Anita had woken up that morning with an extreme pain all over her face. She was having some headaches too accompanied with a runny nose but she took a painkiller instead to relieve the pain and planned to visit the doctor when she’s through with her chores for the day in the kitchen.
She was the only one at home since the other maid was on vacation and was almost done with her work when Amber came to retrieve the file from Tom’s room. She was led inside by the security and Anita ran to greet her when she entered the house with him.
“You are Tom’s secretary right? Thank you for the other day. I haven’t been able to thank you properly, I am so sorry” she said with a smile and Amber returned the warm smile immediately. She moved closer to her and bowed a little, “It was nothing, I am glad that I was able to help out so you don’t to have to thank me anymore.” Amber replied and she nodded.
“What are you here for?” Anita asked further and she replied that she was here on Tom’s request. “My boss asked me to get a document from his room, he told me you would be around to show me the way”.
“I am surprised that he’s sending you over, he never allows anyone in his room if he’s not there. I will take you there of course” Anita said to her and led her to his room.
“Should I help you out? We can search for it together to make it faster” she added and started looking for the file with her before they heard someone come in.
Anita left to check whoever it was and it turned out to be Joseph. She tried greeting him but he just walked past her and marched to his room but she still asked if he would like her to set his table which only ended in disaster.
“You really are a pain in the neck! Didn’t you hear when I told you never to serve me anymore? What exactly is your problem? Do you want to poison me? Leave my way!” he growled at her and pushed her aside making her stagger.
She struggled to stand by holding the dining table’s edge but her eyes kept turning. She suddenly felt dizzy and closed her eyes for a bit to balance herself before moving to check what she was cooking but her strength gave out and she collapsed with mucus running down her nose.
Amber managed to find the file after checking the specific places he had made mention to her and gave Tom a call immediately so that he can be rest assured but as she moving out of the house, she noticed that she couldn’t see Anita anywhere in sight. She was about leaving when she noticed a figure on the floor behind the cabinet. She stopped and walked over to the side where she saw Anita collapsed on the floor with her nose covered in yellowish discharge.
“What is happening? Why are you here on the ground?” she gasped as she looked at the sight in front of her.
She quickly fished out her phone and dialed the emergency line before calling Tom too to update him about the situation. Immediately Tom got the message, he turned around his car and sped to the said hospital after calling the designer that they will have to reschedule their meeting.
The designer flared up and roared about how Tom was wasting his time and threatened that if Tom doesn’t come over in the next two hours, he is leaving the country and will never be able to take on the project anymore.
“I will meet with him, you can just stay here with her” Amber volunteered and drove Tom’s car to the location.
The designer refused to see her and requested for Tom himself which only got her angry. She tried her best to explain the situation on ground but the designer kept insisting that Tom should know how to separate work matters from personal ones since he’s a CEO of a company. She could no longer bear with his nonsense and shouted at him in anger.
She stood up and hit the table before roaring “Who do you think you are to command my boss like you please? You might be an excellent designer but do you want to go bankrupt now? Should I call the mall and tell them to swap out every of your project with Dave Lin’s design? Come to think of it, even though we are yet to bring many of his designs, he is raking in a high sale for us so imagine if we dedicate your own section to him? We will be swimming in money and I heard the only condition on your contract is maintaining your steady sale percent if not you will be abandoned by the company backing you up”. She closed her eyes briefly before walking briskly in front of him in her blue palazzo pants and suit, and circled her finger tips round the table as she approached him with a scary gaze.
She stopped in front of him and fold her hands before leaning on the table for a bit “If Shellhouse removes your product out from our store, we will be able to pay back the fees conveniently since you don’t have an active contract with us currently but you will be on the losing end because if we abandon you then that means the whole of Chicago has abandoned you. Do you want to play the game of the first to grovel with me? I am ready to bet my whole life on this” she said with an authoritative voice and she could see his eyes quiver for a split second as her words cut through to him. She was getting to him.
He tried to prove stubborn and act as if he doesn’t care about the threat but Amber was ready for him.
“Do you think I will be shaken by your threat? I can easily get my designs into another mall without stress. Do you think you are the only one in Chicago with a mall? Don’t be ridiculous and just call the CEO over” he bit back and Amber brought out her phone to dial a number. It rang for a bit and she placed it on loud speaker when the person picked the call up.
