She smiled at her and thanked her for what seemed to be the 100th time until Ilara was practically shooing her away and insisting that she get her things and go home.
Terlan was right beside her, smiling the whole time as he watched the playful interaction between Ilara and Naera.
She couldn't quite get her eyes off him every time he smiled. He was so handsome. Although every time he would meet her eyes, she shyly looked away.
And she pretended not to have seen Ilara elbow him in the ribs and wiggle her eyebrows every time also.
"Alright, I'm just going to get the book you gave me and I'll be heading home."
"You better! You deserve a lot of rest and happy time. How can I have a functional helper if she's too exhausted to help? Now, go enjoy yourself and be careful on your way back home!"
"I will!" she shouted as she quickly darted to the table where she left the book she was reading. And while she strapped a belt around the heavy book, she overheard their conversation.
"I need your help to convince him, Ilara. He is too stubborn for his own good. If he keeps denying the inevitable then if-, no,when it comes. It would be too late."
Ilara murmured something in reply but was too quiet to overhear. She was thankful that it was. She didn't want to eavesdrop on her boss like that.
She quickly made sure that the straps where tight around the book and there was no chance of it slipping off of it.
After that, she practically sprinted out the door and waved a quick goodbye to Ilara and Terlan, who both seemed serious and deep in thought as they were speaking in low tones but still managed a quick farewell to her as she went out the door.
She smiled as she went past the gates and practically sprinted towards her home as she went through the streets and past houses. She slammed the door open and said,
"I'm back everyone!"
"Naera! Be careful with the door! The boys just fixed that earlier!" Zaela shouted as the door creaked loudly in warning.
"Oh! Sorry! I just got my salary today!"
It seemed that everyone got home from work safely as Zaela, Xunna, Tharlo, Quedo and Laeti were here.
"Okay everyone, you know the drill. Go to the table and drop the coins you earned for the day."Quedo said as he went over and dropped a few gold coins on the table.
They all went to the table and many of them dropped several gold coins of the table. Naera was the only one who hasn't dropped hers as of yet.
Laeti raised an eyebrow but seeing the excited look on Naera's face, she simply shrugged.
"Ok, Zaela. What did you do today?"Laeti said as she asked Zaela.
"Painted an old lady's house today."she nodded and asked the same question to Xunna.
"Helped someone with their overgrown garden."
"What about you, Quedo?"
"Hauled some heavy bags of flour into a bakery."
"How about you, Tharlo?" Tharlo, being the youngest, smiled and showed his several missing teeth and despite that, made him look even more adorable as he held out 3 pieces of gold coins towards them.
"I shined some shoes!" he said excitedly. Naera cooed and pinched his cheeks as Laeti smiled and messed up his hair.
"Good work everyone! Remember our motto. No begging and no stealing. We earn what we have through hard work, no matter what. Got it?"all the children said a collective 'Yes, maam.' To Laeti as she did.
"By the way, what about you Naera?" Naera smiled as she took out a heavy bag of coins from her pocket and dropped in on the table.