Chapter 7

• Yvonne' s POV
• For a minute, I stare at the screen without motion or saying anything, my spirit is gone off in thoughts. I later realized myself when the horn of a car behind me woke me up to consciousness. For the period I've been stationed here, I didn't realize where I'm packing is an entrance to someone's apartment. I immediately drop the phone in front, start the car and move on, not minding stopping again until I reach where I'm going.
• As I entered the expressway, all fears and thoughts about Jack vanished like it was a puff of smoke in the wind. I become myself once again.
• The traffic today is one of the smoothest, very free and so in barely twenty minutes time, I arrive at my company situated in the center of town, that part of the Pack which is considered as the business hub of the city because of the many companies and stores as well as warehouses that are situated around.
• I park the car at the garage. Nelly is already there to welcome me. I had told her a few minutes before arriving, so she stood outside waiting for me. I get out of the car, lock it and walk towards the entrance from where she is smiling and strolling towards me in a welcoming style.
• "You're welcome, my queen!" She gives a slight bow with a smile on her face. That's the fond name she has always been addressing me after I took home the title of Miss Werewolf America, others address me as ma'am or Your Majesty which is the official title granted to all winners from the inception of the competition.
• "Thanks much, Nelly. How is work going on once again, I hope everything is in a perfect order?"
• "Yeah, of course. Your Board of Directors and Managers are trying their best and their best is producing great results. I think I'll need to introduce you as this is the first official day you are resuming work as the CEO of this company."
• I look up at the eight storey beauty home which is one of the biggest in America. Though I didn't use my money in building and starting the business, I feel so fulfilled to own this type of establishment. What I never expected to happen but dreamt of is happening right now in front of me and I believe more are on the way.
• It's true that today is my first day of showing myself up and Nelly is right when she said she needs to introduce me. The first three days I came to visit and stay in my new establishment, I had very few workers and most of them were hired, they were paid off afterwards. Since it was under construction, not mainly the building but the affairs of the company, I couldn't find more staff because it was that moment of recruitment.
• "Okay Nelly, we can do that now. How is that going to be possible?"
• What does she mean? Is she trying to say, I will go from one office to the other with her, getting myself introduced? A CEO for that matter? No, it's belittling me. I'm just suggesting, I believe she would never do that.
• "I want to summon all of them to the conference room, being your Manager and Personal Assistant, I think I have the right to do that? You haven't really organized the hierarchy in your company, I think you will soon do that?"
• "Yes of course, just entering today. Would do that within the week. I hope you are okay with this but know you are just like the Acting CEO, no one can give you instructions, only you can do and they must obey what you say until a proper scope of work for all the staff is mated out but you will still be the head."
• Hearing this, she smiles and giggles with joy. Not like she is an older person, just a young lady like me and she would have to be giving instructions to those older than her, it's life, there's nothing they can do about that.
• "So you are gonna take me in now." I say with a smile, the thought of what Jack said to me wants to come up and kill my joy but I quickly brush it off before it extends further like cancer. I would never take to work, on my first day a negative feeling expression. All my staff would carefully assess me and whatever they observe of me today is what they might hold in their minds for the remaining part of their stay here. It's always said that first impressions last long, I don't want to create any negative reputation for myself.
• Holding my hands, Nelly leads the way while I walk elegantly on my heels behind her through the glass door of the entrance which opens all by itself as we approach.
• "Wow, this place is booming with workers."
• I exclaim, she turns and smiles at me.
• "It's to your credit."
• "Hey guys, here is your CEO. I think this is the first time you are seeing her." The staff all turn in awe and gaze, the next second, they are courtesying and greeting me.
• All of them seem to be surprised at finding me here for the first time actually, I'm not even sure if the foreigners working down here at the reception hall would know it's me if Nelly didn't introduce me to them, only the Americans and those who follow beauty queens and pageantry news will know.
• We spend not time down here but we move straight to the elevator where I'm gonna head to my office on the last floor. I heard from her before that my office was relocated to the highest floor where I can view the entire city around me.
• Nelly showed me a picture and video of the massive office which has a floor-to-ceiling window, flower vases placed at strategic positions which I hope would send out lovely scents to the entire room. All of them are natural flowers plucked from the massive flower garden behind the building. They are gotten very early in the morning and placed on vases filled with a little water which prevents them from dying.
