Fly With Me

Chapter 2 - The Heiress

Nagmamadali sa pagpasok ng board room si Rhian. Nine-thirty AM ang meeting nila at alam niya na isa sa company culture nila ang pagsisimula ng meeting sa itinakdang oras. Siguradong magagalit na naman ang presiding officer ng meeting na walang iba kundi ang kanyang kuya Jaime, the Senior Vice President of HGC for Offshore Projects. Late siya ng 2 minutes ... and each minute late in the meeting is being counted as a minus from the indicator of their key performance, supposedly. Ganoon kasi ka-desiplinado ang kanilang ama. Ayaw nitong nale-late ang mga executives ng company nila bilang respect daw sa time at effort ng iba. Kaya naman ang policy na iyon ay inia-apply nila sa buong organization.

Pero sa meeting lang naman mahigpit sa mga executives ang company nila. May flexitime naman sila pag dating sa trabaho.

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Well, Rhian is not actually working at HGC. She is working for SamHwa Construction & Engineering Corp., isa sa construction giant mula sa South Korea kung saan isa sa member of Board of Directors si Mr. Howell. They own 30% of SamHwa, for which 20% is under the name of her father and 5% each for her and her brother Jaime. The controlling partner is Mr. Jae Hyun Park who owns 40% of the company. The remaining 30% is owned by the other two directors, one from the USA and one from UAE.

Nagkakilala sina Mr. Howell at Mr. Park noong dumalo sila sa Build Expo USA about ten years ago. They exchanged business cards, talked about construction trade shows, exchanged some information on current building technologies and so on. They clicked and became good friends until they decided to build a construction business that eventually became global. The bulk of their projects are in the Middle East but they are now starting to grow in the USA. They focus mainly on a high-rise building but they also bid for smaller ones for continuity of projects.

Rhian is based in their New York City office. They are in the financial center  which is Lower Manhattan. Two years pa lang siya sa company and she enjoys her job as Project Planning Engineer. Kahit high-densely populated ang New York, hindi siya takot maglakad sa kalsada lalo na kung sa main thoroughfare lang naman siya dumaraan. Hindi tulad dito sa Pilipinas na takot siyang maglakad lalo na sa Maynila. SamHwa occupies the whole 9th Floor of One Seaport Plaza along Water Street. Hindi na niya kailangang sumakay ng car or bus sa pag-uwi ng bahay dahil sa katapat na building lang naman siya nakatira. She lives in a three-bedroom condominium unit owned by her family. Everything she needs is in the building. May supermarket sa ground floor nito at katabi ng supermarket ang Starbucks.

Rhian has all the qualifications to work in a prestigious corporation like SamHwa. Bagama't stock holder sila nito, she has the appropriate education for the job. Like her brother Jaime, she is a graduate of BS in Civil Engineering from Massachusset Institute of Technology. Cum Laude. She also has a Diploma in Business Development from Harvard University. Matalinong bata si Rhian. Consistent honor student siya sa San Beda Alabang noong nasa elementary siya. Lagi siyang kasama sa honor roll at laging may medal sa Mathematics. She topped the entrance exam for secondary school in La Salle. Pero hindi siya perpektong estudyante. Marami rin siyang kalokohan na naging dahilan para patalsikin siya mula sa La Salle ng madreng Guidance Counsellor ng paaralan. Sobrang offensive daw ang ginawa niya at hindi magandang example para sa mga kabataan at hindi dapat masumpungan sa estudyante ng Katolikong paaralan. Dahil dito, nagpasya ang kanyang ama na ipadala siya sa Amerika para doon magpatuloy mag-aral. Bagama't tumututol si Mrs. Howell, wala rin itong nagawa kundi sundin ang pasya ng padre-de-pamilya. Nanirahan siya kasama ang kanyang lola Jovita at ang pamilya ng Tita Ida niya sa Houston, Texas at doon na nagpatuloy ng pag-aaral. Minsan sa isang buwan ay umuuwi naman sa Houston ang kanyang kuya Jaime na noon ay nakatira sa dorm sa Boston habang nag-aaral sa MIT. After secondary, Rhian had decided to follow her brother in MIT. At kahit may pagkapilya, gusto niyang patunayan sa kanyang pamilya na kaya rin niyang mag-uwi ng karangalan tulad ng kanyang kuya.