Chapter 3

The elevator's door opened to a bright open space, transparent glass door giving view to well furnished offices. The door to the entrance was secured with a passcode and Becky froze in concern. There was no one in clear sight, so her chance of entering depended solely on her next choice of action. What to do? What to do? She bit her finger in frustration, wondering who to call. Then just out of sheer luck, she saw a young slender and tall man sight her and walked forward towards the door. She too made her way to meet him at the entrance.

"Ms Lawyers?" He asked with disbelief after typing in the code. She nodded. "It doesn't speak well of you if you get in trouble on your first day of work." He said, his eyes lightly scrutinizing in an intimidating manner, from her head to toe. "You're fired."

What?

Her heart sank upon hearing the statement. "W-what... H-how? I... I, why?"

The terrorizing gaze in his eyes slowly dissolved and melted into a warm refined smile. "I'm sorry. I'm just joking."

Becky was trying to keep her cool. Yes she was glad his threats had only been a prank, but the real boss was probably still angry. Amidst his elated laughing, Becky cleared her throat for attention. He stopped and listened. "Sorry, um, there's supposed to be an ongoing meeting, right?" He nodded and led her to the conference room.

Standing before the lofty daunting doors, she heaved in heavy sigh and praised herself straight for a few seconds. Then she pushed the doors open, and strode in. The light reflected off the wall in the right manner and was aesthetically pleasing in view. Her shoes scuffing against the tiled floor was the only thing she could hear, as the slow tune of silence seeped in the room.

All eyes turned, and fell upon the slender petite figure that ambled in, including Logan. She resembled a Disney princess in a human form-so natural with a calming resting face. It was like she was at the ball, searching for her Prince Charming. But those kinds of people were usually bold and daring, there was no doubt about that. If not, she wouldn't have confidence barged in during an important meeting, and casually tried to claim her seat after running nearly an hour late on the first day of work. He didn't say anything. He just stared.

Becky told herself if she successfully succeeded that scary moment, she would trip herself to an exquisite fancy restaurant and order a little something on the menu she'd been craving for days now.

Simply grilled Salmon.

It was a reward she usually granted to herself whenever she was proud of an achievement.

There were rows of chairs around an oblong table with staff seated and ready to contribute. The cloying weight of cologne in the air was unmissable.

She didn't know exactly what to do, what to say, or who to meet on the long seat of chairs, and just as her mind raced on the next thing to do, she saw him. He was already staring, obviously sure of her face. Life was so unfair, Becky knew that now.

How was she supposed to look at him? Right from the start of her day, the universe had been against her getting the job. They taunted her at home, then delayed her, and now, brought him to her. He was seated in the center of the table at the front, and that could only mean one thing. He was a boss-maybe even the boss. Just two words, and she would be chased out of the building like the shameless slut she already felt like.

"Ms Lawyers?" A lady's voice, cold and shrill, called out and Becky's gaze switched to face her.

She resembled a fierce mean girl from some novels she'd read, and an instinct struck. It was almost obvious to her that this blondie in lustrous red would be the villain of her story.

"Yes." She replied, calm and relaxed, even though it was only for the audience to see. Deep down, her stomach was churning and she could feel the pounding of her heart in her chest. "I'm so sorry I'm late. I…" she swallowed, "there was a uh, an... There was an, an incident, so I uh, I got stuck in it. I was... It was... I'm sorry I'm late. Really sorry--"

"Do you really think that kind of apology would cut it? You're late on your first day and here you are casually strolling into this very important --"

"You've wasted our time enough. Just have your seat." Logan cut off, his eyes not meeting hers. There was something familiar about her and he knew too well his memory of Disney princesses was all bleak, since the last time he'd actually sat down to see fancy cartoons like that had been ages ago. So he couldn't tell where he'd seen her before. But he was sure they'd met, and the self-conscious side glances as she came to take her seat, had proved him right.

He cleared his throat. "Where were we?"

They didn't object.

Chuck started. "We'll make sure the location becomes right. As we've said, the second location --"

"Not so much of a concern again, is it?" Logan frowned, knowing they'd already solved that case. What was next, was the second thing Lily had announced. Right. It dawned on him. How would they be sure crises wouldn't pop up? He was a perfectionist, and would forever remain one. "How do you intend to solve that issue? What if the limited staff end up not showing up?"

Lily sat up straight, protruding busty chest. "We'll just have to make sure it doesn't happen. We have secured payment waiting already. Once the client pays up all bills--"

"He's paying the full bill after a well secured wedding. He has a lawyer backing him up." Chuck replied.

Lily paused, then frowned. "Well, sure but, well..."

"Any other ideas?" Logan asked.

Becky was quiet the whole time. She didn't know what they were talking about, and damn would it look ridiculous if she started asking redundant questions.

"New girl?"

Her heart paused when she heard him called. New girl? She forced a smile across her face, "yes?"

"There's an issue at hand. And as the new planning manager, I need your contribution as well. So what do you think?"

He spoke with so much firmness that a tinge of worry circled round her eyes. Had he truly forgotten her that easily? Of course they were at work, but it would just have seemed more nice if he complimented her in some sort of way rather than giving off the I-don't-like-you vibe. "May I know what the problem is?" She asked, ears actively waiting for replies. She mustn't make any mistakes, not even a little tiny one.

