Summer stepped in, careful not to shut the door entirely while putting up an innocent smile. “Mr. Green, you are finally discharged! I was thinking of going to visit you in the hospital.”
The marketing manager, Stone Green, was married with a daughter. His wife was a lion who had once stormed into his office to finish him when she found out he was fooling around with one of the office girls. Since then, everyone in the office knew who was really in charge between Stone Green and his wife.
As she had crossed the marketing manager on her first day at work, some preparation was a must.
When Stone Green saw Summer, the muscles on his face twitched. This woman was not as pindling as her looks suggested; in fact, she was ballsy.
He had been working here for ten-odd years and he would not let a little woman become his bully. He looked away with an insidious look in his eyes. Summer ignored him as she walked right up before Lynn.
“Dad, you asked for me?”
She knew that the father and daughter had grudges against her, and they would seize every opportunity to find fault with her. But she had to pretend to be unaware.
Right now, Lynn looked dead serious, and his voice was stern. “Summer, you can come to see me if you’re not happy with the job. You shouldn’t have vented your dissatisfaction on Mr. Green. If things get out, people will think the daughter of Lynn is just an arrogant lass, and it will affect the image of the company!”
Summer did not interrupt nor try to argue; she just let him finish and then pretended to be surprised. “That sounds serious.”
Vicky sneered, “You’d better know what’s at stake. Now apologize to Mr. Green!”
Summer pretended not to hear Vicky. She looked at Lynn and said matter-of-factly, “Dad, come to think about corporate image, have elder sis fixed her problem? I read online a few days ago that someone had seen her partying at the Violet Gold Club again.”
Vicky’s face turned pale, scrambling to talk herself out of the trouble. “Dad, I-”
Summer cut her off and said with a smile, “Of course, you’re not that kind of person. Why would you go to such a place like the Violet Gold Club? You know what; it must have been our rivals that spread the rumor to defame our elder sis. People would have thought it’s our dad’s fault for not teaching his daughter any common decency and have a negative view of Jarrett Group.”
Summer nearly believed in what she said.
Lynn had immediately put a lid on everything when the scandal of Vicky first hit the hot search. But somehow, someone had reignited the issue and things went out of Lynn’s control.
He had no choice but to wait it out until things cooled down. Only then he greased the platform’s palm and took down every video and photo of Vicky from the net. Just when he thought things were over, Vicky had gone partying at the Violet Gold Club again.
Summer successfully diverted Lynn’s attention away from her. She knew he was eager to hammer her, but he was even more worried about Vicky and the mess she had created.
“You two, leave us!” Lynn’s face was stern.
Summer walked out. As indignant as Stone Green felt, he had to get out of the way because the president was into his family affairs now.
The moment he stepped out of the room, he saw Summer stood outside the door with her arms crossed. She smirked, looking icy yet beautiful. “Mr. Green, the president said, I was venting my dissatisfaction on you. Was that what you told him?”
Stone Green was hooked looking at her icy beauty, which was tickling his senses right now. Finding himself vertically challenged even in front of Summer, he could only hold his chin high, trying to look confident. “Let’s wait until the president settles his things. If you beg me now, I may put in some good words for you and ask the president to let you off this.”
The smile on Summer’s face deepened. Thinking she was about to butter him up, he was gloating over it. Just then, he saw Summer lifted her leg, and he instantly had a bad feeling about it. The next moment, he found himself hugging his leg, screaming in pain.
Summer scoffed, taking out a paper napkin to wipe her shoe. “It was you who said that I was venting my anger on you. And now you got it.”
The color drained from the manager’s face, and he could not even form a proper sentence. “You… I…”
For about six months, Summer had stayed in a slum. When she came home late at night, she could come across some local hooligans. Perhaps she was a woman, and her ugly makeup did not seem to help much at that time as they harassed her. She was battle-hardened since then and never scared of harassment.
Most people had chosen to grin and bear it when facing harassment at the workplace. With this mindset, Stone Green would most likely want to keep things under the surface. But she was dead sure he would not hold hands and sing Kumbaya with her.
…
After Summer and Stone Green left, Lynn blew his top and barked at Vicky, “What did I tell you? You should have kept your head down. Instead, you have gone to the Violet Gold Club again! Do you still treat me as your dad and listen to me?”
“Dad!” Vicky was a little desperate now as Summer had launched her counterattack. “Those people at the club are my friends. They are rich and powerful. Who knows, they could be of help to us. If I keep absent from their party, they may not want to keep me in their circle anymore, and by then, I’m the one who would lose the most.”
“Friends? You call a bunch of rich kids who know nothing but playing and partying, friends? Or are you thinking that you haven’t caused enough mess and brought enough shame to me? The most important thing for you to do now is to keep Jerome with you!”
As a veteran businessman, Lynn knew better what the Violet Gold Club was up to, and he had far more foresight than Vicky did.
It felt bad to get reprimanded, but Vicky knew her father, Lynn, loved her. So she shifted all her anger on Summer. She did not think she was at fault, but to placate Lynn, she had to admit her mistake. “Dad, it’s my fault, and I’m sorry. I’ll keep Jerome with me.”
Lynn sighed and dismissed her.
…
Summer was back to her cubicle, eyes on the file but mind in space. She had Leonardo’s number now, but yesterday, she hesitated too much and did not call him at the end. It was 9:00 am local time, which meant 8. 00 pm in the U. S. He had not slept yet, she supposed. What about sending him a text message? Then she typed away.
“This is Summer. How are you doing in the U. S.?”
Does this sound okay? Would it be too presumptuous? She thought in her mind. Then she edited it and sent out the final version.
“This is Summer. Thanks for the phone. I like it.”