The Unexpected Encounter

*Stuart’s POV*

I visited my father’s latest investment, which was the country’s well-known cakes and pastries shop, the Blue Plate. I was told that my father had not visited its branches because by the time he bought the bakery and its rights; he fell sick. Since its main branch is near my office; I thought that paying a visit would not harm me.

I could feel the cozy ambiance of the place and the warm welcome of its employees, so I wore my most respectable smile and kindest handshake as I was introduced to each of the key personnel. I was still wearing my smile when I was introduced to the bakers, but that smile faded when I saw her. The woman I vowed never to cross paths again.

“G-good morning, sir,” she pretended she was shy, but I knew the game she was playing. This is how manipulated me before. She was the same woman I had met before. She still has that expert stalking skill, but she cannot fool me. I knew she had enough money to put up her own bakery, but why was she working here? Just like her old scheme, she would do everything just to get near me. Maybe she learned about my father’s investment in this business that is why she applied for a job to have a reason to be near me. If this is one of her stalker schemes, then I should stop her.

“I am Stuart Cordoval, owner and CEO of Cordoval Corporation. As the new owner of Blue Plate, I expect my employees to do their work well. I do not want my employees to slack and flirt. I want them to be professionals. I am a very private person and I do not intend to entertain anyone in my office unless they set an appointment or they have a matter of life-and-death news. I hope I made myself clear with that.”

I hope that will make things clear for her. Patricia has her ways of stalking and it can really be annoying so I must be able to do something. She must know that she is never welcome to see me in my office.

_________________________

“Hey, man! It’s too early to drink. What brought you here?” asked Mago, my friend who owned a bar.

“She found me, Mago,” I replied.

“What? That fast? Wow, she got skills, man,” Mago shook his head in disbelief.

’She is one of my employees and I know she is doing this to get near me,” I said, “But I won’t let her, she to stop this craziness.”

“Patricia is persistent, man. If I go crazy trying to avoid Arlene for four months, I cannot imagine how you managed being stalked by her for four years,” Mago sat in front of me, “Do you think she will just give up now that you were once married?”

“I should have not given her hope,” I sighed, “and that is why I will not let her have any chance. I am going to find ways for her to leave my company. I do not want us to be connected, not even as a boss-employee connection,” I continued before gulping some beer.

“So what is your plan?” Mago asked.

“I am going to make sure she will not enjoy working. I will make it hell for her, so she will resign,” I said with determination.

“Don’t you think that is being harsh to her? She is still a woman, man.”

“Would you still look at her that way if she is suffocating you, trying to push herself to you?” I looked at him.

“Yeah right,” Mago nodded, “her obsession with you is alarming, but why can’t you just fire her?”

“Do you think she’ll stop if I will just fire her?” I stopped for a while and then smiled. “I want her to voluntarily give up. She is rich, and she is used to being treated like a princess in her house, so if I give her an assignment where she cannot ask help from anyone, I am definite that it will make her decide to quit.”

“Wait a minute,” Mago smiled sheepishly, “so what kind of assignment do you think will make her quit?”

“Simple,” I shrugged, “I will assign her to work on a very tiresome assignment alone.”

__________________________

My mood was great when I entered the office today. I have conducted some research on refrigerator cakes and have made plans on how I can make her work like hell. I sat comfortably on my swivel chair and then dialed my secretary.

“Sir?” my secretary answered the intercom.

’Mrs. Ramos, I need you to call the manager of Blue Plate and tell her I have an order of 100 layers of Blueberry Cheesecakes and I will pick this up on Thursday morning,” I ordered.

“Yes, sir.”

I waited for a few minutes and Mrs. Ramos called, “Sir, the head of the kitchen, Miss Santilan, would like to talk to you.”

“Connect me to her,” I said and waited for a beep before saying, “Miss Santilan?”

“U-uhm, Sir? W-we just had a problem with your order,” the head of the kitchen answered.

“What’s the problem?” I said, trying to hide the excitement in my voice.

“Well, we have enough ingredients for the 100 pieces of blueberry cheesecakes. It is just that the cakes are refrigerator cakes. They need to be stored in the fridge for at least three hours for it to be ready for delivery.”

“So?” I smiled triumphantly, knowing that this was going to give Patricia a hard time.

“Well, the capacity of our available fridge in the kitchen is only thirty layers. This means we do not have enough space to prepare for one hundred layers of blueberry cheesecakes,” the kitchen head explained.

“We have somebody assigned to refrigerator cakes, right?” I pretended not to remember, “What was her name?”

“Patricia Sandoval, sir.”

“Yeah right, Patricia Sandoval. Tell her that it is her responsibility to produce that one hundred layers of blueberry cheesecakes. If she fails in this, it will prove her incompetence and I do not like incompetent people,” I said with authority.

“Okay, sir. I will tell her about it,” Miss Santilan answered, defeatedly.

“By the way, Miss Santilan, I perfectly understand that each baker in the kitchen has his or her own assignment, so I expect that Miss Sandoval will not disturb her co-workers. If the operation of the bakery will be affected by her deeds or if she fails this task, tell her that I will never think twice about firing her,” I added.

“I understand sir,” the simple reply of Miss Santilan.

I leaned on my swivel chair happily, knowing that this task would really keep her busy. I can’t help but be amused by the thought that right now, Patricia is having a headache trying to find solutions to the problem I caused her. It will drain all her time and energy by the end of the day, which means she’ll never think of ways she can get near me. And if she succeeds in this one, I still have a list of arduous tasks for her to do until she gives up.