Chapter 33
"Harper!" a six-foot-something silver fox greeted with arms wide open.
"Mitchell!" Harper hugged him, "Oh, I've missed you, old buddy."
He rolled his eyes, "Nothing about me looks old, Soup."
"Whatever. It's so good to see you," her face lighted up as she slapped his shoulder.
"And I, you." He nodded. "Care to introduce me to your team?"
"Of course. This is Cassandra Applegate, the team lead for this year's audit. This is Dave Watterson and this one here is Lauren Grant. She's new."
"Oh, so we have a fresh meat in our midst."
Harper laughed, "Barely. She worked for Steinhouse before us."
He turned to me, "Oh, so you're used to abuse?"
I lowered my head. Harper ribbed him.
"Oh my God, I'm so sorry. I didn't mean–"
I met his eyes, "It's okay."
"No," he raised his hands. "Abuse is never okay. It's just that Steinhouse has a reputation, which I'm sure you know, but I shouldn't have made that joke. I..." he put his hands together, "I truly am sorry."
I nodded, "Of course. And apology accepted."
He let out an audible sigh, "Thank God. How's MGC treating you so far?"
"It's been pretty great, so far," I smiled because, for the first time, it wasn't a lie. MGC has been really good to me despite the few slip-ups with Harper giving Axel my private information. It wasn't great. It's actually illegal and I can sue. But her heart was set in the right place, I couldn't fault her for that.
"That's good to hear," he nodded, relief washed all over his face. "Anyway, it's nice to meet all of you. I'm Mitchell Graham."
"The G in MGC," Harper interjected.
"Please, I'm the MG in MGC."
Harper scoffed, amused, "Autumn will kill you."
"Well, she ain't here, honey." He replied, eliciting a hearty chuckle from Harper.
She nodded at us, "Let's get to the office?"
"Yeah," Cassandra said, and Dave and I nodded in agreement.
As we walk down the hallway, office noise comes abuzz. Several phones were ringing from different offices – each becoming faint as we continued to walk. But as the sound of dot matrix printers gets louder, I knew we were getting close to the Accounting department.
Mitchell opened the department's glass door and cleared his throat, catching everyone's attention. "Good morning, everyone!"
"Morning, Mitchell!"
"Can I please call all of you in the middle for a quick meeting?" they paused the printers and walked near us. There were only seven of them.
"Here with us today is Harper Campbell, our CFO from head office, and her audit team. Now, I've told you that there will be an internal audit anytime this month." They nodded. "That is this week and they'll be the ones who'll do it. I hope you had ample time to prepare and organize all your documents so that this whole process would be easier for everyone. And with that said..." He motioned to Harper, "I will leave the floor to you."
"Thank you, Mitchell."
Someone knocked on the door, "Hey, Mitchell, sorry to interrupt, but I have Line 1, London waiting for you. They said it's urgent."
Mitchell's brows furrowed for a second then he nodded, "Okay, I'll be there in a second."
His assistant nodded and went on her way.
Harper turned to Mitchell, "Autumn."
He nodded, "I'll relay the info later."
"Alright, I'll finish this first," she replied and Mitchell exited the office.
"So," Harper clasped her hands together. "Just like Mitchell said, we will be here this week for the internal audit."
The seven of them were all-ears and some were already preparing to take notes.
"I want all of you to not worry and remember that we're not the enemy here. We are preparing for the external audit and we're all on the same team. I want all of you to get along while," she turned to us three, "still keeping impartiality."
We nodded and she turned back to face the Sydney team. "Please cooperate with our auditors, you might already know them from all the emails." A few chuckled. "This is Cassandra Applegate, Dave Watterson, and Lauren Grant. And don't worry, they won't bite." Everyone laughed.
Harper explained the specifics and we were all warmly welcomed by the Sydney team. It was nice to finally put faces to the names we were emailing with back and forth.
During the day, Harper and Mitchell briefly went to see how the other departments were doing then they stayed at his office discussing I-don't-know-what, but I have a feeling it has something to do with the London call.
The three of us worked on the audit despite battling jet lag. So far, there were no material variances and/or deviations found in the books. It's only day 1 out of 5 so, conclusions are far from reality but I'm taking it as a good sign.
Thank God, I wasn't assigned to Taxes, I know nothing about the Australian government and their laws to make any judgment about compliance.
