Chapter 17 - The New Marketing Director (1/2)
Caspar's conference meeting finally finished 2 hours later. Finland was very sleepy but she sat beside him, patiently waiting for the guy to finish. If she knew it was going to take this long, she wouldn't have invited Caspar to come in for tea.
”Hey... thank you for the tea. You look so sleepy now, so I'll be going home.” Caspar closed his laptop and patted Finland's shoulder softly.
The girl gasped and nodded. With her eyes half closed she rose and walked to her room. ”Be careful on the road. You don't need me to take you to the gate, do you?”
”No, thanks.” Caspar smiled and patted the girl's head softly.
CLICK!
He suddenly took a picture of the very sleepy girl who was covering half of her face with her hand.
”What the…!! Why did you take my picture just now? I am very sleepy and I currently don't look my best. Also, I wasn't smiling. You said you would take pictures of my smiling transformation! What happened to that arrangement?” Finland uttered her protest. She remembered Caspar had said that for six months he would take pictures of her smiling.
”You didn't smile but still look so pretty. Good night.” Caspar waved his camera, got out of Finland's pavilion and went to Ben who was patiently waiting for him at the front yard.
”Will you still move to New York in four months, Sir?” Ben asked, opening the car door, ”Sorry, I'm just curious.”
”Hmm ... I've been Heinrich Schneider for too long, Ben. People will be suspicious because I'm not looking older.”
”Will you tell Miss Finland?”
”I do not know.”
Caspar sat in the car and closed his eyes; he was deep in thought. When he opened his eyes, the polaroid photo he took of Finland had formed an image. He looked at the girl's adorable sleepy face, and he smiled…
***
Finland almost arrived late to the office because she stayed up late accompanying Caspar on her pavilion terrace last night. She felt like she needed to observe how Caspar managed a company, because next month she might become the owner of one.
That was if Caspar lost the bet. Therefore, albeit being very sleepy last night, she struggled to stay awake to pay attention to how Caspar held a meeting with his board of directors in America via a conference call.
”We have a new Marketing Director,” Tran said when Finland arrived at the office that morning. ”He is the son of the CEO of LTX who previously studied in the United States.”
”Oh...” Finland replied, showing no interest. She liked her job, but, considering how Meilin, who also worked here influenced her colleagues, Finland felt reluctant to continue working for LTX once her probation was over. She was getting ready to find a new job, and she only had 1.5 months left.
Ms. Fang gave an announcement as soon as she arrived at the office.
”As you know, we already have a new marketing director. Later in the afternoon, we will have a meeting to discuss the preparation for Bartz's new product launch event. The director himself will attend the meeting. Each of you will have to prepare a presentation. Just five minutes will do.”
Finland was ready with the profiles of the distributor candidates from Indonesia and Malaysia that she had worked on, she just needed to brush up on the slides for presentation later.
***
After lunch, all LTX employees packed the meeting hall on the 3rd floor. They would hear a speech from the new director who was also the son of the owner of the company. Many were curious about his looks because rumors had it that the new director was young and very handsome.
The atmosphere calmed down when several company's top management entered the hall, followed by a 26-year-old man wearing a very expensive-looking suit..
”Good afternoon everyone. My name is Anthony Wu, I am the new Marketing Director. I look forward to working with all of you.”
The man was indeed handsome, and soon whispers were heard among the eager female employees. When she heard this new director's voice, Finland looked up. His voice sounded very familiar…
”Tony?!” She asked, surprised. Her voice was loud enough for many people to turn their heads toward her. ”Are you back in Singapore?”
Anthony Wu turned to Finland, and as soon as he saw her, a smile curved up on his face.
”It's my junior in NTU, apparently. Finland, you work here?!”
Finland nodded reluctantly. Tony used to be her senior on campus. He was nice and for several years Finland had a crush on him; but, because Tony was very popular and Finland was always busy working part time to make ends meet, she could only admire him from afar and kept her feelings inside.
Tony took his master's degree in the United States a few years ago and Finland did not expect meeting him again, especially in this company. Suddenly Finland felt her stomach churn.
How could she face Tony if she were to quit her job after only three months?
”Later we will have a meeting with the Marketing department to discuss the important event next month.”
Meilin gave Finland an evil stare. After Tony finished his introduction and returned to his seat, she approached him and whispered something. Finland suddenly felt very uncomfortable. Her guess was that Meilin was trying to defame her.
During the department meeting after lunch, Finland found out that Meilin and Tony were actually cousins. LTX was a family company and Meilin got her job because of family relations.
”Good job on the preparation,” Tony said while listening to the presentation from the staff. ”I would also like to thank Finland for getting us the the best venue.”
Ugh... that thing again!
Finland secretly cursed Meilin who must have spread the rumor to Tony.