Chapter 4: Office Dates and Visits

She is back to reality; this is the first thing that came to Win's mind the moment she stepped out of her car and into the law firm she first fell in love with as a student. People often wondered why she chose this firm out of the billion-worth companies that offered her a job. No one really knew that it was because she promised herself that she'd work for this firm ever since she was in her first year of law school.

It was then that Mr. Zhao, the owner of this law firm, came to their school and gave them a talk about the essence of being a lawyer. Mr. Zhao is an impressive and people-oriented individual which inspired Win to become likewise a lawyer for the people.

"So, our Beijing Angel is back to work! How was the trip? I've seen your campaign photos online and I'm very proud to have this beautiful face on our roster of lawyers in the firm." Mr. Zhao greeted her as she walked into his office to submit some files she finished before leaving work for a month.

"Please, Mr. Zhao, you know I don't like that title they made or whatever they call it. I am very delighted to be just your Attorney Chen."

"You sweet little girl, you even finished these paper works before you left. You should have just asked someone else to do them for you."

"No worries. I was happy doing them. And I promise I won't be leaving this firm that long again."

"You know what, there were countless clients looking for you during your leave, some of them were given to other lawyers in the firm. You brought so much attention to my little company I think it should be named after you." Mr. Zhou jokes.

Win chuckled, she's always very happy that the little law firm she started in is now one of the most reputable law firms in Beijing.

Mr. Zhou continued, "Most of the clients were transferred to other lawyers however, there's this one client that insisted on waiting for your return. You must be familiar with him, Mr. Yang of Yang Industries. He came here the other day and I even offered to personally handle the case but it seems like he really wanted you to do so, Win." He removes his glasses and seriously looks at the younger lawyer, "It felt very personal. Most businessmen with a company that big would often have their elite legal team. You should check the details, I'm sure your secretary has them."

Win felt something heavy on her chest as Mr. Zhou told her about the matter concerning Mr. Yang, she silently walks out of his office, telling him that she'll immediately check on the case he is talking about.

She was still in deep thought as she walked back to her office, she was wondering why Mr. Yang would want her to take care of whatever cases they have, as Mr. Zhou said, they surely have their elite team of lawyers to take care of their company's concerns. She shook off the thought that it may be because of Asher.

It was impossible that Mr. Yang would go through all the trouble of finding her to handle Asher's case, compared to other corporate concerns Yang Industries faced in the past, assault would have been a rather easy case to get through.

Getting back to her office a colleague called her out, telling her that her personal secretary was on an emergency leave and had left all the necessary files on her desk. As Win agreed, she was told that her secretary called in a substitute for the day. She was confused, why send a substitute? It's not like she can't handle things on her own.

Moments later, someone was knocking on her door, "Excuse me, Ms. Chen. Your substitute personal secretary has arrived. Should he come on in?"

Win frowned, "Come on in." She's a little irritated about the thought of working along with someone new. She already has a lot on her mind to deal with anything more.

To her surprise, a familiar face came into the room with a grin widely sticking from cheek to cheek, "I will be your personal secretary today, Ms. Chen. What should I do first?"

"Nathan! Oh my, what are you doing here?" Win smiles softly as she takes sight of her boyfriend standing in front of her presenting himself as her 'personal secretary'. She thought of him as the ray of sunshine that would finally bring light to her gloomy day, "What did Mr. Zhou have to say about this?"

Nathan snickered, "Oh, you know Mr. Zhou, he likes me around. He likes seeing his angel lawyer happy and I am what makes you happy. Right? Anyway, what's will all the chitchat? You're supposed to be working, Ms. Chen."

"Oh, right." Win giggles, it was nice of Nathan to be here today. Somehow, she felt lighter than she was feeling before.

The whole morning passed and they were both stuck to their seats as they were faced from files that were accumulated in her one-month leave. Win asked Nathan to organize the files according to date, but it has been half an hour since he started sulking, "I don't understand." He whined.

Win laughed at his childishness; it was this part of him that she always found amusing. Despite the harsh reality, Nathan being all soft and bubbly as the guy he is reminds Win that there are still good and happy things in this world. To her, he is a happy pill. "What do you not understand?" She answered as a response to his whining.

"Everything." He faced her, "How do you even manage to sit here all day and look at all these files and read through them? I'll go crazy if I were you."

She laughed, his reactions were very entertaining, "Well, it's not usually this much. I was gone for a whole month so, they piled up. But even if it actually were this much all the time, I love doing it."

Without a word, Nathan continued working on organizing the files, looking all too happy all of a sudden.

"What's up with the sudden happy working vibe, Mr. Zhou?" Win teased.

"You said you love doing this. What you love, I love too! Now quit chatting and get back to work, Atty. Chen." Nathan responded.

Win looked at the guy sitting beside her, persistently working on something he doesn't understand. She feels secured having Nathan around. She owes him a lot. For the record, Nathan was the person who saved Win from herself when everything about her was a mess.

"Ahem." An intentional cough from the door suddenly caught her attention, "Aren't you looking at Mr. Zhou a little too long, Win? He's not going to disappear, you know."

"Mr. Zhao! I am so sorry. I didn't see you there. I was just- you know, scolding my substitute secretary for whining about organizing these files." Win laughed awkwardly, looking at her boss standing at her doorway.

"Was she looking at me all too sweetly, Uncle Zhou?" Nathan butted in, teasing his girlfriend whose cheeks turned red due to her embarrassment.

The men laughed at Win who looked like she was about to explode from humiliation, Mr. Zhou intervened, "Now, enough of that, Win looks like she ate a whole bag of spicy chillies. I just dropped by to tell you two to go get lunch already. It's past lunch time."

"But Mr. Zhou, I still have a lot of papers to finish. I can just eat after work." Win responded.

Mr. Zhou frowned, "I think you forgot you have company here, your assistant looks like he's about to pass out from hunger. Go on, that's an order."

Win finally gave in, realizing that she does have Nathan with her and he's probably tired and hungry from looking at all the legal files he doesn't take any interest in. She apologizes to him while they wait for their food at a Chinese cuisine restaurant near the office, "You could just go ahead, you know. I'm sorry you have to go through this."

"What are you being sorry for? I personally asked Mr. Zhao to do this. I can't let my angel do all the work alone. Especially that I was not able to accompany you yesterday to the reunion, I felt bad."

Win gulped, she suddenly thought about whether Nathan has heard about what happened at the reunion last night, she thinks it would be better not to mention it at all. "You're too sweet to be true." She says instead.

"Well, I am absolutely real." They both chuckle at the response.

They talk about the advertisement campaign as they walk back to the office. Since the photos were released that morning, it was mostly about how much time the photo shoots consumed and how she really was not able to take all the time she needed for herself. "It was work anyway." Win mentioned, "So I shouldn't have expected that I could have rested."

"Well, then maybe next time you should take a month leave for a vacation. A real one." Nathan suggested.

"And then find myself with a pile of legal documents when I come back? No, thank you." Win laughs, no matter how she loved her work, the amount of work she came back to is exhausting.

Nearing the office, they both saw three black cars parked in front of the firm. Win was perplexed as they walked closer, she can't be wrong. The man standing outside the car surrounded by other men looked oddly familiar to her. Just then, the man faced her and called her out, "Atty. Winona Chen, I have been waiting for you."

Win felt her throat dry at the sight of who the man was, but she immediately regained composure and smiled, "Mr. Yang, how may I help you today?"