" As a wise woman once put it (myself), the press is like God himself. They are omnipresent, can see, and will notice our every movement, from when you yawn without covering your mouth to when you trip and snap a stiletto heel worth their weight in gold. Actually, when we think of them like that, they are quite creepy. They permeate your life; have the ability to make you or have you cancelled so hard that if anyone so much as mentions you in public could commit social suicide. Comparisons and all that aside, I have yet to work out how to avoid them. The press, not god. I can just use backdoors and bleach my hair for them, God himself might be a little harder, not that I'm a good god-fearing girl anyway. However, in the meantime, I must insist. No pictures, no pictures. "
Zhao Yingyue was seriously considering ducking out of one of the discrete back doors, bleaching her hair, and changing the name on her passport and national ID cards forever. Like seriously considering it. As in she was one step away from the glass door of the conference room before she felt a hand on her shoulder. She stepped back and let the stream of men in suits file out, their faces ranging from pale as a ghost to purple. William Tang, the miracle lawyer, inclined his head slightly towards Yingyue and walked out of the conference room, arms loaded with files and clipboards into a sea of enraged businessmen, who were heatedly debating the current situation at hand and being herded towards the exit by the security team.
Yingyue watched him part the crowd like the Red Sea and march towards his own office. Elise's hand slacked off of her shoulder and Yingyue turned around to face Elise. Her eyes drifted past the older woman's shoulder to catch the slouched frame of the man who she had met at the funeral.
"Mr. Lee, am I right?" she asked politely, her eyes searching for any kind of recognition. A slow smile spread across his face like a cat that got the cream and he straightened himself up so he stood at full height.
"Please, call me Adrian," he spoke in a quiet tone. "Elise, it's been a while since I've had a proper look at you, tell me, have you had enough sleep recently?"
"Selena, have a seat, it's time to formally introduce you to Ardian Lee, CEO of Lee Corporations. Your father's most recent pet project," Elise pulled out two seats and sat herself down primly while glaring daggers into Adrian's forehead.
"Elise, Mr. Lee, is there something that I should know about between the two of you before we talk shop?" Yingyue asked sweetly sliding into the empty seat next to Elise.
"Yes." "No." The two of them answered at the same time and the grin widened on Adrian's face.
"I've missed these conversations, they are so much fun, it does certainly brighten the mood up a little."
"Elise?" Yingyue prompted with a small nudge.
"There is nothing going on between us, Selena. Adrian here just doesn't understand proper professional etiquette."
"Selena, may I call you that? I assure you, this is all just fun and games to lighten the mood, I am very professional when the situation calls for such behavior."
Yingyue eyed him up and down, gave him the once over, and let out a small breath she hadn't been awake she was holding. "Yes, of course, Adrian," she replied hesitantly like she was testing the feeling of the word in her mouth.
"It's my pleasure to finally meet you when you are neither on the floor nor are you drenched in red and rosé wine, it is honestly quite refreshing."
"The pleasure is mine," Yingyue replied on autopilot as she took in the man in front of her for the first time properly.
He must have been around 6 feet, dwarfing her even she stood at 5'8 in her heels. He had jet black hair that was tousled stylishly in a highway don't care way with a few locks creeping down his forehead and falling into dark chocolate eyes that were so dark they looked almost black. She averted her eyed quickly after she caught herself staring and a light blush coloured her cheeks as he took her hand and brought it up to his lips. Although his lips had barely ghosted the back of her hand she could feel the goosebumps rising up her arms and she drew her shoulders into herself.
They all sat down and Elise swiped her key pass onto the seemingly clear glass table and seemingly out of nowhere a projector lit up a fabric screen that was slowly unfurling itself from a concealed and inconspicuous panel in the wall. A few sporadic clicks on her work phone and a complicated set of diagrams was appearing, faintly at first, on the screen.
"Mr. Lee, I received your email at the most ungodly of hours last night, please email at a more appropriate hour next time. Would you like to explain to Selena what this figure board means?" Elise said quickly to break up the awkward tension in the room.
Adrian stepped out from the seat and strolled to the fabric roll-up screen, "would Selena understand the details? Holdenfield-Wu just lost five grand to her although to be fair to her, his question was so basic a child could answer it."
"I have a Business Management and Finance degree from King's College, London. I assure you, Mr Lee, I will understand enough about what you will inevitably say to get by."
"First class honours, one year early, Adrian," Elise chipped in primly, "do your research next time will you."
Yinguyue cleared her throat, "I am very certain we are not here to debate my academic achievements. Mr Lee, I would, however, like to know, you are much more familiar with my father's more unorthodox business practises seeing as you seem to be the single other individual to have been mentioned in his will. Why?"
"I'm not too sure myself, how much do you know of what we do at Lee Corporations?" he asked quietly. Elise remained silent.
"Well, not very much. As a fierce competitor, I'm guessing the only true reason being one of his fiercest, the only reason why he wrote you into the will. Why? You have control over the company, more than any of my father's immediate family list, suggests he values your opinion. That makes no sense." Yingyue blurted the whole lot out then caught herself before she said anything else, recomposed her demeanour and continued. "From my observations possibly your company is the proverbial jack of all trades, master of how many I don't know." She trailed off near the end and looked up to meet his piercing gaze.
There was a slow round of applause. Adrian stepped towards Yingyue and nodded appreciatively. "You are good, not like what they say. I'm going to enjoy this ... partnership."
"Well Elise, I believe we are done here. If she can tell that much from just looking at her father's will then I have complete faith that she can decipher some numbers and coloured lines. Selena, Elise." He inclined his head slightly in the direction of the two women. He showed himself out and in the distance, Yingyue could hear the clicking of a sea of cameras.