Elli went back to her desk after having a quick lunch at the cafeteria of the building’s service crew. Thomas Jones, a man in his sixties, discovered her having lunch at the broom closet last week. He then invited her to eat where the crew eats. After the accident she experienced at the food hall, she decided to bring her own lunch and find a small, private place where she can eat in peace. It would also be the time to allow herself to rest from all the orders her supervisor, Valerie is throwing her way.
“Are the drawings done, Elli?” Her supervisor’s voice came.
“It’ll be done in ten minutes, Ma’am,” Elli answered formally as she neatly stacked the drawing pages and filed them properly. “I will put it on your desk.”
“I don’t have ten minutes!” Valerie sneered at her coldly. “I told you that I need them right after lunch! God! You’re such an idiot! Are you doing this to ruin the rest of my day or are you really just confirming that you’re stupid?”
“Hurry up!”
Elli quickly clipped the papers and handed them to her.
“What the hell is this?!” Valerie yelled and she threw the thick file at her, hitting her squarely on the face. “I told you to print the drawings for the Fine Jewelry store! Why the hell did you give me that?!”
“You said to print the drawings of Pots and Pans,” Elli explained, ignoring the pain on her face.
Valerie looked at her menacingly and took a step towards her, pointing one finger.
“Are you calling me a liar?” She asked threateningly. She turned to the others. “Did any of you remember what I told her to prepare?”
“Fine Jewelry, Ms. Val,” one said maliciously.
“Those papers you wasted will be coming off your paycheck, you useless piece of trash,” Valerie sneered. “That includes the usage of ink as well. Taylor, have IT compute, the amount of ink that was used and submit to accounting the cost that will be deducted from her pay.”
“Right away, Ms. Valerie,” Taylor responded.
“You should have been grateful that I’m finally giving you something to do,” Valerie scoffed. “But, here you are wasting the company’s resources. Most newbies here won’t get that chance being just a few weeks onboard. You’re such a disgrace!”
“I will print the drawings right away, Ms. Valerie,” Elli said formally and bowed to apologize.
“Get to it, then!” Valerie snorted.
Elli turned back to her desk and quickly wiped the tears, spilling down her cheeks. She grabbed some bond papers and placed them properly on the printer beside her. She took a quick glance and saw Valerie snickering with her group of friends. Elli knew right then that she had set it up.
“You’re a strong girl, Elli,” she whispered with encouragement. “Just let it go. You can handle this.”
“About time!” Valerie said loudly when Elli finally placed the drawings of Fine Jewelry on her desk. She looked at her disdainfully. “Go and make us some coffee. While you’re at it, have the small meeting room set up for a meeting with the client. Don’t bother calling a janitor. The client is on her way up. Move!”
“Yes, Ms. Valerie,” Elli said and hurried off.
Elli then hurriedly went to bid her order. She started preparing the coffee and then the small meeting room. She turned on the lights and AC, making sure the chairs are arranged properly. She then sprayed a bit of freshener.
“Right this way, Mrs. Newman,” she heard her supervisor’s voice said formally. “I’ll have coffee serve for you and your company. Ms. Paulson is on her way up from lunch.”
Elli went out just right on time for Valerie and the client to appear. She bowed at them formally before rushing off to prepare the coffee. She lined up four cups and arranged the sugar and cream before reaching for the coffee pot. She poured them and then carefully lifted up the tray, walking slowly to not cause any spill.
She knocked on the glass door gently to signify that she’s coming in with coffee. She gently pushed the door open with her left arm and walked in. Just as she took a step inside, she felt a whack and a push on her back that made her fall, the coffee crashing below her.
“Oh my God!” Elli said in fright as she knelt and started cleaning the mess, ignoring her blouse and arms that were dozed with hot coffee. “I am so sorry.”
She looked up and saw Valerie looking at her with a smirk, the owner and companion of Fine Jewelry with a look of disgust and Florence Paulson, the Department VP of Interior Design, looking at her calmly.
“I didn’t know that SJ allows hiring personnel that are klutzes,” Mrs. Newman commented to Florence.
“I will make you a fresh batch,” Elli said a few minutes later as she stood up with the tray and two broken cups. “I am really sorry, Madame.”
“Never mind,” Florence assured patiently as she typed on her phone. “I’ll have my secretary get us some coffee from the food hall as well as some sweets. Valerie, call cleaning crew to clean the mess up.”
