Chapter 2 - Millicent

“And that is my proposal, gentlemen.” 

Still motionless, Millicent watched her fiancé sit down, not even looking in her direction as the executives began to chat among themselves, clearly satisfied. Austin just remained smiling, almost as if he hadn't realized he had just introduced her project as his own, repeating every single word she had rehearsed exhaustively over the past few days. 

“An excellent presentation as always, Mr. Carnby.” one of the executives praised “Now, to complete our list, we have… Oh. Miss. Bianchi.” the old man snorted, causing all the eyes at the table to turn to her, but not in a friendly way.

For a moment, Millicent managed to part her lips, but no words dared to come out. What could she say to convince these men that the project they were praising had been entirely hers? Should she just embarrass herself like that, even though she knew they would just laugh and mock her? 

“Millicent decided to take a break from her own project to help me with mine.” Austin replied, before she could regain her composure “I hope you all can understand. Having her by my side is what fills me with strength to continue dedicating myself to this company and bringing you projects like this.” 

“What a shame. So many promising projects missed the opportunity to be here today, in Ms. Bianchi’s place… But, I'm sure Mr. Bianchi will overlook this mistake. As always." Mr. Barnes, the advertising director of the Bianchi Group, grumbled, making Millicent flinch as if she had been punched in the stomach “Well, gentlemen, can we agree to approve Mr. Carnby’s project and end this meeting…?”

“I don’t think so.” Mr. Davis, her father's faithful financial officer’s chief, interrupted his colleague “There is one opinion that we must take into consideration above all, before making this decision.” Before he had even finished speaking, everyone's attention in the room had already turned to Isaac and his indecipherable expression.

“I can see why you decided to present this project, Mr. Carnby. Your idea follows all possible market trends. It's an obvious path. Easy." Even though Isaac’s voice hadn’t changed tone for even an instant, everyone in the room seemed intimidated “But do you know the main problem with the easy way, Mr. Carnby? Everyone wants to follow it. This means throwing a newly founded company into a jungle of fierce competitiveness. Did your optimistic profit projections even take this detail into account?”

“Public acceptance is different when it comes to audiovisual.” that argument escaped Millicent's mouth before she could stop herself “Research shows that new things are well accepted…” she forced herself to continue, even though there were only dissatisfied looks staring at her at that moment “Furthermore, since no profit can be accurately predicted, these projections…”

“Do you intend to steal your colleague’s position, Miss. Bianchi?” Isaac interrupted her, harshly “That's the only explanation I can find for why you're offering to explain the details of a project you had no involvement with.” His words made Millicent’s blood turn to ice “Oh, don’t let me shut you up. It's always nice to hear someone who doesn't sound like they're just reciting a memorized speech. Your fiancé should use you as his spokesperson more often.” Those words made Austin growl, but probably only Millicent heard “Well, if my colleagues are willing to invest in the most comfortable path, then I will follow them… But not before making sure these ideas are in the right hands.”

“What?” Austin grunted.

“Your team will have three months to start developing the project, Mr. Carnby. If, at the end of this period, your results are not satisfactory, then the project will be transferred to the hands of a truly competent team.” 

“That seems… An appropriate proposal.” Mr. Barnes cleared his throat, appearing to be purposely avoiding Austin's look of outrage “I don't think anyone objects to that, correct...? Well then I guess that wraps up our meeting. Oh, wait, Mr. Carnby. Wouldn’t you like to have a drink with us before you go…?”

“This fucking…!” Austin cursed under his breath as he watched Isaac walk out the door, with all the executives and their assistants following him like moths to a light bulb “Can you believe this?!” he asked Jasmine, when she approached them “This bastard! I knew he would try to do something to harm me! And, you, Millicent!” he turned to her, irritated “What were you thinking when you intruded like that? This only gave him more weapons to criticize my project…!”

“Your project?! That was my project, Austin!” Millicent was finally able to regain her voice, but unfortunately, there was no one else there to hear her “How could you steal it like that?!”

“Hey, lower your voice. Or the investors will think you’re having a tantrum because of what Isaac did.” Austin scolded, staring at her like she was crazy “And, what do you mean by stealing? I thought you would be happy, so I surprised you. Don't you see? I've had other ideas approved before, but you're still just a spoiled brat in their eyes. No matter how good your project was, they would never trust you like they trust me..”

“I… I know very well what they think about me!” she gasped in disbelief “That's why I worked so hard on this proposal! To show them that I…”

“Oh, dear, calm down…” her friend Jasmine patted her shoulders “Austin would never hurt you. Try to look on the positive side. Austin got the position he wanted so much and he's going to make your project shine.”

“And you will be on my team.” Austin added “It will be the perfect place for you to stand out.”

“What are you talking about?! You don’t understand…!” 

“Why are you acting like this? All you have to do is ask your father and he will get you another opportunity to present a project  in the future. You should be happy for me!” Austin complained, hurt “But, it seems like you're not willing to stay by my side if things don't go exactly the way you want.” 

“What…? Austin…!” Millicent tried to stop him, but he had already disappeared through the door, as if she was the only one who had hurt him “You can't…!”

“Leave him be, Millie.” Jasmine advised, stopping her from trying to follow him “He won't listen to you now, even if you apologize.” her friend sighed “Listen, I'll try to talk to him, okay? I'm sure tomorrow things will be clearer and we'll be able to celebrate the achievements of you both! In the meantime, why don’t you go to your room and rest?” Jasmine hugged her, murmuring the next words against her ear “I'll take care of Austin for you.” 

“I…” Millicent tried to argue again, but that terrible feeling of being in a delirium stopped her “I think I really need to rest… And think…”

“Sleep well, darling. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Jasmine kissed her cheek before walking away towards the door “Oh, and thanks again for offering to help me with that report. You’re the best, Millie!” 

Normally, Millicent would have responded that help was a minimal effort compared to what Jasmine spent caring for her sick mother, but no. She just stood there in the middle of the empty meeting room, wondering if she was going crazy for feeling almost like a piece of her had been stolen… While everyone seemed to think she should be happy about that.

Without strength, Millicent just collapsed into the chair. As she stood there, her head in her hands and her eyes clouded with tears, the moon appeared in the sky through the big glass wall before her. Her mind, however, could not calm down even when a new voice called her.

“Millicent?” Sage, her personal bodyguard, entered the room “Why did you…? Millie? What’s wrong?”

“I…” Millie tried to control the tremor in her voice, but couldn’t “I don’t even know anymore…”

However, in some messy and tearful way, she was still able to tell Sage everything. With each word, her doubts about whether she was really exaggerating or not only intensified, but Sage didn't seem to feel the same.

“There’s no reason for you to feel guilty, Millie.” Sage stated, categorically “Come. Let's go to Jasmine's room. It will be much easier to convince Austin to reverse what he did if we convince his assistant first.”

“I…” Millicent swallowed hard as the two left the room “I don’t know if I said anything that made him think I would be happy to have my project approved regardless of the circumstances, but…”

“You don’t need to justify why you don’t want someone else to take credit for your ideas, Millie.” Sage comforted her, just as the elevator reached the hallway where Jasmine's room was “If Austin really loves you, then he will understand.”

“Thanks, Sage.” After everything that had happened that day, Millicent was finally able to open a smile, albeit a shy one “The last thing I want is to hurt him, but I can't leave things like that. I just hope Jasmine can see my side of the situation this time…”

“Austin!”

That mix of scream and moan left the two of them petrified in the hallway for a second. However, as the unmistakable sounds of sex became louder and louder, Sage was the first to ask the question that had been reverberating on Millicent's mind.

“Is this… Jasmine?”