Vanessa had a thousand and one thoughts running through her mind as she sat in the cab on her way to work. The pregnancy test result had been invalid, and it only left her wondering whether or not she was pregnant.
What was the difference between seven days and fourteen days anyway? Why did she have to wait until two weeks to know if she was pregnant or not? She wished everything could happen really quickly so that she would be done with it.
"Are you not getting down?" The cab driver asked impatiently when she made no move to get out of the cab after he stopped at her destination.
"Oh, sorry!" She said apologetically and settled her bill before getting out of the cab.
Standing in front of the company now, she took a deep breath, "Just forget about everything else and focus on work," she encouraged herself as she let out her breath and walked into the building.
"Good morning, Claire," she greeted the receptionist with a warm smile, but the lady didn't return her smile.
"Good morning. How can I help you?" She asked politely, and Vanessa's smile wavered at the tinge of unfriendliness she could hear in the lady's tone.
"Is everything alright?" Vanessa asked, wondering why she was cold, considering they had been on good terms the last time she saw her.
"Everything is alright. Kindly tell me what you want," the receptionist said, looking around to ensure that no one was watching them.
Although she was cool with Vanessa, the young lady had stepped on the wrong toes by offending the head of HR. And even though the man had been demoted, his underlings were still in charge of the department, and she could easily be fired if they so much as thought she was siding with an enemy.
"I need directions to my office. I'm just resuming today," Vanessa explained, and the receptionist directed her to the fifth floor.
As Vanessa headed for the elevator, she noticed the unpleasant stares she was receiving from some of the staff as she walked past them, and she couldn't help wondering what she had done wrong. Was it a crime that she chose to expose the injustice of Mr. James? Why did it seem like they were trying to make the environment hostile for her? What could he have possibly told them about her?
She tried to shake off her concerns by reminding herself that she was there to work and earn a living, not make friends, so it shouldn't matter whether or not her colleagues liked her.
Once she got to the fifth floor, she located the office she had been directed to immediately and walked in, "Hello, Good morning!" she greeted her male colleague who had passed the interview with her.
"Good morning!" he greeted back as he set down his phone and stood up to meet her.
"I'm Vanessa. Vanessa Scott. We interviewed together," she reminded him.
"Yeah, I remember you. I'm Nathan Roland. You can call me Nate since we will be working together," he said as he extended a hand to her, and she shook hands with him.
Vanessa was low-key, relieved that the one person she would be sharing an office with wasn't being cold to her as the others were.
"Did you receive the email from the CEO?" Nate asked as he sat on the edge of his desk, and Vanessa looked at him in confusion.
"What email?" She asked as she took out her phone from her handbag to check her Gmail.
"I received an email from the CEO this morning," Nate said just as Vanessa saw the unread message in her inbox.
"I received it too," she said as she slowly read through the message, which was short and straight to the point. They were both expected to be at the CEO's office by 10 AM for a brief meeting with the CEO concerning their job.
It was funny how she used to check her Gmail every hour for emails when she was searching for a job, but ever since she got this job, she had barely checked her emails. She was certain that her Gmail would be feeling neglected by now.
"What do you think he wants to talk to us about?" Vanessa asked uncertainly, and Nate shrugged.
"I guess since it's a new department, he wants to address us personally," Nate said unbothered.
"I hope that is it," she said, feeling kind of worried that the CEO might have decided that he no longer needed them.
"Who will we be receiving instructions from?" She asked since there were just two desks in the office, and it looked like it was just for them both.
"Hopefully, the CEO will tell us when we meet. I can't wait to see him in person," Nate said as he returned to his seat.
"So what do we do until it's time to meet the CEO?" Vanessa asked as she walked over to the other desk.
"Relax and wait. Don't be in a hurry to start work already. You will eventually miss this moment when you first sat on your desk having nothing to do," Nate assured her, and Vanessa smiled.
"Are you speaking from experience?"
"Isn't that always the case? You will be overworked soon enough," he said as he picked up his phone and got busy again.
Having nothing else to do as she waited, Vanessa took out her sketchbook and a pencil, which she had brought, and busied herself by sketching cute designs for kids.
She didn't realize how much time she spent sketching until Nate spoke, "It's time for the meeting."
