Mike refuses to help Dina

Mike took one sandwich from the box and walked towards his cabin. Dina showed her tongue at his back and shook her head in disapproval. She even did an ugly dance and tried to make fun of him while holding a sandwich in her mouth.

"I can see your grisly face on the glass panel in front of me! You look like a chimpanzee who has escaped from the zoo. Maybe, I should call a zookeeper and ask him to come and pick you up," Mike commented and slammed the door behind him.

Dina dusted her shoulders as if nothing had happened and he didn't insult her. She walked towards her workspace and intentionally kicked his door on the way.

Right now, they were the only ones who took care of the shop as well as outside work. If this fashion week was successful then they were planning to hire a few more people to help them around the shop. Both of them got busy with their work until late afternoon.

"Finally… It's all done. I guess these should do and I must say I am a pretty good designer. If they can't choose this then I must say the organizers lack creativity and fashion sense." Dina spoke out aloud and patted her chest.

Her overconfidence didn't add any arrogance in her; instead, she looked elegant and positive. She packed all the designs in a folder and came out of her room.

In a couple of hours, the deadline would be over and she had to convince Mike to submit these designs. Without knocking on the door, she opened Mike's office door slightly. She inserted her tiny head inside and peeked into the room. Mike was changing his shirt and had his back towards the door. So, he did not notice her opening his door.

She saw a huge tattoo on his back. A flower symbol was on the top and there were two swords drawn below that flower. It looked like the flower was being protected by those swords.

"Did you get yourself a tattoo? You did not even inform me. If you had then I would have come and watched how much you suffered while getting that tattoo." Dina said with a wicked smile.

Mike turned around instantly and pulled the t-shirt down in a hurry.

"Why can't you knock on the door before you enter? Don't you know that is expected as a basic mannerism! Forget it, whom am I even talking to? The most carnivorous animal that would just jump on any available prey." Mike commented and walked towards her.

"Yes, I am carnivorous. Rawr… Rawr… I am going to bite your throat and eat you alive. Roarrrrr…" Dina went near him while scratching the air using her hands.

"Shut up! Tell me, Why did you come here?" Mike asked and sat on the office chair

He hit her hands away that kept on trying to scratch his face. He doesn't know when she will grow up and stop behaving like a toddler.

"Didn't you say, you have a project thesis to finish? I came here to help you with that. Look at me, how good I am…" She expected him to praise and thank her.

But as she didn't get any response from him, she commented,

"Looking at the situation here, maybe I should reconsider my decision," Dina said and tapped her fingers on the table.

As Dina did not see any reaction from Mike even after saying that, she changed her tactics abruptly.

"I am just kidding! Relax! Don't be tense. If I don't help my friend who is in need, then who else would I help? So, what is this project all about? Where are the details? Give it to me. I will finish it for you in a jiff. Come on, hurry! Hand it over to your friend here," She shook his shoulders and asked him desperately.

"You said you would not help me with that project earlier when we met in the morning. Why do you have a sudden change of mind?" Mike raised an eyebrow and asked her.

"Did I say that? I don't remember saying anything like that. Did you hear it wrongly? I told you, how can I not help my only friend when he asks for help!" Dina asked him several questions in return and gave him a crooked smile.

"Stop smiling like an idiot and tell me what you want in return." He asked her directly while looking at her devilish face.

"I want you to submit these designs for approval. Once you are done, do not forget to get me my favorite 'Double-Chocolate Bundt Cake with Ganache Glaze'. I am craving for something sweet all of a sudden." She rubbed her hands together and looked at him with dream-filled eyes.

"How about I say a… big NO?" Mike turned her down promptly and stood up from his chair.

"Please, please, please… I will help you with the project from top to bottom. You won't even have anything to do other than proofreading the papers once before submission." She begged and chased behind him.

"Let me think about it for a second here. And my answer is 'no', no thank you," Mike affirmed her.

"Really? You won't submit the designs for me. Don't you want to improve the quality of the store? Didn't you complain last time about cleaning the toilets every day, even though you are one of the boss's? Only if you submit these designs and we win, then we will be able to afford such luxuries.

Imagine having people working under you. All you need to do is sit on this desk and relax. Everything will be taken care of by your employees." She stated while trying to create a magical scene in front of him by pointing at every corner of the room.

"Look here, someone is cleaning the floor for you. See here, one of the employees is cleaning the desk for you. And over here, someone is arranging a bundle of flowers in a vase that would bring a soothing feeling to your soul. And downstairs, there will be a huge line waiting outside in a line just to enter our shop..." Dina traveled into her dreamland and described everything that she wanted for herself.

Before she could even finish saying her dream life, he interfered and commented,

"You are not running a restaurant. It is a fashion boutique and we have enough space to let at least a hundred customers inside our shop at once. But did you see the reality? From morning, not even a fly entered our shop downstairs.

I was sitting at the cash counter until now and we did not earn a single cent. If this keeps on going then the loan that we took from the bank, we would be unable to pay even the interest to them. They will take this shop away from us." Mike said disappointedly and brought her back to reality.

"We will succeed one day. We will definitely succeed. Don't worry, cheer up. I am an upcoming designer and it takes time to come into the spotlight. But once we are in, then see how many customers we lure into our shop," Dina encouraged him and patted his back.