I watched her running towards another floor and couldn’t help but laugh at her antics. A woman’s infatuation with handsome men is probably similar to how men are obsessed with the idea of college girls; they all boil down to human nature.
I got back to the office just in time for lunch. She didn’t forget about the gastric medication, and she’d prepared dishes that were gentle on the stomach.
“Hmm? Did your friend bring this over?” Linda poked her head into the office as she walked past.
I smiled happily and replied, “Yup, she is free today, so she prepared some lunch for me. Would you like to have some too?”
She shook her head as she raised her own lunchbox. “I packed lunch here too.”
I guess she is on the way to the pantry to reheat her food.
I walked into Armond’s office. He was still knee-deep in work, though he seemed to sense my presence. Thinking I was here to drop off some documents, he didn’t lift his head as he said, “Just leave it over there.”
The glass of milk I’d brought over was now empty. I stared agape at the glass and exclaimed, “I thought you wouldn’t drink it!”
He finally tore himself away from his work and stared at me. He said jokingly, “It’s not bad!”
Noticing the lunch bag in my hand, he raised his brows and asked, “What did you bring?”
“Lunch!” I sat down next to his desk and continued, “My friend made this herself, so it’s going to taste great. She also made some for you. Want to try it?”
He got up from his seat and walked closer to me. “Did Nora make this?”
I was surprised at his guess. “How did you guess?”
He laughed. “You don’t have many friends here, let alone friends free enough to bring lunch for you. So naturally, I guess it’s Nora.”
That makes a lot of sense.
I began laying out the utensils and passed him the gastric medication. “Here you go. Remember to take this if you have gastric pain.”
He looked at the medicine before turning his gaze toward me. “Did you ask Nora to pick this up?”
I nodded. “Something like that.”
He took the lunchbox from me and paused for a moment before asking, “Did you see Anthony last night?”
I was taken aback by his question. I’m going to get whiplash from the way his mind works.
Seeing as I’d suddenly become mute, he took a few bites of his food before launching into a monologue. “Featherstone Corporation is planning a project in A City. Technically speaking, Anthony doesn’t need to be in A City for it, but he’s here and it seems like he’s planning to stay for quite some time.”
I nodded, not intending to reply.
He frowned at my continued silence. “Since Featherstone Corporation isn’t a local business, they’re planning to hold a public tender for the project tonight at Oasis Hotel. Murphy Corporation is planning to bid on this project as well.”
I stared at him in surprise before finally speaking, “You can just let me know directly what you need me to do.”
He chuckled at my words as a bright smile began to form on his face. “I’m putting you in charge of this project!”
I frowned at him in confusion. “I’ve just joined the company not long ago, as your secretary. My job is to take care of your odd jobs and organize your documents. Following up with Featherstone Corporation is a job more suited to a project director. Even if you insist on putting me in charge, you need to consider my capabilities. Do you have that much faith in me?”
He raised his brows and put down the fork in his hands. With a serious expression, he said, “You’ve worked at Featherstone Corporation for years, making your way up to the Director position from the lowest rung of the corporate ladder. Isn’t that proof enough of your capabilities? A position is an abstract thing, and it doesn’t dictate whether a secretary can handle the tasks of a project director. You can ask Linda yourself. She’s always been an executive assistant since she first joined the company, but she has a hand in most Murphy Corporation projects.”
I knitted my brows. Is he trying to hard-sell me or something?
He continued, “Besides if we send you to bid for the project, our chances of success are a lot higher. I’m not above playing some dirty tricks.”
As if I didn’t know what he had in mind. He’s definitely trying to gain some leverage by using my relationship with Anthony.
I didn’t really want to go, though I didn’t say a word.
He looked at me, and his gaze softened. “I’m not going to force you if you don’t want to. You’ll just lose your twenty percent commission on the project, that’s all.”
Stunned, I blurted, “Twenty percent?”
He arched his brows and said, “Supervisors in charge are entitled to a twenty percent commission for all successful bids. This policy has been around since Murphy Corporation was first established.”
I wasn’t unaware of commission distributions for successful bids, but supervisors typically got a five percent cut. Even ten percent was pushing it.
A twenty percent cut was a mouth-watering prospect. A project from a company as big as Featherstone Corporation would at least come with a six-figure commission. If it was a project on a larger scale, it could go into the millions.
A commission like that could set me up comfortably for years.
Armond noticed that I was in a daze. He continued eating for a while before walking toward the other end of his desk. He passed some documents to me. “These are all the details regarding the project by Featherstone Corporation. The local council is planning to work with Anthony as well. Right now, we only have one advantage going into the bidding, and that’s you.”
I replied helplessly, “Anthony’s not going to favor me in the tender just because of our personal relationship. You said it yourself; profit is the only thing that matters in business.”
He smiled cryptically at me. “How would you know if you never try? The tender begins tonight, so you need to get the bid proposal out this afternoon.”
Pursing my lips, I replied in a somewhat harsh tone, “Mr. Murphy, aren’t you just making my life difficult now?”
He smirked. “So you can’t do it? Or you won’t do it?”
The words froze in my throat. Neither scenario was accurate, though my heart still hesitated.
He broke the silence first. “Sienna, you should start thinking about what you’ll gain from this. Just ask Linda if you’re unsure about anything.”
He turned his attention back to his documents after leaving me with that piece of advice.
My head was muddled as I stared at my lunch on the table.
I shook myself out of my stupor a moment later and cleaned up before leaving his office.
It had been ages since I’d last written a bid proposal, and I didn’t know where to begin.
When Linda came to my desk, I was staring blankly at my computer screen, my chin propped up in my hands. She laughed before imparting her wisdom to me. “Featherstone Corporation is calling for bids in A City because they want to expand their market share. Since they’re a listed company, you can more or less view Anthony as an investor. Since an investor’s fundamental goal is to multiply their profits from an initial investment, any form of profit will be important to them.”
She continued, “Public enterprises in A City are clamoring to work with Featherstone Corporation because, like us, they believe that this project shows a lot of promise. No one wants to miss out on a cut of its potentially lucrative profits. Their advantage lies in their stability, though their bid may be lower owing to their limited funds. This also implies that they may end up cutting corners during the late stages of the project to save costs. So when you’re drawing up the proposal, there’s no point in bidding extreme prices. Price wars are meaningless, and you only need to come up with a price that guarantees quality and profitability. Then, you should consider and address any concerns that the Featherstone Corporation may have when it comes to developing a project in A City. If there’s a need for it, you can arrange for Mr. Murphy and Mr. Featherstone to meet for a private discussion. It may be much more fruitful compared to whatever us employees can accomplish.”
She leaned closer to me and smiled. “This is my advice to you regarding the proposal. You can gather more opinions from the others in the office. Everyone has different thoughts and strengths.”
I nodded and got up to thank her.
Nora called as I was contemplating Linda’s advice in silence.
She started chatting excitedly, “Sienna, are you busy? I’m downstairs; let’s go for tea.”
Rolling my eyes, I replied, “Nora, I’m working now. Mr. Murphy just dumped a tricky project on me, and I’m panicking like mad. I’m definitely not in the mood for some posh afternoon tea!”
“You’re joking, right? Aren’t you just his secretary? How can he dump a project on you like that?”
New Book: Back Home to Marry Off Myself
Loredana’s father left the family for his mistress, leaving them to fend for themselves abroad. When life was at its toughest, her father showed up with “good news” after 8 years of absence: To marry off Loredana to a paralyzed son of the wealthy Mendelsohn family.
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