CHAPTER 21: PLANS IN MOTION

Leah had been very diligent since her Mistress assigned her the task of opening a café because she didn't want to mess up the first task that had been assigned to her.

To be honest, she assumed she would be in charge of cleaning up Arianna's mess because her reputation was well-known throughout the community. She had never expected her young miss to be smart and different from how others portrayed her.

She realized that the adage "don't judge a book by its cover" applied to Arianna. She made sure she researched everything on the day she was assigned the task of researching the café business, so that when she was assigned the second task of opening a café, she found the process a little easier.

The first thing she had to do was find a building, and since Arianna wanted to buy, Leah investigated a number of real estate agents in order to avoid being duped into purchasing a building at an exorbitant price.

Leah was in a café browsing through her old laptop and looking at the storefronts for sale when she received a phone call. She smiled as she looked at her cheap phone.

Leah answered the phone, and anyone could tell that whoever was on the other end meant a lot to her, "Hey girl!"

[How are you, girl? What exactly are you doing?]

"I'm fine, how's work and everything?"

[Everything is in order. I just wanted to check in and see if you were still looking for work. I heard an accounting firm is hiring, and if you try, you might get lucky.]

When Leah heard that, she felt a sense of warmth because she knew her friend meant well. It had been extremely difficult for her to find work, and if it hadn't been for Arianna's hiring, she might have taken this opportunity to explore this accounting firm.

"I was planning on calling you and taking you out to dinner. I recently got a job, but I was so busy that I forgot about it," Leah confessed to this friend because she didn't want to keep it a secret from her.

[Really? That's fine, then. Where do you work?]

"I'll tell you everything later. I am currently working on an assignment, but I promise you that later, maybe at lunch, we can meet and talk about it all," Leah said.

The friend on the other end understood Leah, so she agreed, and after about a minute of talking, the two hung up, and Lea returned to her laptop. After perusing a number of websites, Leah identified three agencies and decided to pay them a visit.

When she arrived at the first one, the salesman was not forthcoming because she was quickly judged based on her appearance. Leah was assigned to a newcomer who showed her the catalog.

Leah left because she didn't think they were the right ones, and by the time she was finished, she was in a quandary.

She had asked the agents assisting her to show her the two storefronts she was interested in. Both storefronts were in good locations; one was near a mall, which was usually busy all day, and the other was near a university.

She had read Arianna's business plan, and it was so good that she wished she could buy both storefronts so that the business could get off to a good start.

She informed the agents that she would contact them once she had finished thinking about the matter. Because everything had been left up to her, she decided to do everything herself and show Arianna the fruits of her labor.

That afternoon, she ran into a friend she hadn't seen in a long time. The two met in a restaurant where they frequently dined, but it was usually her friend who paid the bill, not her.

Leah was ecstatic to see Maria again. Before taking their seats, the two girls hugged each other for a few moments.

"Where are you working that you couldn't tell me over the phone?" Maria inquired, her tone tinged with curiosity and concern.

Maria didn't feel well after that phone call because she was afraid Leah would get involved with bad people, and she didn't want to see this girl suffer.

"I am now the Personal Assistant to young lady Arianna Kendall," Leah said, not too quickly or too slowly.

Boom!!!! When Maria heard Leah's response, it was as if a grenade had just exploded in her head. Where did it appear that Leah was working for someone of that stature?

"You're not joking, are you?"

"No, I'm serious; I just started...."

Suddenly, the two started talking about the issue, and Maria realized what was going on. Maria, like others, was biased towards Arianna, but hearing Leah speak up for her made her like Arianna just a little bit more because she had good eyes to hire her friend.

"I believe you should go with the store closest to the university first, and then if there is still money left over, go with the other one. After hearing her friend's predicament, Maria advised Leah not to chew more than she could swallow.

Leah saw nothing wrong with that and agreed with her. Maria paid for the meal and suggested that Leah pay when she gets paid because Maria will definitely eat a lot at that time.

The two said their goodbyes, and Leah returned to her store issue. She had already received everything she needed from Arianna in order to purchase the store, so she went to the third agency and signed a contract with them.

She paid one and a half million dollars for the store because it was empty. Arianna's name was on the store because she was only the middle person running errands for her miss.

With the purchase of the store, Leah began looking for companies that would sell her the equipment needed in the café, and she wanted the best for the café because it would have a negative impact on her Miss in every way if it was discovered that the café belonged to Arianna especially if something goes wrong.

It was a busy day for her, but as someone who had accomplished something great that day by resolving the store problem, she felt truly great and vowed to continue working hard in the future because she was certain that Arianna would never abandon her as long as she did her job wholeheartedly.