The Apple of My Eye
Chapter 908 The Business Trip

It was Sheryl's decision to continue with BM Corporation for her last assignment. However it felt like some kind of a servitude. Her soul was somewhere else at Cloud Advertising Company. Nevertheless, she tried to fulfill her duties wholeheartedly. She woke up very early next morning, ate her breakfast and greeted Amy before she went out for work. But when she arrived at the company gate, she found that

someone had arrived earlier than her.

"Miss Ye," Sheryl greeted Holley in a faint voice. Ever since Holley had threatened her with Sue, she could no longer hold Holley with respect. However, since she had to work here, it was unavoidable for Sheryl to greet her.

Holley looked at Sheryl and smiled. "Sher, you have also arrived so early," Holley replied her greeting as she took Sheryl's hand in a gentle confiding clasp. She said in an enthusiastic voice, "I thought it would need a long time for others to walk in. I never expected you to come to work so early. Thank God, now I can chat with you to kill time."

A glimmer of joy played on Holley's face as if there were nothing bad had happened between them.

Holley's pretense could not evade Sheryl's eyes. She maintained a diplomatic smile as she slipped her hand out of Holley's grip. She realized that Holley couldn't be underestimated. Holley's insidiousness made her frightened.

Sheryl replied maintaining the smile on her face, "This is my last assignment with this company. I am just trying to complete my work with my diligence."

She then stared at Holley and continued, "Miss Ye, I will resign from the company after completing this assignment. I hope you won't keep me from leaving."

Holley smiled wryly and replied, "Do you still blame me for what happened that day?" She stared at Sheryl with prying eyes.

"Why should I do that?" Sheryl held back her disgust, swallowed and answered in a calm voice. "You are the leader of this company. It is only reasonable for you to instruct me to do anything," Sheryl added looking back at Holley's eyes.

Holley narrowed her eyes to look earnest and said, "Sher, at that time I had no other choice. I hope you understand." Holley paused for a moment, heaved a sigh and continued, "Sheryl, you should know our company's situation now. We were running out of staff at the moment. Even Sue has taken a maternity leave. I had no choice but ask for your help."

Holley pretended to be guilty and added, "I know you blame me, but... I hope you can understand my concerns. It is nothing personal."

"Miss Ye, you are being oversensitive," Sheryl smiled and replied. "Actually I don't have any hostility against you. I just... prefer my previous work. Fortunately, there is a chance to go back to it now. So... I have to say sorry to you," Sheryl added.

Then she continued to explain, "There are many younger and prettier girls who are more suitable for the post I am holding in this company. They are all more professional than me. Modeling is, after all, a profession for young people. My age is not suitable for this job any longer. So I have to prepare a backup plan. I truly understand you, Miss Ye. But... you should also understand me, right?"

"Fine, fine. I understand you, "Holley answered with a half smile. But then she started again with a mark of disappointment in her voice, "To be honest... I will truly feel sad if you leave BM Corporation. I had decided to designate you to do behind-the-scenes work. Then at that time, what you need to do is to train the newly-employed models. But I did not expect that you would be in such a hurry to leave. Your insistence to leave truly makes me absolutely unprepared and without a back up."

"Thank you for taking the trouble," Sheryl gave a gentle smile and replied. "But I have already made up my mind."

"That's all right." Holley heaved a deep sigh waving her hand. "I also know that you wouldn't change your mind. But... I still hope that you stay here," Holley persistently tried to detain her. Sheryl just smiled and said nothing.

Holley stared at her face with an expectant look for a while and finally returned a smile to Sheryl who just stood there without responding to her request. "Fine, I rest my case then. We won't talk about this any more. Now that you have decided, I will not try to pull you back. But Sher, I have to remind you that..." She stopped to organize her words, "I have to remind you that you must be well-prepared for this assignment. As long as this project is accomplished successfully, you can leave BM Corporation successfully."

Sheryl did not fail to identify the mark of threat in her words. "Okay, I know that." Sheryl nodded her head slightly.

Sheryl had always been diligent in her work. And now that she had promised Holley, she would do her best to complete her last project with perfection.

Holley then held Sheryl's hand again and began to talk about Sue. "I have been so busy these days that I did not replace the time to see Sue. How is she now? I heard earlier that her condition was not good. What's her condition now? Is she feeling better now?"

"Yes, she is better now," Sheryl replied with a smile. Sheryl started to feel trapped to have such a long conversation with Holley. Desperate to break free, she found an excuse to leave and walked into the coach. Later on, other models also began to arrive. Then the coach was driven toward the adjacent city.

Sheryl had been spending long hours formulating the plan for their ongoing project these days. The time in the coach gave her the opportunity to take a break from her busy schedule and she drifted into a deep slumber. By the time she woke up, it was already afternoon.

The moment she opened her eyes, she was greeted by Holley's smiling face. Sheryl opened her eyes wide and tried to look alert. Holley put on a big smile and stated, "I had decided to wake you up when we were going to eat lunch. But I found you to be sleeping deeply, so I just gave it up. Here, I have bought some bread and milk for you. You can eat some."

Holley looked at her watch and added, "We will arrive soon. You just do with the bread and milk for the moment." Then she turned around and addressed the rest of the staff, "I will take you all to eat a big meal after we arrive."

"Thank you, Miss Ye."

"Thank you, Miss Ye."

All the models exclaimed in an unanimous voice.

Sheryl took the bread and milk from Holley's hand and also expressed her gratitude, "Thank you."

Sheryl ate some bread. They reached the destination in an hour. She carried her luggage from the coach and followed Holley to check in.

The girl who shared the room with Sheryl was Susan, a newly-employed model. Susan was extremely beautiful, young and naive. Susan followed Sheryl and always addressed her as "Sher". Even Sheryl liked her.

After everybody was settled, Holley summoned all the models to take them to dinner. Sheryl was in no mind to join them so she asked Susan to inform Holley that she would like to excuse herself for the dinner as she was feeling uncomfortable and needed to go to bed early.

Susan immediately got worried and inquired in a concerned voice, "Sher, what's matter with you? Do you have a fever?"

Walking over to Sheryl, Susan touched her forehead and said, "Thank God, you don't have a fever."

Susan then joined her brows together and said, "You were fine just now. How could you suddenly feel uncomfortable?" She stared at Sheryl's face with probing eyes.

Sheryl was really amused by this mother goose type concern shown by Susan. "I am okay," she replied with a laugh. She then added, "I am just a little tired and want to take some rest."

Hearing Sheryl's words, Susan released her brows and let out a long sigh. She said, "That's all right then. I will pack the food and bring it for you."

"Thank you," Sheryl smiled appreciating the gesture and sincerely expressed her gratitude.

Susan then went downstairs to join the team but could not free her mind from worrying about Sheryl. Holley furrowed her brows as she saw Susan walking out of their room alone without Sheryl. She couldn't help asking, "Susan, where is Sheryl? Isn't she joining us?"

"She is feeling uncomfortable, and she would like to take a rest in the hotel room," Susan replied promptly. "I will get her food packed for her, don't worry," Susan added. But Holley looked enraged and was far from being pacified from her response.

"But, we can't leave her alone," Holley said with furrowed brows. "This is the first party we are having after coming here. How could she not join us? Moreover, I need to discuss tomorrow's arrangement with you all during dinner," Holley continued.

Then Holley stared at Susan and said in a stern voice, "You go upstairs and call her to join us now. You just tell her we will wait downstairs until she comes down."