“Hello Josie, is your store in need of a new product from a new designer?” she asked with her eyes glued to the designer. “Who is the new designer in question?” Josie responded and she replied “RDW”.
“We cannot accept a partnership with him if you are throwing him out. Shellhouse is the biggest mall here and if you throw out a designer then people will never visit the section for the said designer no matter the mall they display their products at because they will have the conviction that you threw them out for bad designs and insufficient sales” Josie explained and Amber replied with a “Ah, I see. I will get back to you then” before disconnecting the call.
She called the secretaries of two more malls and they said the same thing. One of them gave the condition of Shellhouse giving him a public recommendation but Amber countered that they will not do that for the designer so they ended up declining completely.
She smirked and closed the file she brought before facing him and said “I hope you understand your stance now. I will mail you the contract termination papers as soon as I get to the office, it was nice working with you but it’s a shame we are parting this way, thanks to your arrogant attitude” before heading for the door.
The designer rushed to stop her and begged her not to go that he was only joking but Amber shook her head. “You were only joking? You stressed me out that much and kept talking ill about my boss who only did nothing but appreciated your talents when no one wanted you. If you are trying to prove a high standard at least, appreciate the hand that fed you and not bite it! Were you not taught that at home as you were growing up? We will review the contract later because I have another meeting to attend to now, you were the cause of the waste of time” she fired at him and pulled the door’s lock before stopping to face him once more.
“Also note that there will be a twenty percent reduction in our fees, if you are not satisfied with the terms then you can kindly sign the termination of contract document. I will make sure to send them together” she added and walked out before he could even hold unto her.
She drove back to the hospital to see Tom by his mother’s bed side but she was sleeping and he was cleaning her face with a wet towel. She asked how she was doing and he sighed before replying “She has Sinusitis. She has been treated but she will be under close monitoring for some days before she’s finally discharged”
“It’s a relief that it’s not too serious, I was so worried about her” she remarked before sighing in relief.
“She has been experiencing poor sense of taste for a while, that must be why the sudden change in her cooking occurred, I am such a bad son who didn’t even notice that his mother was sick” he said, rubbing his forehead with his fingers and Amber patted his shoulder. “She surely understands that you didn’t neglect her on purpose, you just didn’t know and thankfully she will be up and better soon” she comforted him and he nodded before asking how her meeting went.
“I have been able to secure the design with him and also reduced our commission by twenty percent” she answered and he was shocked to hear what she just told him. “How did you do that?” he asked and she shrugged before replying “We played the game of blackmailing and it ended in my favor, he was trying pull a trick on us and I gladly repaid the favor” with a hint of pride in his tone and Tom chuckled.
“You are a professional after all” he complimented her
That was the first she would see him chuckle that way, he was always serious with everything and seeing a new side of him made her heart skip a beat but she quickly pushed the thought aside and discussed other things further with Amber before Chairman Holland came by.
Amber excused herself upon his arrival and left the hospital after informing Tom that she will finalize the contract before he comes back to work the following day. Chairman grunted at the sight of Anita on the bed and released a “She should have taken it slow, why did she have to overwork herself and end up like this?” remarked which sent Tom feral.
“What do you mean by she should have taken it slow? You and Joseph both drove her to this point! And you still have the guts to question why she’s like this? What a load of bullshit” Tom countered him and Chairman Holland lashed at him about what he meant by that.
“She spent every day of her life catering for the needs of both you and Joseph and now that she’s sick, she should have taken it slow? You must be kidding me! You never appreciated her and just saw her as someone you were helping. You never registered or acknowledged her as your wife or even treated her rightly. It was so evident that even all her friends and their husbands know her situation in the house, the least you could do is come along with a flower and wish her speedy recovery, ask her how she’s feeling and comfort her by telling her to take a good and long rest but she should have taken it slow is all you could offer? You keep disappointing me every day” Tom spat at him and Chairman Holland gave him a hard slap across the left cheek but he didn’t flinch.
He scoffed before wiping his cheeks with his palm and took a deep breathe, “You should have showed this side of yours as I was growing up instead of trying hard now, I knew we would get to this point someday and here we are finally. It must have been hard trying to pretend that you care about me all this while, you should release all your pent up anger now, I will never be surprised nonetheless” he stated and walked out of the room and couldn’t see when Anita woke up.