Elli went out from the room, and she hurriedly went back to the pantry. She knew that the broken cups will be deducted from her salary again. She wondered as she wiped the stains on her blouse if there’s anything left on her salary come pay day.
She finally went back to her desk, her head low to avoid looking at the faces of her officemates, who despised her without any reason. She closed her eyes and breath deeply to prevent any tears from flowing.
“Hey,” she heard someone said. A stack of papers were then slammed down on her desk. “Ms. Valerie needs this after the meeting. She wants you to arrange them according to material number.”
She spent the next two hours, doing the task assigned to her. She heard the door of the meeting room finally opened and exchange of conversations.
“Tell SJ to come and see me, alright?” Mrs. Newman said. “That boy always keeps himself busy making more billions. He seems to forget to have some relaxation.”
“I will, Mrs. Newman,” Florence replied politely. “You know how SJ can be. Once he keeps on working, the only way that can stop him is something that has to do with his mother.”
“Probably the reason why he didn’t marry that model yet,” Mrs. Newman added.
Elli heard the conversation and didn’t quite understand the comment, finally choosing to let it go. She had her work finish and she quickly stood up and proceeded to her supervisor’s desk.
“Elli, a word please,” Florence called out politely after the client took off. “I’ll be at my office.”
Elli put on her blazer and fixed herself. She buttoned her blazer to try and hide the coffee stains before proceeding to the VP’s office. It could only cover a little part. Before she could proceed, Valerie stopped her abruptly.
“You better watch what you will be saying,” Valerie warned. “I can make your life much hell, remember that.”
Florence looked up when Elli knocked on her door.
“Take a seat, Ellisande,” she said politely. She looked at the file she’s holding which contains her details. “First and foremost, are you okay?”
“Yes, Ms. Paulson,” Elli answered.
“Florence will do,” Florence corrected before finally closing the folder. She clasped her hands on top of it and looked at Ellisande for a few seconds. “Is there anything you would like to tell me? My apologies that I wasn’t able to talk with you when you came on board since I was completing an urgent project. So, how’s your work going? Anything you want to say?”
Elli remained silent for a while.
“I am sorry about the incident a while ago,” she finally said quietly. “I promise that I will be more careful and will work harder.”
Florence looked at her in surprise when that was all she said.
“Is that all?” She prodded gently.
“Yes, ma’am,” Elli replied.
“Very well,” Florence finally said with a sigh. “You may go back to your desk.”
“Thank you, Ms. Florence,” Elli responded.
She then stood up and bowed lightly before turning around to see the door open and came in her husband. She stood in surprise, looking at him, who is looking at her up and down, his face unreadable.
“Good afternoon, Sir,” Elli greeted with a bow before stepping aside and heading out of the office.
She quickly rushed back to her desk, hoping that her husband didn’t notice her physical condition. She noticed her desk was piled up with paper works and a note with instructions. She checked and concluded that she’ll be going home late again to finish the task. She started right on it.
But, what she didn’t noticed was the moment the glass door to the VP’s office was close, SJ Kincaid received a slap from Florence and some tongue lashing.
SJ’s eyes hardened as he re-watched the file footages sent to him from the security office of all the accidents that Ellisande has been involved in. He watched as he saw the culprit, who whacked and pushed her inside the meeting room that made her lose her balance.He then clicked on another video where the supervisor she was assigned to, threw a thick file of drawings that landed on her face while screaming curses at her.After receiving a hard slap and some tongue-lashing from his close friend Florence over the predicament that his wife is going through, he called up security and ordered all clips that involve Ellisande’s accident sent to him. He was surprised to see that there are more than twenty files.“You are such a despicable man!” Florence screeched after slapping him. “Did you see the state of your wife just now? Let me guess. Of course, you didn’t. You just came back from lunch with your lover, didn’t yo
“She’s over fatigue and dehydrated.”SJ looked up from the Nordic lazy sofa chair after the doctor had finished the diagnosis and his eyes narrowed at the statement.Dr. Paige McIntyre took off her stethoscope and placed it inside her bag and stood up. She looked at him, whom she had known since childhood, being cousins on both their mother’s side.“She can see a specialist, if she wants,” she commented lightly as she followed him out. “Probably more rest and some fluids. I gave her a sleeping pill so she can recover her strength. I don’t recommend her going in for work tomorrow. You should call Flo and informed her about it.”“And, then received another tongue-lashing from her,” SJ muttered as he went to the refrigerator and open it, finding himself and hers two bottled waters. “I swear, if you tell her what happened here, I’ll definitely make your life hell.”&ldq