I was in the middle of auditing the supplies account when Harper called us into the conference room.
My insides were uneasy as I followed Cassandra to the conference room. I think this has something to do with the skeptical call but I may also just be getting ahead of myself.
"So, how's everything so far?" Harper said as we got settled in the office.
"So far so good," Cassandra replied.
Harper looked at me and Dave, expecting a reply.
"No problems on my end so far," I said.
"Same with me," Dave crossed his legs and got more comfortable in the chair.
"That's good. Did you all get some good sleep last night?"
Cassandra's eyes met mine.
"Jet lag's killing me." Harper continued.
Dave groaned as he smoothed his hair. "I barely slept. My little girl demanded FaceTime in the middle of the night."
My brows furrowed in surprise, "I didn't know you have kids."
"Yeah. Just one." he smiled. "She's five."
"Oh, wow, who does she look like?"
"Her Mom."
"Oh, well then I bet she's cute."
"Yeah, she is," His teeth showed in his open-mouthed smile then it sunk, "Hey!"
"Okay, enough. I called all of you here because Mitchell wants to tell us something. He'd be here any minute now."
As if on cue, the door swung open. "Hey, guys. Sorry, I'm late. Had to fix a small crisis in recruitment." He took the seat at the end of the table. "Anyway, I asked Harper how long the audit will take and she said it should be done by Wednesday."
Harper nodded.
"If I may?" Cassandra raised her hand.
"Of course," Mitchell gave her a nod.
"The audit is scheduled up till Friday?"
"Yes. About that..." Harper placed her elbows on the table. "We have to cut it short."
"But why?" Cassandra wondered. "I'm sorry, but with all due respect, we've already set a schedule." Her forehead crinkled, "Which you approved."
"Yes, Cassandra, I know full well of the schedule, that's why we have to make some adjustments. Which we'll get back to later, okay?"
"Alright," Cassandra nodded.
"Okay, going back," Mitchell spoke. "If you noticed earlier today, I got an urgent call from London. It was Autumn and she told us about an assignment we need to tend to this Thursday."
"Now, we thought it was just going to be Mitchell and me, but she said we need to bring some associates with us," Harper said.
The three of us looked at each other, skeptical of what's happening.
"It's just a proposal, if you don't want to, you could absolutely tell us. But we figured it'd be a nice opportunity for all of you."
We nodded.
"Okay, here goes. We need to go to Manila on Thursday for the Philippine Fashion Week."
I was frozen for a second.
Am I hearing that right? Manila?
"Yes, Lauren. Manila." Harper replied.
"Did I just say that out loud?" I whispered to Dave next to me.
"Yes."
I looked down at the desk, embarrassed and reeling from disbelief.
Is this real?
Mitchell cleared his throat, "It's just a little thank you for coming all this way, suffering jet lag and auditing this branch."
A little?
"It is no picnic and I heard that you had to finish up a document during your flight."
Cassandra and I glanced at Dave, to which he just smiled sheepishly.
"So, what do you guys think?" Harper asked.
"Wow," Dave exhaled. "Well, as much as I love to accept your generous offer... May I ask why? I mean why would we need to go to Manila? Why us?"
"Great question, Dave," Harper spoke. "Mitchell?"
"Right. So, let me give you a little background first. When we started this company, the three of us had an agreement that two partners should always show up for each fashion week."
Mitchell placed his palms on the table, "Now, Autumn and I were the ones originally assigned to oversee the Manila fashion week. All because we're closer to Manila geographically. But since Harper is here, it makes more sense that she'd be the one to come with me." He cocked his head, "And it's also more cost-effective."
I noticed that the three of us nodded in agreement at the 'cost-effective' part. I could laugh if the conversation wasn't serious.
"Yes, and Autumn was the one who thought of it, so we're not actually stealing her spot," Harper explained. "And about the associates, we have a rule that if we are going to a fashion week where we don't have an office in, we take three people from our departments to assist our models."
Cassandra and Dave nodded with pursed lips as if they already knew about this.
"I know this isn't Accounting work or a desk job and you could absolutely say no, but, personally, I think it's too nice of an opportunity to pass up. But then again, it's your choice and we're just offering it to you first because maybe you'd be up for it." She continued.
