Chapter 65: Personally Handwritten Notes
. . .
"Perhaps, are you here to spy on ZA International's operation?"
Zeirenne's question had Gretta frozen on the spot. There was moment of silence that enveloped the three of them before Dorothy's awkward laughter broke the torrid atmosphere.
"Ahahahahaha. Miss Lin is so humorous today. I'm glad you're doing fine."
Zeirenne pinned her solid gaze on Gretta before winking at Dorothy, "Of course, my sense of humor is the best I have after all."
She flipped her hair before walking towards the elevator. Dorothy leaned her face closer to Gretta's ear. "It's okay. She's just joking hihihi."
Gretta only nodded her head and they both followed Miss Lin. When they arrived at the CEO's Office, Gretta stationed herself on the temporary desk they never removed, and Dorothy followed CEO Lin inside.
What greeted them both were piles of white envelopes.
"What are these?" Zeirenne asked her while making her way towards the office table. She grabbed a slick opener on her organizer and opened one of the envelopes.
"Uhm... those are resignation letters from hundreds of our employees, Miss Lin." Dorothy bit her lips. She was so caught up in one issue after learning about Assistant Wang's movements. She forgot about another important matter at hand.
"I see."
Dorothy watched her CEO slumping herself on the swivel chair. She was maintaining a straight face, but Dorothy knew her CEO enough to know what was going on inside her head.
Miss Lin cherished each and everyone of her employees to the highest extent. As Dorothy watched her signing hundreds of letters after letters, this loyal secretary struggled to push a lump down her throat. It was painful to watch her boss doing something that slowly broke her heart—letter by letter, piece by piece.
"D-do you..." She took a deep breath, struggling to stop her voice from breaking, "Do you want me to help you stamp on them, Miss Lin?"
Zeirenne shook her head. "No. I have to take our last goodbyes seriously. You can do your work, Dorothy. I'll finish this before the meeting."
"Okay." was the only thing she could utter before storming out of the room with her hands clenched into a tight fist—a futile attempt to fight off tears.
Gretta greeted her immediately after seeing the sad look on her face.
"Are you alright? What happened?"
Dorothy only shook her head as tears started building up on the corners of her eyes. "I-it's fine... I just can't believe my colleagues would do this. Miss Lin treated us so well. She considered us family. I can't believe they'd go down into believing things that are not true. Or without explanation."
Gretta pulled her head on her shoulders. She let Dorothy sob in her arms while patting her back. "Shhh... I-I'm sure they have their own reasons too."
"What reason could that be?" Dorothy looked up with tears streaming down her face. "Miss Lin... Miss Lin wrote them letters"
"Hmm?"
"M-miss Lin... M-miss Lin wrote them personal letters," she said in between sobs, "In the back of their resignation letters, she wrote personal regards for each and every one of them."
Gretta couldn't help her hands from shaking. Watching Dorothy was painful enough to well up her eyes. "Shh... everything will be alright." She said while looking up the ceiling to keep the tears from falling down as her hands found their way on Dorothy's back—offering comfort.
Fortunately, an hour was enough time for Dorothy to dry her tears because it only took Miss Lin an hour to finish the signing of hundreds of resignation letter."
Upon stepping out, she greeted Miss Lin with a smile of her face. Zeirenne, however, gave her a comforting pat in the head. There were no tears in her eyes but the redness from the aftermath of her sorrows remained for her CEO to know what happened.
"It's okay, Dorothy," Zeirenne said, "Goodbyes are normal in this life. People come and go... it's the memories that matters."
Dorothy's eyes welled up once again and she had to look down. Zeirenne took her hands and placed a huge box on them. "I'm counting on you to have these letters delivered."
She nodded her head.
"Now, let's go. We have a battle to face."
Zeirenne spared Gretta once glance before offering a smile. "Thank you for comforting Dorothy." To which she only bobbed a polite bow.
They all boarded the lift and Zeirenne had to step out first. The meeting was held on the 95th floor and Dorothy's recipients occupied the offices below. She raised her fist. "You can do this, Miss Lin!" And Zeirenne gave her a soft nod.
When they arrived at the bottom floors, Dorothy was greeted by the employees. They all bobbed a simple regard at Gretta.
"Secretary Stone... Did Miss Lin sign everything?" Mister Ahuchu, the PR Department team's head asked.
Dorothy only nodded. She watched her colleagues as their heads hanged low. Their expressions made her wonder. At first, she was confused as to how they could possibly leave Miss Lin in this time of crisis. But now, looking at their expressions, Dorothy couldn't help but wonder. They were all filled with regrets. Like they've been forced to resign out of their own will.
"Yes, Miss Lin signed everything. She signed them one by one. Please see the letters yourself."
As the crowd went to collect the letters they submitted, it didn't take long when the room was filled with welled-up eyes. Half of them fell down on their knees. While most had their hands covering their faces wet in tears.
"Miss Lin..." one of them said while looking at the words written at the back, "S-she hoped I would reach my dream of becoming a private entrepreneur.
Another one of the employees blew their nose while wiping the tears off their eyes. "Miss Lin congratulated me on my first born child. I don't know how she knew. I never told her once."
Most of them were comforting one another.
"We did the right thing, didn't we?" one of them said to another.
"Yes. We did the right thing."
Dorothy furrowed her brows once again. Their words had so much meaning. She couldn't fathom what, but she knew it was something unsettling.
"What do you mean? What happened?"
They all looked at each other. Some of them were even glancing at Gretta on the sly. "It's nothing..."
. . .
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone