62. Action plan

During lunch.

All of them except Liam were sitting together and happily enjoying lunch. They were chatting over random topics. Suddenly the topic of the weekly company dinner came up.

All of them would gather together either in one of their houses or in a restaurant on every Sunday for a drink and some fun.

From the day Lara joined, she could only attend one company dinner because coincidentally, almost every Sunday she already had a event in her schedule.

" Where should we go day after tomorrow??", Sarah asked enthusiastically.

" Hmm… How about my place this time??", Lara suggested.

" Of course yes!! We have never been able to spend much time with you…. We can get to know you much better..", Marina squealed in happiness.

The others also agreed. They were all very curious about the mysterious Lara. They somehow guessed that Lara was from a rich family because of her clothing and dressing style. But her attitude wasn't like that of a typical rich young mistress.

" Amazing!.", Lara said with a smile." I'll send the address in our private chat group… All of you must come..", she continued.

" That doesn't have to be told twice. All of us will definitely come!!", Sarah yelled excitedly and gave Lara a quick hug.

" Aren't you inviting Liam, Lara??", Miles asked curiously. All of the others were looking at Miles with confused gazes.

Liam never attended any of their gatherings. Miles knew it better than any of them. They didn't know why he was asking such a question that had an obvious answer.

" I don't think boss will have the time and energy to attend our gathering…", Lara replied with uncertainty.

" And…. All the others also may become stiff if he was there out of fear…", she continued. All the others nodded their heads vigorously after Lara's statement.

If a stone cold faced Liam would step into their gathering, from a noisy teenage party it would become a deserted island. They would fear to move or behave freely because they would be scared to anger him.

Miles on the other hand was easy going when it came to gatherings. So they didn't mind him tagging along.

" Oh.. Okay.", Miles replied. He made a mental note to go and tell Liam about this. He wanted to help his useless cousin, who didn't seem like he had the intention to make a move on her any time soon, by getting them opportunities to be together.

Though a private outing would be better, starting with gatherings was the better option.

They continued chatting till the end of lunch break before getting back to work.

Now Lara had two things in her plate. First, to set Marina and Ryan up. And second, to organize a party.

Though, she already sorted out her action plan for the former, she still had to do a lot of planning for the latter. But she could take Maria's help because the girl was doing a degree in management.

Since tomorrow it was going to be a Saturday, Lara decided to implement her action plan to bring Marina and Ryan together.

The evening after work, she booked a reservation in a five star hotel called The Imperial Dragon Mountain for both of them. She had heard that both of them enjoyed Chinese food and so she booked this place.

With the help of the hotel staff, she prepared two invites. One for Maria and one for Ryan. She decided to make it look like an after party.

The next morning she gave one invite to Miles so that he could give it to Ryan pretending to not be able to attend the event and asking him to go in his stead. While Lara had the other invite to make Marina go instead of her.

" Hey Marina!!", Lara called Marina, who was just entering the office. Marina smiled when she heard Lara and quickly walked towards her.

" Good morning!!", Marina greeted Lara with a smile." Good morning..", Lara replied.

" So.. Can I ask you a favour??", Lara asked Marina with a expectant smile." Sure.. Anything you need..", Marina replied with a smile.

" So see, I got a invite to a after party in The Imperial Dragon Mountain. The event is today evening, but I will not be able to attend since I have to prepare for tomorrow as all of you guys are coming home….

So I wanted know if you would like to go in my place??… ", Lara asked while pulling out the "invite" from her purse.

Marina smiled and replied." Of course… I have no issues.."

" Thanks a lot Marina!! The event starts at 7:30pm… I will inform them that you will be going instead of me, so they will guide you to the hall…", Lara said.

Marina squealed in excitement while reading the invite. She loved Chinese food and was waiting eagerly to eat from one of the best Cheney restaurants in the capital.

But little did she know that there would be a even bigger surprise waiting for her at the restaurant.