CHAPTER TWO.

"Good morning ma'am"Elora greeted as Ava walked into her office, she had the usual cold look on her face. She could hear murmurs from her employees as she entered the company but she was past caring about that, she knew everything they always said about her and even the nicknames they had given her but since none of them was brave enough to say it to her face, they were better off behind her.

" What is my schedule for today?" She asked, dropping her bag on the table and sitting down.

" You have a lunch meeting with Mr James and your gown fitting is today too but the annual month meeting Is in a few minutes" Elora replied professionally.

" Very well then, inform everyone to move to the conference room now. I will be there in a few minutes" she gestured with a wave of her hand and Elora bowed respectfully before walking out.

Ava checked some documents before standing up to go for the meeting.

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The whole hall had a pin drop silence as she entered with her head held high, she has always been as proud as a peacock and everyone knew that.

" The snotty witch is here" one of the workers muttered to another but she was very unlucky as her voice filtered into Ava's ears and she stopped in her tracks.

" Who just spoke?" Her voice resounded so much authority that some of them had to gulp in fear, she was always terrifying and scary but no one dared to stand up even as she asked the question.

" Will you stand up or I should fish you out myself?" She demanded but the whole room was dead silent and a smile appeared on her face as she faced the direction where the voice came from.

In less than two minutes, she reached where she wanted and a slap landed on the face of one of her employees, Lucy. Everyone gasped in surprise because the slap held so much weight and immediately  her hand was imprinted on Lucy's face.

" How dare you?" She  clamored angrily as she continued to stare daggers at Lucy. No one dared to say anything in order to incur her wrath again, her anger has always been bad.

" I am sorry ma'am, it was a slip of the tongue and I promise not to be so big mouthed next time" Lucy begged as she fell on the floor in tears. If she had known she wouldn't have said a word and now she knew she would pay for it dearly.

" Sorry?" Ava asked Mockingly, " you all should know that whatever happens in this company I know everything about it and for the fact that I allow you to call me names doesn't mean I am okay with it, but now I will use you as a scapegoat and teach everyone a lesson. Elora, call the police. I want to file a case of defamation".

The rest of the employees could only feel pity for Lucy, if they all didn't know Ava Brown they would have thought she was going extreme but this was the woman who has sent a lot of people behind bars just because of some trivial matters.

" Okay ma'am" Elora responded and quickly rushed out to do her work, she knew more than to disobey Ava Brown.

" Ma'am , I will serve you for the rest of my life please have mercy" tears were already streaming down her eyes as she begged, getting on the wrong side of Ava Brown was like going to hell and staying there. Forgiveness was something that Ava Brown didn't have in her dictionary.

" This should be as a warning to the rest of you" she turned to Lucy, " and get ready to live the rest of your life in seclusion because you will not be able to find work in any part of this country I promise" she threatened before calling security and they came rushing inside.

" Take her away and hand her over to the police when they arrive, I will go to the station later".

" Yes ma'am" they said in unison and set to work amidst Lucy's pleas but as usual, it fell on deaf ears.

" Let's get back to the meeting" she ordered going back to her seat like nothing happened," start with the presentation" she gestured putting on her glasses.

But as soon as Gary who was supposed to give the presentation for his team climbed the podium he began to fidget due to fear especially with the way she kept staring at him intensely, he felt like he was about to collapse.

" What is going on?".

" Sorry ma'am, I haven't figured out the whole presentation yet" Gary replied in a scared tone, he knew she would not let him off easily.

The loud bang on the table made everyone shudder in fear, one drama just finished and another one was about to start.

" What the hell is wrong with all of you today" her voice resounded so loudly inside the room in anger, " do I pay you all too much and now you guys don't work but just laze around?, Two days and if this nonsense is not sorted out, I will have all of you replaced" she snapped angrily before walking out and Elora followed closely behind leaving the remaining employees.

" That woman would surely be the death of us" they muttered to themselves.

" Cancel the lunch meeting with Mr James and prepare the car for the gown fitting" she ordered immediately they entered the office. She wasn't in the mood to work again after what she just experienced in the conference room, it seemed like everyone was slacking off.