"May I know the coverage of our job while we're there?" Cassandra enquired.
"Okay so, it isn't that simple but it isn't rocket science. You'll need to make sure that our models will go their proper client assignments, and..." she snapped her fingers, "on time. Although there would be stylists backstage, you'll also need to make sure that they're wearing the clothes properly. We have to remember that our models not only represent the client brand but also our agency itself."
Cassandra nodded, and Dave and I were listening carefully.
"That's pretty much it. We'll have fifteen models to walk for the PhFW so that means you'll have five each to look after."
Cassandra nodded, "Alright, I'm in."
Dave and I looked at each other, then at Cassandra.
I'm not sure if I know how to handle the hustle and bustle of a fashion week backstage, but I really do want to go to Manila. It's been ten years now and I really want to go back. Maybe I could see some family too while we're there.
Ah, what the hell, how hard can it be? "Count me in."
Dave inhaled sharply, looking at Harper and Mitchell's expectant faces, "One last question, how long would our flight to New York be deferred?"
"Hm," Harper's brows knit together. "Maximum two days, I'm afraid. But don't worry, we'll offset vacation days when we come back."
Dave nodded, "Would it be okay if I'll give you the answer tomorrow? I'd have to ask my wife first."
"Of course, take your time," Harper smiled.
* * *
The day went on after that meeting – tiring with the jet lag but still nice overall. The Sydney team was very helpful, especially when it comes to pulling out records to sort.
"So, where you off to after hours?" Cassandra placed her pen on top of the clipboard.
"I don't know, Cass. Maybe just straight to the hotel."
"You can't be serious."
I shrugged.
"We're in a different country, Lauren. Heck, a different continent."
"Hey, what's up?" Dave walked toward us.
"Lauren doesn't have any plans for tonight."
"Oh, come on, Lauren. You can't be serious."
"Alright, what do you guys have in mind?" I questioned.
"Well, I found this really cool restaurant on Instagram where they change menus every two weeks. I can't remember the name though."
"Oh, is that Cambiare? That's where I'll go tonight!"
"Yes, that's it!"
"How did you guys know about this?"
Dave clicked his tongue, "Research, bud."
"Okay, then, if you're both going, maybe we could all go together?"
"Of course. We'll show you the ropes." Cassandra nodded.
"Great, then we'll all meet at the lobby after work," I said.
"Of course," Cassandra said. "Speaking of work, I have to get back to this."
Dave grinned and shook his head.
"Oh, and dinner's on you, Dave."
His smile faded.
"It's okay, bud," I tapped his shoulder. "We're not big eaters."
About 3 hours later, Cassandra and I were sitting next to each other under a warm-lighted restaurant while Dave is adjacent to us.
The waiter gave us the menu and my mouth almost fell to the floor when I saw the prices. Now I understand the horror on Dave's face.
"We could check out a different restaurant?" I suggested.
"No," Cassandra held her palm to me. "We've decided on this place, we'll eat here. Right, Dave?"
Dave gulped, "Right."
I felt really bad for Dave. I mean the man has a kid. He could've just spent it for her instead of us. It's just one dinner for Christ's sake. I could just easily go with McDonald's and I'll be fine.
I ordered the least expensive thing on the menu. It being soup, I don't care, I'll just buy fast food to fill me up later.
"Honestly, what do you think about Manila?" Cassandra began.
"I have family in the Philippines, so, I'd really love to go back."
"Oh, that's great, maybe you could see them sometime."
"Yeah."
"But, I'm actually asking about the work scope. What do you think?"
"It's okay, I guess. I have worked backstage for theater when I was in High School. I'm thinking it's kind of the same thing."
Cassandra let out a breath, "I hope so. But really, I just like the adventure, you know? Say yes to every opportunity..."
"Yeah, you can do that because you're single." Dave sipped on his drink. "When you're a family man, everything's different."
Cassandra nodded. "I understand."
The night went on and after we ate, I was surprised that Cassandra took the tab.
"But I'm it," Dave asked, confused.
"Yeah, but a family man shouldn't have to pay for other girls' dinners. Save that for your wife." She winked at him.
I never saw this side of Cassandra and it got me thinking about how her family life is.
I didn't ask, I wouldn't even dare to, but maybe there's more to Cassandra than meets the eye.