose couldn't help but feel disheartened. Working in an office had caused her to gain weight. Sitting for extended periods at her desk had taken a toll on her physique. Despite her dedication to daily workouts at the gym, her eating habits hindered her progress. Thus, in part, the woman's remarks held some truth, but the sting of their words still left her feeling melancholic.

"I agree that Marie-Rose's bust is on the smaller side. Perhaps that's why she insists on flaunting other parts of her body. Always parading around in those ridiculously short skirts," Mimosa sneered. It was true that her skirt was relatively short, yet it modestly covered her thick thighs. Her petite frame complemented by slender legs, Marie-Rose boasted curves in all the right places, all of which were disguised beneath her loose-fitting attire.

"She looks so tacky! She blatantly disregards the dress code, which clearly stipulates that skirts should be no more than 10 cm above the knee. I measured mine precisely. It's exactly 10 cm above the knee," the gossip continued.

"Oh, I never bothered to measure mine!" Marie-Rose responded, having overheard their conversation about her. She swiftly confronted the gossipers, causing Mimosa to lose her composure upon seeing her there.

"Please refrain from speaking ill of people behind their backs," Marie-Rose scolded her former friend before turning on her heel and leading the others to the cafeteria.

A hush descended upon the small antechamber, ensuring the departure of the subject of their discussion.

"Her bust is too small. Men prefer women with more curves, which explains why her boyfriend left her," the blonde declared.

"She does have curves," the accountant interjected, emphasizing that the woman possessed an appealing overall body shape. Maybe she didn't have a backside like hers, but at least she didn't have a flat bottom like the died-blonde lady speaking. She had noticed the woman wearing push-up undergarments on several occasions, causing her to ponder how someone so insecure about her own body could be so quick to criticize others.

However, the accountant's voice was drowned out by the cacophony of reactions the other woman's assertion elicited. Her colleagues' voices drowned out her attempts to be heard.

The boss celebrated upon hearing the news, elated that Marie-Rose was finally single. He had been waiting for this moment for quite some time.

He reminisced about his attempts to persuade her to leave the "fuck boy." These handsome, charming types only broke women's hearts. In his eyes, she had been foolish for staying with him. Didn't she realize he would eventually abandon her for a younger, more attractive woman once he grew tired of her?

"She should have ended things with Alex a long time ago!" as he had advised her back then. But she had remained obstinate. "He only broke her heart in the end."

"Look at Mimosa, that girl is thriving on her own!" he pointed out to her. His intention was to subtly suggest that Marie-Rose, too, could manage perfectly fine by herself, as if the latter wasn't accustomed to being on her own. However, secretly, he had hoped for her to end up alone so he could implement his plan. 

He hinted at the possibility of Alexandre mistreating her. "I've witnessed a heated argument between the two!"

"She had simply been desperate, which was why she had settled for him. In truth, she had been so desperate that she had pursued him to be with her. She didn't realize her own worth," he justified his theory. But deep down, he believed she didn't hold much value.

"The man I'm with has always treated me well," added the other woman, Anemona. Her mention of her own relationship was an implied suggestion that Alexandre, Marie-Rose's ex-boyfriend, had not treated her properly.

Their insinuations stemmed from overhearing an instance where Alexandre had questioned Marie-Rose's conduct. In Anemona's world, couples were not supposed to engage in open conflict, especially not in public, whether in the workplace or within their private circles. The ideal, in her eyes, was a facade of harmonious perfection, shielding any signs of discord from prying eyes.

"Rumors have it that she cheated on him with a boy much younger than her, fifteen years her junior," Mimosa deliberately dropped the bomb. Her informant was the office's resident fuck-boy from the IT department, Emilian.

He had urged her to spread the rumors, and she felt compelled to appease him, knowing he frequently changed girlfriends. Perhaps he might even choose her next if she allied with him. She refused to act like the b*tch a*s Marie-Rose, who had not shown any sympathy for her and had instead shielded the b*tch who stole her boyfriend.

The audacity of that old hag to suggest that she didn't believe the relationship of her crush with the other girl would last and that Mimosa should wait! What did she think, that she possessed some kind of superpower? If she had listened to her, she would be mad by now, just like the mad cow Marie-Rose was.

Moreover, she thought the woman didn't deserve to be with that beautiful man on the cover of her book.

"Oh, yes, she's one of those childless b*tches who's never satisfied and keeps younger lovers to fulfill her desires. She's just chasing after boys." the other psychologist in the office inferred. In their eyes, she was just one of those wretched women desperate for d*ck, who would leave their older husbands in pursuit of naive and gullible young men. She was nothing more than one of those cougars.

"Yes, the MILF preyed upon by sexually-deprived youngsters."

"No, that's not quite right. She's not even a mother, so she can't be a "mother I would like to fuck". Nobody desires her. She's just an aging spinster, desperate to lay her hands on a fresh d*ck to compensate for the lost years in her life. She's trying to make up for the experiences she missed in her youth."

"No, that's not true. Women like her simply had fun. They have lived their lives to the fullest," the older woman interjected. She had been widowed at a young age and was currently feeling frustrated as she couldn't remarry due to her children. In the present day, as societal norms had evolved and it had become more socially acceptable, she had a boyfriend her age, but she refused to engage in intimate relationships with him. Disdain filled her as she looked at these younger women without children. To her, they seemed to spend their days only seeking pleasure.

"Younger women still have secretions as well as their own desires," she concluded.

Feeling dismayed by their persistent gossip despite her warning, the accountant turned her back on them and retreated to her office to focus on her daily tasks.

"What's even more scandalous is that she supposedly wrote about him in her novel," Mimosa let slip another rumor, visibly pleased with herself. "He's the male lead in her book."

"Which one?" an intrigued participant inquired. He was familiar with Marie-Rose's novels. She had even promoted her works within the office.

"Oh, they suspect that all of her novels feature the same character. Each one of them has a name starting with the letter 'J.' However, this particular character seems to be named Patrice in reality. It was quite challenging to identify the boy, but they eventually managed to track him down. She follows him on Instagram, and she used one of his reels for a story."

"Did you mean Instagram stories?" someone queried.

"Yes, it seems it was merely a promotional move she made for the climax of one of her novels. We deduced this from the comments she left on the reel when she shared his video."

"But how can you be certain he's the one she cheated with?"