CHAPTER 26

She quickly went into Zara's office, but the girl wasn't in there. She asked the employees that she bumped into about Zara's whereabouts, and they told her that she was on the third floor together with the models because Mrs. del Espania called for an emergency meeting. She was even more nervous upon knowing that Clyde and Kyle's grandmother was also there. She knew that the old woman wasn't bad, but she also knew that she was also strict when it came to work. Feeling the hard thudding of her heart against her chest, she went out to go to the third floor.

It was on the third floor where the biggest room was, all of the designers would gather whenever Mrs. del Espania wanted them to make something. She carefully opened the door of that room before peeking, immediately seeing more than ten designers and models who were listening intently at Mrs. del Espania. She also saw her boss in the middle of them

She carefully went inside, walking close to the wall, closer to the ones who were standing in the middle. She saw Zara, and it was like her breath stopped the moment the girl's eyes laid on her. Fortunately, Mrs. del Espania talked to the girl, stealing her attention from her. She was able to sigh in relief because of it. 

"I will be checking all of your designs today. I would expect brilliant results from all of you. As I've said I will have a masquerade party on my birthday next month. There will be a mini fashion show during that special night so those designs which will be selected will be included on the runway during that night. The new agency is slowly keeping up with us. I'm sure you are familiar with Reina Grande. I'll be honest, she's becoming a threat to our company already. Be creative and use your imagination. Start a new fashion," Mrs. del Espania explained.

She also saw and heard that the company of the woman who Mrs. del Espania mentioned was slowly rising. She didn't think that their boss was already threatened with it. The designers only nodded at their boss.

"I will stay in my office the whole day. I was advised to rest by my doctor, but I don't want to put all the responsibilities of this important event to anyone in this company, even my grandsons. They don't know anything about designs so I will exert my time and effort on this. If you need anything, tell Zara, and she'd relay those concerns to me," the old woman added and asked to talk to Zara before leaving. 

When Mrs. del Espania finally left, it was Zara's turn to talk. 

"Alright, I don't want to take any trashy designs. Make sure your designs will pass my standards or else you'll know where you'll be picking yourself up," threatened Zara. "Now, go to work!" She even clapped twice loudly as she said that, alarming the people there.

The designers immediately went towards their respective places with their respective models. 

Meanwhile, the nervousness that Natasha was feeling came back the moment Zara looked back at her again. 

"Who told you that you are allowed to be late?" Her arms were even crossed the moment she was already in front of her. 

She also saw how her eyes were glaring at her. 

"I-I'm sorry Miss Zara. There..."

"I will fire you right away if you will be late again," Zara cut her off. Her face was already close to hers as she stared at her using those scary eyes. 

Without thinking, she tilted her head because she couldn't even see straight because of how close the girl's face was.

"It will never happen again, Miss." That was the only thing that she could say before putting her head down to avoid looking at the glaring eyes of Zara. 

"Now, don't waste my time. Go to each and every designer and ask them every single thing that they need for their designs. Get them from the stockroom yourself. Faster!" ordered Zara. 

She was quick to get up to her feet to walk farther from the girl after giving her a nod. She took a pen and paper in order to start working. She roamed around, asking everyone everything that they needed just like what Zara asked her to do. 

There wasn't even any single space on the paper the moment she was done. She also asked what floor the stockroom was from one of the designers there. 

She quickly went down towards the basement as she was told that the stockroom was located there. There was a guard that was guarding there, and he asked for the list and her ID. After confirming that she was a worker there, he pointed at the big cart where she could put everything on.

She went in, pushing the big cart. Her jaw dropped the moment she finally saw the inside of the stockroom. It was literally filled with different kinds of fabric that came in different colors. There were also a lot of things that she couldn't even distinguish. It was like she was in a massive fabric section inside a mall. She took the list out. She figured out how to get the ones that were the easiest to get like scissors, buttons, and everything that was needed for sewing. She'd just get the fabric needed last. 

She was all around the stockroom, getting everything that she needed to get. When she was finally done, she sprawled over the floor before wiping her face that was now filled with sweat. She felt hot all over her body since the stockroom didn't have an air conditioner. The only thing that was in there was a massive electric fan that barely helped her cool down. She held her untied hair. Even when she put every single drop of hair polish on, it seemed like it didn't do anything to tame her hair so she looked for a thick rubber band before tying it finally. It wasn't tight though because of how thick her hair was, but she just let it be. 

She stood once more to gather the fabric that was on the list. That part was a lot trickier, though, because she needed to follow every single description that the designers included. She was even the one who measured and cut those. However, there were some that she just put inside the cart directly. She spent almost an hour just gathering all that fabric. She felt like she was already looking so haggard after everything that she did. That was when she noticed that the cart was really full. She had a hard time pushing it out of the stockroom. 

The guard smiled at her the moment she finally left the stockroom. He also looked at the cart that she was pushing.

"I can call for someone to help you with that, Miss," the guard offered with a smile on his face. 

She just shook her head before smiling at him. 

"Don't bother, Sir. I can do this," she declined.

He decided to help her push the heavy cart inside the elevator as well.

"Thank you, Sir," she said before pressing the button on the elevator.

However, she was still having a hard time pushing the heavy cart out of the elevator. 

"Here, let me help."

Her eyes quickly looked up to look at the one who was talking. Her face immediately brightened up the moment she saw Clyde. He even lifted the sleeves of the polo that he was wearing before pulling the cart in front. She couldn't even hide the smile on her face as she pushed the cart off the elevator. 

Soon after, the guy walked beside her to help her push the cart as well. 

"Uh, you don't have to, Sir Clyde," she said, pretending that she wasn't happy about it even when she could already feel the butterflies in her stomach.

"It's okay. This one's actually heavy. Why don't you ask the other staff to help you?" he asked as they were walking, pushing the cart still. 

"Because I think I can do it on my own, Sir," she said briefly as she was also busy staring at the face of the guy beside her. 

Sheettttt... Her love smelled so good! 

She shifted her focus towards the pathway even before Clyde noticed her staring at him. He went to the door to open it when they entered the cart. They saw everyone busy inside. She looked at Zara who seemed to be scolding another designer when she suddenly turned her eyes in their direction.

The girl stared at Clyde beside her before automatically turning her eyes back at her with a threatening look. The girl was quick to walk in their direction. 

"What's wrong with you, Nutty? Why are you ordering your boss?" Zara was only forcing herself not to shout at her as she asked that question. 

"No worries, Zara. I volunteered. So, how's everything here? Grandma wants to see if there's any progress. I don't want her to get tired because she was supposed to be in bed, not here. She's still at her office now but I will just give her an update," Clyde said. 

Zara still hadn't dropped the warning look that she was giving her. That was why she bid her farewell in order to give the materials to the designers. 

Even when she was already exhausted, there was still an unfaltering smile on her face. 

She already had a point from Clyde!

'But what about your other point from Kyle?' her mind butted in. 

The smile on her face was immediately replaced with a scowl when she remembered the shameful video that the guy had a copy of. 

Ah, whatever. If he'd play it a million times, then she no longer cared. 

Grrrrr... The jerk really had no plans of deleting it.