Gabriella
"Good morning Jack," I greeted Jack happily as soon as he walked in, watching how my evil team members stared at me in awe. They all seemed to be wondering how I wasn't in tears and quitting right now and I could not help but laugh in their horrible looking faces.
"Good morning Gabriella," he replies, staring at me confusedly, obviously wondering why I'm here so early.
"Wait, did you spend the night here?" He asks, obviously surprised and I had to hold back my words to avoid getting into any trouble.
"Well, yes I did. The door got stuck so I had to stay but luckily I already packed some toiletries and clothes, so it wasn't a problem and besides, it helped me finish up my work faster, so here is my sketch for the dress," I blurted out proudly as a feeling of victory overwhelmed me.
"Well, great job Gabriella. I'll check it out and give you my thoughts on it later but for now, just go home, since you didn't sleep well. I'll give you the day off cause tomorrow, the real work begins," he tells me before poking my cheeks lightly, like a sign of being impressed with me.
Walking out of the office, I'm approached by one of my colleagues who frankly has never spoken to me before.
"Hey there!" he greets, I frown.
"Hi, can I help you?" I ask rudely, not hiding my absolute dislike for him.
Honestly, none of them deserve my good manners, so I'm not gonna fake it to them like I'm not wishing them the worst right now.
"Calm down Gaby, I'm only here to talk to you. I mean no harm." He's talking and I'm spacing out.
"Well, it hasn't seemed that way for the last few days, don't you think?" I retort harshly, he sighs.
"Listen Gabriella, we have nothing against you, honestly. We only do what we do as a test to every newbie and it seems you passed it." He says and I deadpan.
"If you don't believe me ask Jack, he's very aware of our culture here. By the way, I'm Fabian," He introduced himself and I couldn't not help but be confused.
"You made me drink toilet water, locked me in the office because it's office tradition? How the hell does that make any sense?" I ask, hoping his explanation satisfies my confusion.
"Oh, we apologize about that. Your coffee wasn't toilet water, that was a joke and I know we may have gone overboard with the two days in a roll lockout but our chief prankster couldn't come up with something else. I know it sounds weird but like I said, it's a thing we do here," he explained and I'm baffled.
Are these people mentally stable? Are they okay in their heads? How does any of this even make any sense to them?
"You people are weird." I voice out and he chuckles.
"I can't exactly disagree with that so once again, I apologize for the silly pranks. It wasn't our intention to appear psychopathic," he replies and I struggle to hold back my laugh. He was definitely not normal.
"Well okay then, I'll forgive you guys but I hope I'm free now, cause I can't forgive you if you're still on it," I tell him and he chuckles.
"No worries Gabriella, you're definitely free. We all wanted to talk to you but you had to pass your last test first.l," he says and I'm confused.
"What test is that?" I ask.
"This test!" He exclaims, I frown.
"Actually, our final test is to know your reaction to our apology, if you were rude then we'll definitely get you fired because over here, we love teamwork and a rude member is obviously unwanted," he explains and I roll my eyes.
"At least that makes a little bit of sense. Okay then tell your friends that I'm not offended, as long as you guys promise not to pull a fast one on me ever again, okay?" I demand, he agrees.
"If that's settled, I'm leaving. See you all tomorrow. Have a nice day people!" I holler at the rest of them and they all look at me like I said something wrong.
Ignoring them, I leave the office happily and for the first time I'm saying this 'I actually love it here!'
*****
Walking out of the elevator, I noticed someone was staring at me and when I look back I see, mr hotshot standing right behind me, and if you're wondering who I'm talking about, he's the dude who I ran into on my first day here and now that I look at him, he's even more handsome.
"I have to ask, is there something on my face?" I voice out, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his fixed gaze.
"Sorry, I just wanted to be sure who you were this time," he replies and I'm confused.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" I ask.
"Well, the thing is I actually met your twin sister a few days ago and well let's just say she's not in my very good book," he replies and I deadpan. What did Elle do now?
"I sincerely apologize for whatever it is she did. I'm pretty sure she had a rough day so please forget whatever her offense was," I apologize and I can't believe I'm apologizing on that psychopath's behalf.
It's not like it's the first time it's happening but unfortunately for me, if we have to live with the same face, I need to always show people that we're nothing alike.
"It's not a problem. I can already tell you're not like her, by the way, I'm Liam. It's a late introduction but it's your fault since you ran off the other time." He replies casually.
"Nice to meet you Liam, and I'm sorry about that, I was in a hurry since it was my first day and I hate to make a bad impression." I admit, and he chuckles but you can't blame me for being prim and proper in every aspect.
"What exactly is your job here?" I ask randomly, but don't get an exact reply.
