"Good morning Henry." Venus said as sits down to eat breakfast.
"Good morning Ms. Venus." Henry said.
After eating breakfast, Venus asked for Martin.
"Where's Mr. Herrera? Is he awake already?"
"I told him breakfast is at 8 am but he's still not awake."
"I'll just wake him up." Venus stood up and went to Martin's room.
"I'll just do it Ms. Venus. You'll be late for your work."
"No. It's okay Henry." Venus said as she arrives in front of Martin's room. She then knocks on the door and says, "Mr. Herrera wake up! It's already 8 am. And here, people wake up early and eat breakfast at exactly 8 am."
But there was no response so Venus knocks again, longer and harder this time but still no response.
"Get me the key to the room." Venus told Henry.
Henry immediately gave Venus to the room and Venus opens the door to Martin's room.
"Mr. Herrera! Wake up!" Venus said in her loudest voice.
Martin woke up and was startled.
"I didn't you know you sleep like a log." Venus said.
"Mr. Herrera, please get dressed already and go down to eat." Henry said.
"Henry, please place the loudest alarm clock you can find here in Mr. Herrera's room so that he can wake up early and eat breakfast at exactly 8 am. And later before lunch, bring Mr. Herrera to my office. I'll go ahead. Thank you Henry for the delicious breakfast." Venus said then immediately goes out of Martin's room.
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"What's her problem?" Martin said to Henry.
"She despises people who wake up late. She's a bit old-fashioned. She believes the early bird catches the worm. That is why by 8 am everyone should be awake already and eating breakfast. So I suggest that if you don't want someone shouting at you every morning, you wake up early. And you don't want Ms. Venus mad. It will not be pretty."
"She acts like she owns the place."
"Well, she does."
"If she's already rich, why does she still want to get back the company? Is she that greedy?"
"It's never about the money. She just wants to get her father's company back for the sake of her father. Her father sacrificed a lot for that company and someone who he treated like his own brother betrays him and gets the company he treasured and worked hard for the most. What would you feel if that happens to your father or even to you? You will do the same right? Eat your breakfast already Mr. Herrera. I will be teaching you a lot today."
"Teaching me?"
"Yes. I will teach you a lot of things like grooming, the proper way of speaking, other languages, current events, business, even proper conduct, poise, cooking and picking the right wine."
"What's that for?"
"It's for you to pass as man who came from a very rich family. And as Ms. Venus said, we're not letting you go into the war without weapons. And when you think about it, after your deal with Ms. Venus, you can use everything that I will teach you to stay rich. You will have 20 million pesos Mr. Herrera after this deal but you need to know how to maintain it or even invest it somewhere so that your 20 million can be turned into a billion."
"You'll do that?"
"Of course Mr. Herrera so eat and I'll teach you after."
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"Good morning Ms. Venus." Gail said as Venus enters her office.
"Good morning Gail." Venus answered.
"Your coffee is already there and the reports you wanted is also in your table."
"Thank you very much Gail. By the way, please clear my schedule from 11 am to 3 pm. I have an important matter to attend to."
"Yes Ms. Venus."
"And by the way, get Grey on the line. I need to talk to him about something."
"Okay Ms. Venus."
After a few minutes, Gail called over the intercom to say that Grey is on the line and ready to talk to him.
"Venus, your assistant said you want to talk to me about something." Grey said over the phone.
"Yes Grey. If you don't mind, I have a favor to ask." Venus said.
"Anything for you. What is it?"
"I have this friend. He wants to know how investment companies operate. And I am hoping you help him know a thing or two about your company. And if it's not too much, maybe take him under your wing for just a few weeks."
"Is this a boyfriend?"
"Of course not. You know Grey I don't have time for that. He's just a friend I met years ago and he just needed help."
"Okay I will but you owe me dinner."
"Thank you Grey. You're such a doll. And when it comes to the dinner, sure, just call me. I'll go ahead Grey. Again, thank you very much."
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"Ms. Venus, Henry and Mr. Herrera are already here." Gail said over the intercom.
"Tell them to wait. I'll be going out in a few minutes." Venus answered.
Venus fixed her things, got her bag and went out of her office.
"Let's go eat. I'm starving." Venus said.
As they arrived in the restaurant, Venus immediately ordered.
"One grilled salmon steak, one Salisbury steak and the usual for me."
"How about your drinks Ms. Venus?" the waiter said.
"Lemonade and water would do."
"Right away Ms. Venus."
The waiter then leaves.
"How's Franc Sebastian for your new name?" Venus said to Martin.
"Why do I need a new name?" Martin said.
"I will pretend you didn't just ask that question. But for your satisfaction, it is so that Mr. Tan wouldn't recognize you."
"I'm fine with Franc."
"Very well. After we eat, we're going to the salon and the mall to get you a new look."
Martin was about to ask why he needed to have a new look but then he suddenly remembered that one of the rules was to not question Venus. After they ate, they went straight to the salon.
"I want his hair to be shorter and lighter to make him look younger. We're about the same age but he seemed to look older than me." Venus said to the hairstylist.
"Yes Ms. Venus." The hairstylist said.
After a few minutes, the hairstylist was done and Martin had a new look.
"All done Ms. Venus. He looks younger and more handsome." The hairstylist said.
Venus approached Martin, studied him closely as she walks around him and said, "Excellent. Thank you very much Mara."
Venus then got bills from her wallet and gave it to the hairstylist.
"Let's go. I only have a few hours left." Venus said.
And lastly, they went to the mall to buy clothes. They went to this boutique for men's clothing where you can find everything that you need.
"I want every piece of clothing here in this store that looks good on him and will make him look like a million bucks." Venus said to the sales lady.
"Right away Ma'am." The sales lady said.
So for about an hour, all Martin did was try on clothes.
"Ms. Venus, I think Mr. Herrera has already fitted all the clothes in this store." Henry said seeing that Martin was already tired from all the fitting.
"Okay. We'll take everything. But before anything, I would like to see him put on a suit." Venus said as she gives her credit card to the sales lady.
Martin goes inside the fitting room and puts on a suit while Venus was picking out a good piece of necktie. After a few minutes, Martin went out of the fitting room looking very handsome. Venus approached him and looked at him to see which necktie goes well with the suit. When she had already chosen a necktie, she stood closely at the back of Martin.
"This is how you tie a necktie." Venus said as she demonstrates to Martin from behind how to tie a neck tie. "Better remember it for no one will tie your necktie for you again."
Venus then walks and stands in front of Martin to fix his tie. Martin immediately blushed so he turned his face to the other side not meet Venus' gaze.
"Did you just blush Mr. Herrera?" Venus said.
"No I did not. Why would I blush?" Martin said still looking at the other side and not looking straight at Venus.
Venus just smiled and said, "Maybe it was just my imagination."
Venus then takes her bag and said to Henry, "I'll go ahead. I still have a meeting. Henry, take Martin to the clinic. Have his face cleaned, have his teeth checked, do everything that needs to be done. We need to make it believable that he's from a rich family."
"As you wish, Ms. Venus." Henry said.