Novel Sweet
Chapter 28: I Will Pay You A Handsome Salary
“I was thinking… if they still have vacancies for waitresses at this restaurant, I want to apply for the job… The salary here seems like it would be quite high!”
“What are you going to write on your résumé about your special skills and areas of expertise? Car racing? Smoking? Skipping school?”
“I also got the Sandler Scholarship and the recommendation letter. Isn’t that good enough? Anyway, car racing is a cool skill.”
“So you’re proud of it?” Francis put down his fork and was beginning to get angry. Scarlett immediately lowered her head to drink soup.
“No racing from now on!” All of a sudden, Francis commanded her.
Scarlett swallowed her soup and was eager to explain.
“Why? It’s my source of income!”
Francis said calmly as he had already prepared for this eventuality, “Come and work at T. B. S. Empire. I will pay you a handsome salary.”
Scarlett’s eyes sparkled. Did this mean that she could finally have a stable job instead of doing those sketchy part-times? She stood up and walked over to sit next to Francis. She stared at him with her bright eyes and asked,
“Seriously?”
“The exports and trading division always has a lot of files and documents that needed to be translated. If you’re confident about your translating ability, then try it out. But I want to be very clear: I will not be giving you any special treatment. If you’re fired for not doing your job properly, I’m not responsible for you, and I cannot save you.”
“Would it be an internship? Or are you recruiting me… formally? You know, I do have plans to go to graduate school…”
Francis thought that pursuing a graduate degree was no doubt a good choice for her. So he said,
“Consider it an internship.”
“How about the salary? How much would you pay me?”
“Stop asking so many questions, or I will change my mind!”
Scarlett sat back and muttered,
“I’m just asking… It’s not like I refused your offer…”
Francis sent Scarlett back to the school and left. When Scarlett walked into the dormitory, Bell immediately ran to her and assaulted her with a barrage of questions.
“So, what’s up? You weren’t at the dentist’s, were you? Who were you seeing? Do you have a boyfriend now?”
“Nope! I was at the dentist’s. Just a yearly checkup, nothing big.”
“No way, I don’t believe that. You’re lying. By the way, the girls were all talking about Francis during lunch. I can’t believe the president of T. B. S. Empire is so young and handsome!”
“Young? Isn’t he already thirty-something?”
“Come on. We thought he was gonna be an ugly, old man! Wait, I wanna get a better look at his face. Let’s Google him.”
Right after she finished her words, she took out her phone to execute her plan.
“He’s thirty-five! And…assets appraisal…6 billion dollars! And wait… Wikipedia says he got divorced five years ago!”
“He’s divorced?” Scarlett paused as she was taking her clothes off and getting ready to hop into the shower.
“Yeah, and his ex-wife is the current president of Chips & Fun! Wow! Do you think they got married because of the killer business partnership? I guess two strong powers like that merge well, isn’t it? Oh, Chips & Fun has long shifted its business base to overseas markets. It must not have been easy to maintain a long-distance relationship!”
Bell thought her analysis was so perfect that every word made sense. She was immersed in all this news about Francis, and she continued her analysis.
“Hmm… when both husband and wife are big CEOs, I bet they gave their work more important than their marriage. It’s really no wonder that they ended up getting a divorce. I wonder if he likes younger girls….”
“You want to hook up with him? Would you like me to introduce you to him?” Scarlett climbed into bed, skipping her shower to take a nap instead.
Bell did not pay attention to the subtext of this sentence and said with a smile, “Nope. Still, how crazy! So much wealth…”
“Alright. I want to take a nap. Hey, don’t eat too many chips, you gotta watch your weight!” Scarlett didn’t know why, but she seemed to have developed some weird hatred for chips after Bell mentioned Francis’s ex-wife, the CEO of Chips & Fun.
Bell looked down at her waist and suddenly lost the desire to eat. She threw the bag of chips aside and continued to browse the entertainment and commercial news about Francis.
“What?”
A sudden shout pulled Scarlett out of her sleep.
“Damn, this Francis guy has a lot of famous girlfriends. Models, actresses, and even athletes. Ooh, Jennifer Lavender! My favorite actress.”
Scarlett thought of that night when she was in Francis’s house, and the housekeeper had given her a nightgown that was just her size. So she had been right from the start, Francis was a real playboy.
Yet, Scarlett still doubted that he was some kind of player. He behaved like a polite and kind gentleman every time they met. He had even saved her from danger several times. But Francis was very sophisticated. People like him could know every detail about you, all while making themselves out to be complete mysteries. He probably wouldn’t make a good boyfriend or husband…© 2024 Nôv/el/Dram/a.Org.
***
Scarlett abandoned all of her former part-time jobs and got ready to go to work at the T. B. S. Empire office instead. Knowing that Scarlett was preparing to begin work at a new office, John Steward felt delighted; he was pleased to see Scarlett undertaking new ventures in new places. He felt that Scarlett’s excellent performance was finally being recognized and appreciated. In order to celebrate her first formal job, he even bought her a pair of high heels as a gift.
Scarlett was quite surprised when she received the shoes. “Thank you so much, John! That’s so sweet!” She said.
John got a bit embarrassed and explained,
“I have no idea what kind of style you like, so I asked Bell for help, and she picked these up for you…”
Scarlett looked at the shoes carefully.