1

The boisterous atmosphere can be seen right in the lobby area of a company building called Tomkins House in London at this time. The roar of the many footsteps there really sounded resounding loudly without stopping. The expressions on the faces of the employees who were seen there were very worried and in a hurry as if to make the atmosphere in the company lobby area feel even darker. They move very quickly to get ready and at least look presentable and so on. "She'll be here in a minute! Come on, quickly!" Several times those sentences were spoken by them in unison. Until not long after that they began to slowly stop, and stood with their bodies looking very stiff. Their eyes slightly glanced directly at the glass door in the lobby with a very tense feeling.

A few moments after waiting, the glass door of the lobby of the building seemed to start opening automatically and revealing a woman walking with firm steps into the Tomkins House company building. Her two navy blue eyes looked intently straight ahead, not at all affected by everyone – the employees around her were feeling tense there. Her light brown hair was tied neatly in a ponytail. The woman's name was Louisa Tomkins. Owner and CEO of a book publishing company called Tomkins House.

Louisa herself was dubbed the 'Boss Baddas' by all the employees who worked at her company. Not only because of her attitude and nature which is known to be cold and indifferent, but also her appearance which further emphasizes that impression. How could be not, when Louisa was just 22 years old, she already had tattoos on both of her arms. And the number is increasing as she is currently 27 years old now. On her right arm, there is a tattoo in the shape of an arrow, a world globe and small birds in black ink. While on her left arm, there are tattoos in the form of swords, hearts and also some random doodles. She didn't even hesitate to put on a regular shirt which was dark and darkess in color and folded the sleeves of the shirt to reveal the tattoos she had on both arms.

It could be said, she didn't even care at all what was on the minds of all the employees who worked at her company. After all, if you recall, she's been in charge of the Tomkins House company for five years. Since both of her parents died due to a very serious illness, and only left Louisa alone. She is an only child. And it was her duty to run the company afterward. Louisa herself doesn't interact much with her employees. Her indifferent and cold nature makes it very difficult to be able to socialize with other people or even her environment so far. And she who usually can only spend time in the workspace, home or night club. Her life feels and goes very monotonous. But Louisa liked it very much and was comfortable with it.

"Good morning Boss." Greet the employees one by one as Louisa passes them. Even subconsciously they always bow their heads as a sign of respect. Although, of course there is no definite and formal provision to always do that for Louisa. It was just that they were used to giving that same sign of respect to Louisa. And of course, Louisa would never react to that.

But suddenly, Louisa stopped her footsteps right in the middle of the lobby and looked straight at her surroundings. Louisa glanced dimly at all the Tomkins House employees she had worked with for the past five years. She even remembered some who had worked in the company before he became the leader of the company. With that stiff and firm expression on her face, Louisa started to sigh and averted her eyes by slightly lowering her head and blinking her eyelids a few times in a very fast motion.

“You…” Louisa started to mumble in the very quiet atmosphere of the lobby, and immediately made all her employees start to turn their eyes to be able to stare at her with a surprised look. Because usually Louisa would go straight into her office on the twelfth floor of the building and never greet her employees back. Whereas Louisa couldn't change her facial expression at the moment even though she tried hard enough.

"Ehem. You can continue with your work now,” continued Louisa clearing her throat in a voice that sounded very fast, before finally returning to her feet with hasty steps to get into the elevator. Leaving a pretty big question mark in the heads of all the employees who were there, when for the first time Louisa did this in front of all of them. It was something they couldn't really make sense of after all these years at Tomkins House.

***

"Good morning, boss," said Jane, who was Louisa's secretary, with a faint smile greeting there. Louisa just glanced at him and nodded her head with a very faint movement there. And still kept walking both feet to be able to quickly enter into her office.

Click

Louisa closed the study door once inside. She took a shaky breath. This was the first time she had felt so nervous about doing something that was completely normal for most other people. But to Louisa, greeting all her employees like that was like an adrenaline rush, considering she'd never done it before even after so many years as leader at Tomkins House. And she suddenly felt anxiety. She wasn't even aware that her body was breaking out in cold sweat and shaking at this moment. “Shit…” She muttered in a faint voice.

