Prank Date [✔]

Part 2

"You're a miracle worker, Ms. Kim" Mr. Alvarez said and grinned at me from across my desk. "I never thought we would make it through the jungle of my tax chaos in just one afternoon."

I stood and followed my client to the door. "It wasn't that bad."

In fact, his bookkeeping was awful, but he was a client, so diplomacy was the better part of valor.

"Just remember to use the software I showed you. It'll keep track of all the expenses and earnings for you." I added.

"Will do." Mr. Alvarez shook my hand, moving it up and down as if it were a pump handle. "Thank you again." After one last pump of my hand, he let go and nearly skipped out of my office.

With an amused shake of my head, I returned to my desk. It was half past five already, so my wor kday had officially ended thirty minutes before.

Most days, I was one of the last accountants to leave the office, but today I wanted to get home at a reasonable time and pamper myself a little. Images of a bubble bath, the newest Tana French novel, and a glass of Merlot danced in my head.

I made a few more notes in Mr. Alvarez's file, saved and shut the open documents, and was just about to power down my computer when a knock on the open office door made me look up.

Mr. Chua, one of my bosses, stood in the doorway, a large pile of folders balanced in his thin arms. "Do you have a minute?"

The images of bath, novel, and wine wavered and collapsed. I suppressed a sigh. "Sure."

The office's fluorescent lights bounced off Mr. Chua's bald head as he folded his long, slim frame into the visitor's chair and set the folders on my desk.

"I'm sure you heard that we were able to win Paul Lim as a client for our firm." he said.

I nodded. Mr. Lim was one of the biggest landowners in the area, so of course everyone at Chua & Jung had talked of nothing else for days.

"I need you to take over his account," Mr. Chua said.

Me? I stared at my boss, caught between elation and panic.

"I know you're up to the task." He continued.

I sucked in a breath and squared my shoulders. I had never worked on an account of that size, but I knew I could handle it. Even if it meant a bigger workload, I was determined to show Mr. Chua that his trust in me had been justified.

"Yes, of course. I won't disappoint you or the firm." I said.

"I know you won't. You always do a good job." Mr. Chua leaned forward and gave my arm a grandfatherly pat. "Lim's bookkeeper dropped off his files this morning. We need an overview of what we're dealing with as soon as possible, so you should start reviewing them tonight. Do you think you can stay a few hours longer?"