The Devil's Good Girl
Chapter 37: Big fish

Chapter 37: Big fish

"Welcome, Mr. Sisson." Olivia welcomed Solana’s representative as soon as she heard word that their clients had arrived earlier than expected. "I am Olivia Kindell, the head of the engineering department."

"Nice to meet you, Miss Kindell." Jackson shook her hand and introduced his entourage. "This is Attorney Ritson. He’s the head of our legal team and will help us with the contract."

Olivia offered everyone a meek smile before encouraging them to follow her to her office. Fortunately, she didn’t have lunch yet. Otherwise, these guys would have to wait.

As Olivia entertained their clients in her office, Fil and Kenzo returned to their office.

"Fil!" Elise whispered, waving to catch Fil and Kenzo’s attention. The two furrowed their brows, approaching Elise’s desk on instinct. "Did you see those guys?"

"Uh... yes." Kenzo rocked his head, snapping his eyes to their boss’s office. "They’re the Solana Representatives."

"Not just representatives. The owner is here."

Deep lines appeared between Fil’s brows, looking at Elise curiously. "The owner?"

"Mhm. That’s why the boss panicked when she heard the owner would come himself." Elise cleared her throat, looking back at the boss’s office. Olivia’s office was see-through. Therefore, they could see their boss sport her business smile while talking to their client.

"That guy... is the owner?" Kenzo inquired, eyes on the man sitting on the couch while talking to Olivia.

"He’s quite young, isn’t he?" Elise blushed. "He’s also good-looking. I thought he was a celebrity."

"Why would the owner of such a big company come himself? Fil, do you know him?" this time, he cast Fil a look, only to see her staring blankly at the office. "Fil?"

At the third call, Fil snapped. "Huh?"

"Are you zoning out?" Elise tilted her head to the side. "I know he is handsome, but this is the first time I saw you stare at someone like that. Don’t worry. I think I have a crush on him too."

"Do you know him, Fil?" Kenzo repeated, recalling that Fil murmured a name earlier. He didn’t hear it clearly, though.

"No — no," Fil denied, shaking her head. "How could I know such a man?"

"Are you sure?"

"Mhm." Fil smiled to hide the fact she knew that man very well. "Anyway, if they’re here, let’s prepare the drafts we prepared this morning. The boss will call for us any minute."

With that being said, Fil rushed to her desk to get the documents needed for their first meeting with the client. It was a rushed meeting, but they were able to prepare everything that was needed. However, that was the least of her concerns.

’The owner of Solana?’ Fil mentally gasped, shifting her eyes back to the office. ’I thought he’s a son of a billionaire, so I shouldn’t be surprised he got a lot of money. But... did he ask Olivia to pass the leadership to me?’

If that was the case, Fil wouldn’t be pleased. This project might be a huge opportunity for her, but at the same time, it felt like cheating, especially since Olivia had to give up the project to her.

*

*

*

Minutes later...

"This is the team we gathered to work on the project," Olivia went on to her flowery speech, introducing her team to their biggest client at the moment. "And this is Filomena Lovin. She’s a senior engineer and she’ll be the lead engineer of the project."

Fil smiled meekly, gazing down at the hand stretched to her.

"Nice to meet you, Miss Lovin." Jackson smiled from ear to ear, his eyes squinting. "Call me Jack."

"It’s a pleasure." Fil clasped his hand politely, quickly keeping herself together as this was under work setting. When she was trying to retrieve her hand, Jackson squeezed her hand mildly.

’What the hell is he doing?’ Fil mentally panicked, sliding her eyes to her team as they also noticed he was holding her hand longer than a handshake should last. ’Why won’t he let go?’

"Miss Kindell showed us your portfolio and we’re impressed by it," he said before retrieving his hand. "Our confidence that you and your team will meet our expectations is high."

"We won’t disappoint." Fil sported her practiced smile, mentally screaming at herself to keep herself together.

No matter how ridiculous this setup was, Jackson was still their client right now. Even though she was just having a drink with him last night, it had nothing to do with work. Fortunately, Fil’s control over herself during office hours was strong: she was able to act naturally.

"We were just here talking about what more Mr. Sisson wanted in the project..." Olivia chimed after her team and their client finished the formality. They went on to the important topic, presenting them with the rough drafts they made just this morning.

Though normally, they wouldn’t present rough drafts to their client, their client wanted to see how their engineers work in a short period of time. It was a request, but to them, it was a challenge. Fortunately, they didn’t dwell on it too much as they simply talked about what the client preferred, and some other areas they should disclose before the official start of the project.

After almost two hours of the meeting, Olivia and her team walked their client off.

"I’m glad I came here," said Jackson, facing Olivia and her team with a smile. "I’m more confident now that I chose the right firm for this project."

"Thank you for your trust, Mr. Sisson. We’ll do our best not to let you down."

Jackson nodded, and his eyes veered to Fil. The latter was standing just right next to Olivia, swallowing a mouthful, when his eyes fell on her.

"I guess we’ll see each other more often, Miss Lovin. Let’s get along." He snapped his eyes as he glanced over his shoulder, seeing that his chauffeur had arrived in the driveway. "My chauffeur’s here. It was a pleasant visit."

"Take care on your way, Mr. Sisson."

With that being said, the team watched Jackson walk toward the car while they stayed there even when he drove away. Everyone’s smile faded after a few seconds, replaced with different emotions like relief or disbelief.

"Is it okay to say I’ve fallen in love at first sight?" Elise blurted out, staring at the driveway blankly. "He’s handsome, but he’s more handsome than that up close. How can a person’s smile look so enchanting?"

Olivia arched a brow as she glanced at Elise. "Stop with that now, Elise. This is work. Conduct yourself properly." She faced her team squarely.

"If you already know what type of people the Solana has, make sure everything is perfect. I need your hundred percent on this project. Do you understand?"

"Yes, ma’am."

"Let’s go back and finish what we can."

With that being said, they walked back to the building for another meeting to talk about the request Jackson made. This project was the biggest one they would handle so far, but the problem was they had too little time.

As they walked back to the office, Kenzo couldn’t help but glance at Fil. Although she did a great job during the meeting — she always had — he couldn’t help but notice that something was amiss. Meanwhile, Fil felt her phone vibrate and checked the message on instinct.

[From: Darling

You looked sexy while speaking about the rough designs. Even though I didn’t understand a word of it. Dinner later?]

Her face twitched upon reading the text message from the man with whom they had just a formal meeting. However, Jackson wasn’t satisfied just yet, as he sent another teasing message.

[From: Darling

You must be thinking caught a very big fish. *wink wink* Lucky you!]

Fil scoffed, stopping in her tracks, imagining Jackson’s triumphant and evil laughter. Her colleagues also stopped when they noticed, looking back at Fil with furrowed brows.

"Is there’s something wrong?" Olivia asked, brows arched.

"Boss, is there a way to cook a very big fish?" Fil asked, confusing everyone, as this question was the least of what they expected of her. "Like a whale-sized fish."

"???"

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