Chapter Four.

Gabriella 

  "Good morning Jack," I greeted Jack happily as soon as he walked in, watching how my evil team members stared at me in awe. They all seemed to be wondering how I wasn't in tears and quitting right now and I could not help but laugh in their horrible looking faces. 

 "Good morning Gabriella," he replies, staring at me confusedly, obviously wondering why I'm here so early. 

"Wait, did you spend the night here?" He asks, obviously surprised and I had to hold back my words to avoid getting into any trouble. 

"Well, yes I did. The door got stuck so I had to stay but luckily I already packed some toiletries and clothes, so it wasn't a problem and besides, it helped me finish up my work faster, so here is my sketch for the dress," I blurted out proudly as a feeling of victory overwhelmed me. 

"Well, great job Gabriella. I'll check it out and give you my thoughts on it later but for now, just go home, since you didn't sleep well. I'll give you the day off cause tomorrow, the real work begins," he tells me before poking my cheeks lightly, like a sign of being impressed with me. 

  Walking out of the office, I'm approached by one of my colleagues who frankly has never spoken to me before.

 "Hey there!" he greets, I frown. 

"Hi, can I help you?" I ask rudely, not hiding my absolute dislike for him. 

  Honestly, none of them deserve my good manners, so I'm not gonna fake it to them like I'm not wishing them the worst right now. 

 "Calm down Gaby, I'm only here to talk to you. I mean no harm." He's talking and I'm spacing out.

   "Well, it hasn't seemed that way for the last few days, don't you think?" I retort harshly, he sighs. 

"Listen Gabriella, we have nothing against you, honestly. We only do what we do as a test to every newbie and it seems you passed it." He says and I deadpan. 

  "If you don't believe me ask Jack, he's very aware of our culture here. By the way, I'm Fabian," He introduced himself and I couldn't not help but be confused. 

"You made me drink toilet water, locked me in the office because it's office tradition? How the hell does that make any sense?" I ask, hoping his explanation satisfies my confusion. 

  

  "Oh, we apologize about that. Your coffee wasn't toilet water, that was a joke and I know we may have gone overboard with the two days in a roll lockout but our chief prankster couldn't come up with something else. I know it sounds weird but like I said, it's a thing we do here," he explained and I'm baffled. 

Are these people mentally stable? Are they okay in their heads? How does any of this even make any sense to them? 

 "You people are weird." I voice out and he chuckles. 

"I can't exactly disagree with that so once again, I apologize for the silly pranks. It wasn't our intention to appear psychopathic," he replies and I struggle to hold back my laugh. He was definitely not normal. 

 "Well okay then, I'll forgive you guys but I hope I'm free now, cause I can't forgive you if you're still on it," I tell him and he chuckles. 

"No worries Gabriella, you're definitely free. We all wanted to talk to you but you had to pass your last test first.l," he says and I'm confused. 

"What test is that?" I ask. 

"This test!" He exclaims, I frown.

"Actually, our final test is to know your reaction to our apology, if you were rude then we'll definitely get you fired because over here, we love teamwork and a rude member is obviously unwanted," he explains and I roll my eyes.

 "At least that makes a little bit of sense. Okay then tell your friends that I'm not offended, as long as you guys promise not to pull a fast one on me ever again, okay?" I demand, he agrees. 

"If that's settled, I'm leaving. See you all tomorrow. Have a nice day people!" I holler at the rest of them and they all look at me like I said something wrong. 

 Ignoring them, I leave the office happily and for the first time I'm saying this 'I actually love it here!' 

*****

  Walking out of the elevator, I noticed someone was staring at me and when I look back I see, mr hotshot standing right behind me, and if you're wondering who I'm talking about, he's the dude who I ran into on my first day here and now that I look at him, he's even more handsome.

 "I have to ask, is there something on my face?" I voice out, feeling slightly uncomfortable with his fixed gaze. 

"Sorry, I just wanted to be sure who you were this time," he replies and I'm confused. 

"I'm sorry, what do you mean?" I ask.

  "Well, the thing is I actually met your twin sister a few days ago and well let's just say she's not in my very good book," he replies and I deadpan. What did Elle do now? 

 "I sincerely apologize for whatever it is she did. I'm pretty sure she had a rough day so please forget whatever her offense was," I apologize and I can't believe I'm apologizing on that psychopath's behalf. 

