After Cameron was finished with the upgrade procedure, Elise and Alexander soon boarded the flight
headed for Singapore. More than ten hours of flight and transit later, they finally reached Aris.
The moment Elise got off the plane, she was incredibly exhausted, but she was the only one amongst
the three of them who could speak Arisian, so she was the most important person in the group; despite
her sleepiness, she had to help them to communicate with the locals until they reached the hotel. Upon
contact with the bed, relief washed over her, and she fell into a deep slumber.
Elise spent one whole day adjusting to the jetlag and only recovered on the third day. After waking up,
she saw the message Alexander had sent her earlier. ‘Miss Sare, I’ll meet you at the hotel lobby at
8.00AM.
She replied okay’ after reading the text and then put down her phone. Then, she quickly washed up,
changed into a set of formal business attire, and put on the glasses she had prepared earlier, making
herself look like a professional career woman.
When she reached the lobby, Alexander and Cameron were already there waiting for her.
“Miss Sare!” Cameron greeted and passed a schedule to her. “This is Mr. Griffith’s itinerary for the day.
You’ll need to accompany him the whole time as his interpreter, so your workload will be very heavy
today. Are you okay with that?”
Taking a glance at the schedule, Elise thought that it wouldn‘t be a problem and answered, “It‘s alright.
I‘m okay with it.”
With that reply from her, Cameron breathed a sigh of relief. He had been working as Alexander’s
assistant for years, and he knew his work attitude very well. When it came to work, Alexander had
always been meticulous, and previously, Cameron was worried
that Elise might delay the progress of their work, but he could now set his mind at ease after hearing
her answer.
The three of them got into an MPV car, and Elise started to brief them on the culture and geographical
climate of Aris. “Aris is a small country with a population of not more than ten million. Located in the
Eurasian continent, it has a temperate continental climate with cold winters and warm summers. The
annual temperature
difference is rather huge; it is dry most of the time and it rains very little. It‘s summer now, so the
precipitation is low and the air is quite dry. So, you can bring a bottle of warm water with you to
quench your thirst, Mr. Griffith.”
“You seem very familiar with Aris,” Alexander pointed out casually after hearing her explanation.
Composedly, she answered, “When I was in university, I fell in love with the fruit, medlar, and thought it
would be a good idea to find out more about the local culture of Aris. As for learning the local language,
it was only because I can gain more credits in university for learning a minor language.”
At her reply, Alexander couldn’t help but steal a peek
at her. This girl looks like she‘s only around twenty years old, so I didn‘t think that she had already grad
uated from university. “Looks like you did really well in your studies.”
“I was rather bright and skipped a grade in the middle, so I managed to start university earlier,” Elise
answered honestly.
“Where did you attend university?” Alexander asked next.
“University of Edinburgh.”
At the mention of Edinburgh, Alexander seemed very interested. “What a coincidence! I did my double
degree in Cambridge back then.”
As Elise had already seen his resume a long time ago, she was more than aware of his education
background, and she didn’t appear surprised to hear him mention it now. “Anyone who could enter
Oxbridge are talented people. It’s easy to tell that you’re a person who did really well in your studies.”
Even when complimented, Alexander didn‘t appear flattered. “You‘re indeed a professional interpreter,
Miss Sare. You’re a very good conversationalist.”
Elise smiled politely, and time seemed to pass very quickly while they were chatting. In just half an
hour’s car ride, they reached their destination.
The project that the Griffith Group would be working with the Aris government was an oil exploration
project, and hundreds of millions had been invested. Knowing that Alexander would be arriving, the Aris
government had sent their representatives to await him at the entrance, and the sounds of firecrackers
greeted him when he
arrived.
“This is a local culture of the Arisians,” Elise hurriedly explained. “Lighting the firecrackers shows that
they’re welcoming you.”
It wasn’t until the sounds of firecrackers had died down that Alexander finally got out of the car. With
bright smiles on their faces, the government representatives walked toward him and extended their
hands at him as they spoke in fluent Arisian. “Welcome to number one mining factory of Aris to monitor
the work, Mr. Griffith.”
The second Elise heard that, she immediately translated it for Alexander and helped him to exchange
some opinions with the Arisians. After that, she followed them as the government representatives led
them into the mining area to observe the work.
The whole while, she was serious in her job as the interpreter and managed to achieve a good flow of
communication between both parties. Very quickly, it was noon, and the government representatives
brought them to a restaurant which they had arranged beforehand.
“Mr. Griffith, the local food here is a little sweet. I’m not sure if it will be to your liking,” Elise whispered
softly into Alexander’s ears.
In reply, he said, “I’ve lived in southeast Asia for a period of time. I think I can take it.”
When he said that, he thought that the sweetness level of the food would be similar to food from the
Philippines, but little did he know that all his appetite would be gone after he tried the local
cuisine. This is more than a little sweet–it‘s over–the–charts sweet! he thought.
Sitting next to him, Elise noticed that he couldn’t get used to the local flavors. So, she made use of the
time when she made a trip to the bathroom to order a bottle of yogurt drink for him from the reception.
“Have some yogurt to drink, Mr. Griffith. I’ll take you to a restaurant which serves spicy food when this
is over.”
His stomach couldn’t help but rumble at her words. Since he hadn’t eaten anything the whole morning,
he was already famished, but none of the dishes from the spread on the table was to his liking. Taking
the yogurt drink from Elise, he said, “Thanks.”
The culture at the dining table was more or less the same regardless where they went, and as
representatives from the government, the Arisians kept refilling Alexander’s
glass. As the locals had a liking for fruit liqueurs with a low alcohol content, Alexander
didn‘t even feel tipsy after a few glasses.
Next to him, Elise advised, “Mr. Griffith, don‘t have too much of this fruit liqueur because the effect of
the alcohol hits very badly afterward.”
However, he merely took her advice nonchalantly. “It‘s just a few rounds of fruit liqueur. It will be okay.”
Hearing that, Elise decided not to say anything else anymore. After all, he was the boss, and she was
just his employee.
When the lunch was over, she went up next to him and asked in a whisper, “Mr. Griffith, are you
alright?”
Right now, Alexander’s face was already blushing bright red, obviously from the reaction to the alcohol.
“I think I‘m fine,” he muttered, but he clearly sounded unsure of himself.
Hurriedly, Elise took out a box of mints and passed it to him. “Have a few mints and try to sober up a
little. You didn’t eat much at lunch earlier. I know a rather good restaurant here; I‘ll bring you there to
give it a try.”
Since Alexander was famished and had had quite a lot of fruit liqueur earlier, his stomach was already
burning, but he had to maintain a calm composure. Hence, he pretended everything was fine until he
got into the car, and his head started spinning when it drove away.
Seated beside him, Elise didn’t even have time to react when she heard a barf and realized that
Alexander had thrown up. This scene was more horrible than the last time when he was drunk.
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