One Night Surprise

Chapter 278 Can I Be Your Apprentice?

The atmosphere grew heavy almost instantly.

The director of the manufacturing company was a middle-aged man who wore a pair of little round spectacles. He looked bright and capable, but his expression was now stony as he pointed out, “Mr. Dawson, there’s nothing wrong with these.”

“Nothing wrong?” Bill repeated incredulously as his hand swept down to pick up one of the discarded shirts and waved it in front of the director’s face. “The shirt placket is all messed up and look at the stitching! As soon as this batch goes out the door, it carries with it the pride and dignity of the entire Hunter Group! With a quality like this, you’re going to cost us our reputation!”

“Well…”

The director looked uneasy at the confrontation. Upon seeing that, Courtney stepped up and assumed the role of a mediator; she tugged at Bill’s sleeve as she said, “Stop talking for a bit and let me have a word with the director.”

“And you are…” The director adjusted his spectacles and appraised Courtney curiously.

Most of the work that required trips to the manufacturing company were all previously done by the designers. As such, she had never officially met the director.

Standing at one side, Natasha promptly made the necessary introductions. “This is Courtney Hunter—President Hunter, the director of Hunter Group.

“President Hunter?” The older man blinked. “I beg your pardon, Miss. I didn’t think you’d be so young!”

“That’s all right,” Courtney answered pleasantly. She looked at Bill and silently indicated for him to step aside. She then went over to the director to have a private word with him.

“Mr. Finch, please excuse Mr. Dawson. He’s actually great at everything except keeping his temper in check,” Courtney began. “Here’s the thing—we need this batch to be ready within a month. With a deadline like this, you’ll understand why we can’t afford even the slightest of mistakes. We’re terribly sorry if we offended you in any way.”

sheepishly, “Please don’t apologize. After all, it was our fault in the first place. I just returned from Elmsbury and I was just about to supervise the production for

man, Mr. Finch. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how important this is to us. If you could work a little overtime just to keep an eye on the process, reworking the products won’t be necessary, don’t you think?” Upon having said that, she lifted a slender finger like she was drawing an idea out of thin air. “How about this? If you can finish the production earlier, then we’ll incentivize you on a contractual basis. If quality is ensured and you finish the work a day earlier than the deadline, you will receive a five

out the calculations as he

with the way businessmen worked—she drove a hard bargain, but she needed to make it

and Bill had settled on the good cop, bad cop strategy in order to make sure that things

the time she made her way home after tying up all the loose ends at the manufacturing company. She offered to drop Bill and Natasha off along the way. The villa on Lotus Road had been vacant for a while, so

pulling up outside the villa when Natasha asked suddenly, “Bill, I was wondering—can I be your apprentice and learn fashion designing from

the rearview mirror and saw that Bill’s eyebrows were drawn

“Because I like it.”

you’ll be good at it. That’s just how the world works.

“I… I have not.”

as though she wanted to curve around the inferiority that she experienced. In all the time that she knew Natasha, it was the first time that she saw a sheepish look pass across the

idea about the effect his words had on Natasha. Like most men, he was oblivious to the many aspects of chivalry and he had a mind that was straighter than steel. It was no wonder that he was single even though he was nearly forty years old; he practically doomed himself

the strategy of learning fashion designing from Bill. I mean, designing is all he ever thinks about. There’s nothing much else going on in

she quickly explained, “Miss Hunter, I’m afraid you’ve taken

windscreen. “You know how proud these artistic types are and they show little mercy to those who are weaker than them in the industry. If you really become his apprentice—and that’s on the basis

Bill is willing to take me

to believe that Natasha was really interested in fashion designing. She raised a brow as she asked. “Are you really that interested in fashion

out on my own. He wouldn’t turn you down if you asked, but I really want him to teach me because he wants to do it—and not

seemed so determined that Courtney had no choice but to relent. She did not pursue the matter any further. After all, even she could not be certain

that night, she was carrying a bag of potatoes. A nearby grocery store was offering discounts for potatoes and they were being sold in two giant heaps right at the entrance.