Before finally starting to move her legs to get closer to her desk and sit there. Leaning her body while looking straight at the pile of files she had to read and sign autographs. The same routine and looks very boring. But she couldn't get out of that zone easily. Louisa reached out her left hand and took the file at the top and began to read it carefully. While her right hand began to move to take the pen she usually uses for work.

Tok

Tok

Louisa immediately lifted her head from the direction of the file and looked at the door to her study that had just been knocked on. "Yes??"

“Excuse me, Boss. Mr. George just came and wanted to see you,” said Jane—her secretary was there.

Louise was silent. Her uncle had not come to Tomkins House for a week, and without informing her by message or telephone, suddenly her uncle came. “Let him in,” Louisa finally answered as she closed the file she had just read.

Click

The door to his study opened slowly revealing Jane and Mr. George was standing there. Louisa immediately got up from her seat with a stiff look on her face. Mr. George walked in with his haughty posture, and began to smile faintly. He is George Tomkins, the older brother of Louisa's late father, whose name was Vederick Tomkins. "Good morning, Louisa," said Mr. George when he was right in front of Louisa's desk.

"Good morning, Uncle. Why did Uncle come here this morning?” asked Louisa who didn't want to mince words at all and started to sit back down on her chair.

Mr. George could be seen raising his right eyebrow there. “Well, as you know I wanted to tell you about the Caldor Styles company. I've already sent you emails about their cooperation offers and so on, but until now you haven't even responded or even responded to it." Mr. George paused, while starting to sit on the chair opposite Louisa. “And I want you to accept their invitation to cooperate. That's a huge opportunity for this Tomkins House, and you know it very well, Louisa."

Louisa blinked her eyes quickly. She remembered that she had received the email about a week ago and when she read it she felt completely uninterested in doing so. "I won't accept this offer of cooperation," answered Louisa in a calm voice.

Mr. Geoge who heard this immediately frowned quite deeply and didn't seem to like what Louisa had just said to him. “You have to accept it, Louisa. If you collaborate with the Caldor Styles company, the chances of Tomkins House to be even more successful and have a wider reach. Wasn't that part of your parents' aspirations before they died?" Louisa's face immediately looked pale. Again, her uncle forced something on behalf of her parents who had died many years ago.

“And remember again if you've forgotten what happened five years ago, Louisa… who was the person who helped you run Tomkins House in your freshman year. I'm the one. If I hadn't helped and directed you, then you or even Tomkins House wouldn't be where they are today. So think about what I just said and just accept the offer of a partnership with the Caldor Styles company." Having said it all, Mr. George immediately got up from his seat and walked briskly out of Louisa's room. While closing the door with a rough motion. It was something he used to do every time he came to Tomkins House.

Louisa took a deep breath and started massaging her forehead, which was feeling dizzy for a moment. “I don't even think the company fits Tomkins House at all. But why did Uncle really want me to cooperate with that company? Seems pretty pushy for all of that.”

Tomkins House is a book publishing company. There have been many books that have been successfully published and have always been best sellers in the market.

When Louisa took over the company, all the books published through Tomkins House were always a reader's favorite and many were even adapted into films. Meanwhile, Caldor Styles is a company that focuses on fashion needs, from clothing to furniture. And of course according to Louisa, those two different things would be very difficult to relate and very impossible to do. Louisa had already concluded that one week ago, when she read the contents of the email sent by her Uncle.

Louisa immediately leaned back in her chair and tilted her head so that she looked directly at the gray ceiling of her work. “Shit… I can't go on like this. He's always trying to control the movements of me and this Tomkins House company. After all, this company belongs to my parents, and mine. I should be able to take control of this company of mine... I don't need to interfere with him anymore. But how can I do that? How to? He's very powerful and I'm not sure I have the power to let go of Uncle's control at this point.”

Louisa slowly closed her eyelids and fell silent. Right now she had to think about many things, not to mention the work she had to finish now and the problems Mr. George just now. As well as about the company Caldor Styles. And it looked like she had to take all the files about the books Tomkins House would be publishing in the near future, and finish them quickly.