When Valentina woke up from her short nap, she was sitting in front of the Grayson house. As her eyes slowly opened, she noticed that instead of sitting in the passenger seat, Duncan was sitting on the driver's side while the driver stumbled out of the car, seeming as if he was about to throw up.
Quickly blinking to wake herself up, she gave him a quick smile, "Good morning."
"It's afternoon."
Valentina: "......"
Duncan: "......"
Valentina could feel her face twitching.
Did this man have something against her? Narrowing her eyes at him and sticking her tongue out, she pulled out her phone and called Luca's tablet.
"Mommy!" a cheering voice rang out, and she could see his sparkling green eyes staring at her.
"Say, Auntie Luca." Valentina couldn't help but sigh, "Are you ready? Auntie is here to pick you up to see your dad."
"Yes! And I'm wearing the outfit we chose!"
"Okay. Come outside."
Hanging up, she quickly opened the car door herself. As she stepped out of the car, the moment she began walking toward the front door, a little figure dashed toward her at full speed. Before the figure could reach her, Duncan quickly exited the car and snatched Luca up, holding him in the air.
As the young boy glared angrily at the strange man holding him up while kicking his feet, Valentina couldn't help but laugh at his sulky face.
"Let me go. You-you- meanie!"
Holding her hands out, she laughingly told Duncan, "Here, give him to me. I don't know where the driver is, but if you could grab a car seat for him, that would be amazing. Luca, be nice with your words."
"We will be taking a different car since this one is compromised. Here." Duncan reported a cold voice.
As he handed her Luca, she staggered a bit under his sudden weight before steadying herself and placing him on the ground. As he tried to cling to her while glaring at Duncan, she squatted down and pinched his cheeks while holding him at arm's length.
"My little nugget. You look so handsome! Did you add the patches yourself? Do a spin for me." she cheered for him as he spun around.
At his shy nod, while blushing, she cheered for him once more before taking a couple of photos and sending them to Kaiser. Honestly, she thought he looked very cute.
She had chosen some black cargo pants with yellow straps that allowed patches to be placed on them and a cute yellow tech jacket with black detailing. He had on a white t-shirt with a yellow monster truck on it and a little white baseball cap. Along with his permanent diamond tennis bracelet and a little gold chain around his neck, he presented a very cute, childlike appearance, especially with all his little game character patches on his pants and jacket.
He had a little bookbag on his back, and as she glanced at it, he gave her a sweet smile.
"I have my tablet and snacks and juice. I'll share with you when you get hungry," he whispered in a very loud voice before glaring at Duncan.
"Thank you, my little nugget." Laughing at his little antics, she pinched his cheeks again.
As they got into the new yellow car that the driver brought out, Duncan and the driver were in the front while she and Luca were in the back. As they drove, Luca kept chatting with her about the dream he had, his breakfast, the things he saw outside, and how he missed her this morning. As she calmly replied, she had the realization that she hadn't told him she was leaving yet and might not be coming back to the house when she returned.
Mentally sighing at another thing she had to do before she left, she made a mental note to talk to Kaiser about it and see if they could squeeze in a meeting with the psychologist before she left. No matter how she looked at it, Luca seemed to be much stabler and happier. Things should be fine this time, especially if Kaiser took over doing the things she usually did with the boy. She could just supplement from the side and occasionally meet up with him until she figured out what she and Kaiser were really doing.
As the car continued to drive toward the financial district in the downtown area of the city, she kept on looking outside, especially as they began approaching one of the taller buildings that just had the word Grayson in large letters at the top.
Not long after, the driver took them to a private garage entrance and brought them directly to an elevator. As Duncan opened the door for her, Valentina quickly put on her own face mask and glasses before holding Luca's hand. Although he could show his face at his dad's company, she had to be extra careful.
Stepping out, Duncan led her to the elevator, pressing the top button for her before turning and speaking.
"I'll be waiting down here. Please give me a call when you're ready to leave."
"Oh, sure. Thank you again for your help so far. Please try to get some food and some rest as well." Valentina bowed her head at him politely and gave him a quick wave before she allowed the elevator door to close.
As the door shut slowly, she noticed that his eyes didn't leave her for a second.
"He's so diligent. I wonder if it's considered rude to tip him? I'll have to ask Kaiser." Valentina murmured. Despite his snarky comments now and then, Duncan seemed like a good worker.