• In a matter of seconds, the elevator stops at the eighth floor which is the last and we get out of it. Nelly leads the way, she takes me through the golden floor to a giant glass door which she pushes open with her might.
• My eyes pop out wide at the interior of my office. "What's this for? Who is it for?" She laughs, clearly amused at my surprise. In fact I'm extremely awed by what I'm seeing. "This looks like a presidential office and not some common office which I had expected!" I say to myself but to the hearing of Nelly who turns and gives a smile, this reawakens me from my semi-conscious state thrilled by the luxury I'm seeing inside.
• "You have grown past the era of expecting small things, you are now the winner of the pageantry, a CEO. I mean you will have a lot of money so stop seeing yourself as small."
• "Oh, I'm sorry." Nelly hates it when I act too small or think too small of who I am. There was a time I saw this as humility until I learnt that I was calling on people to take advantage of me, then I stopped all of that.
• "This is your office, can you see how beautiful it is?" She asks me while I'm there smiling in admiration, she shouldn't expect an answer here because she already knows my mind, I wouldn't be so excited if this place wasn't outstanding. So we settled down on the couch facing each other. Nelly drops her hands on the table separating us, clasping her hands together like she is discussing something important with me at an official meeting.
• "What is the next scope of action?" I ask her after taking a scan round the office with my eyes. Such a massive office that's enough to hold about a hundred persons. So I'm going to stay here each time I come to the company for work? Well, it's a great achievement, just that I never believed this would come true so soon.
• "Your introduction to the staff of this company would be the next thing and I want it to take place in the next forty minutes. Let me place an urgent message to all of them here via their Telegram channel, there can't be anyone who would be left behind. If some people can't see through this channel, the official group, their colleagues are gonna inform them. "
• Nelly logins to her Telegram and sends a group message to everyone, panicked replies and questions soon continue to fill the entire group but not a single answer does Nelly give.
• She just wrote to the group, "A very important emergency, please I'll love to see all of you at the hall in the next forty minutes." She then goes offline from Telegram and returns her gaze to me. "That aside, I'll handle it but remember when it's thirty minutes. We aren't going to the conference hall late, it wouldn't demonstrate a good example."
• "Yes, that aside?" By the way she keeps her face, I guess she really has something in kind to ask or tell me. She nods her head in agreement to what I have in mind which marvels me. How did she hear what I have inside my mind?
• "How is your relationship going?" My eyes widened at this question, I wasn't even expecting this from her. This would bring back the bitterness I just incurred before coming to work and this is right before the ten minutes I'll be introduced to the staff working under me.
• "Can we talk about this later, after the introduction?" I ask her, I know what will happen if this is to occur before the introduction and it wouldn't be something to write home about. What would it be like if I ended up crying at the podium, not because of the solidarity but because of loneliness, the pains I'm feeling inside. Let me maintain this lively nature before, during the meeting and even after but for after, whatever happens doesn't really have to me nor the company as a whole but only those involved in the disorder.
• "No issue!" She replies with a clear face, and a smile that follows. Not a bit of anger or frustration on her face, that's a true friend who really understands.
• Soon the forty minutes is approaching, just five minutes to three and we are heading to the Conference Hall chatting happily about how the session is gonna be.
• "How is the session gonna be?" I ask Nelly who is going to know everything about the event she just summoned to people.
• "Worry not, it's gonna be smooth!"
• "I mean in terms of the time, that's my major concern here, would it take up to many minutes or an hour?"
• Nelly shrugs her shoulders, "No, it can never be. There's nothing there apart from introducing yourself to the crowd, then you will tell us your name, your position in the company and what prompted you to become CEO of such a great company. Let's pretend I don't know anything about you but I want them to be answered, my questions rather."
• I raise my head up, thinking for a while. "This is not difficult! I can do that." This boosts my confidence and we walk majestically to the conference hall. At the door, I see a great number of people sitting and waiting for me. It takes only grace, I would step back and it wouldn't be so nice, it wouldn't be nice at all.
• I walk exactly as I've been taught to walk while I went for modeling classes.