Elli slowly opened her eyes and stared at the ceiling for a few minutes. For the first time since she arrived in the city, she felt well rested. She clutched the blanket to her face, closed her eyes and rolled to her side to savor a few more minutes before getting up and was shocked to collide with something solid.She opened her eyes and quickly sat up, backing away when she saw her husband, sleeping beside her, only wearing sweatpants. She turned to her bedside table and saw that her clock read eight in the morning and she suddenly jumped out from her bed, rushing to the toilet.I’m late! She thought frantically.She took off her clothes and took a quick shower, her mind picturing the face of her supervisor screaming at her. She cringed at the thought as she turned off the shower and grabbed her towel and wrapped it around her body. She then reached for her lotion and applied it quickly as well as her face cream.“This will do,” she mu
SJ looked up from the costing he is studying when his cellphone rang. He placed the document down and reached for his phone, looking at the caller.“What have you got for me, Leo?”Leo Reynolds, his long-time private investigator sighed at the other end of the line. “Nothing except for all those standard information, SJ,” he said calmly. “My men are still digging up but so far we have nothing that can help with whatever you’re planning.”“He couldn’t be that difficult,” SJ pointed out.“Yeah, well some are good at keeping their lives private that they even take them to their death,” Leo replied with mild irritation. “This Michael Porter was one of them. I’ve been digging information for the past month and that’s the only thing I came up with.”“Have you checked his wife?” SJ asked again.“Yes. Same results,” Leo said.
Elli looked up from her computer the following day when she heard Valerie calling her name. She quickly stood up and rushed to her area.“Yes, Ms. Valerie?” She asked formally.Valerie looked at her darkly.“I need you to go and get me three reams of A3 size bond paper at supplies,” she said curtly.“Noted, Ma’am,” Elli replied. “I will call supplies and have them here ASAP.”Valerie cursed at her angrily. “Did you hear what I just said?” She sneered. “I said that you go and get them. I did not tell you to have them delivered here. I could have done that already. Get them now. ASAP! I’m pretty sure you can move quickly considering you were absent yesterday.”“And about that,” she continued heatedly. “The next time you’ll be absent without telling me and only telling the VP, I will suspend you. Who the hell you think you are? Get a move
Three Weeks Later …Florence looked up from the proposals she is studying when she heard SJ cursing under his breath and throwing the document he is holding back on the table. It was Friday morning and he and Florence are going through the proposal for the interior schemes of the hotel lobby and presidential suite as requested by the client.“That won’t help,” she snapped with a frown. “We all know how difficult of a client Mr. Grande is but stop doing that.”“How many schemes have been rejected already? Three? Four?” He questioned dryly. “And, he’s giving us a short notice every time!”“He’s a mover, we all have seen that,” she explained as she reached for another scheme that her staff had submitted, in the hopes that it will be the one chosen by the client. “Why do you think he has hundreds of chains all over the world? That’s the way he works.&rdqu
Ellisande leaned back on the park bench, shaded by a tree, she occupied while enjoying the sandwich she made back at the apartment and brought with her for lunch along with some lemon bars. She even made one for Mr. Jones for dropping her off again last night after another overtime in filing materials samples. She looked at her watch and reminded herself that she got another hour of lunch break.“Miss Val must have been in a good mood to extend my break,” she muttered.But, over the past weeks, she noticed that her supervisor is slowly releasing the reigns on her. She would still insult her from time to time and make her run some errands, but not too much. Perhaps she had seen that Elli never fought back and just do whatever she is told.After finishing her sandwich, she then reached for the sketchpad she brought with her and stared at the schemes she made for their latest and VIP client, GHI. She remembered the day when their VP, Ms. Florence called
SJ got out of his private elevator early the following week and was met by Debra.“Mr. Grande is at your office, Mr. Kincaid,” she informed formally. “Ms. Florence is on her way up as well.”“SJ!”He turned and saw Florence alighting from the elevator with an anxious look, while bringing with her the portfolio of all the schemes her department had made.“Why do you think he’s here at this time?” She inquired curiously. “Debra called me. I’m glad I came in early today.”The two entered his office and saw Mr. Grande sitting calmly on the sofa and to their surprise, he was holding a piece of paper. He put down the cup of coffee he’s drinking when he saw them.“Mr. Grande,” SJ greeted formally. “It’s a bit early. Is there anything that we can help you with?”Elliot Grande stood up.“There definitely is,” he replie