Nina was stunned; she tried to remember who knew her number because she had separated unique and work numbers.
"Ah, maybe it's a wrong number or a prankster," she muttered. Nina hurried to the bathroom, cleaned up, and changed her clothes. But when she returned to bed, her cell phone rang again, an incoming call from an unknown number.
The girl was stunned; she hesitated to pick it up, worried about pranksters or marketing offering goods or services. Finally, Nina picked it up; if it was a prankster, she was ready to block it.
"Hello," greeted Nina, "excuse me, who is this?"
Silence, no answer from the other side.
"Hmm, okay, maybe you have the wrong number, good night." Nina was just about to disconnect the call when suddenly, there was laughter on the other end.
"Hello, who are you? Please don't play the fool!" Nina scolded irritably.
"Yes-yes... so fierce, dear." There was a voice on the other end. Nina was stunned by that familiar voice.
"Hello, Nina. Don't you recognize my voice, hm?"
"Na-Nathany?" said Nina hesitantly.
"Hehe, why are you so nervous, Nina? Do you think I'm a prankster who's bothering you? Okay, I'm closed," Nathan teased.
"Oh no, hehe." Nina blushed, "I mean, I'm just confused as to where you got my private number, because I don't usually use it for work."
"Hmm, it's not that difficult, Nina, to get your or other employees' personal data." Nathan replied casually.
"Is this your personal number?" asked Nina curiously; all this time, she knew Nathan's number but a different number.
"Yup, save it with a special name," said Nathan with a smile, "by the way what are you doing, honey?"
"Just finished taking a shower, I'm getting ready for bed," Nina said.
"Hmm, if I were there..."
"Hey what ... don't think about anything," Nina interrupted.
"Hahaha, I don't think anything, just one thing." Nathan chuckled; he relaxed with Nina, even if it was only over the phone.
"What are you doing anyway, Nathany?" Nina asked back.
"Thinking about you," Nathan teased.
"Tsk, exaggerate. Just like a kid."
"Haha, can a kid think about his girlfriend?" laughed Nathan. Nina laughed, too.
"By the way, Nina. Tomorrow you'll be ready to present the report you made earlier, in as much detail as possible." Nathan's voice was a little serious.
"Tomorrow?" repeated Nina.
"Yeah, show your talents and abilities, if you are worthy of this project, remember, there is someone you have to beat." Nathan encouraged Nina.
"Someone? Who?" Nina asked, confused.
"Tomorrow you'll find out, and it will answer all your confusion and questions."
"Okay, I'll do my best." Nina replied firmly.
"Good, that's my Nina," praised Nathan with a smile, "Okay, sweetheart, now you rest. Have a good sleep, don't forget to dream about me. Love you Nina."
"I love you too, Nathanny."
Nina smiled, even as the call ended; she lay back on the bed clutching her cell phone to her chest, her beautiful face shining brightly. As for Nathan, he was smiling to himself. He felt a shiver of warmth run through the recesses of his long-frozen heart.
The next day, Nina woke up early and made beef sandwiches for Nathan, as well as for herself and her aunt. Auntie Shopia wanted to help, but Nina refused; she wanted to make it with her hands.
"How is it, Auntie? Is it good?" Nina asked her aunt.
"It's good, dear, very good. You are indeed dexterous like your mother." Auntie Sophia praised the dishes Nina made. The girl smiled; since she was still in elementary school, she had often accompanied her mother, who was a chef. Mom tried to teach Nina to cook, even though the girl was uninterested. But at least Nina knew how to cook well, although not as well as her mother.
Nina went to the office earlier than before; employees still needed to arrive so Nina could meet Miss. Emmy, Nathan's assistant. She hoped that her boss's confidante had also come.
Nina's guess was correct; when she arrived near the side door, a woman wearing black pants and a black blazer was standing waiting for her; it turned out that the woman had arrived earlier than her.
"Good morning, Miss. Emmy," Nina greeted her.
"Good morning, Miss Nina," the woman replied politely. "Are you prepared?"
"Sure," Nina said, taking a flash disk from her bag and handing it to the woman.
"Okay, thank you," the woman replied.
"Miss. Emmy," Nina called out as she saw Nathan's assistant about to turn around, "Yes?" the woman said, looking at Nina questioningly.
"I'd like to leave this for Mr. Nathan," Nina said as she handed him a tote bag containing a food container.
"Oh, okay. I'll convey it," Emmy replied as she accepted the bag, "is there anything else?""No, that's all," Nina replied with a smile.
"Okay, then you'll have to excuse me."
