Chapter 153 - Boss Wang's Exploits

'Was I too hard for that lady? Have I overdone and imposed my standards on Ms. Cathy?' Sofia suddenly asked in her mind. She had already left the municipal hall and was heading to the bus stop.

While she was walking in a yard surrounded by tall trees that provided enough shade. Such a thought somehow slipped into her awareness.  She suddenly halted her steps and stared blankly in space.

In Sofia's mind, the earlier scenes of her conversation and the secretary talking about her concern flashed back as if hunting her conscience. 

'Ahh! I was too willful. I should mind my own business next,' Sofia scolded herself. The wind started to howl and the branches of the trees danced in the air. Sofia tucked several strands of her hair to prevent it from covering her face.

While Sofia stood in the yard, the secretary secretly looked at her from the big window just outside of their office.  She was not alone. The moment Sofia left, she called her colleague and wanted to tell her about an odd encounter.

"This young lady possessed a different level of confidence," Miss Cathy spoke deeply.

"What's that supposed to mean, Cathy? This is the first time I heard you speak in this tone. You almost sounded like you adore this teenager?" her colleague asked curiously. The two of them had been co-workers in the office together. And she knew how defensive Miss Cathy was in terms of her job.

"Yvonne, we have encountered too many complaints in my work. But, I have never enlightened from those piles of criticisms, at least, not until that young lady spoke her concerns," Miss Cathy stated.

"Hah! What did you just say? Y-you are e-enlightened? That is such a big word for you to say. Did you overestimate your perceptions towards that teenager?" the colleague questioned in a tone that was full of disbelief.

In the perspective of this colleague, her words seemed exaggerated. It was almost as if she was putting her faith in the young lady!

"I am not overestimating her," Miss Cathy shook his head and continued to look at Sofia. By then, the young lady had started walking until she turned to the corner and was completely gone. 

"She was just a teenager. Do tell me, how did she make you feel enlightened?" the colleague probed after Miss Cathy became silent.

"Hmmn, you know, the list of our appointments in our office contains the name of the visitors only. Well, since Councilor Martinez was on emergency leave to attend to some family matters, that young lady had come here to meet the councilor," Miss Cathy explained.

"And?" her colleague asked in an impatient tone.

"Well, she did fret about the cancellation of her appointment without prior notice. I told her that there was no way for me to contact her. She was not angry. Instead, she told me that it could have been avoided if I placed her contact details when she made the appointment," Miss Cathy summarized.

"Ohhh," her colleague muttered as she also became speechless.

"That! Hahaha, that is exactly my reaction after I listened to her concern. I mean, we just never bothered to ask for contact details. It's up to our visitors if they will give any information or not. But now, I realized that I should initiate to get their contact details too!" Miss Cathy stated.

"You are right..." the colleague nodded in agreement. Her expression suddenly reflected a deep conclusion that even she could not describe what was it.

"There is also another matter that she spoke about after telling me this. She said that it was also significant for us to collect these details for the security of our officials here. In case there are crimes committed, we might be able to use the number... Although I don't quite understand what she meant, I think she was still correct about this," Miss Cathy said.

"I see. Then, I will edit all our visitor's appointment log forms and then I'll email you a copy," the colleague responded. Their old form was only the name of the visitor and the time and date. There was no more information apart from it. 

"Yes, you need to revise the forms. I think I am lucky that I experienced this with that young lady. Who knows what would happen if the incident occurred between me and some crazy and rich people. They might demand me to be fired!" Miss Cathy expressed. 

She had never felt so incompetent in her career. She thought that she was the most perfect secretary working in the municipal hall. Who would have thought that a young girl would be able to recognize her lapses right away?!

"We are lucky indeed. I must thank you for sharing this matter with me. That young girl had prevented us to experience some disastrous encounter with other visitors," the colleague replied.

"Now, let's go back to work!" Miss Cathy said and stepped inside their office feeling contented. It was embarrassing to admit that the youth had corrected the errors in her work, but, she was more than happy to share her encounter with the young lady.

Her colleague followed her and the two of them sat at their own table. She was ready to start with her tasks list when her colleague suddenly opened something that she had not realized...

"Cathy, we all know that you are very defensive in fulfilling our duty. So, I am also curious as to why you are not angry at all? Did you just accepted the teen's lessons with open arms?"

Miss Cathy looked up in the ceiling and began to wonder too. 

How come she felt not offended by Sofia's criticism that time? 

Such concern could be understood as an insult to her work performance. But, she did not felt even a little bit insult when Sofia lectured with her. Perhaps, her colleague was right... she just accepted the idea from Sofia with open arms!

"Maybe it is because of her tone? She was criticizing and speaking to me about my area for improvement. Surprisingly, I could not feel that she was looking down at my performance at all!" Miss Cathy stated.

While there two employees proceed to work, Sofia had also arrived at her next errand. She went to have a meeting with Boss Wang about the potential endorsement that they would have.

"Sister Jing is not going to join with our meeting, Mr. Wang?" Sofia asked the man. 

"Jing Jing is completing some projects. Anyway, this is about your endorsement, so, it is fine if she is not here. Someone can assess you if you need to know more details about the brands," Boss Wang easily said and another female entered the room.

"Ahh... but Mr. Wang, the contract that we have, I'm sure I've stipulated that no one can replace sister Jing. We will only finalize an agreement if she is here," Sofia firmly reminded the man.

"Hehe, but Jing Jing is not available. Here is Yen and she is the same as Jing Jing. Yen is even better!" Boss Wang argued.

"What is wrong with today? It's almost like this day is made as a day of unavailable," Sofia softly muttered as she felt a slight irritation in her chest. First, it was her early appointment. Now, Jing Jing was also not free to join with them to finalize the brand deals.

"It is important that sister Jing is here. Mr. Wang, this is my requirement that you have also agreed. If you'll breach it, then, I have to bring business elsewhere," Sofia said with no hint of emotion on her face. 

Cold sweat suddenly broke on boss Wang's forehead. She had deliberately sent Jing Jing away so that she could introduce his cousin to the Chronos squad leader.

In this way, her cousin would be able to build a close relationship with Sofia and influence the mindset of the teenager in giving them service and profit instead of full partnership!

"Aiayaa, that's a very unreasonable requirement. This employee is actually the best that I have. SO, don't look for Jing Jing today," boss Wang continued hoping that the young lady would give in to his arrangement.

However, Sofia may not know of his evil plan of exploiting her for work, she was still suspicious of his adamant attitude. She could sense right away that the man was desperate of introducing the employee to her.

"No offense to your best employee, but I will only confirm an agreement if it will be handled by sister Jing," Sofia said and glanced at the employee.

"Why?" Boss Wang asked with a few lines appearing on the skin of his forehead. He did not expect that Sofia could be this firm of her requirement.

"Sister Jing and I had already established a great connection. After the tournament, she even went with us to the victory party. Boss Wang, you cannot blame for such a requirement. I felt at ease if sister Jing will handle us," Sofia answered casually.