10 Lina goes to her workplace

Shanghai city.. roads full of Mercs, Audis & Ferraris, filled with posh men and women, mostly in blues and blacks, hastily, but with pure sophistication, walking towards their workplaces. In certain corners of the city, men in suits board elevators and go to work in high rise buildings, like the amazing Shanghai Tower, and ofcourse, Wang Fashion House.. In other corners — uptown corners that come alive at the first rays of sun hitting the planet — groups of people compete in selling their products, pitching their business ideas, raising investments, conquering the markets.

In this city of extremes - extreme commercialization, sophistication and poshness, Lina is a like a breath of fresh air- unique, natural, carefree and real.

Our MC, Lina, is basically a beautiful walking disaster, and makes sure to leave a path of destruction wherever she goes, but who cares?! She's so damn cute! She's clumsy, funny, cute and amazing, perhaps the most amazing girl in the entire world. She's never going to stop doing her thing! And she's got an innocent face that will get anyone's heart to melt like chocolate.

Lina walked fast on the sideways. She was already late for her work. Clumsily trying to manage a big bag she's holding, she was about to break her own record - preventing her from slipping and falling down for a hundred times in a minute .

Lina works as a waitress. In all the blacks, blues & greys, she could be seen in bright pink jacket and brown trousers. She had no time to change after her landlord wasted her time. And so she decided to carry her 'waitress dress' in a big laundry bag.

"Hey! Watch your steps!!" shouted an old man as Lina stepped on his shoes.

"Sorry! Very sorry!!" apologized Lina as she continued walking with a tense face.

A few minutes later, Lina reached her workplace - a restaurant near Wang Fashion House. She changed her dress and went into the kitchen to serve her first order of the day.

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Inside the restaurant's kitchen..

"Lina! Where have you been? Boss has been asking about you from half an hour now," scolded another waitress wearing the same dress.

"Don't even ask. My brother hasn't been paying the rent for three months now, and the landlord came to throw us out of the house. That stupid baldy! He gets on my nerves so fast," bellowed Lina.

"He didn't pay the rent? What stupidity! And you.. what are you planning to do now," wondered The second waitress.

"Serve! I am planning to serve! Is there anything else that can be done at this time. God! I'm done with this life. I'll serve the customer and then we can have a talk on this," yelled Lina as she hastily walks outside towards the customer sitting area of the restaurant.

Tina, the second waitress, knew Lina well. Lina couldn't stop making mistakes, especially when she's in such a bad mood. She decided to follow Lina and walked towards the customer area to keep a check on her.

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The sitting area ..

The restaurant, 'Savoy Kitchen', was a perfect place for businessmen - not too large, too loud, or too trendy. Restaurants with paparazzi outside the door are not conducive to business.

Tables were well separated for a semblance of privacy, that every businessman desires the most. The clientele at the 'Savoy Kitchen' was all business at breakfast and lunch, and the staff was impeccably geared to that upscale segment, seeming to know every guest's name and leaving people alone to talk. It was quiet.. very quiet. Most of the tables were already occupied with men and women in 'blacks and blues'.

"Lina! Your table has a customer already. Your favorite customer! He's waiting," teased Tina, the second waitress, pointing towards a gentleman sitting alone in a corner.

"Damn! Why didn't you tell me earlier. He's already finished half the bottle of water. He must have been waiting for long," whispered Lina with a cute sad face.

"What! Don't blame me. Blame your landlord," yelled Tina.

"Shh.. Shh ..not so loud," whispered Lina.

"Ms Lina!" said a tall, fat man wearing a blue suit. It was the Boss.. And the boss was not happy.

"M.. Mr. Robert! W..we didn't meet today!" greeted Lina with a big fake smile as her eyes clearly expressed her fear. "B.. but, I understand. You are a busy man .. and I am a good employee .. s...so I had to focus on my customers. We missed greeting each other this morning," continued Lina.

Tina took a step back allowing Lina to handle the boss. "Don't push it!" whispered Tina to Lina.

Lina could see that her words were having no effect on her boss and her cute fake smile vanished soon, leaving her with just the fear in her eyes.

"If I can demand this as your boss, would you please take care of your appearance. Comb your hair. And please, be a little more presentable.. atleast in the sitting area", ordered the boss, in a tone slow enough not to disturb his customers having their meals.

After having given an angry do-this-or-you-are-fired looks, the boss walked back into his cabin. Lina and Tina looked at each other confused. Before they could say anything, the boss was gone.

"How about you try having these long curly hair.. fattie!!" teased Lina pointing towards her boss's cabin.

"Drop it!" requested Tina. "Look, there's your favorite customer. He's totally lost in his mobile. I'm sure he's angry now," continued Tina.

"I don't think he's angry. Actually, I've never seen him angry. He has such a pleasant personality. See! He's got such an innocent smile," said Lina pointing at her customer, desperately trying to calm down her nerves.

"I think he is angry," repeated Tina.

"Hey! I can read people better than you. Even if he looks angry, he certainly is a cool guy from inside," reassured Lina.

Lina was right. The man in the picture certainly was cool and gentle. He was none other than - Mr. Smith, Wang's best friend and business partner.

Smith often visited Savoy Kitchen. His pleasant personality, easy going nature and good looks had always been eye-catching to Lina.

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