  It's not like it's the first time it's happening but unfortunately for me, if we have to live with the same face, I need to always show people that we're nothing alike.

  "It's not a problem. I can already tell you're not like her, by the way, I'm Liam. It's a late introduction but it's your fault since you ran off the other time." He replies casually. 

"Nice to meet you Liam, and I'm sorry about that, I was in a hurry since it was my first day and I hate to make a bad impression." I admit, and he chuckles but you can't blame me for being prim and proper in every aspect. 

"What exactly is your job here?" I ask randomly, but don't get an exact reply. 

"I'm sorry Gabriella but can we talk somewhere else? I'm not very comfortable talking in front of an elevator. There's a cafe downstairs, if you want we can grab a cup of coffee, sounds good?" He offers and I pretend to contemplate, but knowing I have nothing better to do, I agree. 

"Sure no problem." 

At the cafe...

 "So tell me Liam, when did you start working here?" I ask politely, trying to strike a conversation and maybe, just maybe this hotshot could be my first friend here. 

"I've only been here for about two weeks so I'm kinda new to this place." He replies and something about meeting a fellow newbie made me very excited. Lucky for me, he's also interested in a conversation which means I don't have to push too hard. 

"Where did you move from?" I ask randomly. 

"I moved here from New Jersey. What about you, were you born here?" He asks with a calm tone that gives me a weird feeling of satisfaction and comfort. 

"Yes I was and I'm just gonna assume we're in the boat here. I've honestly not had it easy here at all and since you're new too, I'll assume it's been the same." I reply and he smirks lightly before responding. 

"It's been quite stressful but I've learnt to adapt." He responds with a light shrug and I pity him a bit, judging from how tired he looked. 

"Hold on a second though, I still don't know what you do here. I already told you I'm a designer here but what about you, what's your job?" I ask curiously. 

"Oh me? Well, I'm the new director," he responds nonchalantly and I deadpan. 

Is this a joke? Did I just hear correctly or is my mind playing games with me? 

"You're the director? Like the actual director?" I ask shakily, praying silently that this was just some kind of sick joke. 

 "Yes, I am. Is that a problem?" He asks and I struggle to hold back an eye roll. 

Is this idiot fucking with me right now? How can he not see it as a problem? To think I actually thought of him as a new friend.

"Of course you did cause we're friends, right?" He asks suddenly and my jaw drops. 

"Did I just say that out loud?" I ask rhetorically. 

"Yes, you did and please I beg you, don't be uncomfortable with me. I'm really not that stiff," he's saying but all I really want to do is take my leave as soon as possible. 

 "You know what boss, I think I crossed the line and I am definitely not your friend. I'm so sorry for bothering you with my silly problems and I'm also sorry for talking out of my place. Please excuse me and have a nice day." I blurt out in a hurry before running off and when I say running off, I mean it literally. 

 I can't believe this happened to me. Why do I have to be so unfortunate? 

☆☆☆

"I swear Martin, I really just wanna die right now. I think I deserve it." I rant to Martin for the billionth time. 

  Ever since I arrived home, well it's not exactly my house, it's Martin's but anyways, since I got here, I haven't stopped wailing to him about my encounter with Liam. The poor guy must be sick and tired of reassuring me that I'm not doomed but I can't help but feel negative about it. 

Here is my list of the mistakes I made with him today; Firstly, I called him by his name, Secondly, I bothered him with my insignificant problems about being stressed like I even mattered and lastly, I left him hanging at the cafe by running out like a mad woman. 

You are an idiot Gabriella! 

"You know what Ella, I'm going to bed. If you're hungry, I have some leftover pizza in the fridge, and please do me the favor of getting yourself together before tomorrow. You look like you lost your mother and I'm pretty sure Liam has nothing against you so stop worrying." He tries again and I still don't believe him. 

 "I'm so screwed Martin!" I cry loudly earning a displeased eye roll from him. 

"You're really hopeless Ella. If you get fired, you'll get a new job so stop sulking like an overgrown baby!" he yells loudly before walking towards his room and shutting the door furiously. 

I really hope I'm not getting fired because I can't deal with another disappointment. If I ever get fired from another fashion company, I'll definitely lose my will to be an actual designer.