"A little someone has failed to chip in a close reminder to our external staff," he began to say, slowly and gently, like he'd been forced to repeat himself over again, and he'd grown bored. "And now we might not be getting enough of them on the special day. There's a wedding coming up in a week's time, and we mustn't mess things up."

"Okay, the deed has already been done." Becky said, carefully thinking of a way out of the described mess. It was just in a week's time, and that was like saying it was in an hour's time. The silence in the air irked her a little, but she knew what to say next. And that was all that mattered. Ignoring the faces that fell on her, she continued. "And how many staff do you think would be available—I mean like just the percent rate. Say, you would normally get 78% of them, how many would be available now that there's been a short notice of reminder?"

"Uh, probably still 78." Chuck replied.

"Then how is it a problem?"

"Well we're not fully sure if all of them would be present. But we can only hope."

"Hope in a crisis like this one? No way." Becky thought for a while.

"You know, that is kinda the issue. How in the world are you going to solve that now when we're even--?"

"Lily, let her contribute to the discussion, would you?" Logan shot her a frown, and deep down, Becky was thankful.

"And what's the ratio of attendees expected? Compared to the external staff."

"Complete numbers of expected attendees. About 10:1.8." Replied Chuck.

"Uh, then how about we calculate the number of staff members that would be needed if only 50% of the attendees showed up. Then calculate how many staff members that would be needed if 75% of the attendees showed up. Hire the median number of people and consider having a few on calls."

Another loud roar of silence followed, with the exception of a steady drone of air conditioning and chairs creaking.

Then Lily broke the silence. "What?"

Becky smiled. "Confusing huh? What I'm trying to insinuate is that we might not need to hire all the expected number of staff. Just the right number that would balance off the scale, since you're sure of the number of attendees. That'll give us a specific target we need to achieve. We should start now by aiming for that specific number of staff, don't you think?" She said, and exchanged glances with the number of faces in the room.

Logan's head was plastered on his table, but he heard Becky loud and clear. And in a way, she had been right."That could work. But we still have--"

"One plan won't be strong enough to rely on. Neither would two or even three be necessary." Becky said, then smiled. "Create backup event plans B, C, D, and even E. God forbid we ever need any of these plans, but it's important that these plans need to be there. For 'just in cases'."

People closed heads close together, speaking in low voices to discuss a side point. Becky didn't mind. Then she saw Logan brought up his gaze to face her, blue eyes piercing deep into her soul.

"What are your other plans?" He asked.

Another smile formed on Becky's face, a comforting, pleasing one. Then a relieved sigh. She hadn't messed up. "I'll be sure to send them in to you before closing hours—if it's not too late."

✩★✩

Becky could not believe her eyes. She was on the phone with Mel, pouring out her shocking discovery the moment she'd settled in nice at her office. "He was the one! I don't forget faces, especially the ones you've slept with before." She heard Mel screeched low, then laughed ostentatiously in the background. "Mel, are you alright?" Becky's eyes widened at the reply she got from her friend, and she instantly hung up. No wonder she hadn't been fully concentrated throughout the call.

Then it was just her and her mind once again. Hadn't he recognized me?

Nah, that's stupid?

A sigh emitted her lips as her eyes stared down at the pile of documents that decorated her table. Then her eyes wandered the room, with all its fine structures and well neat furniture and she knew that after surviving through the day, she owed herself a meal. A heavy one at that.

✩★✩

Logan had been too engrossed in his private life that it had completely altered his concentration at work. His father was in his late fifties with early symptoms of appendicitis, and their personal doctor had suggested two options. Either he prepared himself for a surgery to rid off the contaminated appendix, or he stayed on a two weeks intravenous treatment at the hospital to monitor the bacteria and slowly kill them. Logan had then pointed out straight to his father the most logical way to tackle his illness, but their conversation hadn't gone well.

There was a lot on his mind that morning, and he feared there was nothing he could do to empty the heavy weight of stress he was going through. He was still buried in his worries when a name popped up on his head.

Becky.

That was it. That was where he'd met her. She was the bar girl he slept with two days ago.

✩★✩

A knock was heard on the door, and Becky stepped in the moment she heard a confirmation of invitation. And there she was in the mighty office of Logan Smith. She'd quickly done research and found a handful of information that helped her understand just the type of man he was. Luckily for her, his descriptions from the staff had been; Intelligent, Kind-hearted, Courageous and Hardworking.

But those were just the kind of words that would pop up on a character profile of any other boss. They had to have all of the mentioned traits. She was about to see his true traits. He'd called for her attention minutes ago, and she'd been late again-halted and interviewed by Ms Lily, as she'd implied.

Calling her in could only mean one thing. He was about to send her packing. There was also another fact she'd heard about him: he never mixed business with pleasure. Which meant that he had never dated any of his colleagues. Now, whether that fact had been true or not, she was about to find out.

"You called for me, sir?" She carefully selected her words, and felt hesitant when she had to call him, 'sir'. The cold air nibbled on her skin. His office had been designed in the structure that conveyed comfort. Nothing extraordinary, even though he was the CEO of the firm.

Logan's gaze advanced up to face her and he gestured towards the seat opposite him. "Have your seat please." He watched her sit, elegance and calmness following her every move. She looked different from the last time he saw her-different in a good way. "Would you like to have a cup of tea with me tonight?" He asked, the tone in his voice not indicating any form of bargaining.

Becky didn't hear him well. "A cup of tea?"

Another night with just the two of them?