Her heart skipped a beat at the thought of facing the cold CEO again. She really hoped that he had forgiven her for causing a scene, and hopefully, he had also forgotten all about it. She knew how easy it was for people to be prejudiced against someone because of a wrong first impression.
She took a deep breath as she stood up and adjusted her clothes before picking up her sketchbook and pen.
"You're going with that?" Nate asked with a slightly raised brow, and she shrugged.
"It's our job. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it," she said, and Nate nodded in agreement as they walked out of the office together.
Immediately they got to the CEO's office, his secretary ushered them into his office immediately.
Alex was standing by the window, holding his phone against his ear as they walked in, and he turned to look at them and raised a finger, gesturing that they give him a minute.
"What announcement are you talking about? Are you getting married?" Alex asked his best friend curiously.
"If you really want to know what it is, meet me at our usual spot by 8 PM. And just so you know, I invited Genny too. So it's not the usual guys' hangout," Kyle warned, piquing Alex's curiosity even more.
"Genny? Fine. I'll be there. I have to go now," Alex said and hung up the call before looking at Vanessa and Nate, who were still standing by the door waiting for him to be done.
"You can come in and have your seat," he said as he returned to his seat, looking every bit as intimidating to Vanessa as he had looked the previous day.
"Good morning, sir," they both greeted as they sat down, and he acknowledged them with a nod as he looked from Nate to Vanessa and then back to Nate.
"I called this meeting to inform you both about the importance of your job. This project means so much to me personally, and as such, I wouldn't hesitate to fire either or both of you if you fail to deliver what is expected of you. I will be working directly with you to make sure you deliver what I want. Miss Scott will report to me every morning to take the orders for the day and update me on your projects," Alex said as he glanced at Vanessa, and her heart skipped a beat at the mention of her name.
"I hope you both will do a good job. You can leave," Alex said, dismissing them.
Vanessa looked at him, surprised that he hadn't even let them say a word or asked to know if they had any questions. She opened her mouth to ask a question, but once he looked at her, she shut her mouth immediately and stood up to leave with Nate.
"Leave the sketchbook behind. I believe the sketches in there are for kids?" He asked, and she nodded as she left it on the table.
"My secretary will let you know when you can pick it up," Alex ordered, and just like that, they left with no idea about what they were expected to do for the day.
With her sketchbook gone, Vanessa experienced her first round of absolute idleness. As someone who understood the full extent of responsibility, she was always busy.
She followed Nate's lead and surfed through her phone, but found nothing interesting. She looked through a few kids' designs online for some inspiration, and her mind wandered back to her sketchbook. She felt slightly nervous, knowing the CEO was with it.
What would his thoughts be? She wondered. Would he like them? She prayed he did because those were some of her best designs, and even if she was confident about them, she was still quite nervous.
Vanessa shook her head and brushed away every hint of negativity. Her designs were good, she confidently told herself, but her confidence suddenly wavered when she saw the CEO's secretary return with her sketchbook earlier than expected.
"He's done?" She asked.
"Yes." The man nodded before walking away. Vanessa watched him leave before glancing at Nate, who was engrossed with his phone.
She sighed as she took her seat and opened the sketchbook. Vanessa froze the moment her eyes fell on the first page.
With a red pen were the words boldly written,
'A Disney theme or what?'
Vanessa dumbfoundedly flipped to the next page, and there was another bad review.
'Hopefully, this isn't for kids, right?' A scowl instantly framed her face as she turned a few more pages, and there was more.
"What?!" Vanessa exclaimed, gaining Nate's attention. He inquisitively walked over when he saw the gloomy look on her face.
"What's wron... No way!" He exclaimed when he saw the book. "He didn't—" He paused as his eyes widened in horror.
Vanessa was livid at the bad comments. How could he have done that? These were her best works, and he just did this?
Nate sighed when he saw the look on Vanessa's face. "Don't let this get to you. It's your first day."
And he had completely ruined it! Vanessa looked at the words he had written on her designs, and she felt more livid. He shouldn't have done this. Nothing was worse than telling a designer their work wasn't good enough.
Just how ruthless was he? Vanessa suddenly looked forward to reporting to him.