I can’t believe this is only the second day of work for Hina and me. Yesterday was crazy. I hardly got any sleep and my whole body was aching, probably both from running with Hina on my back and being rough handled by Ema

“Good morning Gika!”, Hina greeted brightly and Gika rose from her seat to greet her boss.

“Good morning, Miss Biaz”

Then Gika gave me a glare.

“Good morning to you too, Mr. Poob”

“Good morning, Gika…”

“Ms. Biaz, could I have a little chat with Mr. Poob here?”

I sighed and motioned to Hina hinting that she can go into her office alone first. Hina shrugged and duly obliged.

“So, Mr. Poob”

“Gika -“

“What the hell was all that?!”

“I’m sure you know the whole story anyway. You must have talked to Ema already. I’m sorry. I know I screwed up. I won’t let this happen again”

“:Sigh: A journalist will come over for an interview with Ms. Biaz later in the afternoon at 3. It was originally scheduled to take place next week but Mr. Roto Biaz thought it would be good to bring it forward to today”

“What -. She’s not ready for this!”

“I know. But don’t worry. This journalist is a friendly. It will just be a general interview with Ms. Biaz, covering how she feels about being the new leader of Biaz Group, what she is like as a person, etc. It’s set up to build a friendly and respectable first image for Ms. Biaz”

“That’s all good. But why bring it forward?”

“During the interview, she will casually ask Ms. Biaz a few things about her private life. One of the questions will be about whether she is in any sort of romantic relationship. Don’t worry, it will be asked in non-intrusive ways and Ms. Biaz is to brush it off lightheartedly”

Right. So Roto wanted at least a little damage control.

“I see. But then we have a lot to prepare before this interview. Friendly or not, a journalist is a journalist. We can’t let Ms. Biaz slip up at the first hurdle”

“That’s why I’m telling you in advance. Get in there now and get to work”

After that, I walked into Hina’s office and she was sitting - or more like half laying down - on her blue beanbag.

“Ma’am, we will have an interview with a journalist this afternoon. We will spend the morning preparing for it”

“Eh? Interview with me? What for?”

“There has been a lot of buzz about you in the media, even before what happened last night. You are the young heiress of the Biaz family, chosen to lead the legacy at the age of 19”

“So I’m like a celebrity?”

“You could say that, but it’s not just about that. You are also now leading Biaz Group. The performance of the company has a far-reaching significance for so many people in the industry, and in the business world in general. Even if they are not interested in you in a celebrity-gossip kind of way, they will be interested in seeing how you will lead the company”

I wondered how Hina can continue to cope with such media attention from now on. Will she Tehe her way through all of this in her own dorky way, or will it start to get under her skin at some point?

“Right. I understand. So how shall we prepare”

“Let’s do a mock interview first. Just so I have some idea about your current state”

“Oh man, is this going to be like a mock interview for exams?”

Then I recalled what Roto has said the day before during lunch.

“Don’t worry. It won’t be like that at all. I will not correct you or ask you to say things you don’t genuinely feel. You just answer how you want, and I will make some suggestions, if any are required, to help you get your message across better”

“Pfft. I can speak well enough for myself. Leave it all to me and let’s just continue from yesterday about different products and technologies. Also, please fill me in on the current major projects we are involved in and upcoming events”

I was a bit taken back but she did have a point. If the questions were about herself, she could answer them naturally. Maybe not in the most PC ways, but it’s not something where she can go too wrong. But if any specific work-related questions come up and she looks stumped, that won’t look good at all either.

Now that I understood why she was more in rush to go through the products and projects, I wasted no time in continuing to go over the PPT file from the day before. Hina was sat deep in her beanbag, but surprisingly she didn’t look like she felt any fatigue from the night before. Man, it’s good to be young.

As we flicked through each slide she sat mostly quiet and listened to my explanations. I was tempted to test her every now and then to check she was actually understanding and processing all this information, but her eyes showed an intense focus which told me that she was ‘in the zone’. I recalled she had very good grades in school and got accepted to a world-renowned overseas university recently, although she ended up not being able to go there due to this sudden change of circumstances. I originally thought it’s only natural for a Biaz to go to prestigious academic institutions, as such universities tend to love having names like Biaz included in their alumni list, but maybe Hina earned her place there on the merit of her own ability too. Following the lesson I learned yesterday, I decided to discard any of my previous assumptions and prejudices about this young heiress. Mr. Biaz showed me his trust, and she showed me her trust. It is now time that I show some trust in her too.