Chapter 26 Cornering The Newbie
The other interns working with Christina were amazed when they saw her designs, but their surprise quickly gave way to jealousy.
One of the designers went over to look out of curiosity and found Christina’s work to be rather creative. and appealing to young women, albeit not quite the company’s style.
Still, that level of design was above the mark for a rookie.
Standing in the crowd, Christina did not receive any applause. Instead, what she got were meaningful looks from a few people. It went without saying that having Gina stick her design up on the noticeboard was an invitation to disaster, for the shot always hit the bird that poked its head out first.
Because of what happened, all the interns who joined the company with Christina took her as their biggest competitor.
Meanwhile, Nathaniel had unprecedentedly left Christina uninterrupted for the first week since she started the internship so she could focus on work, given her hectic schedule.
On one occasion, Christina was almost running late for work and would have to clock in late if she missed the elevator, so she rushed toward the elevator, holding a carton of milk she had just bought.
“Wait up!”
Despite her cry, the female intern at the elevator door quickly pressed the “close” button, leaving Christina behind.
As the doors closed between them, Christina’s steps slowed down in disappointment. She felt ostracized when she noticed the smug expression on the woman’s face.
She recalled how Team A had strict rules about tardiness: anyone who turned up late for work twice would not receive any bonus.
At the thought, she swirled the milk still in her mouth as she came to terms with the finality of the situation, but the elevator door suddenly opened again.
“What are you waiting for?” a man voiced with slightly arched brows.
The man who opened the door had a closely-cut suit that fit his tall build perfectly and exuded a regal aura that bespelled Christina momentarily.
Still, the latter quickly snapped back to her senses and ran into the elevator as though a ray of light had shone down into the darkness for her. Thank you!”
The man glanced at her employee ID from the corner of his eyes and simply grunted curtly in
response.
Christina then stole a glimpse at the man’s ID clipped to his suit: Yosef Gunther-leader of Team B.
This name was no stranger to Christina, for even back at school, she had heard a lot about the designer who had won multiple international awards.
She did not expect to run into someone she had admired in the elevator-let alone work at the same
company as him. Christina felt that it must be the luckiest day of her life.
On a closer look, Yosef had a head of shoulder-length hair and a pair of enchanting upturned eyes. He was a total dreamboat with a high nose bridge and sculpted jaw that could charm just about anyone. To top that up, his six-foot-tall physique meant he could pull off any outfit and catch the spotlight effortlessly on the runway.
Their short-lived meeting came to an end when the elevator door opened again.
Christina headed to her office and was able to clock in just in time before work.
Just as she thought the day would unfold uneventfully, trouble set in when she arrived at a drenched office table with all the documents she had printed out soaked with water.
It was apparent that this was an ill-intentioned stunt.
Darting her sharp gaze around the office, Christina questioned her colleagues, “Who knocked my cup
over?”
Everyone stopped working and looked up, but in their hearts, they were secretly pleased to see the young lady with a red face fuming with anger.
As Christina expected, no one admitted their fault. Christina was not interested in identifying the culprit she just wanted to warn whoever did it, or else this kind of prank would only continue.
She did not back down despite being met with disdainful gazes from her colleagues. “I’ll get security to come in the next time this happens again.”
The whole office fell into silence. No one expected a greenhorn who had just stepped into society to be this shrewd, for those newbies bullied in the past would only endure everything in silence.
None of them had ever publicly stood up for themselves.
After the incident, Christina went to the pantry to calm herself before returning to work. When it was almost time to go home, Jade Salucci, the office a**istant, came to talk to her.
“They need some help with cleaning the office on the top floor. Go over there, Jade ordered
Some cleaning work will surely bring you down a peg or two since you were so arrogant in the morning. Let’s see if you still dare to cross us after this.
Knowing that the a**istant had come to make life difficult for her, Christina put aside her work and looked at her calmly. “I’m an intern designer. I’m not here for cleaning duty. Please get that through your head.”
As an experienced senior employee, Jade had come prepared with all the tricks she needed to put recruits in their places. “You have no work to attend to at the moment. Don’t tell me I should ask the busy designers to clean the office? Christina Steele, you should learn to follow orders here at the company, or else I’ll file a complaint against you.”
Christina was still an intern. She could not afford to have a complaint against her since it would have detrimental effects on her future confirmation to become a full-time employee.
“All right, then.”
With that said, Christina walked out of the office, got the cleaning tools, and took the elevator up to the top floor, where the CEO’s office was.
Having received an access card from the cleaning lady, she entered the office with a pail of water.
Since the boss seldom came in for work, the whole office was immaculate, except that the place felt slightly lonely and cold without anyone in it.
Having cleaned a piece of cloth, Christina began wiping the corners. After that, she went over to dust the cupboard on the right of the room.
Just then, three sets of footsteps echoed down the corridor.
The man who first opened the office door and entered was a man dressed in a red velvet suit called Zachary Sacchetti. The cutting of that fashion piece he wore was not something anyone could pull off. but it looked just right on the lanky man.
Like a model who had just gotten off a fashion show, the dashing man had a head of short ash-grey hair and some of the latest gold ornaments around his fingers.
Once he and the others entered, the whole company sat on the couch. Then, Zachary placed that quarter’s business performance report on the table, saying, “It’s only been half a month, and I’ve already exceeded my target by fifty percent.”
That was some incredible results.
Over on the single-seater couch, Nathaniel sat like a king with his spindly legs crossed as he rested his chin on his hand.
With a subtle smile, he answered, “You can be quite productive when you channel your energy to work instead of women.”
Nathaniel’s statement elicited a laugh from lan Zimmerman, sitting on his right. “I bet he must have some problem functioning normally down there, which is why he’s suddenly putting all his energy
into work.”
The man who had just spoken was clad in a tailored plain shirt. His exquisite collarbone way left exposed under the first two unbuttoned holes on his shirt, overlaid with a black vest that complimented his inverted triangle body shape.
He had a black car stud on one of his ears and had kept his eyes down, looking at his watch as he arranged it around his wrist while entering the room. The aura he exuded was gentlemanly yet professional
Among the three men, Zachary was most used to his friends’ teasing since he had the most happening in his love life. “I’m still functioning all right. I’m just a little lost now that I’m not seeing anyone interesting,” he replied, making a face that said he was too good for anyone.
Then he turned to Nathaniel and asked jokingly, “Why did you suddenly come to the office? Is it because the company has invited a few models, including Xandra, for the anniversary? Did you come on purpose to meet her?”
Nathaniel?
Christina jolted behind the cupboard at the mention of that name. Caught by surprise, she accidentally
bumped into a crystal ball next to her.
Thump!
