Ava had sketched a few designs but none looked worthy of a contract. She drew the last one and laid down on the couch with her laptop beside her.
She fell asleep, she didn't hear when Ethan walked in. From the dining table to the living room, papers were everywhere. Ethan smiled at the sight without waking her, he picked up the papers and sat close to her. He picked a few good ones. He was amazed at how she could still make beautiful designs. He studied business management and has an idea of fashion designs. This was why Ava's grandfather had ensured they got married. He believed if they worked together Sterling Fashion would go global. Looking at the designs he knew, Glam Fashion, a subsidiary of Emerald Group, would go global with a change in designs and he would make sure she gets to work with them. He looked at the designs thoroughly, he took the laptop beside her. He was about to check out her contract proposal when Ava opened her eyes. “Hi, when did you get back?” She asked half-awake. “I got back a few minutes ago. Babe, these designs are really good. You've not lost your touch. creativity is still top-notch”. Ava sat up and stared at him, “do you think it's okay to present such to Emerald Group?” Ethan nodded, “ yes, five of it is enough. Once you get the deal, you can add others. But you have to redraw it”. He looked at the proposal, he nodded in satisfaction as he made few changes to it. He scanned through it again and smiled, it was good to ace a deal. *** The next morning, Ava brought the file filled with the designs and proposals she had prepared, and went to the headquarters of Emerald Group. Ava suddenly felt cold chills down her spine, as she stood in front of the building housing the headquarters of the largest conglomerate in the City. Emerald Group consists of a tech company, a hospital, an airport, hotels, fashion and modelling company, construction, oil and gas and the largest research institute. Will they collaborate with a mere family like hers? She remembered the contract quotation and laughed, this whole thing was a big mistake. How will she make up for this mess? With the file in her hands, she let out a sigh of relief. She had accepted the challenge and promised to take the fall for whatever the outcome would be. She was about to go in, when her phone rang. She looked at the caller's ID before taking the phone close to her ears. “Darling, I know you are very tense right now. Don't worry, go ahead. You'll make it. Trust me”. Ava took a deep breath and said, “ alright, I trust you and I believe in myself”. Ethan smiled,” Go in and ace the deal”. He hung up. *** Meanwhile outside the premises, Ethan dialled Mabel's number. He waited patiently for her to pick up. When she finally did, he cleared his throat “ Miss Josh, someone from Steve's family is in the office premises. Her name is Ava Steve. You know what to do”. “Yes Mr Ethan, don't worry I'll do as you wish. But sir, a lady from Steve's family is already here to see me, her name is Susie Steve”. “ Send her out, do not attend to her” he smiled and continued, “Miss Josh, give Susie an audience but she should do a presentation in front of the executives. Give her a tough time during the presentation”. He hung up, he knew Kate would want to do something funny. *** Ava took another deep breath, smiled and walked through the entrance door. She walked to the receptionist and greeted, “Good morning, please I'm here to see the Vice Chairman”. “Do you have an appointment?” The receptionist asked with a smile on her face. “I.. I don't really…” Ava stuttered. “Are you Miss Steve?” The receptionist asked politely. “Yes, I am,” Ava replied with shock on her face. How did she know her name? What's going on? Is this a sign that she would really get to meet the vice chairman? “ Please, sit down. The vice chairman's secretary will be here shortly”. Ava was shocked, she was really going to see the vice chairman. She didn't book any appointment with the vice chairman. Out of curiosity, she asked “ are you sure it's me the vice chairman wants to see?”. “Yes ma, the system shows you booked an appointment with her yesterday”. The receptionist replied nicely. Booked an appointment with Mabel Josh? When? How? Could it be Duke's doings? Was he serious when he told her mother he would help them? “Ava?” Someone called her. She turned to see Susie walking towards her. Ava's eyes narrowed slightly, she could see Susie wasn't happy to see her there. “What are you doing here?” Ava asked. Susie looked at her, and then at the other occupants of the reception hall. She scoffed that this was the perfect opportunity to put Ava in her place once and for all, and she wasn't about to waste it. Huffling, Susie lifted her left hand to her chest and gave Ava a horrified look. Then in a loud voice she exclaimed, “ oh my God, how could you?” Ava frowned at her sister's horrified tone, and her mind instantly went to work, trying to determine what if she had done anything wrong. She looked around her in an unsure glance, and then she turned back to Susie, “ what have I done? What are you talking about?”