Chapter 4: The call that changed everything

Ava's POV

The moment I stepped out of the taxi, I knew I was in big trouble

Employees hurried through the revolving doors, some clutching laptops, others balancing coffee they were too nervous to drink

I glanced at my wristwatch

8:03am

Three minutes late

My phone buzzed again, it was a text from Lily

“Where are you”

“At the entrance”

Her reply came almost instantly

“Don't take the main elevator, Mr Lockwood is checking attendance himself”

I froze

‘What the hell?’ I say to myself as I turn to take the stairs

Before I could type another message, a loud voice echoed through the lobby

“Everyone assigned to the ninth floor, this way please”

My heart dropped

The ninth floor

Mr. Lockwood's floor, that's where I work

I let out a shaky breath and muttered

“Please let him be in a meeting”

I finally make it to my office, lots of employees were already at their desks, some were hurriedly going to their desk

As if the universe enjoyed laughing at me, the elevator doors slid open

Silence swept across the room

Every employee straightened immediately

I didn't even need to look up to know who had just walked out

Mr. Brandon Lockwood

And I wasn't at my desk, fuck

“Good morning, Mr Lockwood” the greeting came from every employee

He doesn't respond, of course he wouldn't. He's full of himself

He simply nods once and keeps walking

He notices everything, crooked files, messy desks

Nobody dared breathe

When I saw he was a distance away from where I was standing I tried sneaking to my desk

Just as I sit

“Mrs Maxwell”

My heart skips

I remain standing at my desk with my eyes on the floor

You dare not look at him while his talking to you, except he says so

“Look up”

I look at him, he checks his watch

“Three minutes late” he said sternly “I saw you when you arrived”

“I'm sorry sir”

“If you were three minutes late every day, you'll waste fifteen hours of company time every year”

He yelled in front of everyone

“I can't have my company lagging because of you, fix your schedule or I will”

He says and walks away

As soon as he leaves, everyone exhales and starts their daily routine

“He didn't fire you” Lily says to me, her desk is right next to mine

“Yet” I sighed “I mean there were other people standing, but he chose me to pick on”

“He's worse than usual today” said the colleague next to Lily

“Just don't let him affect you, finish your report, submit and go home okay?” Lily tried to comfort me

“Do you think he was born miserable?” she asked and I laughed

“Girl the last time we were caught laughing, it didn't end well please” I said in-between my laughter, trying to control it

“Okay let's focus” she smiled at me

“Thank you” I held her hand, smiling at her too

If there was one thing I was grateful for, it was Lily

Work would have been unbearable without her

Somehow she had mastered the impossible art of making me laugh even on my worst days. Whenever Mr. Lockwood reduced me to questioning every career decision I'd ever made, she was always there with a joke, a sarcastic comment, or a dramatic impression of him that had me fighting to keep a straight face each morning

She was the kind of friend who remembered the little things, whether I'd eaten lunch, she always noticed when I looked too stressed or when I needed someone to remind me that one cold hearted billionaire CEO didn't get to define my worth

I honestly didn't know how she managed to survive under Brandon's leadership without loosing her mind

Then again

Maybe we're both just pretending to have ours together and she just manages to hide hers well

4 hours later

“I'm done with the reports” I said proudly as I stare at my PC

“Ouu, let me see” Lily said stretching forward to get my laptop from me

In five minutes she checks everything “Girl, you outdid yourself, I'm proud of you”

“Thank you, it's better than the last one right?”

“Way better, send it over to him”

I immediately printed it and sent it to Victor, Brandon's assistant

Moments later

Victor walks to my desk

“He wants to see you” he said and walks away

I locked eyes with Lily, it was a “wish me good luck eye” contact. No time to chit chat, Brandon hates to be kept waiting

I enter Brandon's office

I caught a glimpse of his facial expression, unreadable

He's always like that, can't even tell when he's proud, disappointed

“Look up” he started, then places the reports on the desk

All the pages, covered in red corrections

“Did you proofread this?” he asks

“Yes” my heart rate increasing

He slides it back towards me

“Do it again and you do not leave till you've submitted a clean, corrected work”

Disappointment etched in his voice

Victor hands it over to me and I leave

“She worked hard on that” I could hear victor from outside the office

“Hard work doesn't impress me”

“Perfection does?” Victor continued but there was no response from Brandon

Well, it seems like it's going to be a long day for me

I walk back to my desk, and from my facial expression, Lily could tell it didn't go well

She patted me at my back in encouragement

She couldn't even say much, she also had a deadline to meet up

God I hate this man so much

7 hours later

“Bye Agnes” I say to my colleague as she goes home, the office is almost empty

Lily left about an hour ago. I'm still correcting the report

Although I'm almost done

I stretch to check the time on my phone

7:15pm

‘Ethan is probably home already’ I said to myself smiling