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.”

all, it was our fault in the first place. I just returned from Elmsbury and I

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 percent incentive on top of the agreed sum—ten percent if you

as he grinned at Courtney. He did not have to say anything to let her know that he was more than agreeable

hard bargain, but

way there, she and Bill had settled on the good cop, bad cop strategy in order to make sure that things turned out the way they wanted. After all, they

off along the

when Natasha asked suddenly, “Bill, I was wondering—can I be your

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. Have you dabbled in fashion designing

“I… I have not.”

could see Natasha shrinking into herself, as though she wanted to curve around the inferiority that she experienced. In all the time that she

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

lightly, “You know, it’s pretty clever of you to come up with the strategy of learning fashion designing from Bill.

Courtney said, she quickly explained, “Miss Hunter, I’m afraid you’ve taken this the wrong way. I really want to learn

this is going to be harder than the other thing I meant,” Courtney mused, her hands on the steering wheel as she kept her eyes on the road beyond the 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 that he’s even willing to take you in—he’s going to destroy your self-esteem. Would you be

Bill is willing to take me in, I’ll be

interested in fashion designing. She raised a brow as she asked. “Are you really that interested in fashion design? Let me have a word with Bill to see whether he’s willing to take you

you down if you asked, but I really want him to teach me because he wants to

Courtney had no choice but to relent. She did not pursue the matter any further. After

were being sold in two giant heaps right at the entrance. She had bought a large bag of them after seeing how