FOURTEEN( The Kenato Project)

"Oh my goodness, Mia you look terrible. What happened to you?!" Miss Lin began as Mia walked into the office.

Her hair was scattered, her eyes teary and her face rosy red.

"The man is out to have me murdered!—"

"Murder! You better watch your mouth young lady!" Miss Lin frowned,

"He asked me to take out a bouquet of flowers—"

"He tried to kill you with a bouquet of flowers??—"

"I have a pollen allergy Miss Lin!" Mia threw her hands up in frustration,

"Oh poor you, it wasn't his fault though, you didn't tell him did you—"

"Off course not, I didn't get the chance to!"

"So it isn't his fault though." She grinned,

Mia chuckled and let out an exasperated sigh,

"I can't believe you're taking sides with him right now!" she snapped,

"I'm not taking sides with him Mia, I'm only trying to look at this from a logical point of view. He sent you on an errand you weren't capable of handling, and instead of speaking up, you decided to do things your own way!" She retorted in a matter of factly way.

Mia stood there as a million thoughts ran through her head; she wanted to scream and curse but she also wanted to keep her job, she had seen the closeness between Miss Lin and Mr. Fisher and she knew not to mess with her, so swallowed back her thoughts and bit her lips and quietly walked out of the office.

When she returned to the kitchen, Christian Oh called her into his office.

"..You called for me Sir?" She began in her most polite voice,

"I sincerely apologize for earlier, I didn't know you had a pollen allergy, and you should have said something sooner.

"Yes Sir." She nodded,

"Here, hope this helps." He added as he handed her a nasal spray.

Mia bit back a small smile, although she was mad at him, but this was certainly a cute gesture,

"Thank you. Sir." She murmured as she walked towards the door,

"Mia?" Christian suddenly called,

"Sir?" She turned and Christian chuckled,

"…Are you…Afraid of me?" He asked,

Mia was lost for words, so she simply stared at him quizzically.

"You don't have to be scared, don't worry—"

"I'm not scared of you, Sir…"She blurted out from nowhere.

"Okay? Then learn to speak to me if anything is bothering you, I'm here to ensure that all my staffs work in a comfortable environment." He told her,

"Yes Sir." She nodded.

"Great. So let's work together…And try to be free around me…I don't bite." He smiled.

Mia simply nodded with a small smile then hurried out before things got awkward.

Mia returned to the kitchen and quickly resumed her duties, the entire day, she kept avoiding Christian Oh who suddenly decided he wanted to supervise the dishing washing process.

"You missed a spot." He would say at every point in time.

Mia felt like she had a dragon breathing down her neck. She just wished he would return to his snappy old self.

Maybe he still felt guilty about the whole flower incident. She thought.

"…You need to change the water now, Mia, the dishes have to be sparkling and free from debris."

"Yes Sir." She gritted her teeth.

'I hate being told what I want to do!!!' She thought.

"Also you need to handle the dishes with care, most of the dishes are chapped and unfit for guests—"

"Sir! I think I clearly know how to handle myself here!" She smirked.

"Right." Christian cleared his throat,

"Well then, I'll let you take it from here." He told her then quietly walked off while Mia muttered something under her breath.

Few moments later, there was a loud scream for more plates and at the same time, one of the chefs had spilled water on the floor so Mia was frantically trying to multitask.

"MORE PLATES! DISH GIRL!!—"

"On it!" Mia yelled back, leaving the wet area unattended to. After grabbing the plates, she ran back in the same direction and the next thing, there was a loud thud, following by a series of cracking noises.

Everyone turned to see Mia sprawled on the floor with the broken china all over the place.

"Dumdum!" One of the chef cursed while the others laughed,

"You can't do anything right, how do you even want to work in this kitchen, go back to wherever you came from—"

"That's enough!" A cool masculine voice cut in before the sous chef had the opportunity to finish her sentence.

Quietly, he walked up to Mia and helped her up, her work clothes were wet and she had a small cut on her palms and at the same time, her back hurt badly.

"Miss Will, if we were all capable of doing oh so much, we wouldn't need the help of others in the kitchen. Everyone here is as important as the other and I expect you to treat them equally. Do you understand me?!"

"Y-Yes Sir." The older woman stuttered, turning to Mia he gently asked,

"Are you okay?" But Mia seemed tongue tied. Moments ago, she found this man arrogant and annoying and now he was her savior.

"C'mon, let's take care of that cut." He said as he carefully held her hand and let her out to the back of the kitchen.

He went in and returned with a first aid box, gently he took the antiseptic and cleaned the long cut just at the middle of her palms. After treating it, he grabbed a bandage and gently wrapped it around her palms. All this while, Mia quietly sat there staring at him. He had finally gained her respect.

"…Mia?" He tapped her, bringing her back to reality,

"Hmm?" She vaguely replied,

"I asked if you back still hurts—"

"Um no, I'm totally fine—"

"You don't have to lie you know, you can take the rest—"

"NO! I mean…No sir, um I can work—"

"I could ask Ashley to—"

"It's fine Sir." She said firmly as she got on her feet.

"Thank you Sir, for this." She pointed to her hand, "And for earlier." She added awkwardly.

"Welcome, every kitchen staff is solely my responsibility and that makes you too." He smiled warmly, Mia's heart suddenly skipped a beat.

"Um, I should get back inside now." She added awkwardly, and then hurried off back inside.

For the rest of the week, Mia improved with Christian's help and became quite comfortable working in the kitchen despite the hateful stares of the chefs, especially the females, Christian had taken a special likeness for her and they were all jealous.

"…You're the talk of the entire kitchen staffs and everyone!" Betty told her,

"…So are you guys secretly like a thing now??" Tracey whispered,

"No we're just…friends I guess."

