Chapter 6 An Idiot

Marina was speechless. At last, she gave the check to her son, because she believed in him.

Since she had passed the interview, she would start going to work from tomorrow. As for Mike, her father had found a posh private school for him. It was the best kindergarten in F City.

The next morning, Marina buzzed around the room like a bee as she got ready. Today was her first day of work, as well as her son's first day of school. After putting on her business suit, she caked on all kinds of unsuitable make-up on her face to make herself look ugly. In fact, she usually wore little or no make-up, since it was not good for the skin.

When they were about to go out, Mike kissed Marina on the cheek. Then, with a frown, he asked, "Mommy, how much foundation are you wearing on your face?"

Marina knew that her son didn't like the smell of this particular foundation, but there was nothing she could do. This was the same look that she had done for the interview yesterday.

"I don't know. I just put some on my face," she answered lightly.

"Silly Mommy, wash your face quickly. I still have time to transform you. You look like a ghost!"

"Hey, how can you say that to your mother? You're just a kid. Why do you pretend to be mature?"

"Mommy, you are such a fool. Why didn't you see my father's face clearly at that time? I don't even know who my father is now."

Marina hadn't expected such a retort from her son. She was so nervous that she ran away in a hurry. Mike always called her a fool, and she had to admit that it was true, to an extent.

After much insistence from her son, Marina finally washed her face, thinking that he was such a troublesome child.

Then, Mike ran to his room and took out a pair of black glasses. He said with a smile, "Mommy, I asked Uncle Albert to get me this pair of glasses. I didn't expect it to come in handy today."

At the mention of Albert, Marina felt a little guilty. She hadn't informed Albert about when she was leaving France. She had chosen to come back secretly, because she didn't like saying goodbye at the airport. But three days had passed since she had come back. It was time to call Albert.

The big pair of black glasses that Mike handed Marina covered most of her face, so she didn't have to worry that her boss would harass her. 'When did Mike become so interested in dressing up?' she wondered to herself.

"Bye, Mommy. Remember our bet. Good luck on your first day at work. Your boss will say you're an idiot, and then you'll quit and come home."

With a cheeky smile on his face, Mike jumped into the car and headed for school.

Hearing that, Marina felt speechless. She couldn't believe that her son had jinxed her!

But she quickly sprang into action and made her way to her office. She couldn't be late for her first day of work, otherwise, she would leave a bad impression on her boss. After reporting for duty at the HR department, she walked towards the elevator. 'I have to go to the 28th floor! Why are the offices of the senior staff so high up?' she complained in her heart as she pressed the button on the elevator.

Once the elevator doors opened up to the 28th floor, Marina walked down the corridor in her three-inch heeled pumps. The floor was so quiet that the sound of her heels clicking on the floor reverberated through the corridor. Before attending the interview, she had read up on Michael. In fact, one of the main reasons she had applied for the position of his secretary was because Michael bore a striking resemblance to her son. But she had not expected that she would get the job.

Once Marina reached the door of the president's office, she stood outside for a moment and took a deep breath. 'I've worked as a secretary at so many companies. Why am I so nervous today? It's not like he can do anything to me.'

After calming down, she gently knocked on the door. Then, she heard a very cold voice say, "Come in."

When she opened the door, she saw an impeccably-dressed Michael sitting at the desk, immersed in reading a stack of documents. Attracted to this sharp, serious man at once, Marina just looked blankly at him for a few seconds. Then, she said, "Mr. Michael, I'm the new secretary, Marina Mu. Is there anything I can do for you?"

Hearing her voice, Michael stopped his work and looked up at Marina crossly. "Do you know what time it is now?"

"It's nine o'clock now. Am I late? The office hours don't start until half past nine."

"Don't you know that you are already half an hour late? My secretary can't arrive later than me. Since it's your first day here, I'll let it go. If you are late tomorrow, I will definitely fire you," Michael barked.

Marina had no idea when he would arrive at the company. She was afraid of getting into trouble in the future. In the end, she asked weakly, "Mr. Michael, when do you usually come to work?"

"Are you an idiot? Why don't you ask my assistant, Miss Tricia Shen?"

'Idiot? He's just my boss. How can he use such a word to scold me? If I hadn't made a deal with Mike, I would rather quit than let him scold me like this! If he can treat me this way on the first day, I don't know what he'll do to me in the future.' But Marina couldn't say all these things in front of Michael.

"Okay, I won't be late tomorrow. I'll go back to work."

The secretary's office was inside the president's office. Marina went straight to the empty seat that was waiting for her. In the future, there would be more and more documents on the desk in front of her.

Tricia Shen came over and handed her Michael's schedule. She said kindly, "I know Mr. Michael scolded you just now, but don't mind him. He is actually a good person. He is just a workaholic. Let's work together in the future. Come on!"

Marina nodded and sighed. "I have work to do now. And as his assistant, you must be very busy too. Let's have a chat when we have time."

Tricia Shen was going to sign a new contract for Michael this afternoon. If she didn't go out now, she would be late. Before leaving, she said to Marina, "Marina, Mr. Michael likes having black coffee at three o'clock. Remember to prepare it for him."

'Black coffee? My son likes black coffee too. Why do they both like it?' Marina didn't allow her son to drink black coffee, because it was not suitable for children. Every time she saw him drinking it, she would grab it from him and drink it up in one gulp. She had suffered a lot trying to wean her son off black coffee, so she hated drinking black coffee the most.

Marina took a look at the schedule and found that Michael had a lot to do every day. As a secretary, she was responsible for following up on her boss's schedule. What she needed to do now was to copy the documents needed for this afternoon's meeting.