Chapter 9

The annual grand ball for celebrities is one week away. All the staff involved in setting up the event are working tirelessly. They had to make sure the event would be a blast and that there would be no mistakes. The marketing team was in charge of the event. They also hired an event organizer to help them with the preparations. Mr. Samaniego wanted to make sure this event would be the biggest of the year, aside from the company's anniversary, of course. Bree was assigned to the marketing department for her probation for a week. After the incident with Amy, she was automatically transferred to the twentieth floor where the marketing department was located. It was easy for Bree to adjust to her new department. Her colleagues were friendly, especially their department head, Sir Renz. However, some weren't happy about her transfer. Bree could feel it. They seemed to be giving her the side-eye, especially Amber, who she felt had feelings for Sir Renz. The event would be held in the Diamond Building's convention hall. Sir Jax didn't want it to be held in a prestigious hotel. He wanted it to be held there to gain local and international praise. Jax wanted the Diamond Building to be featured. “Bree, did you call the florist? They should be here by now. We need to arrange the flowers so we don't run out of time. We still need to check on the caterers.” That was a reminder from Bree's colleague, Maila. The convention hall was almost finished being decorated. Mr. Samaniego made it clear that the marketing department should put their all into this event. He said they shouldn't rely on the event organizer for everything. So everyone on the team was focused on their work. They couldn't afford to make any mistakes. They would be held accountable to Mr. Samaniego, and if he got angry because of a mistake in their work, they all knew where they would end up. Bree looked up from the paper she was writing on. Bree was sitting on the floor, reviewing a list. It was the list of guests invited to the grand ball. She was reviewing it to see if all the invitations had been sent to the guests, especially the important people in society. “Ah, that. I called them earlier. They're preparing to send the flowers. They should be here any minute now. I also made sure we wouldn't be short on time.” Bree smiled at her. Maila nodded. Her face was emotionless. She's an old maid, and no one in the department wanted to cross her. She was very strict when it came to work. But Bree knew she was kind, she just wasn't very friendly. She looked at the watch on her wrist. “Get those snacks I had delivered.” She ordered Bree. She turned to her colleagues who were also busy with their tasks. “Let's take a break first. Thirty minutes.” “Yes, Miss Maila. I'll go down.” Miss Maila pointed to a male colleague, Jandro. “Jandro, help Bree with the snacks. They're downstairs. Don't just flirt around down there.” Jandro just scratched his head but smiled at Miss Maila. It was no secret to their team that Jandro had a crush on Miss Maila. He openly told her that he had a big crush on her and was ready to confess to her at any moment. Jandro was the only one who dared to joke around with Miss Maila on her team. That's why she was always teased. He was also the only one who dared not call Maila "Miss" or "Ma'am." He said he couldn't call her that because it didn't feel close enough for him. “Why don't we just go down together, Maila?” He said with a grin, causing their other colleagues to laugh. Others shouted. Maila just glared at the man. She ignored what Jandro said, turned her back on them, and walked out of the hall. Bree couldn't help but smile. She liked it here in the marketing department. There were a lot of them, and many of them were nice to her. When she was still Sir Jax's assistant secretary, he was always scolding her. Although she missed Chelle's company, she liked being surrounded by many workmates. Maybe when her probation was over, she would ask Miss Cindy to keep her there. Maybe Sir Jax would want that because he wouldn't have anyone to bother him anymore. Bree also felt a little relieved from Sir Jax's bad looks whenever he scolded her. “Bree, baby, let's go get those snacks. I'm starving from staring at Maila since this morning.” Jandro approached her. Bree just laughed at what he said. Jandro was a sweet soul. He was also handsome and muscular. He was five years younger than Miss Maila, but that wasn't a barrier for him to like her. Maila was a very good-looking woman. She was thirty-five years old, but she still looked hot. Her body was also curvy, so many on their team secretly liked Maila. They just couldn't make a move because she was so strict, only Jandro had the courage to express himself. “Miss Maila always gives you the evil eye, Jandro,” Bree said, laughing. They rode the elevator. Jandro raised both arms and put them behind his head while leaning against the elevator wall. He grinned at Bree and shook his head. “She just gives me the evil eye, but I'm sure she's blushing. She's just being stubborn.” The two helped carry the food back up to the 20th floor. “Can you handle it? Do you want me to carry these others?” Bree shook her head and smiled at Jandro. “I can handle it, what are you talking about? This is so light. If they see you carrying almost everything, they'll think you're my slave.” Jandro laughed loudly. Sometimes Bree wondered where Jandro got his guts and confidence. He had only been in the company for three years, but he acted like he knew the ins and outs of a big company. In fact, she had learned a lot from him in the week she had been in the marketing