"I'm sorry Gabriella but can we talk somewhere else? I'm not very comfortable talking in front of an elevator. There's a cafe downstairs, if you want we can grab a cup of coffee, sounds good?" He offers and I pretend to contemplate, but knowing I have nothing better to do, I agree.
"Sure no problem."
At the cafe...
"So tell me Liam, when did you start working here?" I ask politely, trying to strike a conversation and maybe, just maybe this hotshot could be my first friend here.
"I've only been here for about two weeks so I'm kinda new to this place." He replies and something about meeting a fellow newbie made me very excited. Lucky for me, he's also interested in a conversation which means I don't have to push too hard.
"Where did you move from?" I ask randomly.
"I moved here from New Jersey. What about you, were you born here?" He asks with a calm tone that gives me a weird feeling of satisfaction and comfort.
"Yes I was and I'm just gonna assume we're in the boat here. I've honestly not had it easy here at all and since you're new too, I'll assume it's been the same." I reply and he smirks lightly before responding.
"It's been quite stressful but I've learnt to adapt." He responds with a light shrug and I pity him a bit, judging from how tired he looked.
"Hold on a second though, I still don't know what you do here. I already told you I'm a designer here but what about you, what's your job?" I ask curiously.
"Oh me? Well, I'm the new director," he responds nonchalantly and I deadpan.
Is this a joke? Did I just hear correctly or is my mind playing games with me?
"You're the director? Like the actual director?" I ask shakily, praying silently that this was just some kind of sick joke.
"Yes, I am. Is that a problem?" He asks and I struggle to hold back an eye roll.
Is this idiot fucking with me right now? How can he not see it as a problem? To think I actually thought of him as a new friend.
"Of course you did cause we're friends, right?" He asks suddenly and my jaw drops.
"Did I just say that out loud?" I ask rhetorically.
"Yes, you did and please I beg you, don't be uncomfortable with me. I'm really not that stiff," he's saying but all I really want to do is take my leave as soon as possible.
"You know what boss, I think I crossed the line and I am definitely not your friend. I'm so sorry for bothering you with my silly problems and I'm also sorry for talking out of my place. Please excuse me and have a nice day." I blurt out in a hurry before running off and when I say running off, I mean it literally.
I can't believe this happened to me. Why do I have to be so unfortunate?
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"I swear Martin, I really just wanna die right now. I think I deserve it." I rant to Martin for the billionth time.
Ever since I arrived home, well it's not exactly my house, it's Martin's but anyways, since I got here, I haven't stopped wailing to him about my encounter with Liam. The poor guy must be sick and tired of reassuring me that I'm not doomed but I can't help but feel negative about it.
Here is my list of the mistakes I made with him today; Firstly, I called him by his name, Secondly, I bothered him with my insignificant problems about being stressed like I even mattered and lastly, I left him hanging at the cafe by running out like a mad woman.
You are an idiot Gabriella!
"You know what Ella, I'm going to bed. If you're hungry, I have some leftover pizza in the fridge, and please do me the favor of getting yourself together before tomorrow. You look like you lost your mother and I'm pretty sure Liam has nothing against you so stop worrying." He tries again and I still don't believe him.
"I'm so screwed Martin!" I cry loudly earning a displeased eye roll from him.
"You're really hopeless Ella. If you get fired, you'll get a new job so stop sulking like an overgrown baby!" he yells loudly before walking towards his room and shutting the door furiously.
I really hope I'm not getting fired because I can't deal with another disappointment. If I ever get fired from another fashion company, I'll definitely lose my will to be an actual designer.
