Thursday, continued …
As she was leaving Anna observed the receptionist a little bit closer. She wondered how a receptionist could afford designer clothes, as she observed the same in a M Mall store yesterday, she shopping with Du AnLing and Leng Xi. She suspected the receptionist did not have rich parents.
Could she be spying for Lu Jinhu, Yang Lin and their families, as they stood to benefit from information about Hou Enterprises, particularly now that the Lu's would not get the company easily. The collaborative nature of business here made her doubt that other companies would be involved. Anna then wondered, are there other spies for them present?
The elevator came to a stop on the third floor and Assistant Wang indicated to Anna to exit. After exiting he walked and opened a door on the left-hand side of the foyer and ushered Anna inside.
As he entered, a middle age woman, about 5 foot 7 inches, wearing a black business suit, with a pencil skirt approached him "Assistant Wang, Welcome to the female only section within Legal Department. How can we help you?"
"Supervisor An, this is Ms Jones, from Hou Enterprises Australian Lawyers. We are lucky she in here and has temporarily come in to assist with an urgent matter to prevent the CEO from having to immediately travel to Australia. As there is secure office space here, she will use this. Please ensure that she has any assistance she requires an make her feel welcome."
Assistant Wang paused, before continuing with news that would not go down well. "Ms Jones' husband is from City T, and they are likely moving here. She may take a permanent part-time position here dealing with Australian legal matters for us in conjunction with her Australian employers to minimise the need for the CEO to travel to Australia. Presently she is only here for a couple of days to address this matter. Her pass will allow her to come and go from the CEO's office level the couple of days to speed up dealing with the matter."
"Are you certain Assistant Wang, that she can come and go freely from the CEO's office?" Supervisor An was quite shocked, as no one was allowed that freedom. They had to have appointments well in advance to enter the CEO's office.
"Supervisor An, she can. The matter is pressing and cannot wait to be addressed." Assistant Wang was angry about the disrespect being shown to him, to CEO Hou, and to Madam Hou. He had to stay calm as he knew from the orders of CEO Hou no one was to know that Madam Hou was his wife. With that Assistant Wang walked past Supervisor An, and showed Anna into an empty office, closing the door behind them.
In a much quieter voice "Apologies Madam Hou. Please do not inform CEO Hou what has happened, as I do not want to lose my job. As CEO Hou's wife or what we commonly here call the 'Lady Boss' here is your pass to Hou Enterprises. It will get you anywhere within any Hou Enterprises building, but please keep it safe."
Handing Anna, a piece of paper "CEO Hou, asked me to give you this which is the password for the secure CEO's personal intranet that operates within the building. Supervisor An, will provide you the details for the general intranet used within the legal department. CEO Hou asked me to pass on his request for you to join him at 1pm for lunch in his office."
"Not a problem." Replied Anna quietly.
As he was walking out of the door, Assistant Wang said loudly so Supervisor An would hear "Ms Jones, if you need anything please contact me."
Outside the office Anna, saw a stunned Supervisor An, and three other women standing outside not believing what they heard. The four women rushed their way into the office.
Supervisor An, snapped "Who in the world are you?"
"As Assistant Wang indicated Supervisor An, my name is Anna Jones. I am a lawyer employed by ANX Lawyers in Melbourne, Australia. My husband and I were married a couple of days ago here in City T, as it is his home town. I would much more prefer to be enjoying my honeymoon, rather than being here but this is an emergency."
Anna hoped the last part came out with enough frustration so these women would get the message that she really did not want to be here. What woman, supposedly on her honeymoon would want to be in an office working.
Anna in a calm and normal voice continued "My employers reached me yesterday, asking if I could assist in dealing with this urgent matter. They made the arrangements directly with Assistant Wang for me to come and address the matter. The benefit it that it will prevent CEO Hou from having to travel to Australia to address the matter."
In speaking Anna observed that Supervisor An and the other women were annoyed someone came in and disrupted their cosy work arrangements were. Supervisor An was the most annoyed, which made Anna wonder about her loyalties.
Supervisor An, however quickly masked her look, and commented "These ladies are Lawyers Deng, Mei and Bei."
"Ladies, nice to meet you. Supervisor An, Assistant Wang indicated that you would be able to give me the details to log into the local intranet. Could I please get this, as I do not have time to waste."
"Well, you will just have to wait until I am ready to give it to you. You are nothing here, and when all four of us are ready, you can have it. We are the lawyers, you have no rights here."
Anna recognised that Supervisor An was angry, and possibly a threat to Hou Enterprises. It was the nature of the threat that she was not certain of. Was it to the business itself or was it because Anna had easy access to Hou Yi?
The four of them quickly exited Anna's temporary office, leaving the door open. AS Anna went to close the door, she heard the four of them talking.
"Who does she think she is."
"I bet she has only met CEO Hou in passing, if at all."
"I would have spent more time with CEO Hou than her and will always do so."
"She is a no one, I bet she is not even a lawyer just some assistant."
"She is so pushy."
"I do not believe she has just gotten married, she is just here with a lover"
"Who would want to marry her anyway."
"Let us make her wait all day for that intranet details, then she can get nothing done."
"I bet she has manipulated Assistant Wang, to have him show her deference."
"We need to back each other up and tell everyone we gave her the details, she simply lost them and did not ask."
"Let us make everything so difficult for her"
Anna decided that was enough, and closed the door not wanting to hear them anymore, thinking to herself 'Ladies, if I told my husband what you just said you would all be out of a job like that.' With that Anna took out her laptop, plugged it in and used the details Assistant Wang gave her for the CEO's intranet.