42 Cupcakes!
'Finally, she's in the mood to talk shop.' Wade sat straight and listened to what she had to say.
"I want to try something different for the new collections." She said seriously and waited for Wade to react.
"I wanted to put up my collection as an auction that our patrons can attend." She explained her plans.
"But I don't want my collection to all be in the hands of one woman who has the most money. So there's a rule that must be followed at the auction." This piqued Wade's interest and he leaned forward.
"What's the rule?" He asked curiously.
"Simple. No one person can purchase more than one piece." She gave a wicked smile.
"But aren't collections supposed to be like a set that goes together?" Wade was confused.
"Not this one. It just has the same theme, but you can't wear all three pieces of the set at the same time. That would be fashion suicide." She shook her head thinking of such a situation.
"Hmm.. So the pieces are not meant to be all worn together. This is not like your previous collections." He nodded his head.
"Correct! I want people to bid for my individual pieces, not the whole set." She continued.
"But if one person can buy only one piece, won't we be at a loss?" He asked.
"Not at all. You don't know how competitive these women can be when it comes to showing off their wealth. They'll come up with some method to own more pieces than their friends." She shook her head at this.
"Methods like making their own people bid on the pieces that they want!" Wade said excitedly.
Lina just nodded her head and smiled.
"Not only will the auction exponentially increase the price of the jewellry, this news will also get us great publicity for our other pieces."
"No wonder Wayne calls you an evil genius. Good job Nana. When can I see the designs? I'll have to publish them and also start preparing for the auction." Wade was eager to earn money.
There was a knock on the door, before Lina could answer.
Derek walked in with the lunch boxes from home.
"Thanks Derek! I'm starving, let's talk while eating." She opened the boxes and sniffed the delicious smelling food inside.
Derek bowed his head and withdrew from there to give them their privacy.
Picking up the egg roll, she spoke again.
"I'll leave all the matters regarding the auction to you. Spread news from official sources that LY's new designs will be revealed next week and also hint that this time the sale for these pieces will be different." She gulped down the soup and ate a few mouthfuls of rice.
"Okay. But what about the designs? When can I see them?" He whined.
"Patience, brother. Mr. Hitoshi will be arriving soon, you can see the jewelry after he starts working on them." Lina did not reveal anything else.
"Fine! I'll wait." He put his head down to eat.
"And Wade? I want a few things in my office, to make it look more lively. Get them done before tomorrow morning." She smiled sweetly at him.
They spoke about the redecoration that she wanted and soon they were done eating.
"I'm going back down. I'll see you after work." Waving to him, she walked out.
Her ride to the 22nd floor was quick as the other employees had not yet returned.
*Ding*
The door opened and she saw Leon Jiu standing outside the elevator door.
"Hey, Leo, back from lunch?" She smiled at him and waved her hand at his face when he did not answer.
"Huh? Sorry, I was thinking of something else. I forgot my wallet so I had to come back." He showed her his wallet and entered the elevator.
She saw the door close and then skipped back to her empty and bland office.
"This place needs a serious makeover!" She sat with her feet on the desk and started playing DTD.
----
Inside the elevator, Leon was in a complicated mood.
Previously, he had returned to fetch his wallet and was waiting for the elevator to stop on his floor.
'Shit, it's someone from the top floor.' He saw that the 25th floor button was lit.
He knew that only secretaries from the top floor had access to that floor and they never stopped on other floors. That meant that he had to wait till they reached the lobby and then the elevator would come back up for him.
'I'll have to wait till the elevator comes back to the 22nd floor, that is If no one else gets on after that!' He was debating whether to use the elevator on the opposite side of the floor or the stairs.
But his thoughts came to a halt when the elevator door opened in front of him.
"Hey Leo…" He was stunned to see Lina getting down from the top floor.
He somehow answered her question and got on the elevator.
"Is it true that she used connections to get in Obsidia? How is she related to the VP?" The questions only increased in his mind, but he had no answers.
------
Soon it was four in the evening, time to get off work.
