Her long, manicured nails busily tapped on the wheels of her car, while her eyes kept switching between the time and the red light.
Admittedly, her foot had almost pressed hard on the gas pedal seconds ago, wanting to beat the stoplight. But thankfully, common sense kicked in, reminding her how accidents happen.
"Come on..." Impatiently, she waited until the lights changed to yellow. Then, as if she were racing for her life, she sped up once the traffic light turned green.
Her appointment was in fifteen minutes. Calculating the distance and the traffic, she would probably end up late. Unless by some miracle, the rest of her travel would be smooth sailing.
But again, that was not just her luck when she arrived fifteen minutes behind schedule.
"Where have you been?" Her assistant, Lilian, whom she had asked to meet her at the Morton Group Headquarters, asked exasperatedly. "They already canceled the meeting since you failed to show up on time."
"Your actions were unprofessional... and... and you're only wasting their time. Mr. Kingsley said in not so many words." Lilian repeated what happened at the meeting just a few minutes ago.
Mr. Kingsley, the project manager, was known to be a stickler for rules. Therefore, she had already expected as much.
"Damnit!" Cursing underneath her breath, as her eyes scanned the lobby of the Morton's group main office.
Come to think of it, if someone ended up late in a meeting with her, she would probably act the same way.
Therefore, she could only blame herself for not coming on time, yet she didn't regret it. If she had to repeat this day, she would probably do the same thing, regardless of the outcome.
"This is not like you. Did something happen?" Lilian asked, studying her as if she had something stuck to her face or a truck just run her over.
Yeah! It wasn't like her to miss such an important meeting, especially something as big as this one. But it wasn't like her to walk away from a situation where someone needed her help.
"Nothing." Lilian was overthinking the situation again. Her assistant tended to be overprotective when she was nervous. It was endearing, but at the same time, annoying.
"I just dropped my phone at the hospital after my jog, so I had to go back to get it." She explained. "Luckily, one of the janitors found it in the hallway and surrendered it at the front desk." But she didn't give her all the gory details.
Although her altercation with the obnoxious woman cost her time, which in effect caused her to miss her appointment. She didn't fret about it.
At the end of the day, she was just glad that nothing bad happened to the nice cleaning lady.
"The hospital again." Lilian looked at her, baffled, shrugging her shoulders and shaking her head. "Aren't you even a bit tired of staring at those crying babies?"
"You have to admit... they are cute and adorable." She countered, unfazed by her assistant's lack of interest.
But Lilian was still young and naive, unlike her. Her assistant wouldn't know yet what it was like to lose a child. But then again, nobody in her new life was aware of her past. Only Dr. Bennett.
More than that, she believed that if not for those babies, she might have long gone insane, consumed by the pain of losing her parents and her son.
Each of those babies' smiles, their giggly laughter, and even their shrilling cries were patches that slowly mend her broken heart.
"Anyway, where is Mr. Kingsley now?" She had to salvage what was left of this day. She had to find a way to save this negotiation.
She needed this contract signing to push through. She had to make this collaboration with the Sinclair and the Morton Group happen. Not only was her job and reputation with the Sinclairs on the line, but her entire revenge plan depended on this business venture.
"You just missed Mr. Kingsley. He already left." Lilian pouted her lips in a disappointing grin. Something she liked to do when she had no idea what else to tell her.
Immediately, she called Jenny's assistant, Jill, back at their office. If anyone could find out where Mr. Kingsley was, it was her. As the assistant to the CEO of the Sinclair Group, Jill had already created her own network among the other employees in the industry.
Oh, yeah! As she rose to the rank, Jenny also became the CEO of the Sinclair Group. Jenny's husband handed the reins to his wife, believing that Jenny deserved the position more than he did.
But in truth, Jenny's husband didn't really want the job. He would rather devote his life to serving his country as a military officer than to sit in a boardroom.
A few minutes later, "Thanks, Jill. I owe you one." She had received the necessary information she needed to find Mr. Kingsley.
