Seraphina entered the office.
The door was closed behind her by the attendant that ushered her in. Now it was just her and a young lady who was on the phone, standing by the table on the other side of the room. It was Grace Pemberton.
"Seraphina Chase?" Grace asked, partially still on the phone.
"Pardon?" Seraphina said, taken aback by such a glaring name error.
"You're Seraphina Chase?" she restated, as she cut off from the phone.
"No, I am Lockwood, Seraphina Lockwood," Seraphina clarified.
"Oh, forgive my mistake." Grace walked over to her, apologized, and gave her a handshake.
"It's alright. I am just happy to be here," Seraphina shook her hand and replied. But the thought of it still plagued her:Why would the Assistant CEO of Maverick Corporation refer to her by her husband's last name?
Throughout their marriage, Seraphina had never once used Alexander's last name along with hers. So how did Grace Pemberton know or rather mistake her surname for her husband's?
"Come, have a seat," Grace ushered.
While still in the thought stream, Seraphina realized the Maverick Corporation already knew who she was and were expecting her, even though she didn't book her appointment.
"Sorry, I have to ask, how did you know I was coming today?" Seraphina asked in order to quench her thirst for answers, but instead, she was met with even more drought.
"And I'm sorry, but I am not allowed to reveal such information to you," Grace Pemberton replied.
'Not allowed? Isn't she the boss? How can she not be allowed to do something?' those were the thoughts that echoed through Seraphina, but she dared not spill a word of it.
"Of course, that would be unprofessional. My apologies," she said instead.
"Good, so let's get down to brass tacks. May I have a look at your proposal?" Grace replied.
Seraphina hurriedly handed over to Grace Pemberton a file that contained the hard copy of the forty-one-page brief proposal, and a flash drive that contained the soft copy of the full and detailed proposal.
Grace spent the next few minutes going through both the soft and hard copies of the proposal, and she had to admit, even if her boss hadn't told her what to do, Seraphina's proposal had a fair shot at the contract.
"This is really impressive," she said.
"Thank you, I am here to answer any questions or address any unclear areas," Seraphina replied.
"No, no, no, everything is straightforward and easy to comprehend. Did your husband draft this?" Grace asked bluntly. She didn't mean to, but the question had been in her head for so long it slipped out.
"What? I mean, no. This is all me," Seraphina replied, trying hard to keep her composure.
Seraphina found it offensive and undermining that Grace presumed a man had to have done it for it to be good. If only she knew how useless her husband was, she would retract her statement immediately.
Grace Pemberton, on the other hand, could sense her distress but couldn't understand why. Having the great Alexander Chase draft your proposal was an honor and privilege many would willingly surrender their entire life's savings to attain.
The more she spoke to Seraphina, the more she realized that Seraphina had little regard for her husband, which made her question why Alexander Chase was married to such a woman. He deserved better, she thought to herself, he deserved someone like...
Grace Pemberton smiled and said, "Congratulations, you have got the contract."
"What..." Seraphina couldn't believe her ears; she was overjoyed with surprise and excitement.
Grace printed out the contract and handed it over to Seraphina.
Staring at the contract with her eyes, and feeling the warm, crisp paper against her fingers, confirmed the reality of her dream come true.
As her eyes scanned the letters of the contract, Seraphina noticed something odd: the numbers. The contract digits were not what she expected; they had been doubled.
"Oh yes, the contract allocation was doubled. It was a last-minute decision, so it hasn't been revealed to the public," Grace Pemberton said.
It all felt so surreal for Seraphina.
Both women exchanged handshakes, and Seraphina thanked her once more before leaving the office.
As she walked through the hallway, she could see Jerry Fisher at a near distance coming towards her with a cowardly smile of mockery on his face.
Suddenly, her phone beamed with a notification, and so did his. Seraphina opened her phone, and it was a public statement release that read as follows:
"The Maverick Corporation is glad to announce Lockwood Construction Company as their construction company for their multimillionaire project contract, under the management of Seraphina Lockwood."
This was it, this was the confirmation Seraphina had been waiting for, solid and viral proof to everyone that she did it.
She raised her head to Jerry Fisher, who had also read the broadcast. He was instantly fumed with anger. He vented out by striking the trashcan closest to him with his foot.
He looked at Seraphina, his eyes filled with rage, hate, and jealousy, but Seraphina simply looked back at him with a snarky smirk.
Jerry marched up to her.
"This contract was mine, and you stole it from me," he said, his voice low but sharp and enraged.
"There you go again, claiming something that was never yours to begin with," Seraphina replied nonchalantly.
"Seraphina, you just stepped on the lion's tail. I will make you pay for it," he said.
Most of his frustration and anger towards Seraphina stemmed from the fact that Jerry would have to go back to his company and explain to them how he not only failed to get the contract but was upstaged by little mirs. nobody on her first ever contract application.
Seraphina smirked and catwalked toward him until she was at breath length. She stepped her left heel on his foot, leaned over to his ear, and whispered seductively.
"I can't wait to see you try," she teased.
Seraphina increased the pressure of her heel on his foot, and then twisted, causing him immense pain before letting go.
She walked out of the building with the brightest smile on her face, leaving Jerry with two swollen body parts below his waistline.
"See you around, Fisher," she said.