Mrs Thompson was preparing breakfast when Alina came down.
If Mrs Thompson had not seen Alina last evening, she would have not recognised her disguise.
She had done something with her glasses and hair that made her look like a completely different person.
"Mrs MayHill, would you like to have breakfast now? I am almost done. My apologies, I didn't realise that you will be awake so early."
"It's alright, Mrs Thompson. And please just call me Alina.
I would like to have some pancakes with coffee, please", Alina said as she sat down on the dinning table.
She pulled a newspaper on the table near her while she waited for Mrs Thompson to bring her the breakfast.
The front page headline of the newspaper caught her attention. It read: "MayHill Group might as well acquire Blue Sea Entertainment Company!".
Following the article was a big picture of a beautiful woman trying to hide her face from the paparazzi while holding the hands of a man.
While the face of the man was hidden, Alina could confirm that it was Ash.
There was a tight knot on her heart for a brief second before she put down the paper with the front page facing down.
She quickly gulped down her breakfast and hurried to the MayHill head office for her first day of work.
Mrs Thompson was insisting her to take the car but she refused.
She was finally having some freedom from her grandfather and she was not giving up on it so easily.
————-At MayHill Head Office—————
"This will be your desk," Freddy Smith, the assistant business analytics manager said as he pointed at a corner desk to Alina.
"Since this is your first day, please go through the duties and responsibilities with Mary," he said as he introduced her to a pretty petite woman sitting next to her desk. "She will help you in getting all the access. You will be working with her along with the PR and Marketing team."
After the introductions, Freddy left Alina with Mary.
"Don't worry, the job's not too bad," Mary said as she guided Alina and showed her what the work was about.
The whole morning Alina spent going through hundreds of documents on projects that she was supposed to look after. By the lunch time, Alina's head was spinning with so much information.
"Should we go and have lunch in the cafeteria?" Mary asked as she peaked at Alina.
Alina was too hungry to refuse and so they made their way to the cafeteria. As they passed along the different spaces, Mary continuously kept on introducing her to many people on different departments. While Alina politely smiled at everyone, she had forgotten most of them by the time they reached the lift.
When they entered the lift, a small group of female employees followed them laughing and giggling.
It was only when Alina heard 'President' from one of the women that she started to pay attention to their conversation.
"….I have seen her before and she is not even that pretty," a tall woman with red hair was telling the group. "I am sure they are not dating."
"Even if they are, I wonder how long the President will be interested in her…" another said.
"Definitely not for long…" a third one added and they all laughed.
Alina tried to see who these women were- she seems to have too many rivals she needed to take care of.
"I wish the lift will move quickly," the red haired said again. "I heard that he is having a lunch-meeting in the cafeteria today."
Alina felt her heart skip a beat when she heard it. This would be her first time meeting Ash since they got married.
She completely agreed with the red haired woman- she couldn't wait to reach the cafeteria.
And no wonder almost all the female employees of the company thought so. The cafeteria was full and the more Alina paid attention, the more she realised that the company might have only female employees.
Mary and Alina were barely able to grab a corner table for their lunch. Alina wanted to be somewhere near Ashton but she knew it was impossible. So, she thanked Mary and sat on the empty seat they found.
Alina could see Ash. He was sitting with a team of people. It seems that they were deep in conversation and the crowd that gathered around them didn't make a difference. She could see the side of his face from where she was sitting and she was again amazed by how handsome her husband was.
Her face was blushed at the thought.
"What's wrong? Are you okay? Your face is red!" Mary was concerned when she saw her red Alina had turned. She thought it must have been because of the crowd in the cafeteria.
"Usually, it's not so crowded. But because the President is having his lunch here today, everybody has come down too!" She further explained.
"It's alright. I am okay," Alina replied as she fanned herself with her hands. She needs to calm down, she thought.
"So, where did you say you were from?" Alina asked Mary so that they could change their conversation topic.
As Mary explained her life to her, Alina had a weird feeling that someone was watching her. When she looked around, she didn't see anyone looking at her- everyone seems to be too busy looking at the President. So, she went back to eating her lunch.
On the other side of the cafeteria, Oliver had just pointed out to Ashton that Alina was also there having her lunch.