"Thank you, Miss. Emmy." Nina smiled, and the woman nodded in return, then passed through a hallway. Nina sighed. The woman was very stiff, but her movements were fast. She seemed very focused on what she was doing. She was not random because becoming a trusted assistant for someone like Nathan took work.
Nina quickly left the place; it seemed to be a unique door to Nathan's room that only a few employees knew.
"Nina!" called someone whose voice was familiar to Nina; she immediately turned and smiled at Laura, who was walking towards her.
"Good morning, Miss Fussy. It's unusual, that you're here at this hour. Usually, it's late before you arrive at the office." Nina chirped to greet her best friend.
"Hehe, got a free ride, Nin." Laura chuckled.
"A free ride?" asked Nina, intrigued, "from who?"
"From Benny, not from Mr. Nathan, haha," Laura joked with a giggle.
"Huss, don't mention the boss' name," Nina teased her best friend.
"Oops, hehe." The two friends laughed and headed to the cafe for a cup of coffee.
"Today feels like a good day to me, Nin." Laura sipped her coffee, "Ben doesn't usually want to take me."
"Yeah, it's normal for him to take his girlfriend, right, Ra?" Nina said.
"Yep, it is. He doesn't mind, it's me who can't bear it, because the distance from his office to here is far and in the opposite direction, through traffic anyway, it's a pity if he's late every day because he has to drive me."
"Well, it's called love, so it's okay to sacrifice once in a while, right?" said Nina.
"Wow, you can already talk about love, mommy's girl." Laura was a little surprised because Nina was usually ignorant when discussing boys.
"What mommy's girl?" she asked, "My mommy passed away." Nina said.
"Oh yeah, so sorry." Laura was worried about upsetting her best friend, so she quickly corrected her words, "I meant auntie's love."
Nina smiled, "Auntie Sophie is at home, she just arrived yesterday afternoon."
"Oh really? Say hello to Auntie Sophia."
"Just come to the house, say hello yourself." Nina and Laura laughed, the two friends engaging in their usual lighthearted banter. Suddenly, Nina's gaze was drawn to the outside; through the glass wall, she could see someone coming inside.
Laura was dumbfounded; she immediately followed the direction of Nina's eyes, and suddenly, the girl's eyes widened.
"Oh, Nina!"
Laura was stunned, her best friend silently watching someone from a distance. What exactly was going on with Nina? Laura returned to the figure that had captured her friend's attention. An arrogant and cold figure, ready to freeze anything more complicated than the ice at the North Pole. "Mr. Nathan is handsome, isn't he? But unfortunately..." Laura hung her words to provoke Nina. "What?" asked Nina absentmindedly; the girl seemed to have just woken up. Laura chuckled, teasing Nina that she was interested in the iceberg. But Laura didn't expect her best friend to ask a question that almost made her eyeballs pop out. "Ra, is Mr. Nathan married yet?" asked Nina casually. "What?!" responded Laura in all her surprise, "Nina, you didn't take the wrong medicine, did you, Nin?" Nina shook her head in confusion; what was wrong with her question? She explained the meaning of her question because she was curious about the boss's attitude; maybe he had problems at home or in his family, so
A man Nathan knew walked in; he looked surprised to see Nathan coughing; he looked at the table; there were some appetizing-looking sandwiches. Nathan quickly grabbed a glass and sipped water to neutralize his gagging. "Asshole! Why didn't you knock first?" he scolded. The newly arrived man scratched his hair and grinned, "He he, sorry boss, I forgot," Michael replied innocently. Without prompting, he sat down next to Nathan. "Well, that looks delicious, Tan. Didn't you offer it to me?" Michael whined as he stared at the sandwiches on the table. "You haven't had breakfast yet, Mike?" asked Nathan as he continued eating; Michael shook his head. "Well, just take a piece, no more," Nathan said. "Ha ha ha, since when has this boss been so stingy with breakfast, he usually gives me food to finish." Michael laughed and grumbled, but his hand was actively reaching for a piece of sandwich. "Tsk, noisy, this is different, it's special." Both men were busy munching on the food on the tabl
Laura was stunned; what else would this jerk come here for? Did it have anything to do with Nina's change in attitude? The girl was still trying to guess and understand the situation. Richard, the man Laura had called a jerk, smiled sarcastically. Laura understood that the smile was intended for her best friend, Nina, because the man's eyes never left Nina's. "Um, sorry, Mr. Richard, it looks like you'd like to join us for lunch," Laura said sarcastically, "but I'm sorry, we only want to eat together, so we're not inviting anyone else." The man looked at Laura and smiled sarcastically. "I don't need your invitation; I'll invite you to celebrate my success in getting a new project from my boss." Laura glanced at Nina; the girl didn't react in any way; she could more or less feel the situation. "Well, is it really that important to celebrate work that hasn't yet seen the light of day?" Laura said sarcastically. "What do you mean?" Richard looked exasperated. "No point," Laura snapp