. ‘How could you be so greedy and shameless?” she cried out, her voice getting louder. She was aware of the attention she was drawing while Ava stood in shock. Ava looked thoroughly confused, and the frown on her face deepened “excuse me?” What was her reason for doing this? Is mother aware of this? Ava was nervous, she looked at Susie and asked, “can we talk outside?” Susie shook her head, “why? Are you ashamed that these people will know the kind of greedy bitch that you are?” Suddenly, Ethan walked in. Ava was surprised, she left him at home a few minutes ago.Did he come to support her? Or is he here to check if she actually went inside the premises? The moment Susie saw him, she smiled. She would put both of them in their places. “Speak of the devil, her useless husband is here”. She said pointing at Ethan. Ethan moved closer to Ava, he squeezed a hand on her shoulder and leaned close to her ear, “ what is happening here?” “I have no idea,” Ava muttered. She tried to be calm and not show Ethan that she was panicking. Raising her head, she asked Susie,” what exactly are you accusing me of?” She didn't think Susie would come to get the deal as well. “Who would have known that after abandoning our family company in a financial crisis, you'd still be here seeking a deal with Emerald Group? Have you no shame, your family's business has gone bankrupt?”. Susie spat. “ And the foolish man beside you is supporting this greed of yours, are you not ashamed of yourself?” , Susie said looking at Ethan “when you were nothing, my family picked you and gave you an opportunity to be somebody. Is this how you choose to repay us?”Gasps arose from people around them, their gazes now focused on Ava and Ethan. Ava was aware of the attention, and knew right away that Susie wanted to humiliate her publicly.“ You're aware we're trying to get a deal with Emerald Group, yet you still came here to get a deal for your company. The same company you stole money from us to set up? You're the reason dad died” Susie lamented, shedding crocodile tears.“How shameless” someone commented. The comment was followed by several exclamation of agreement.“What an unfilial daughter?”“She should be ashamed of herself”Ethan was not left out of the ugly comments.“ He's a bad man”“He's so greedy”“He's very useless”“They don't deserve to be here”.“They should be sent out of here” another person suggested. Everyone nodded in agreement.Ava looked at Ethan, his face had deepened with visible anger. This wasn't the first time a member of her family has tried to humiliate him in public.Susie wiped some more fake tears beneath her eye
The sound of the heels on the tiles,showed the gender of the intruder. It was a lady's voice! As she approached them, the air was set aflame by the frail of her perfume. It was a scent that spoke of wealth and sophistication, it was modern, elegant and alluring, like the lady who wore it with such confidence and grace. “What's the meaning of this?” She asked when she got close to them. The whole hall was silent, the voice was one with authority. Miss Josh comes to work early and leaves late, it was difficult for junior staff to see her. Whatever brought her out must be important. The security guard knelt down immediately trembling as he explained everything. She turned to the lady beside her, "Please, lead Miss Steve to my office”. The young lady nodded and led Ava to the office. With Ava gone, she turned to Susie “ young lady, I have no appointment with you. Drag her outside”. The security guard dragged her out of the premises. She freed herself and ran back to meet Miss Jos
Ava nodded, she couldn't believe things could be this easy for her. She quickly followed the assistant who had come to accompany her to Miss Josh's office. The moment Miss Josh saw Ava, she stood up from her chair and greeted her, “ Hi Miss Steve, you're welcome”. Ava was a bit nervous as she shook hands with Miss Josh, she took a deep breath and replied calmly, “Hi Miss Josh, thank you for inviting me again”. She tried to hide how nervous she was about the whole meeting. Miss Josh motioned her to sit down, “Please, have a seat”. After a brief silence, Miss Josh spoke immediately, “would you like a cup of coffee?” “No, thank you” Ava declined the offer. “Okay, Miss Steve, I've gone through your proposal with the team from our fashion industry. The reviews were positive. Your designs are top-notch and I think you're the perfect partner for us to work with as we plan to hit the global market”. Miss Josh said calmly. The news rendered Ava speechless,she blinked several times, an
