My Boss Dies Again

Chapter 6 THE Suitcase

   After calling a car, Gina raised her head to look at her, smiling weakly and saying, “Miss Smith, please look after it for me. I’m afraid I'll lose it if I take it with me. To tell you the truth, I’m completely hammered right now. I feel like I might black out at any moment. Charlotte Hill will choke me to death if I lose the contract.”

   Gina started to look worse and worse. The scary thing was, this woman was so tolerant to alcohol that there wasn't a single trace of drunkenness on her face. But the alcohol had still made her lower her guard, as she actually used the CEO’s name directly...

   Toni, who sensed an unusual vibe and was still a little drunk, didn’t realize that Gina had already reached the corner. Seeing that she hadn’t followed, Gina walked back a little and waved to her, saying, “Miss Smith, over here. I don’t want to throw up outside.”

   Facing the cold wind at night, Toni and Gina found the taxi. Gina pulled the car door to let Toni sit in the back seat and got into the front passenger seat herself.

   It was late at night, and the roads were empty. The driver drove the car like an airplane that was about to liftoff, causing the wheels to leave the ground on one of the turns. Toni held the roof handle tightly, asking the driver to drive slowly several times for fear that Gina would feel uncomfortable after drinking so much. The driver paid lip service to her requests, but after two minutes he started to speed up again. Fortunately, he finally delivered them to the hotel safely.

   The drive was really fast, and Gina, who was still holding out after the karaoke, was wilting when she got out of the car. When she opened the car door, Toni saw that she was incredibly drunk, and after taking a rest, she still couldn't stand up by herself. The driver knew that she was drunk when he saw her, so he kept urging her to get out of the car for fear that she’d throw up inside.

   After paying the bill, Toni dragged Gina out and asked her, “Are you okay? Can you walk?”

   Gina merely replied, “Hmm.” She couldn’t even lift her feet to walk.

   “Miss Smith, I'm really sorry to trouble you... I’ll express my gratitude to you tomorrow.”

   Toni didn’t say a word. She was a little afraid that she’d collapse, and then they really would be screwed. So, she took a deep breath and quickened her pace as she dragged her away.

   Gina tried her best to keep her pace steady, and when they arrived at the hotel's revolving door, she suddenly stopped.

   At the opposite corners of the revolving door, two decorative elk were looking at each other with their heads held high. They were moving forward leisurely in a circle while maintaining a constant distance from each other. They both had robust and flexible bodies, their eyes were white but hollow, and their front legs were raised high as if they wanted to break free from their cage.

   “Deer...”

   Gina whispered something, but Toni didn't hear it clearly. She struggled considerably to drag her into the hotel, and had to request help from the staff to send her to her room.

   When she'd finally settled Gina into her room, Toni was sweating in the cold.

   After she'd got back to her room and took a shower, fatigue quickly sent her into a dreamland.

   She was awakened by the sun the next day. After taking a shower last night, she had almost passed out and forgot to draw the curtains.

   Toni was still feeling a little unwell, and her temples were aching. When she got up to wash herself, she saw the contract on the table. After what happened last night, she didn't know if Gina had the strength to inspect the counters today.

   While she was washing up, the doorbell rang. She could see from the peek hole that it was actually Gina.

   Wearing a bathrobe, Toni didn’t want to open the door, so she said through the door, “Miss Bailey, how are you up so early?”

   Gina's voice came from outside the door, “Yeah, I came to thank you. I was lucky to have you last night, Miss Smith.” Miss Smith, how long will it take you to get ready?”

   “Not long.” Toni said, “Give me 20 minutes.”

   Everyone has experienced a lot of trials and hardships to stand on top of the job market. Whether they like it or not, everyone has developed a body as strong as iron. They drank so much last night, but they still got up early in the daytime to inspect the counters in high spirits.

   Seeing the newly-appointed GM and deputy GM, everyone stayed focused. Gina walked shoulder to shoulder with Toni while inspecting the counters, and the district manager and mid-level executives followed them from behind. The group was very eye-catching.

   Gina had climbed to the senior level of her profession when she was still under 30 years old. Everyone who followed in her wake was older than her. She could've been arrogant, but she didn’t flaunt her position at all. Seeing that one of the salesperson’s bow ties was crooked, she personally stepped forward to help the little girl adjust it. The little girl blushed under Gina’s smile, and there was an unexplainable shyness written on her face.

   After inspecting all the counters for much of the day, they were about to return to City L, but Toni’s purse had disappeared without a trace during last night's chaos. They rushed to the station to get a temporary ID card, but they had missed their scheduled train, so they had to buy the tickets again. They bought the tickets for the high-speed train departing at 7:30pm, which meant they would arrive back home at 11 o'clock.

   The two of them sat in the waiting room. They couldn’t be called friends, but they had to wait together for over an hour, which was simultaneously embarrassing, boring, and difficult. Fortunately, something attracted Gina's attention, so she went to wander around alone in the station. Toni put on her headphones to listen to music, and before long it was time to depart.

   It happened to be the weekend return rush hour, and there were many people waiting for the train. When they boarded it, there were backpacks and suitcases blocking the narrow passages, and some people were moving in the wrong direction, pushing Toni back several steps.

  After finding her seat and stowing her luggage, Gina stood there and looked back, beckoning to Toni through the crowd.

   There were too many people and no seats left, so Toni had to sit with Gina. Gina lifted Toni’s luggage onto the luggage rack. Just after Toni thanked her and they sat down, a suitcase suddenly fell down and hit her hard in the head.

  “Ouch...” Toni clutched her sore spot and raised her head, seeing a scruffy man lifting his suitcase in order to walk through the aisle quickly, pushing forward in his heedless haste through the crowd. The people he pushed past complained constantly. The man was wearing round glasses and his hair was graying. He looked back and glared when he felt his suitcase get hit by something. He and Toni looked at each other, but naturally he did not apologize to her, and instead continued to squeeze forward. Soon, he had completely disappeared from view.

   “What the hell? He didn't even apologize.” Gina asked with concern, “Miss Smith, are you okay?”

   Toni shook her head. They could only let it go.

   After the passengers seated themselves down, the high-speed train slowly departed from the platform and drove into the night.

   The dazzling brightness inside the high-speed train made the things in the dark outside the window even more difficult to distinguish. The city ablaze with lights was quickly left behind by the train, the dilapidated houses looked like demons, and the overgrown wilderness was vast and empty. Only this train snaked its way through the night.

   The train roared as it sped forward through the dark, while the carriages were steady and warm.

   The temperature in the train was very suitable for a nap, but the noise that couldn’t be ignored stimulated Toni’s eardrums from time to time, making her dizzy and uncomfortable.