A man walked with long strides, hurrying to catch up with Nina. To see Mr. Ben, he stopped his steps. "Good afternoon, Sir." Richard greeted Mr. Benjamin with a friendly greeting. He had no idea who the committee members would be, but seeing the middle-aged man standing here, he understood. Mr. Benjamin, the seasoned manager, was one of them. Richard felt annoyed because he was suddenly notified, so he did not have time to find out who the committee members were. Before, he was given a day or two to lobby them to support him. "Afternoon Richard, so you and Nina are presenting this afternoon?" asked the middle-aged man known as Ben. "That's right Mr. Ben, Mr. Nathan himself gave this task to me." Richard said proudly. Mr. Ben looked at Richard while frowning, "Mr. Nathan himself gave this assignment to you?" he repeated. Richard nodded with a smile. "If Mr. Nathan has given it to you, there should be no need to present it to the committee. Because the accountability of this project
Everyone was shocked; Nina stopped her presentation, and they looked toward the source of the sound. Richard stood up and shouted with emotion that Nina had plagiarized his report."What do you mean by that, Richard?" asked one of the committee members."Ladies and gentlemen, you've seen my presentation, and look, what this woman said is exactly the same, she plagiarized my report." Richard said sharply, walking over to Nina. "You know, this woman is just a young girl who doesn't understand anything, but she made a report exactly like mine, that means she plagiarized mine."Now, all eyes were on Nina, asking for an explanation. The atmosphere in the meeting room became tense. But Nina remained calm, not a hint of panic on her face."Miss Nina, is what Mr. Richara said true?" asked one of the committee team members.Nina remained calm and answered firmly, "I have never imitated anyone. Everything I said was purely my ideas and thoughts based on existing data. Since the beginning, I was
Not long after the door opened, two security guards entered; Emy gave a code to Richard, and the two security guards held the man's hands. "Hey wait! What are you doing?" Richard shouted. "I don't want any chaos in this room, negative energy must be removed." Nathan said coldly. "M-meaning how, sir?" asked Richard nervously. "Have you forgotten? Yesterday you came into my room, said that Nina was incompetent and lazy, then you offered to take over the task, and promised that it would be completed by tomorrow morning," said Nathan. "But didn't you agree?" asked Richard, feeling cornered and skinned. "Yes, I nodded, but not to give this task away, that's why this meeting is being held, I'm giving you the opportunity to prove your worth." Nathan gave Richard a sharp look. "But what? you can explain but can't account for it, answering a single question stutters, it proves you don't know your proposal." Nathan's words were piercing, his gaze sharp and cold, making anyone who saw hi
"Don't be happy yet, arrogant girl! I'm not going to stay silent, I'm going to look for ways to get rid of you." The man grinned; his gaze was very sharp, filled with resentment and hatred for Nina; he immediately turned and left the big office. Meanwhile, Nina was getting ready to go home because the time to go home had arrived, especially since tomorrow was a weekend; employees were usually very excited because they could use these 2 days to gather with family and loved ones. "Nina!" called Laura. The girl rushed in and hugged Nina. "Hey, Miss Chatty, what's this?" asked Nina in confusion. " Congrats, Nina. You finally got this big project," Laura chirped. "Uh, how did you know that, Ra?" asked Nina in surprise, thinking that not many people knew about it because it had just been assigned this afternoon. "Hmm, you're so out of the loop, you're now the trending topic of gossip in this office," Laura said proudly. "Oh? Really? How come it's so fast, it was only set this afterno
Auntie Sophia sighed before she said, "Nina, true love cannot be measured in material terms, no matter how much he has given, it cannot be used as a standard if someone really loves you."Nina was silent, trying to digest Auntie Sophia's words. "And as a woman, you must have self-respect, never ask for anything from a man before becoming a legal partner.""I understand, Auntie, I never asked Nathan for anything," Nina replied with a smile, "By the way, do you think I should return the laptop?""Hmm, if Nathan is sincere, he will be offended if you refuse. Besides, maybe he sees that you really need this laptop." Auntie Sophie argued."That's right, Auntie; Nathan certainly knows what I'm thinking because lately I've been bothered by a coworker who is spiteful of me; he sabotages my work," Nina explained the problems she faced in the office."You have to be careful Nina," said Auntie Sophia."Yes, Auntie, that's why I plan to buy a new laptop, one that's lighter to carry around, so tha