13 Her fathers daughter (2/2)
The man did as he was told then gave the document back to An Ma, who scanned it then put it back in the folder.
”That's it then. Thank you for your help. Gilbert, let me walk you to the car. An Ning, wait for me here. There's still some things we need to discuss.”
An Ning couldn't have left even if she wanted to. She was still stunned, her legs shaking like jelly. She was alternately grateful and curious about her father's intentions. But the opportunity to finally have a say in her life, in her unborn child's life, was simply too unbelievable. Her mind reeled at the thought.
When An Ma reentered the room, she was sitting on the edge of her chair looking thoroughly shock and speechless.
”Now tell me what you're planning to do,” he said, sitting down. ”I think you've already made some plans? Let's hear it.”
”I'm thinking of a company that develops video games,” An Ning said, recovering from her stupefaction. ”Small-scale at first with about 10 or 20 people. Not RPG but apps.”
”How are you going to market it?”
”Embed it as part of a device then regular upgrades. It doesn't have to be too elaborate. Something that even a child can play. I'm not too sure about the ROI though. Have to make a study of it first.”
”We have a unit similar to that that's been running on its own because the head just quit. He was caught making out with another man's wife or something. Anyway, you can take over the department if you like. Some of the staff quit so there's about five or six people working there now. You can hire more if you want.”
”Are you sure, dad?”
”It's a wasted resource, An Ning. Sooner or later, someone has to take over and take responsibility for it.”
”I don't want to step on other people's toes....” An Ning said delicately.
”If you mean Maya, no. She doesn't work for any of my companies. I once made the mistake of hiring her and the staff quit. All 30 of them. And it was in the middle of audit season. You can imagine how that went.”
”Can I ask you a question?”
”Shoot.”
”Why do I have a foster sister?”
An Ma sighed.
”Your mother adopted her when a cousin's cousin died. I'm not clear about the relationship and I'm not really interested. All I can say is that you don't have to worry about her. Maya doesn't have an impact in this house or in our lives, especially yours.”
”You don't like her,” An Ning said, stating a fact.
”I'm indifferent,” her father shrugged. ”You don't remember but she was very jealous of you in the beginning. She was so jealous that she started bullying you. I later realized what was happening and warned your mother she had better change her attitude or she'll be out on the streets in one second flat. Your mother and I....” An Ma sighed. ”She loves Maya and I love you. Do you understand?”
An Ning understood better than he imagined. She'd seen with her own eyes the close relationship between the two women. Her mother was considerate of her, her daughter, but she was gentler and laughed more often when she was with Maya. An Ning should have felt some jealousy except she did not. Every time she looked at the two of them and their interaction together, she always had this queer feeling that she was watching a drama. It was exhausting and dull and just boring to the extreme.
”Can I take the tech staff out and put them in a rental?
”An office space just opened up in one of our buildings. Why not take it? You won't take up too much space with just a small staff.”
”You haven't told me what you think of the idea yet,” An Ning pointed out. ”Aren't you afraid that I will cost you a lot of money?”
”I told you, the choice is yours. I think you're ready to put down some serious effort in making something of your life this time. And as I said before, my role as your father is to help you achieve that goal.”
”I'm very lucky to have a father like you,” An Ning said shyly. ”Thank you, daddy.”
An Ma laughed.
”You're welcome. I'll let the division head know so he can get in touch with you later about the turnover. You can go over the plans for the new office with my architect,” he looked at her and frowned. ”You're forgetting something. Or someone. What about Richard?”
”I'll talk to him and explain.”
”I doubt he'll listen to your explanation,” her father said wryly.
He turned out to be right because Richard went ballistic when he heard the news.