As Luca tilted his head up at her in confusion, she patted his fluffy head.
"It's nothing. Let's go see your father."
******
The workers at the Grayson Conglomerate Central Tower were in a bit of a panic. Early this morning, they had received a very concise email that a very important person was arriving at the company. Everyone was to be on their best behavior and make sure everything went perfectly; otherwise, if they made a mistake and offended the boss, they could directly walk to the finance department and collect their severance pay. The tone of the email was even more serious than the ones they received during audit season, so everyone was on edge.
From early in the morning, the secretarial staff had been making sure that everything was put to order for the lawyers and executives while the office managers were making sure everything was clean and organized. Like a well oiled cogs in a machine, things were moving smoothly
Lisa Herning was a low-rank secretary who worked on the lower floors of the Grayson Central Tower as a general secretary. As she was relatively new, she wasn't assigned to anyone and worked as a general helper to any manager who needed it. She had been temporarily called to help on the upper floors, and she wanted to take the opportunity to attract the gaze of an executive and move up the ranks.
She tidied up her makeup and made sure her boobs were perched perfectly in her close-fitting shirt, leaving a couple of buttons undone before heading out for the final meeting led by the CEO's main assistant Michael Fraiser.
The stern-looking man pushed his gold-rim glasses up on his face before glancing around the room with a sharp gaze, his imposing aura immediately stopping the chatter in the room.
"Today is a very important day for the boss as he is having a very important guest arrive. He's very excited and quite stressed about it, so everybody must make sure they're on top of their tasks. I'll be busy dealing with the lawyers and making sure that they have everything they need. I fully expect the rest of you to be on top of your etiquette and to make no mistakes. Make sure you represent the greatness of the company, show politeness, cleverness, and humbleness without being subservient, and, most importantly, do not embarrass the boss. Otherwise, even if you beg and plead, you will be fired before you can even blink. You know what our boss is like when you don't obey the rules he sets out"
Hearing the threat, everyone in the room gulped. They knew what he meant.
To put it politely, Kaiser Grayson was a workaholic perfectionist. He worked long hours, had a short temper when dealing with people who were inefficient at their jobs and felt no trouble holding people over time until they reached the standards he expected and held himself to. If you couldn't reach his standards, he would immediately fire you, as he liked to say that his company was a high-performing sports team and not a family. He didn't want to hear excuses; he just needed the work done and done well.
Contrary to other companies, he paid well and had amazing benefits, from a childcare fund for parents to long paternity and maternity leave to educational benefits so workers could continually improve themselves and continue to make his company money. Kaiser Gayson liked to say that if the employees couldn't work to a standard comparable to the benefits he provided, they were useless and should clear up space for people who would do the work to his standards. So although the employees liked to frequently complain of overwork, especially during the busy seasons, the turnover rate for the company was very low as most employees knew that there were many jobs better than this.
Many new employees were originally fooled by his cool, handsome face, but the older employees knew that despite Kaiser being quite handsome, he was a strict tyrant who terrified many of the staff. The rumor mill even said that his parents had adequately named him Kaiser since he was basically a dictator who showed no respect regardless of age or stature. They much preferred his brother, who was kind and always smiling whenever he came by.
Hearing that the important guest was stressing even their CEO, who had no trouble talking down to other CEOs as if they were his personal secretary, they knew it was something serious.
One of the senior secretaries raised her hand and asked cautiously.
"Sir, can I ask who exactly is coming? Just so we can keep a lookout and fully prepare? Which company is this person from? Are they bringing an entourage? Any detail you can give us would be helpful."
Michael Fraiser looked at the woman who asked the question and paused in thought for a second. Although he knew that Valentina Salazar was coming along with the young master to meet the lawyers, he wasn't sure if that was the very important guest Kaiser was expecting. Additionally, he knew his boss was in the midst of pursuing the young lady and wanted to keep things private and didn't want rumors flying, especially with what the lawyers were preparing.
Not wanting to make an assumption yet not wanting to spoil his boss' plans, he thought of a compromise.
"The identity of the guest is a secret. However, the person will be using the boss' private elevator to come up, so you will know it's them and can call me to verify. Additionally, the young master will be coming as well with his nanny, so keep a lookout and prepare snacks for him. Let me know when they arrive, understood?"
"Yessir!"
"Good. Move out."