She went upto the top floor and waited for Wade to be done with his work.
The four secretaries outside were gossiping about the lady who just freely walked into their boss' office.
Usually no one was allowed on this floor without permission but VP Luo had specifically informed them of her arrival and to treat her with care.
The door soon opened and they saw the stoic and indiffrent VP Luo smiling and carrying that lady's bag.
"I've asked Derek to meet us at the same place." They heard him say and they then entered the elevator and went down.
The secretaries knew better than to spread any rumors or gossip about this lady.
"Boss treats her very well, we must be careful not to offend her." One of them spoke and they all nodded in agreement.
Just the simple gesture of smiling and carrying her bag was considered as good treatment from Wade Luo's part. This showed how the secretaries perceived his personality.
----
Lina did not want to use the normal exit from the lobby because she wanted to make a grand entrance tomorrow.
'Except a few from the Marketing department, no one else knows about me here. So tomorrow I'll walk in through the lobby and introduce myself properly to everyone.' She thought as she sat in the car for her ride home.
Wade had accompanied her to the parking lot and left in his car, since he had some other work later.
----
She reached home and bid goodbye to Derek and went straight to her room.
After having a relaxing bath, she video called her mother.
"Hey, mommy! I miss you!" She whined like a little girl.
"What's wrong Nana? Why the pouty face?" Mommy Yang asked as she sat polishing her fingernails.
"As you know it was my first day at work here... " She narrated about how she was mocked and hated by Stuart Bai.
"His point of view is valid, baby. There are many who mix their personal and professional lives, but they must make sure that it never affects the business. Like how your daddy kicked you out of his company." She smirked at Lina, reminding her of how her father had ever so politely asked her to pack up her things because she was fired.
"That's not fair! That only happened because… Never mind!" She stopped defending herself and rested her chin on her hands.
"Fine. Don't tell me what happened." Diane still couldn't understand how Lina made such a mistake back then.
"Tell me what should I do to win them over!" Lina cried.
"Be yourself and do what you always do when you get upset." Diane raised her eyebrows and gave Lina a brilliant idea.
"Of course! I'll bribe them with my utterly mouth watering cupcakes." She rubbed her palms like an evil scientist.
Diane facepalmed and shook her head.
"It's called showing your good will, my idiot daughter." She corrected her.
"And I'll only give them one, that way they'll have no other choice but to be nice to me if they ever want to eat my cupcakes again!" She laughed diabolically.
"Ok, evil genius. I'm gonna hang up before your laugh scares our neighbors." Diane blew a kiss to her daughter who was lost in her plans and ended the call.
Putting away the laptop, Lina ran down the stairs screaming.
"Granny Ping! Prepare the kitchen for me!" She paused in front of the kitchen door to catch her breath.
"What's wrong, Young Miss?" Mrs. Ping, who was preparing for dinner, rushed outside.
"I want to bake. When will the kitchen be free?" She asked with an innocent smile.
"For you to burn down my beloved kitchen? NEVER!" Mrs. Ping outright refused Lina.
"That was one time! and I was 11 then. You can't expect me to be a masterchef at that age!" She put her hands on her hips and stood firm.
"Have you ever seen those 9 year olds cooking on that kids edition masterchef?" Mrs. Ping retorted.
"Touche! But come on I've really improved since then. Plus I will just be baking and you can stay by my side the entire time." She batted her eyelashes.
"Fine! Just give the list of things that you will need. I'll see if everything is available or not." Defeated by her cute looks, Mrs. Ping walked back inside.
Lina fistbumped Butler Ping who had come to hand her a notepad to write down the ingredients.
Lina handed the list to Mrs. Ping and obediently stood next to her.
"We have everything at home, but you can only start after dinner. After I send all my kitchen staff back to their rooms where they can be safe." She taunted Lina one last time before getting back to her work.
"Not funny Butler Ping!" She glared at him when he let out a chuckle, he quickly put his hand over his mouth and walked away.
"I'll show you all!" She yelled before stomping her way back to her room.
