That evening, after a long day of work, Liz got on the car and closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath, happy that it was finally time.
"Rao, let's go the address I gave you in the morning."
"Right away, Miss. Elizabeth. Congratulations on the promotion, by the way. The whole office is abuzz! Even the chauffeurs were whining about how their passengers were in a really bad mood because the 'boss's plaything from the streets' landed a job that makes her equal to them."
Saying this, Rao turned around to check Liz's reaction, and when he saw that she only had one side of her lips raised in a half-smile, he laughed heartily before saying, "I knew I wasn't wrong about you, Ma'am. I know you'll show them all their place."
"Right you are, Rao. Let's go."
Indeed, Liz had heard much worse things while in the office today, even from people like receptionists.
She had been subject to stares and whispers at first, before they grew into full-blown mutters and grumbling about how she didn't even deserve the job as a P.A.
No-one dared to put in an official petition about this, as that would just result in there being proof which Will could use to have them fired.
After all, no CEO would want to have such judgemental individuals who ruined the atmosphere in his company.
However, here, the problem was that there were just too many people who had this opinion.
Liz had already made waves multiple times: from when she had gotten the job as a P.A even though she hadn't been to an Ivy League University, to those news reports about her being a gold-digger and that press conference where Will had spoken for her.
All in all, she had been the hot topic of gossip already, so her appointment as a Director of Operations, a post whose starting salary itself was $250,000, resulted in an uproar which wouldn't die down.
Seeing this, Liz hadn't been all that affected, as she couldn't care less about what those whom she didn't know taught about her.
She had long seen society for what it was: a judgmental old man who would go away and shut up if he was ignored and not given attention.
However, she had gotten the doubt about how the board had accepted to give her the post, as there must be many on it too who had the same sentiments.
Yet, according to Will, although there had been detractors who voted against it, the majority had been very impressed about just how much money she had saved Happle by solving the Sam Raimi case. Hence, they had voted to give her the title, while keeping a close eye on her to make sure that she was fit for it.
All in all, everything was riding on how she was going to handle her project.
And Liz would be lying if she didn't say that she was looking forward to shutting allll of them up by doing an incredible job.
A few minutes later, the car stopped at a spot 3 blocks away from the east exit of Central Park.
This meant that this was a high-demand area, where prices of plots would go up to ridiculous heights.
After getting off, Liz was slightly puzzled.
As she looked up and down the block, she noticed 2 fast-food restaurants: one with the iconic "M" and the other sporting its logo of a burger.
There was also an upscale restaurant, which seemed to be serving Italian cuisine.
This was where they were going to set up their first diner?!
Wouldn't it be best to choose a spot where there was less competition?
Wondering what Keren was thinking, Liz walked to the open plot surrounded by 3-storey buildings.
It was pretty large- larger than the typical size of a fast-food restaurant which had take-away features, but smaller than the expansive space that the upscale restaurant was occupying.
It was getting dark, but there was enough sunlight for her to notice two figures standing in front of the plot and looking at it.
There was a little distance between them, and as she watched, the woman, who was wearing a knee-length grey coat, seemed to be edging closer and closer to the man.
Without making too much sound, she appeared beside the two and suddenly said, "So, what is the new couple up to?"
Startled, both Luke and Keren turned to Liz before quickly looking at each other, as if they had decided what to say when she arrived.
"Liz, our first date is this weekend. Do you want to join us?"
Surprised, Liz was about to refuse, when Keren said, "We insist. I've always dreamed of going on a double date, and Luke and I can always go on a normal date together. This will be work, too. We will be going to a member of the chain of restaurants which poses the biggest competition to this business model. What do you say?"
Noticing her tone and observing that they seemed to be dead set on it, Liz just nodded, before turning to the plot.
"So, this is where it'll be?"
"This is where it'll be. Luke's authentic food, my experience with attracting customers and your implementation of Happle's technology are going to make a brand which will be renowned the world over. Just mark my words. So, have you two decided on the percentages-"
"I know, Nancy. It's just my luck. Don't wait up for me: my new boss is such an amateur that I'll have to explain everything to her. I heard that she always has her nose high up in the air, and that she is incapable of doing anything except making others do the work for her. All right, I've reached. I'm hanging up."
As Keren's words were interrupted by a middle-aged man with balding hair who walked up to them while speaking loudly on the phone, all three of them frowned, wondering who he was.
However, when he reached them and spoke while curling his lips, the three couldn't help but raise their eyebrows with slight shock.
"Hi, who amongst you is Miss. Elizabeth? I've been appointed as your assistant. I'll be supervising…I mean, I'll be helping you supervise everything."