Rayne woke up the next morning feeling excited. Today would be the day that Secretary Mathews critiqued the final version of the design. If everything went well, she would walk out a billionaire!
She quickly took a shower and got dressed while looking through the food options on her system screen.
She chose an iced coffee and a small pastry, grabbed her bag, and headed out. Since she no longer had the rental car, she had to leave earlier to compensate for the new travel time.
She promised herself that after this project finished, she would reward herself with a new car! Money would no longer be much of an issue, so she wouldn't hold back and would buy the best of the best.
As Rayne sat inside the taxi, she mentally went over the design multiple times to ensure that she didn't miss even the slightest detail.
She was so absorbed in her thoughts that she didn't even notice when the taxi stopped at her destination.
"Ahhhh~!"
Rayne snapped out of her trance after hearing a group of women squealing. She looked outside the taxi window and realized that she had already arrived!
After apologizing and paying the driver, she stepped out, trying to make it inside the elevator as quickly as possible.
Over the last month, Rayne had witnessed this scene multiple times. A large group of female office workers would wait outside the office building to watch as the 'hot' male workers arrived at work.
The most popular one was, of course, the president. However, in the month that Rayne worked at REN Corp, she hadn't seen him once.
Today, the women squealed because of Secretary Mathews, with Katie being the loudest one.
Rayne carefully walked around the group of women, trying her best not to be noticed—especially by Katie.
Katie's hostility toward Rayne had grown with each passing day. She even once complained to Secretary Mathews that Rayne was spending most of her time in the lounge room, slacking off.
Unfortunately for Katie, Rayne was a diligent worker and had proved her work ethic on her very first day. So instead of Secretary Mathews scolding Rayne, he turned to scold Katie for trying to start workplace drama.
Since that event, Katie could only use small petty tricks to annoy Rayne. She would wait until she saw Rayne walking toward the elevator before quickly hopping inside and closing the doors, making Rayne wait a few minutes for the elevator to come back.
Rayne, although annoyed, didn't bother with Katie's antics. She was fully focused on her work and didn't have the time or energy to fight with petty, jealous women.
She quickly walked through the lobby and into the empty elevator. Just as the elevator doors were about to close, Noah's hand grabbed the door, and he jumped inside.
He looked at Rayne, signaling her to quickly use her keycard and send the elevator up.
"I really need to speak to HR about the amount of loitering outside of the buildings in the morning," he said, exasperated.
Rayne let out a soft chuckle. "You seem to be very popular, Secretary Mathews."
Noah rolled his eyes at her comment. The real Mr. Popular is Julian, but he gets here much earlier than everyone else.
The elevator doors opened, revealing the hallway of the top floor.
"Let me drop my things off in my office, and then I will come over to your office to begin the review," said Noah.
Rayne nodded and walked into her office, preparing the stack of finished blueprints.
A few minutes later, Noah knocked on her office door and stepped inside. Rayne invited him over to begin the final review.
She spent the entire day, even past regular office hours, going over every little detail of the design document with Noah.
They only made a few very small tweaks, such as moving an electrical outlet to the other side of the wall.
Noah was very satisfied with the end result. It was better than what he imagined it could be, and he knew that Julian would think the same.
Finally finished, Rayne stood up and stretched her legs.
"Miss Weston, I must say that you have done an exceptional job. Your skill in this field is truly above even those who call themselves 'top designers.' I will make sure you receive the promised compensation today."
Rayne blushed at the generous compliment. "Thank you for the kind words, Secretary Mathews. I am glad that I was able to deliver an acceptable design."
They then shook hands, signifying the fulfilled contract.
"Miss Weston, I'm sure I don't need to say this, but please allow me to stress once more how secretive this design and project are. I hope that you can help us keep it a secret."
Rayne looked up at Noah. "I give you my word."
Noah stood up, carefully collecting the blueprints. He was going to bring them to Julian to get the final stamp of approval before he could begin the initial construction.
Rayne packed up her things and lightly cleaned the office. Since she was finished with her contract, she would not be coming back here anymore.
Ah! I am finally free again!
She smiled, thinking of all the fun things she could do now! She made a mental note to do some more research for 'bucket list' items.
As Rayne walked out of the large office building, she felt her stomach growl. She had skipped lunch today and was starving.
She looked around the area to see if there were any restaurants nearby where she could grab delicious take-out!
A delicious scent wafted through the air.
Rayne scrunched her nose, trying to pick up on its trail, and before long, she found herself in front of a small stall that sold all flavors of crispy fried chicken!
Rayne felt the drool begin to pool inside her mouth. Fried chicken was one of her favorite foods, and she could tell that the owner of this stall was very successful.
She waited about 10 minutes in a long line, constantly teased by the delicious scent, until it was finally her turn.
The owner of the stall was slightly surprised when Rayne ordered a family tray of every flavor of chicken he offered!
Seeing that he had such a generous customer, he made sure to pick out the best pieces of chicken and even threw in a few extra dipping sauces for free!
"Here you go, Missy! I hope your family enjoys dinner!" said the owner happily.
Rayne laughed inwardly at his comment.
Sir, this chicken is all for me!