Adriana took her seat in the front corner of the table, Natalie and Briana sat at each of her sides. Then the rest sat in their seats accordingly.
She glanced at Natalie with a questioning expression.
"I can't do anything since she's your 'disciple' at the moment." She whispered her reasoning and Adriana nodded.
She was very uncomfortable with being even an inch close to Briana, but she had to hold in her disgust and act as she should in her temporary workplace.
'Look, Briana. You get a front seat to the show...thank me.'
"Ahem* Since this will be a lengthy meeting, I want to start by saying that I enjoyed working with all of you, even if I have only worked with you for a short period. Since I didn't get to visit all of your desks and discuss the designs you worked with, I will start with those individuals I didn't visit. Then I will move forward and discuss the results, my likes and dislikes on your designs, areas each one of you need to work in, your potential, and your motivation to complete out a very important task."
"This collection and this alternative method of shopping for our customers are important not only to me but LABELS as well. So, since this is our first official meeting, I want to cover as many topics as possible. As you might have heard, the following meetings will not be led by me but my- "Adriana glanced at Briana and smiled.
"....assistant who I think you all have gotten to know very well." She clapped her hands along with everyone else at the table.
Obviously, not many know that Briana should get assigned to the job since she's under her wing and also 'second in command'.
She had not mentioned it before it so she couldn't really blame them. This meant that if they knew, Briana had mentioned it herself. Thus, she dug her own grave of embarrassment.
'I only respect arrogant people who actually worked hard for what they have. If you got this far just by saying please and thank you to your daddy… don't even look at me.'
*Cough* She did not direct that to anyone in specific of course *cough*
Anyway….
A woman in the last seat to the right raised her hand with a concerned expression. Adriana nodded her head in approval to let her speak.
"Pardon my rudeness, Ms. Price. I just wanted to ask why isn't Ms. Briana leading the meetings instead. I heard that she's supposed to, according to the deal between you and LABELS. Not only that, but we are used to Briana as our leader and we only recently got accustomed to you. Having a new person take charge will be troublesome."
Oh, right. She didn't want to be called Justine all the time so she asked them to just call he Ms.Price.
"Especially right now that we have a deadline to finish the ultimate designs and arrange it according to the online system you proposed." She spoke the truth, and the others agreed with her right away.
Another woman who Adriana labeled as one of Briana's 'minions' earlier added 'fuel' to the 'fire.' The woman was too stupid to understand that this was not about bullying but a genuine question from a member of their team. Still, the woman made her look bad.
"That's right, Ms. Briana has shown excellent results in this company and she's a great team leader. I think I will only work to my fullest with her leading us."
"I understand your concerns. According to my deal with LABELS, Ms. Brooklyn is under my care and I may go through her past projects. When I did, I realized that there are areas she needs to improve on, so I will give her my (precious) time to help her grow as a designer." She crossed one leg over the other and smiled.
Yes, that meant she was about to on full boss-b*tch mode.
"I never said my assistant will be in charge from now on. It's not about who gets to be the 'boss' around here. I'm not solely here to babysit Ms. Brooklyn, okay? I have my own contributions to do to this project and I will do them. The only thing I said is that my assistant Natalie will lead the meetings."
"I will arrange the topics that need a discussion on, give her bullet points on who, what, where, and why. All she will do is arrange the meeting and inform you all of what I want you to know. Is that clear?" She asked.
"Yes, Ma'am," They all said in chorus, respect clear in their voices.
"Now, since the young lady over here announced that she can't work to her fullest potential unless Ms. Brooklyn is in charge, she can go on about her day. I hope that you take this moment and learn from it in the future."
"Wait for a second! I can't have an opinion now?" The woman stood up with a triggered expression on her face.
Adriana raised an eyebrow at her blunt disrespect, the way she raised her voice at her superior, not having a work ethic, and her lack of decency.
"Ms. Parker, is it?" Adriana looked at her tag and chuckled. "I understand that you admire Ms. Brooklyn's past works and that you wish her to be your leader. I also admit her talent, but we wouldn't have signed a 2-year contract if she didn't want my help and guide."
Adriana was not doing this solely out of her desire to humiliate a certain someone. The guts of this woman really pissed her off.
'Excuse you? Do I really want to work with this kind of person in my team?' She wondered, trying to wrap her head around the situation.
"Anyway, I still wish for you to understand that Ms. Brooklyn is not the leader of this project, I am. You yourself confessed that without Ms.Brooklyn to support you, you cannot work at your fullest potential."
"I don't want someone who can't give me 100%, in my team. So please, be civil and walk out the door while I still give you the chance."
When Ms. Parker realized she was being serious, she froze in her spot.
The others stayed in silence, not wanting to meddle in. They understood the exact message Adriana wanted to get across. Just because she's in an unfamiliar environment, doesn't strip her of her title as very experienced, young, and a top designer around the world.
To think, someone was trying to tell her how to do her job and asking her to give in to an individual's wishes. It was quite insulting.
Thankfully, Ms. Parker was so embarrassed that she walked out on her own with little fuss. Still, she had the nerve to send a loud curse towards Adriana.
"Agh, I always knew you were a b*tch. That stupid, arrogant face of yours! Ever since we were in that orphanage, you were a f*cking b*tch!"
The others gasped in surprise at that shocking revelation. It too surprised her, she did not recall ever meeting this woman in her life.
Adriana was calm, as always. "Pardon me, I didn't know we met before. I forget irrelevant people."
She would investigate this later of course....
That made Ms. Parker even angrier, and she felt a surge inside her. The anger was giving her bravery she herself didn't expect.
That bravery fell apart when she heard the quiet laughs of others. She then stomped away and shut the door with a loud bang.
"Report this to whoever is in charge of such situations. I don't want her to appear in front of me ever again." Adriana told Natalie and turned on the presentation, nonchalantly.
'I'm an unbothered queen, just let that sink in for a second.'