Chapter two
She was roused from her sleep by a little turbulence,
"Wake up rookie, we're almost there", Zeph said nudging her shoulder.
Ashley unfastened her seatbelt hastily, still groggy from uncomfortable sleep she almost fell to the floor face down, "Woah, easy there Spiderman, I said almost there, there are a couple of minutes in landing" he said with a hint of a smile while steadying her, unsure what to say, Ashley just stared into his eyes. He smirked and turned to the minibar, crouched and drew a cold coffee can, handing it over to her "Looks like you could use one", brushed past her saying " I'm gonna go and check-in with the captain, look alive rookie, fix your hair, you look like a mess"
(And here I was wondering how he managed to be a little kind for a split second, must have been hard). She downed the coffee in a gulp, and headed over to the bathroom, fixed her makeup and hair and ran a hand over her pencil skirt, looked in the mirror (do not panic Ashley, you got this).
In a few moments they landed, it was almost night, everything around was silent (Wow I have never seen an airport this silent before, seems like North Korea)
They were greeted by two people standing at the tarmac in business suits, with an SUV parked behind them. They were provided with hand sanitizer and masks as soon as they set foot on the ground. She followed Zeph busy with her own thoughts and taking in the peaceful atmosphere and the brisk air. "And this is my P. A Ashley Matthews" Zeph said a little loudly. "Hello nice to meet you, you have a lovely country" Ashely replied quickly. "Decha Kesam, lovely to meet you, I wish we were meeting under different circumstances, I would have shown you around first"
Zeph interrupted, "Mr. Kesam we are not here for a tour, let’s get down to business"
He smiled and replied, "Very well Mr. Grey, follow me".
They all piled up in the SUV and drove around the quiet city, passing the Phuket beach on the way, Ashley looked out of the window, "Wow I have seen this place in pictures only till now, so vacant, it's sad!" Mr. Kesam passed a sad smile, "Beach used to bustle with tourists round the clock, it is bizarre for us too”. “I hope this virus ends soon", dropping her hands in her lap.
Mr. Kesam whispered a bit to the driver and said "Mr. Grey as much as I would like to be get done with business, I would highly recommend for you two, to retire in your hotel, we can begin in the morning" Zeph answered sounding annoyed "I cannot afford to lose more time, with everything shutting down, we must settle things now" Mr. Kesam chuckled and replied "Mr. Grey the whole world is now hooked up on Zoom Cloud Meetings, the whole board will be there, besides we can begin our discussion a little early, so why don't you go and rest up, at least consider it for the lady", gesturing towards Ashley. "Ugh fine, I guess you're right". "We begin at 7a. m sharp". (He has lost his mind, it's already 1a. m and the jet lag is killing me, God, what I have gotten myself into!) Little did she know what was coming her way in the near future.