---

"... I'd also love to get an annual report from them by the end of this month... Is that understood?"

"Yes Sir."

"Good, now tell me.... how's our partnership with Triton Groups going?"

"Well sir, we recently launched the "Ten Days Commitment Project." There has been a positive change since then, their stock has skyrocketed above the ceiling."

"Good that's what I love to hear, and how about our subsidiary groups?"

"All seems well for now—"

"Nowel Luxury Hotels is in a bit of a mess right now, correct?"

"Yes but—"

"I saw the review, do we know who this insider person is?" He coldly asked,

George hesitated for a while,

"George, did you hear me?" He questioned sternly,

"Yes sir." George simply replied. He wasn't ready for any scolding.

"And..."

"…Well the higher ups haven't discovered the insider, but our source on the inside tells me it's…" He voice suddenly trailed off,

Ethan quietly turned and stared at George,

"Did you suddenly go dumb, what's with the pause."

"My apologies sir, the insider in question is…Miss Anderson." He blurted out as fast as he could,

Ethan scoffed as he leaned back into the sofa.

"You want me to believe that clumsy little thing pulled this off." He chuckled,

"Apparently sir, she had a cab ride with Mr. Colin where he asked her a series of questions and she answered honestly—"

"That little fool!" He snapped. "Did she do this on purpose to piss me off??" He turned to George.

"No Sir, she still doesn't know your real identity. That I am certain."

"That walking accident! Death trap!" He cursed,

"Sir..." George cleared his throat after a brief moment of awkward silence,

"What do you want to do about it…"

"...What do you think!" He gritted his teeth,

"Fire her?—"

"No, I won't let her off that easily…I need to think of something else."

"Yes Sir." George nodded,

"…Meanwhile, how about the Aiko Kenato project."

George went silent.

".... George?"

"Sir."

"....How about the Aiko Kenato project?"

George swallowed hard and dragged his collar as if to let in air,

"....Um Sir, that project is still on hold, Sir." He blurted out.

"What do you mean by "still on hold?!" We were supposed to commence work by January!"

"Yes Sir—"

"I thought we already finalized the deal—"

"Yes Sir, but Mr. Kenato suddenly had a change of heart, on Monday he called—"

"On Monday?! It's Friday and I'm only hearing this just now??"

"Hear me out Sir, you were so busy the entire week and I didn't want to wear you out any further...Mr. Kenato called and he said he was calling off the deal because the Kenato Palace has a lot of ancient family history he'd love to protect. He said if he was going to sell it, he was going to sell it to a family man who understands the value of family and culture—"

"A family man?" Ethan asked with a puzzled look on his face.

"Yes, one with a wife and—"

"George. I know exactly who a family man is."

"....So I told him you were one—"

"You did what?!—"

"I only did what I thought was in the best interest of the company."

Ethan rubbed his temple and let out an exasperated sigh,

"....So what did he say then?"

"....Well, he said he would love for you to come down to Japan with your entire family for a week and then, he could talk business with you—"

"Japan?!" He snapped, then slowly exhaled,

".... I'm a family man, I have a son." He said.

"...But you still need a wife." George replied,

"No I don't, the boy lost his mother at birth, simple."

George swallowed hard,

"....Yeah about that, I might have told him you had a wife....a living one too?"

Ethan exhaled,

"George."

"Y-Yes Sir?"

"Do you have a death wish?!"

"No Sir—"

"Then why in heaven's name would you even suggest that?!—"

"Sir, I know how important this is to you—"

"Enough!" He snapped.

"...So if we're going to do this, I not saying we will, but if we do, then where am I supposed to a get a wife in less than 48 hours."

"We could hire a lady—"

"No, I don't want my son to be around a total stranger." He replied in a bored tone.

"Or we could invite…Miss Kim?"

Ethan turned to face him and gave him a death glare,

"Are you sure you have the best interest of this company at heart, why would you even suggest that?!"

"My apologies Sir."

"Those two can even breathe the air in the same room, Noel literally hates her!" Ethan said.

"....And I could really use a break myself." He murmured.

"....Sir you might hate this next one, but I believe it's exactly what we need right now." George grinned,

"....I hope it isn't who I'm thinking." He said coldly,

"....Well if it's Miss Anderson, then we're on the same page—"

"No!—"

"Wha—"

"I said no! George." He gritted his teeth.

"But why? I know you two don't get along, but she clicks so well with The Young Master. She could be only one to help you out now."

"Are you insane George! Do you know how much I've lost in the last few days because of that wrench!" He snapped,

"But Sir—"

"I doubt she would....Our last meeting didn't go so well." He sighed,

Nothing a little apology won't fix, you could invite her for dinner...."

"Pause. How do I get her to leave work for an entire week?"

"Easy, you're the CEO." He grinned,

"On a serious note, think of something."

"....You can't ask Mr. Fisher to give her a week off, that would be too suspicious." He said.

"...Hmmm, speaking of Mr. Fisher, I think I have a better idea, I think it's high time I had a work with the Manager.... Put him on the phone."

Few minutes later, George returned with the phone,

"....Hello Mr. Fisher, or may I call you John?"

"....Y-Yes Mr. Chairman, John is fine." he stuttered, "....If it's about the review Sir, I'm working really had to find this insider, and once we do we—"

"You're really slow then, how do you intend to manage my business like this, huh?"

"I-I'm sorry sir. I promise to do better from now on." He stuttered

"Hopefully." He replied in a bored tone,

"Meanwhile, I found your insider…But first tell me about Mia Anderson, everything you know about her, her family, friends and every goddamn thing about her."