Gabriella It's Thursday and I'm to resume work by eight but instead, I'm already at the office at 7:30am. You really can't blame me this time for acting desperate but I need extra points from Jack just in case I'm getting fired. I couldn't sleep at all last night, till I finally overdosed on some sleeping pills and fell asleep but honestly, I don't feel so good right now. "Good morning Jack," I drawl lazily, and by the look on Jack's face, he could tell something was off with me. "Gabriella, are you okay?" he asked. "Yes of course, I'm just fine. I just didn't sleep too well last night, that's all," I lie, he simply shrugs and I walk away from him. Couldn't he have persisted? I definitely don't look okay. "Hey Gab, what's up!" I feel someone tap me from behind and I turn to see Fabian right behind me, with a wide smile on his face. "Hey Fabian, can we talk later? I don't feel so good," I tell him tiredly and he persists on knowing why I looked so stressed out. "Yo
Gabrielle "Mom, don't you find it strange that Ella hasn't returned home or even called?" I ask my mom who suddenly started staring at me like I had grown another head."Why are you staring at me like that?" I ask sharply to snap her out of her trance. "Well sweetie, you surprised me with that question. It's like the first time you've ever asked about your sister." She says and I immediately laugh at her reaction. "Don't get it twisted mom, I'm not asking because I care. You and I know that if it were up to me, she would have never been born n the first place and I wouldn't have to carry the cross of having an identical good for nothing out there doing God knows what!" I sneer peevishly, recalling the incident at the cafe parking lot."Why do you say that?" She asks."Well, I ran into this cute but dumb fool at a cafe and I accidentally spilled coffee on him and when he looked up at me, he
Gabrielle "I can't believe what you're telling me sweetie. That stupid child has the guts to go work for the enemy and go against her father's company? I thought she said she loves her father." My mom scoffs angrily after I'd told her about Ella's new job."That's right mom. That insignificant no good human being had the guts to actually challenge me mom, she had the audacity to try to be me but mommy dearest mark my words, I'm not gonna let her take my spotlight. Ever!" I assure her and she smiles in satisfaction.If you're wondering why I'm so against Ella's success, it's simply because I hate her. I hate her like I have never hated anyone. She and my father are the people I detest the most in my life and fortunately, one of them is six feet under."If Ella thinks she can outshine me mom, I'll kill her because the only way she can succeed in this life is over my dead body." I spit out angrily, feeling t
Gabriella It's been two weeks since Elle showed her face here and I honestly can't explain how happy I am that she's off my back, it may not be permanently but at least I don't have to deal with her suffocating remarks."Fabian, do you have any idea why the director asked for us?" I ask nervously, hoping that my recent sketch had maybe gotten to him and he approved them or at least some good news."So you don't even know?" He asks, making me wonder what exactly I needed to know."Duh silly, I just said so " I reply and If my reply was rude, screw it cause his facial expression was rude first. "I thought you've worked in the fashion industry before?" He asks, and I could smell the sarcasm in that question, what hell does he know, idiot!"Just get to the point Fabian!" I snap at him."Fine, miss clueless. Eliana Guitarra is coming to New York and she put out a challenge for the best fas
Gabrielle "I'm on my way mom, I'm almost there." I reply in a hurry, before hanging up in frustration.I've been driving for almost two hours just to finally meet the man my mom hasn't stop talking about and according to her, he's the co-judge for Eliana Guitarra's fashion challenge which makes him the second in command after Eliana and apparently a good friend of my mother.I arrive at the hotel address given to me by my mom who had been the mastermind behind this meeting. I drop my keys with the valet not even bothering to look around since I was already running late and I don't plan on squandering this opportunity for anything."Hey mom, I just arrived but I don't know the room number." I say to my mom as soon as she picks up and she tells me the room number and also explains what I should and should not do."Okay, I get it mom, thanks." I reply her and hang up before heading to the reception.&n
Third person pov Gabrielle and Gabriella arrive at the same time with Gabrielle throwing looks of disdain at her sister but Gabriella just chooses to ignore her and kept her hands clinged to Martin, who happily paraded around with a beautifully dressed Gabriella. He could not remember the last time his friend had put so much effort in looking good and he felt proud to be her date for the night.Fabian alongside his girlfriend, Mia, approach Gabriella and Fabian doesn't hide his flirtatious comments on seeing how his co worker looked."Jesus Ella, are you trying to seduce me or what?" He says harmlessly, engulfing her in a hug that infuriated Mia but she keeps her cool and pretends to admire Ella although she couldn't stand the sight of her. She kept counting the seconds he held her in a hug, literally pulling him off her when it exceeded ten seconds, earning a curious stare from both Martin and E
Gabrielle"I can't believe it mom. How the fuck did I miss this!" I yell angrily, more at myself than at my mom who looked a little terrified at my outburst. "Do you think they're actually going out?" She asks and I scrunch my face in disgust."God forbid mother!" I forbid sharply, feeling completely disgusted with the idea of Ella and that Liam guy dating. That's definitely a bad combo. I would not have given a crap about them dating if I didn't just find out whose son he was and knowing that fact, I can't allow such a disastrous relationship to blossom. Liam Helton was literally gold in the fashion industry and of all the women he had to cross paths with, it had to be my dumb sister. Is God finally showing his true colours."How can you be so sure? Something could be cooking up between them." My mom voices out worriedly."If they were an item mom, I would be the first t
Gabrielle. "How did things go with Sandler?" My mom asks and I give a tight smile in response, hoping she would just get the message that I didn't want to talk about it but as should be expected, she wanted details."You need to learn to trust me Gabrielle." She hisses and I frown. "Come on mom, if I don't trust you, who am I gonna trust? Besides I'm sure you can already guess what went down between that old bastard and I. I asked him to screw Ella over, he agreed but of course, sex is his payment." I give a quick explanation and she sighs."I really don't get your obsession with screwing Ella over. I thought you'd want her where she is so you can show her you're the better twin." She answers back, earning a bitter chuckle from me. "Mom, let's face it, if Ella and I stood in the same position here in this industry, it would take me years to achieve what Ella would achieve in months. You and I know, I'm not the