"Book me a table at the Rose Garden." She instructed. "Used Jenny's name." She added, knowing that it was impossible to get a reservation at that place on short notice.
"Okay, I already put a reservation under your name," Lilian told her, but she stopped to stare at her from head to toe. "But you can't go there looking like that."
Of course, she couldn't show up at a fancy restaurant looking like a street rat with her stained and wrinkled clothes.
"Don't worry, I still have a spare dress in my car." She would have changed earlier, but she was already running late.
A few minutes later, she was back on the road, trapped in the traffic.
"What the hell was wrong today?" She asked. Frustrated and infuriated.
Stretching her neck, she tried to look ahead to check what was causing the traffic buildup. So far, the vehicles were moving at a snail's pace. But the long lines of cars made it impossible for her to see anything.
At this rate, she might not make it to her reservation again. But still, she was not going to give up. She tried to wiggle her car through the traffic, hoping to get through the roadblock as soon as possible.
Once she had parked her car in the front entrance, she only had one thing on her mind. To find Mr. Kingsley.
Immediately, she jumped out of her car and threw her keys to the valet attendant. Then, she rushed to the hostess for her table reservation.
However, the hostess scrunched her nose and scrutinized her from head to toe, clearly showing her disdain at her appearance.
Then, it hit her. She forgot to change her clothes again.
"I'm sorry, I know this is not appropriate, but maybe we can work out something." She whispered to the woman standing behind the podium beside the entrance.
Quickly, she took out a hundred-dollar bill from her pouch, hoping that the woman would let her situation slide.
"I promise I won't be long..." She was willing to say anything as long as she could convince the other woman to give her access to the restaurant without making a fuss.
"Welcome, Ms. Maddison." The hostess finally accommodated her, even accompanying her to her table.
Luckily, she had a good view of the man she needed to see from her position. Mr. Kingsley was sitting just a few tables away from where she sat.
"Give me a moment." She dismissed the server temporarily after he served the complimentary wine. At the moment, she was too tense to think of anything else, let alone food or eating.
Besides, she didn't come here to this restaurant to dine. That was not exactly her purpose.
Squaring her shoulders and breathing deeply, she stood up and walked over to Mr. Kingsley's table, bracing herself for the confrontation.
Having no idea what his reaction would be, she had rehearsed several lines for five different scenarios. However, failing to sign the Morton Group was not an option.
"Excuse me, Mr. Kingsley. I'm sorry to interrupt, but I'm Sophia Maddison, from the Sinclair Group." She hastily offered her hand as a friendly gesture.
"I really hope you can still give me another chance to present my proposal. I know I was late, and it was totally my fault. But still, I don't want you to miss out on this incredible opportunity because of my mistake."
For what seemed like an eternity, the man just stared at her. Not blinking. Not saying a word. His face remained expressionless. His eyes remained placid.
She could not make up what he was thinking, and it made her quite uncomfortable.
"I'm sorry, Ms. Maddison, but you already missed your chance. Besides, if you want me to take you seriously, you should at least come on time and look presentable." The man's eyes raked from her head down to her toes.
There was no fire, but she could feel her entire body was burning, probably with the outright rejection and the humiliation.
Could she blame him?
Judging from the strands of hair that hung on her face and the present condition of her clothes, she looked like one of the beggars on the street.
Damn!
How could she have messed up such an important day? Still, she was not ready to give up.
"If you want to discuss it now... or if you like, I can make another appointment. But please don't dismiss the project just because of a little mishap." She tried again, wishing that this man would at least give her a second chance.
The sour look he threw her way was not a positive sign. The way he threw his towel on the table told her that she just spoiled his meal. But she still smiled, hoping against hope that she could still change his mind.
"I'm sorry about this. Mr. Morton. I wasn't expecting..." Mr. Kingsley was saying, but she didn't hear the rest as her ears picked up the name.
"Mr. Morton?"