55 Working late at night
Lina's first day at the office had been very hectic.
The day began with a roar – phones ringing off the hook and emails galore... and in between answering calls for her CEO, checking his emails. She also made sure that the flipcharts, markers and projection materials were there and that there were notebooks and pens on the table and coffee was available for Wang at the right times. Wang traveled a lot.. and therefore, Lina was expected to spend those precious morning hours attending to his flight, hotel and car bookings for upcoming trips and his expenses from previous trips. Lina's table had a bunch of receipts on her desk including taxi stubs, sandwich receipts and dry-cleaning receipts and she had to handle them all.
Lina received a number of visitors, who had arrived to meet the CEO. And she made sure that any files and documents Wang needed for his meetings, as well as any food or drinks, were ready and served properly.
During the course of the day mountains of emails arrived that needed organizing and responding to and mountains of mail arrived that needed filing – Lina also ended up filing magazines, CVs, presentations, proposals and other documents which arrived during the day. In the evening, she checked all the voicemails again to make sure that she had not missed returning any calls and made sure all the administrative and other items on the day's list have been tended to.
Lina was instructed to keep a to-do list which she had to update at the end of every day. She was expected to discuss this with Mr. Wang so as to list out the next day's priorities. She had to keep her boss's calendar and check that frequently throughout the day to know what he had ahead and made sure that he is always aware and prepared for his next meeting.
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Inside Lina's office ..
It was late at night. Most of the employees had already left for their respective homes, but Lina was still working. She wanted to make sure that Mr. Wang's to-do list, for tomorrow, was ready. Her work was interrupted by Chunhua, who had just entered Lina's office.
"What are you doing here?" asked Chunhua in a bossy tone, as she walked towards her working desk.
"I'm working on Mr. Wang's to-do list for tomorrow. He has a full day tomorrow," answered Lina.
"Okay! Now, go to your home. It is already very late. What has got you so determined to work so late? Is it your desperation to impress your new boss?" mocked Chunhua. Her expression clearly showed that she was not happy with Lina's presence in the company.
"Okay! My work is almost done! I'll just go and talk to Mr. Wang about this list.. and then, I'll go back to my home," replied Lina as she picked up her file and began to walk towards the exit door.
"No! Wait!" Chunhua gestured Lina to stop. "You can talk to him tomorrow," Chunhua hesitated.
Lina continued to walk slowly towards the office's door. "I can't afford to make mistakes at the start of my job. So, I better discuss this list with Mr. Wang," insisted Lina, as she exited her office.
Chunhua stood still in Lina's office, clearly annoyed and irritated at Lina.
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Inside Wang's office...
Wang was busy reading a fashion magazine, when there was a knock on his office's door. It was Lina.
"May I come in?" requested Lina.
"Yes, come in," replied Wang.
Lina walked into the office and stood near Wang's chair. "Ahmm! Mr. Wang, I've prepared tomorrow's schedule for you. If you could go through it, and let me know about any changes that need to be made.. that'll be very helpful," requested Lina.
Wang did not reply, and continued to look at Lina's face, with great attention.
Lina assumed that Wang was not interested or maybe too tired to discuss. "S.. sir, we can have this discussion in the morning. I understand that it is a little late, and you might be feeling tired," Lina hesitated.
Again, Wang did not say anything, but continued to look at Lina's face.
Lina was scared. 'Does he, finally, remember that I'm the same girl whom he had kissed at the restaurant's parking?' thought Lina, as she hesitated to speak anything more.
