39 Bare Essentials
Lina put her phone away and saw the food that Suzie had brought.
"Miss, go take a shower. I'll set your breakfast until then." Suzie busied herself as Lina went to the bathroom.
She brushed and showered then dried her hair. Walking out in just her bathrobe, she made Suzie blush.
She then sat down to eat, there was a fruit bowl and a glass of soy milk which was her usual breakfast back in America.
"Madam Yang had called and given Mrs. Ping the chart of your meal plans. Your lunch will be sent directly to your office." Suzie said when she saw Lina staring at the bowl.
"Oh mommy, still watching my meals like a hawk." She giggled and ate the fresh strawberries.
Her mother had started monitoring her meals after she fainted one day due to insufficient rest and excess stress. The stress had caused her a significant loss of weight that had scared her mother.
Soon she finished her bowl of fruits and walked to the closet to put on some clothes while Suzie cleared the table.
She walked with the grey shrug in her hand and stood in front of the mirror.
"Now you understand why I wanted a jacket?" She looked at Suzie through the mirror who now had her mouth wide open.
"That is the reaction I want to avoid on my first day at work." She pointed at her mouth which Suzie immediately closed.
Lina looked stunning with the black and white combination. She had the perfect hourglass figure, she had a slender and tiny waist which made other parts of her look exceptionally large and the V - necked top did nothing to help her.
She would not call her breasts huge but they were certainly big for her body size.
This was why she never stepped out of the house without a jacket or a fully covered neck. It was one of her complexes.
She then put on the shrug and buttoned the top two buttons, this instantly changed her look from a sexy office lady to a spinster librarian.
But it did not bother her. She needed to avoid attention at all costs so that she could see how this new office functions.
She did not just want to be the top boss who sits in their office and reads files. She wanted to see how her employees interacted, how they faced challenges and to be honest that big office on the top floor could be boring at times.
She loved and lived for office dramas and to witness them first hand she needed to blend in with them.
She awoke from her daze and started packing things that she might need today.
Lina then walked in her closet and brought out a black backpack with neon green zippers. It looked old and was suitable to carry all the things necessary for her office.
'Let's pack the bare essentials.'
Lina opened the mini fridge and pulled out a couple of chocolate bars, sour jelly strings and a bottle of her flavored water.
'Absolutely need this!' She picked up a pouch from her dresser as she combed her hair.
She moved to her bedside table and picked up her tablet, mints, gum, lip balm and two scrunchies.
'You never know when you lose one of these!' She picked an extra scrunchie, just in case.
She put all the items in her backpack and zipped it up.
"Miss? All you are carrying is snacks?" A confused Suzie asked.
"Oh my dear Suzie, everything else I need will already be there. The only thing missing is my snacks, so that's all I need to carry. For now." She patted Suzie on the shoulder and picked up her phone.
After looking at herself in the mirror for one last time, they went downstairs.
It was 7:40 now and Butler Ping and Mrs. Ping were ready to see her off on her first day at work.
She waved them goodbye and walked out the door.
'I feel like a child on her first day at Kindergarten.' Shaking her head, she walked to Derek who was waiting for her.
As soon as she opened her mouth to say hi to him, she saw him bending in a 90 degrees bow.
"Forgive me, Young miss. I had no idea." He said, still bending.
"Derek, what's wrong? Get up before someone else sees you!" She urged him and he finally looked up at her, his eyes filled with remorse.
She just pointed at the rose gold watch on her hand and indicated that they were going to be late. Only then did Derek stand upright and open the door for her.
'What happened to him?' She just stared at the back of his head after they sat inside as he drove in silence.
"Mind telling me what that was all about?" She questioned him.
"Last night, the Butler came to my room to congratulate me for becoming your driver." Lina just nodded for him to continue.
"I asked him if he had any tips for me. He said that he just had one." He looked at Lina through the mirror.
------
Derek and Butler Ping were celebrating his promotion with a couple of beers last night and he asked him about the miss that he would be serving.
"Young Miss is not very picky about things but there is one thing that you ought to be careful of at all times." Butler Ping had become serious at the end of the sentence.
"What is it?" Placing the bottle on the table, Derek looked into his eyes.
"Miss has a serious case of tachophobia." He answered.
"Fear of speed?" Derek asked incredulously.
"Correct. We don't know why or how it began but one fine day she just started to be scared of cars and speed." He thought back at a young Lina clinging to whoever or whatever she could find, just to calm herself.
"Is it serious?" Derek recalled the scene after he returned home with Lina, he had just driven away from the cafe at a high speed to get away from that guy.
'Mrs. Ping had asked me to keep an eye out on the guys that may hit on her. So I just drove away from there in a hurry. Did my fast driving cause Miss to have an episode?'
"It depends. Sometimes she just gets a little motion sickness and may feel pukish but there were times where she fainted and only regained consciousness after many hours." His voice was somber and dry.
Taking the sip of his beer, he patted Derek on his back and wished him luck for his new job as Lina's personal driver and then walked away.
"Dammit! How could I be so reckless!" He cursed himself and decided to ask for her forgiveness tomorrow morning.
----
"So that's what happened!" Lina nodded and gave Derek a reassuring smile.
"That wasn't your fault. I had forgotten to mention my fear of speeds, plus I was totally fine after a few minutes so there's no need to feel bad about it. Just promise me that you'll give me a heads up when you speed the next time. Deal?" She said with an eyebrow raised.
"I will keep the speed under control at all times, but if such a situation occurs I will warn you beforehand." He promised sincerely.
Getting the answer that she wanted, Lina happily looked out the window.
-------
Exactly at 8, she reached the parking of Obsidia Designs and called Wade to come pick her up.
"Miss, I will be bringing you and Master Wade lunch exactly at 1:00. Make sure you eat on time because Mrs. Ping will check your boxes later." He whispered the last part.
"Will do!" She nodded her head and turned to the window when she heard a knock.
"Get out, will you!" Hissed Wade.
"Woah, someone's not in a good mood today!" Said Lina sarcastically as she waved at Derek and followed Wade to the private elevator.
Only the VP was allowed to use this elevator, of course even Lina could. Everyone else had only one entrance, through the lobby.
In the elevator, Wade briefed her about her new job.
"I've got you the job that you asked for, but your immediate boss is not happy with it. So be prepared for a little hostility." Wade warned her.
The elevator stopped at the 22nd floor.
He led her into the Marketing department of Obsidia, the place that had a hand in every other department in the company.
They entered the conference room and waited for the others to arrive.
"We still have a few more minutes before they come, so let me tell you about your colleagues." Wade showed her his watch. It was 8:15 now and the others would be here at 8:30.
"You did that just to show off your watch right?" Lina wriggled her eyebrows at him, which made him cough.
"I don't know what you are talking about. Will you concentrate on what I am saying!" He glared at her and wiped his watch before pulling his cuff over it.
'He definitely did it to show off!' Lina just shook her head.