“Why was Ethan there with you? You two plotted and brought fake documents here”. Susie shouted, her veins pulsating. James sneered, “you even lied about the contract quotation, have you ever made 100 million dollars in your life before?” Susie shifted in her seat, “ your designs are way below standard, you can't deceive us. Everyone knows I'm the best fashion designer in Nova City”. Turning to her mother, Susie said, “I wish I had taken this mission. I would have saved us from this humiliation”. Ava had heard enough, she walked towards Kate with the file in her hands. “Mum, this is the signed contract,my initial quotation was 50 million dollars, but Miss Josh said it was too low for the designs. Since they intend to go into the global market soon”. James curled his lips in disdain, “Ava, your tactics are too cheap, stop fooling around and face reality”. “This is outrageous!” Susie exclaimed, “Ava, you're trying to save your face and you came here to lie to us, is this the best
“Get out” A voice said calmly pointing at the door, “ you're not fit to be here”. “Please ma, you can't do this to me. I really need this job”, James sighed as he pleaded for the umpteenth time. “Young man, you're unfit to work here. So get out”. The young lady shook her head, still pointing at the door. “But !” James said, scratching his head. “Get out quietly before I call security on you!’ the lady banged the table as she stood up in a fit of anger. “Please ma, you have to be considerate. I have everything in the requirements and more”. James sighed as he continued to plead with the lady. The lady before him is the human resource manager of Emerald Group “Leave before I call security on you”, she shouted. “Please ma, you can't do this to me, you didn't even allow me to sit down. I really need this job,” James continued to beg. “A gambler and a spoilt brat? You think if you mess up here, your mother can cover it up with money? Do you even think you're qualified for any job?
In the peripheral of her eyes, Ava noticed that the two voices belonged to the two shop assistants who stood by in case more help was needed. She was shocked to find that employees at such a popular store were so rude and unprofessional. “So, will you take that one?” the assistant who was accompanying them asked, crossing her arms across her chest and sticking her hip out. She was no longer pretending to be professional and Ava could feel her irritation rising. Ava looked at Ethan who hadn't said anything besides looking at the clothes she picked. His jaw looked tense and she realised that he too was bothered by the attitude the shop assistants were showing. “My previous place of work, shopping was done by appointment only. That way only people who could actually afford the clothes showed up. Here, any beggar from off the street can walk in”. the owner of the voice sighed.“I wish they would make it like that here”. “Yeah, that would be nice,” her fellow assistant agreed. “ A stor
The shoppers who were now paying attention to the argument now looked at Ava and Ethan with judging eyes, with some saying that they should be thrown out. Ava was enraged that the manager painted them as villians, to the extent of making false accusations against Ethan. “My husband hasn't threatened anyone” she snapped at the manager, glaring at him, “ all he did was ask for the staff to treat us with courtesy. He didn't say anything wrong”. “Ma'am, you and your useless husband need to leave now” the security guard said, making his way to Ethan. His intention was grab Ethan's arm but Ava stood between the two and glared at the guard, her eyes darting him to threw them out. “ We're not going anywhere until they apologise to my husband”. “Look at him, he's so useless. His wife is the one protecting him. I pity her. She really must be doing this everywhere”. One of the shopper said nodding her head in pity. “ Thank goodness, I'm not married to a useless man” the other one responde
He stopped his narration when he realised that upon seeing the two customers, his boss had turned pale and was trembling. His eyes were locked on Ethan and were full of recognition. A second later, the boss turned to him. A stern look on his face “apologise right now”. The manager's lips tumbled and his eyes widened like saucers “ what……what?” He couldn't believe what he heard. “ Apologise to the customers” the boss demanded, also turning to the two assistants “ what are you waiting for?” They exchanged shocked glances, obviously not expecting the turnout of events. They had thought the boss would drive the two out, why was he suddenly asking them to apologise? If the two were nobodies the boss wouldn't have been bothered to ask them to do that. It was then it dawned on them that they must have messed with a big shot. Whoever these customers were, they weren't just people the boss knew. Given the boss's reaction, it was clear he was terrified of the man, whoever he was, he must