Trial Marriage Husband : I Am CEO's Plaything

"Thanks, I almost submitted my resignation letter if you hadn't helped me. By the way, sorry if the way I rejected your love was really rude yesterday," Lisa said from across.

"It's okay. After all, I did wrong too. I'm sorry, I was out of control and really impulsive yesterday night. I promise it won't happen again," Rangga replied softly.

"Fine. I'll sleep first then. I'm tired from dealing with many things at the office." After the two of them finished talking, Lisa hung up the call and turned off the lights in her boarding house, preparing to go to sleep.

The next day, in the finance department room of the Cendana Hotel, Lisa was called by the manager to his room. Calmly, Lisa walked in and greeted her manager politely. She pulled out the chair in front of the man's table and sat on it, crossing her legs while idling.

"What's the matter, sir?" Lisa asked politely.

"There is good news, Manggis Hotel gave us a second chance to improve the budget draft yesterday. Make no mistake this time! You have to do it properly and thoroughly," the manager replied firmly.

He looked at Lisa with a serious and earnest expression. Since Johan deliberately destroyed his own career and almost ended the collaboration between the two hotels. It was the manager's priority to restore the partnership, so he was fully responsible for the duties he assigned to Lisa. 

"Fine, I will not disappoint you, sir!" Lisa replied without hesitation.

The manager looked at her again and smiled. "Do you know how proud I am of your achievement this month? Since the first time you came here, I thought you were beyond qualified. I am satisfied with your performance, Lisa."

In return, Lisa bowed respectfully to the manager, saying, "Thank you sir. Then, I'll go back to my work again."

"Do your best, Manggis Hotel will come in about two hours!"

At her desk, Lisa was totally focused on her job. She only had about an hour to correct the mistakes in the budget draft that Johan ruined yesterday. She had to look good when the Manggis Hotel came. She must give out her best for the presentation so that she wouldn't embarrass her company. One small mistake could have fatal consequences for her work, and Lisa would not let that happen.

Meanwhile, the manager reached for the phone on his desk and pressed the number keys deftly. "Hello, I've given Lisa the job you asked for in full. I don't know if my decision will bring about good,"

He stared at the window facing the outside with a serious gaze. The scorching sunshine made his eyes narrow.

"Thank you for helping. You don't have to worry, I will always remember your help," Ω someone replied from across the phone.

The manager chuckled at the reply from the other side. He shuffled from his seat and said, "Is this woman so important to you? Why are you helping Lisa this far?" His voice sounded jealous.

"That woman is very important to my life. I hope you can look after Lisa for me, Mr. Hasan," a mysterious person replied from across the line.

"Are you not afraid if I take full control of Lisa in the finance department?" Hasan Fuad, the manager in charge of the finance department of the Cendana Hotel answered.

"You will not possibly have the heart to do such to Lisa, I know you," the mysterious person replied from across. His voice sounded very confident.

"Are you so sure? I could have prevented Lisa from replacing me as manager in this office." Hasan's voice was serious.

"If I do not trust you, I will not entrust this task to you," the mysterious man replied.

"Hey, you don't have to worry. I will take care of Lisa and I will always monitor her, but I will not change my mind," Hasan said, scratching his nose.

"Good then. I'll hang up first. Thank you Mr. Hasan," said the person before hanging up the call.

Hasan put the phone back in place. He paused for a moment, took a deep breath while resting on his chin. He just realized that Lisa was a hard worker and very nimble. With her current tenacity, that woman could have replaced Hasan from his position as manager in less than a year. Suddenly, Hasan felt embarrassed and humiliated after thinking that a much younger woman could dethrone him in a short time.

***

After almost an hour of presenting in front of the partnering hotel, the two parties finally agreed to cooperate. 

Fortunately, the presentation and negotiations that day went smoothly. Before this, Lisa was anxious and afraid that she would take the wrong step, causing her company to suffer losses. But her hard work turned out to have yielded good results.

Upon returning to her desk, Lisa overheard several employees in the finance department's room gossiping about her.

"Uh, do you know that new kid Lisa? I think she purposely approached the manager so she could get promoted quickly."

"Yeah yeah, I think she's a bootlicker. Ugh, I can't stand her!"

"Even worse, she gave a love letter to Johan! Geez, how can you date in this office?"

"Wow, she's so bad. After this, she'll definitely wrap her fingers around Mr. Hasan!"

It wasn't something new for Lisa if the people around her spread rumors. Hearing all the discordant voices, Lisa just walked quietly and tried to ignore it. Her time was too precious to be wasted for these envious colleagues.

But on the other hand, Alia knew how Lisa actually felt insulted. She couldn't accept her friend being insulted like that, so she immediately got up from her seat and scolded the group of gossipers while pointing her index finger.

"Hey, you don't have to gossip. I saw it myself and I know that the one who sent the letter was not Lisa but Johan, so stop lying! Better go back to work, it's more useful!"

The crowd then immediately fell silent. They felt caught by Alia who looked so annoyed and furious.

"I don't really understand you guys. Why do you even have the heart to insult our own people? Why do you still think that a girl who works hard and defends herself is not a real girl? I don't really understand your logic. Do you think we're still living in Dutch colonial era? It's 2020 now! It's the age of women's emancipation!" Alia scolded at length.

Lisa was amazed to hear Alia who defended her desperately. She also agreed with Alia's opinion— women should be able to live independently without relying on others, especially men. Lisa did not understand why this view was still considered bad by most Indonesians.

"Al, stop it. Just let them say what, there's no point in arguing with them," Lisa said flatly as she patted Alia's shoulder. 

"But they are accusing you of teasing the manager so that you can get promoted! I can't accept that. Instead of getting their job done, they spent their time gossiping and spreading stupid rumors!" Alia replied irritably.

"Come on, just let them be. They are still living in the past.. Let's just go back to work," Lisa said, gently tugging Alia's arm.