Shock was an understatement for what Audrey felt after seeing that the project she had been planning for the past four months had been stolen.
She lifted her eyes to glare at the thief who stole her work and had the audacity to accuse her of being a thief. "I would like to prove myself, give me a chance to do this presentation again in a different way. I worked my ass off for months for this, no one can do it better than me." Was all Audrey said, confidently, and proudly.
'There's no need arguing with worthless and deceitful people.' Audrey thought to herself. Mr. Parker lifted his wrinkled eyes to look at Audrey in astonishment. This young lady in front of him did mean business.
"Well then" Mr. Parker began and looked over at the other woman. "But I would like you to do it again as well, you know…to prove yourself, without the papers." Mr. Parker added as a matter of fact.
All attention was on her and she started stammering, she was out of words. "Do you understand Miss Wolf?" Mr. Parker asked, making her jolt.
"Yes, I will," she responded in a shaky voice. Her lack of confidence was obvious, now everyone knew she was up to something bad.
Mr. Parker nodded once and motioned for Audrey to go ahead. Audrey inhaled and exhaled before starting. She explained everything from scratch, explained every diagram without looking at the papers, and did not miss or leave anything out. Mr. Parker observed how humbly she presented and how better it was compared to how the other woman had explained it.
Now it was Miss Wolf's turn to give her presentation without the papers. Her legs were trembling and she almost stumbled on her way. Everyone shared a look of mockery and laughed silently.
Stuttering was all Miss Wolf did before Mr. Parker fired at her to get out of his sight. He promised to sue her for presenting a stolen project. She drowned in embarrassment as she walked out of the room in defeat, she almost forgot her bag but Mr. Parker called her back to get her belongings.
Miguel, who had been standing by the door since the drama started, shifted aside to let the loser out, but not after sending her a slick smile in mockery, which brought Mr. Parker's attention toward Miguel. He eyed his son warily before shaking his head in disdain. Miguel was not a fan of drama but damn, when he saw how steamy the argument got, he knew he had to watch, and that girl, Miguel thought she was impressive. Although she seemed to be new to the business world, she handled it well.
To everybody's surprise, Miguel was the first person to clap for Audrey, a round of applause from the rest of the investors followed and Audrey was happy, sending Miguel a short nod.
Miguel not only surprised the investors but also himself and his father, he had never clapped for anyone during a presentation especially, not for women as it could send a bad message and start a gossip.
Mr. Parker knew exactly what his son was on about and kept in mind to warn him not to even think about it.
After the presentation was through with Audrey getting a bigger experience with the business world, Mr. Parker announced that Miss Audrey Charles had got the contract and everyone applauded her once more, but this time, Miguel managed to compose himself. Although he could not help but spare her one more glance before going back to his office, keeping in mind to find out more about her, he knew he would see her more often now that they were business partners.
***
Diana Wolf had never been so humiliated in her life.
"No!" she screamed in her car, distracting the passers, although they could not see her because her car glasses were tinted. She crushed a soda can in her hand, unbothered about the pain.
She tried all she could to make sure Queen Evans did not get the contract, she even got Audrey's car tire meddled with just so she would not make it on time but it was all an epic fail. How could she make the world believe her mother's nemesis was not worthy of her position as the CEO of the fashion industry, she got what she wanted again. But that was not the end she would not rest.
And that brat she had as a goddaughter, she promised to get her revenge.
*********
Audrey and Rosa swung their arms around each other as soon as they got out of Miguel's company.
"Shhhh, don't embarrass yourself. You are a shareholder of this company now. You don't want them looking down on you." Rosa pointed and Audrey agreed.
"Of course, ahem," Audrey said and cleared her throat, not knowing that the security guards were watching them amusingly as they embraced each other happily.
Just as the two entered Rosa's car, godmother's call went in on Rosa's phone and the two smiled at each other. Audrey mouthed a "Don't tell her" and Rosa nodded. Rosa answered the call.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Evans." Rosa chirped, from the sound of her voice, godmother could tell that there was good news. Mrs. Evans knew Audrey would like to keep it a surprise so she did not ask if it was a success, rather, she asked her if everything was okay and Rosa said yes and that they were on their way heading home.
Mrs. Evans did not care about the contract, she cared more about Audrey and all the efforts she put into the work. It would break her heart to see Audrey broken again.
"Let's call a mechanic to have my car fixed, I don't want Mother to know about the accident," Audrey said while looking out the window. All the while, she had been thinking about the incident that took place earlier, how Miss Wolf got her hands on the project.
Audrey thought that there might be a spy in her office who gave information to their competing market.
"Already done," Rosa said as she made a U-turn. Audrey looked over at Rosa. She did not need to ask how. Her friend has the superpower of getting things done quickly.
"Thanks, babe," Audrey said and Rosa nodded, although that was not the answer she was expecting. But she knew what was on her friend's mind.
Rosa drove to Mrs. Evans's house so they could tell godmother the good news, also because Audrey needed to freshen up after almost having a bad day. They intend to go to the office afterward, to find out who the spy was.
When they got home, they met godmother outside. She had been waiting for them for about twenty minutes while she admired the cloudy sky. She was sure that the rain was going to fall.
She smiled widely as she saw Rosa's car drive in. Audrey peeled the car door open and slammed it back shut before making a run toward godmother while giggling all the way.
Rosa who just got down from the car was fazed at how her precious car door was hit and she fired.
"Hey! I know she ain't a g-wagon but she's still a hottie, okay."
Audrey laughed it off and envelope her mother in a hug.
"Mother! We did it. We got the contract" Audrey said in a singing voice and godmother congratulated her. As Rosa walked up to them, she congratulated them both and they all went inside the living room.
Godmother had already prepared a delicious meal for them. She had Audrey's favourite pasta and tomato sauce made. There were plenty of meatballs that gave Rosa a running saliva. On the side, there was also an aromatic bread lasagna bowl for dessert. Audrey's eyes teared up as she saw the lasagna, she knew that godmother had made it herself, she would identify godmother, cooking anywhere, by the looks, scent, and taste.
"You made this for me…but you have not made it in a while," Audrey said as she looked deep into godmother's eyes, her eyes speaking gratitude in a thousand languages.
After the meal was over with Rosa constantly praising every bite, Audrey decided to rest for the day and Rosa agreed to check in at the office and make sure Audrey's car had gotten there safely.
********
Rosa passed on the news of their victory to the employees at the office, who were already desperately waiting to hear the news so they could celebrate and convince Audrey to throw a party. Rosa eyed everyone warily as she wondered who among them could be snitching but did not disclose the matter, she wanted Audrey to be there.
As Rosa was about to leave the company, a security guard rushed to her, to inform her that Johnathan had been missing since last night, his family had not seen him, and his phone number was not reachable…