Chapter 19
Andrew thought back to that night at Beyond the Stars and how the two wealthy heirs had vied for Nora’s attention. There was a hint of sarcasm in his tone as he said to Samantha, “Oh yeah, she’s such a good girl indeed.”
Samantha rolled her eyes in response, saying, “Is that supposed to be a double entendre? Cut it out. Why do you keep making things difficult for her? Are you like, secretly in love with her or something?”
Andrew scoffed. “What on earth are you talking about? Do you know how ridiculous you sound?”
Andrew had never felt or even understood the concept of a secret crush. He didn’t need to know it either. In his book, there was only one rule. If he liked something and he wanted it, it would be his.
Samantha’s lips curled in annoyance. “You’re all talk. I’ve never seen you interact with the same girl for as long as you did with Nora.”
“That’s just because…” Andrew ended his rebuttal abruptly.
That’s just because he thinks Nora bedded him. But he wasn’t about to say that out loud.
“Because what?” Samantha’s eyebrows furrowed. “Forget it, I can’t be bothered to listen to your excuses. I’m gonna go. Remember to eat your lunch.”
Andrew stared at the lunchbox on the coffee table, lost in thought.
He had to admit he did seem to pay extra attention to Nora.
Back in the third design department at Kayson Designs, Nora had just stepped foot into the office. All eyes were on her, waiting to watch the impending drama that was sure to unfold.
Ruby snickered and said loudly, “Oh my, look who’s back? We’re gonna have to listen to Anita’s naggy voice again soon.”
Then, addressing Nora directly, she said, “Hang in there, newbie, don’t you start crying.”
Nora wasn’t in the mood to listen to her nonsense, so she simply walked to her desk and put her bag down, ignoring Ruby completely.
Sadie was worried and tried to comfort Nora. “It’s okay, you won’t be alone, we’ll sit through Anita’s scolding together.”
Nora patted the back of Sadie’s hand and replied, “I’m fine, no worries.”
She organized the documents in her folder and stood up to go to Anita’s office.
“Wow, Sadie, aren’t you a reliable friend? What kind of perks do you think you can get by kissing a newcomer’s ass? How stupid,” Ruby mocked.
Sadie kept quiet then and put her head down to work, also ignoring Ruby.
Ruby’s remarks had fallen on deaf ears twice now so she seemed to be engaged in a silly monologue. She resented the two newcomers to the core.
She blamed it all on Nora. Before her arrival, Ruby was second only to Anita. Now, Nora had a blatant disregard for hierarchy and the pecking order in the office, which deeply infuriated Ruby.
Ruby decided then that whoever defended or spoke up for Nora would be declaring themselves as her enemy.
1/3
3:38 am
Chapter 19
Meanwhile, in Anita’s office, Nora had come in and presented Anita with the documents she’d acquired.
Anita was taken by surprise. She hadn’t expected Nora to return so soon. Still, she was ready to begin giving Nora a thorough dressing–down until she looked at the document on her desk.
The title of the document stated clearly that it was a contract between Kayson Designs and Sinclair Group.
Anita stammered, “You… You managed to clinch the deal?”
Nora simply nodded with a straight face.
Anita’s eyes widened. Then she frowned and picked up the document to check through its contents. At the end of the agreement was the name and signature of Andrew Sinclair, accompanied by an official company stamp. There was no way it was forged.
The entire department had tried and failed dozens of times, but the newcomer had managed to seal the deal.
Anita scrutinized the terms of the agreement again and finally noticed that the accepted designs were different from the ones they’d submitted before. In fact, they were completely different from anything they’d ever proposed.
The approved design was miles more sophisticated, and perfectly captured the essence of summer. For a moment, Anita was awed.
“You did a great job this time,” she said as she nodded at the drawings. “Did you design this necklace?”
Nora hummed without even opening her mouth.
Anita continued, “Young designers think differently after all. There’s no doubt that you deserve some credit that we’re able to work with the Sinclair Group.”
It seemed like Nora hadn’t entered the company entirely from her connections. She seemed to have the skills to back it up
too.
Anita was wary of jumping to conclusions though. She was going to take her time to continue observing her.
“Although you were successful this time, you’ve still got some ways to go. Keep working on your skills and stay humble, especially if you want to finish your stint here successfully. Don’t forget, the third design department doesn’t need any deadweight,” she reminded Nora.
Anita had a serious look on her face as she stood up from her desk and walked towards Nora, placing a hand on her shoulder and patting it twice.
Her attitude towards Nora wasn’t exactly nice, but it was a lot more civil compared to before.
“I will,” Nora nodded and replied. She didn’t have anything against Anita, and she understood that Anita probably found her an eyesore because she had gotten in through her connections.
Nora was in for the long run, though. She knew she’d be able to withstand the test of time so she was in no hurry to change Anita’s opinion of her.
When Nora left Anita’s office, her coworkers in the department were eagerly anticipating her return, awaiting to relish her
sorry state.
Sadie noticed Nora emerging from the office and rushed over to her side. She lowered her voice and asked in concern, “Did Anita give you a hard time? It’s alright, we can go to the Sinclair Group together. I’m sure the both of us can handle that tyrant. Don’t be too upset.”
2/3
3:38 am MMAO
Chapter 19
Sadie wasn’t entirely sure how to comfort Nora. She’d had her fair share of scoldings from Anita, and she was well aware of how horrible that middle–aged woman could be.
‘Don’t sweat it, I’m fine.” Nora only reassured her and said nothing more.
There were too many bystanders around them for her to explain what happened.
Besides, she only had to answer to her boss, Anita. She didn’t give a hoot what her coworkers thought of her.
What’s more, if she were to let on that she had managed to get the contract, Sadie was sure to ask incessantly about every single thing that went down. Nora wasn’t willing to reveal everything in such a public setting.
Nora had also caught sight of a coworker in her peripheral vision, and it was the person whose drawings had been replaced by Nora’s. She didn’t want to make things awkward between them as well.
However, Ruby saw Nora’s silence as an admission of defeat. She crossed her arms smugly and exclaimed, “Trying to be all cool and stoic huh? If you can’t handle it, just say so. You’re not embarrassed or anything, are you?”
Ruby looked Nora up and down slyly with a holier–than–thou smirk.
Sadie, who had been soft–spoken before, bristled at Ruby’s taunts and jumped to Nora’s rescue.
“What are you talking about? You’re fully aware of how difficult it is to deal with Mr. Sinclair, aren’t you? After all, you did get thrown out when you went to the Sinclair Group last time.”
Sadie had publicly aired Ruby’s dirty laundry. Everyone around sucked in a breath and held it.
As expected, Ruby exploded.
“You think you’re a big shot since you have someone backing you, do you? Do you think I’d be afraid of you because of that?
“Nora simply can’t cut it as a designer. If you don’t want to work in this company anymore, I can talk to my uncle for you and the both of you can get fired together, you know.”
Ruby was getting more and more agitated, she looked as if she was ready to start a brawl. She couldn’t believe a lowly newcomer would have the audacity to talk to her in such an arrogant way.
Nora pulled on Sadie’s arm, and with a cold and unbothered expression, said, “Come on, Sadie. Don’t waste your breath on her.”
Ruby was intent on figuring out a way to crush Nora completely and humiliate her to her heart’s content.
3/3