department. One factor, perhaps, why he wasn't scolded even though he was so outspoken was that their department head knew Jandro could be a big help to the company. “Nah, they wouldn't dare.” He winked at Bree. They all took a thirty-minute break. They ate noisily while waiting for their break to end. “You know, Bree, a lot of people in our department have a crush on you. You're really something, girl, even Sir Renz is showing interest in you.” Bree's face turned red at what her colleague, Olga, said. She was one of Bree's new friends in marketing. She was kind and always smiling. “No, Sir Renz is just kind, and what are you talking about, it's embarrassing, he might hear you.” “Oh, come on, you're being humble. It's obvious that a lot of people in the department have a crush on you, look at their eyes, they're so intense, I want to rip them out.” They all laughed at Olga's comment. Thirty minutes later, they were all back to working their butts off for the event. Everyone was busy with their tasks. Bree tried to help in any way she could. She didn't have a designation on the team because she was new. She helped with everything, carrying boxes, being a runner, and sometimes even cleaning. But she didn't complain about any of it. She was actually grateful because she felt more useful here than when she was just Mr. Samaniego's assistant secretary, where she always messed up her work, and even when she didn't mess up, he always criticized her for being inefficient. “Bree, the flowers are downstairs. Can you help them bring the flowers up? Check how they handle them. Those flowers are expensive, they can't be damaged, and we're sure to get scolded by Miss Cindy. She's scarier than Miss Maila. Bree quickly obeyed and hurried downstairs. She understood that they were short-staffed. Everyone was so busy. Bree also helped carry the flowers. “I'll help you so everything will be easier. We need to finish putting everything up before five o'clock.” Bree explained. “Are you sure, Miss? They're heavy, you might not be able to handle it.” Bree wanted to scratch her head. She had been hearing the words "you might not be able to handle it" since this morning. What did these men think of her? Those were simple tasks, why were they like that? Maybe because of her height? She wasn't that short. She was at least five feet tall, which was tall for Bree. “No, I can carry them, I just look small, but I'm strong.” Bree smiled widely before taking the flowers to carry upstairs. “Bree!” Bree turned when someone called her name. It was Sir Renz, their department head. He hurried towards Bree, his face etched with surprise. “Good morning, Sir Renz.” “Why are you carrying those?” He asked in surprise, his face clearly showing his disgust at what he saw. “I'm helping them bring them upstairs to speed up the work. Don't worry, Sir Renz, I can carry them.” “Here, let me help you. You're so small, and you're carrying those.” Bree smiled thinly. Sir Renz was just kind, that's how he was with everyone. It was just Olga who had a dirty mind, so she said all sorts of things about Sir Renz's kindness. “Thank you, Sir Renz.” The two entered the elevator together. Renz glanced down at Bree and smiled. Their department head was handsome, even though he was a little older. He was already forty years old and still a bachelor. He was a kind department head, he didn't get angry when someone made a mistake on their team, he just told them not to repeat the mistake and to learn from it. He would just fix the mistake made by his team. That was one of the things Bree liked about this department, the head was kind. She couldn't help but compare Sir Renz to Mr. Samaniego. In the three months she had been his assistant secretary, Bree couldn't count how many times he had scolded her, sometimes he even said hurtful things to her. But Bree shrugged off all those hurtful words, she was thinking about the money she needed. She couldn't afford to drop out of school because she was almost finished. “Yes, Mom. I'll have it delivered there, don't worry. And don't forget about the ball tomorrow. Please, tell Tyler to go.” After Jax said goodbye to his mother, he hung up the call. He closed his eyes as he leaned back into his swivel chair. His eyes and head ached, and he had no desire to work in the past few days. He was always irritated for no reason at all. He couldn't concentrate on his work. No matter what he did, he felt like something was missing, but he didn't know what it was. His annoyance doubled because he had to do more work for the upcoming annual grand ball of the company. After that event, the company's anniversary would follow, and he knew how much work was waiting for him. He let out a frustrated groan and reached for his phone. He needed to release some steam. Maybe if he did that, he could focus on work. He scrolled through the list of his booty calls. He mostly knew these women since college, and some of them were his fuck buddies before he married Kath. He was about to call Janine, one of his old fuck buddies who was always available for him. But when he recalled what happened last night, he cursed loudly. “Damn that woman!” Jax wanted to go crazy. What happened last night was a pure disaster. He was with Erika, a woman he met at Spartan last night. She was Andrei's second cousin. They were in the VIP room on the third floor of Spartan. He wanted to get laid desperately. Since what happened a week ago, he hadn't tried to have sex again. A part of him didn't want to do it again because he felt guilty about his wife. But Trisha told him he would continue to sink if he let himself think like that. "