" But madam, Mr James may not take it well. He had to cancel his trip because of this meeting you see"

" Do I look like I care?If he doesn't want to reschedule he can as well pay the compensation and call the deal off. I am a very busy woman and that he knows" she answered in a calm yet threatening voice and Elora could only sigh deep within herself.

" Sorry ma'am" she quickly apologized and scurried out of the room. It was obvious Ava was in a bad mood she didn't want to aggravate her anger the more.

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" Welcome ma'am" the designer greeted politely as Ava walked into the room alongside her assistant. She wanted to choose a gown and get everything over with. Knowing who her dad was, he could announce   the wedding to be the next day.

" Do you have the gowns ready?" Elora asked professionally looking round the room.

" Actually ma'am, a gown arrived for you this morning. It is as designed by EQ himself" she replied sweetly and led them to a room.

The gown on the hanger was something neither of them had seen before because it was past perfect and it looked so beautiful that Elora gasped in awe at the design. It was a one in a lifetime Kind of dress and it would surely fit Ava superbly with her slender and tall figure.

The handless gown was embedded with diamonds all over the space covering the cleavage area and the back was bare to the waist.

Ava kept looking at the gown for a while without saying anything but she truly appreciated the masterpiece in front of her. EQ was the best designer anyone could find in the world but it was just a shame that he never goes public and only his designs speak for him, even with the amount of money she had in her possession she could still not find out anything about the man who had made a world wide name for himself but she wondered why he designed her wedding dress when they were not even connected.

" Will you like to try it out ma? this is the only design in the whole wide world" She added sweetly but typical Ava just rolled her eyes like she wasn't Interested in the details and moreover she told her dad not to make things too extravagant but he wouldn't listen would he?.

" Why will EQ design my dress when we don't know each other?" She asked, turning to the Lady and the latter gave a smile.

" This is just one of his outlets ma'am and we work according to the instructions given to us.

Looking at the gown for a while, she unknowingly nodded her head,

" Yes, I will try it on," she added and they went to work.

As soon as the gown made contact with her body it became one with her. It fitted her superbly showing off her hourglass figure and with the way it was bare to her waist it would make any man drool over her spotless back not to talk more of the way the gown clung onto her body down to her knees before opening like a flower. EQ who designed the gown must be an expert to come with such an outstanding masterpiece in just a short while.

" You look really beautiful ma'am" Elora said sincerely as she beamed with smiles, everything about the gown made her happy like she was the bride.

" This EQ must really be talented to make such a dress in a short amount of time" Elora beamed happily as her eyes continued to linger on the wedding dress on Ava's body.

" He is the best I tell you"

Not minding their conversation, Ava kept admiring the wedding dress as she stood in front of the mirror, she hardly ever acknowledged something but this piece or art was too good to be true but she had to keep her praises in her heart.

" Very well then, have the gown delivered to my house at the earliest" Ava said after a  while,pushing the name to the back of her head, she didn't really care if he was the number one designer in the world.

" Yes madam".

As they continued to make finishing touches to the gown, Elora tried googling about this EQ but the only thing she saw were his world famous designs and not even one of his pictures were online.

" This is weird" she muttered to herself, how could a world figure like that be So private?.

``If you are done, we should leave" she heard Ava's voice and quickly jumped from where she was seated, the gown fitting was already done and it was time to leave when a message popped on Ava's phone screen.

" What is the message?" She asked as they went towards the car.

" Your father has fixed the wedding for this weekend ma'am and today is already Thursday. He has made all the arrangements and yours is just to get dressed and go to the wedding".

"Very well then, I should get things over with quickly" she responded entering inside the car.

As soon as she laid her head on the headrest she closed her eyes and her mind wandered off to the gown again. It was a very beautiful piece of art and if only she was having a wedding truthfully it would have been the happiest day of her life. But she just wanted to be on her own without any man giving her orders, she wanted to be a self made woman but since she already promised to get married to any man her dad chose just to satisfy him, she didn't think much about it. After all, she already made it clear on national TV that neither of them would share a husband and wife relationship and it would be so. Too bad, the designer has wasted his time in creating that masterpiece because it meant nothing to her.

" Where to ma'am?" Elora asked, Bringing her back to the present.

" Pam's" she answered with her eyes still closed as the car zoomed off.