"Gulp..." Kyoko Shirofuji swallowed. Though she intended to shift the blame, she still had to consider how to do it gracefully. Besides, thinking burned far too many calories, and the parfait in her hand no longer seemed appetizing. Surely swallowing a little saliva was fine, right?
But just as she pondered how to shift the blame both elegantly and invisibly, Sogo Doma greeted her first. "Yo, Kyoko. What a coincidence..."
"Umm..." Kyoko Shirofuji, who had only just opened her mouth and had already resolved to shift the blame, calmed down instead. She first took a bite of the not-so-tasty parfait, then changed the subject. "Ha, haha, sir, I didn't expect you to come again. Sorry, I was taste-testing Satou's new parfait and didn't notice you right away..." In short, she should steer the topic toward new cooking. As an excellent chef, Lord Doma surely cared more about how the food tasted. She really was clever.
"Hm?" Sogo Doma paused at that. "Did Satou switch jobs?" Had the guy jumped ship just days after he had barely acknowledged him?
"No, isn't he doing perfectly well at the shop? Why would he switch jobs? Why would you..." Kyoko Shirofuji was confused.
"Manager, this isn't Valonaria," Maya Matsumoto hurriedly reminded her in a low voice before she could finish.
Sogo Doma: "..." He heard that! Were these two really that airheaded? Kyoko Shirofuji: "..." Huh!?
This wasn't Valonaria? Then what was she doing here?
"Umm..." Calm down. Don't panic. If this wasn't her own shop, then she had even more room to maneuver. Telling herself this inwardly, Kyoko Shirofuji reorganized her words. "I misspoke. You're so eye-catching, sir—I recognized you at a glance!" At last, she put down her parfait cup and turned her head. "Matsumoto, did you properly greet sir?" Maya Matsumoto: