The Unexpected Heiress [ON HOLD]

Five

Chapter Five 

“Beauty is an advantage. Always keep that in mind.”

Gemma nodded stiffly with her straight posture on a chair. She mentally groaned and wondered when they would be done here. Bart Newton, her ever-loyal adviser, had the most genius idea of scheduling an appointment with Priscilla, a woman in her late thirties that taught ‘high society’ mannerisms.

She’d been ordering and pushing Gemma to the brim ever since she arrived at exactly ten in the morning the next day. If Gemma didn’t know that Bart only had her best interest in mind, she would have been offended. She knew very well she wasn’t ready for the life of the wealthy and the elite. In a way, she was grateful for this opportunity with Priscilla. Bart informed her it would be useful for when she would make public appearances. “Which would be soon,” he later added.

“Excuse me, Priscilla, but Gemma needs to be somewhere by one. Is it all right if we cut this short?” Leila asked the uptight woman.

Priscilla assessed Gemma as she quickly fixed her posture once the woman’s eyes were on her. “Hmmph. You are a fast learner. Just remember all the things I’ve told you. Head straight as you walk and act like you know what you’re doing. Remember, you have a purpose, and you should always be aware of that.”

Gemma nodded vigorously standing up from her chair. “Thank you so much for the lesson, Priscilla. I will forever have the things I learned engraved in my memory.”

They said their goodbyes, and Gemma let out a long sigh once in the car with Leila. “That was tedious work. I pity the debutante girls who have to do this every year.” She turned to look at her assistant with a grateful smile. “Thanks for the save back there, Leila.”

She was busy looking at her electronic planner, scrolling through it. “Oh, don’t thank me. You actually do have something at one.”

Gemma raised an eyebrow. “I do? I thought that was a fib.”

She shook her head with a frown. “No… It just came through me this morning, but I didn’t notice until we were in the middle of that horrendous thing.”

“Well what is it?”

“You have a meeting with the shareholders. It’s an emergency. They didn’t give much information, but you’re needed right away.”

Gemma nodded keeping her distaste to herself. “Samuel, to the company building, please.” The driver nodded in acknowledgement.

They reached the building, with just five minutes to spare until the meeting started. Although the meeting wouldn’t even start until Gemma was there. She reached the elevators just in time before it closed. Some of the startled employees greeted her as one would greet a boss. She hated feeling that her workers felt intimidated by her. She wanted to be friendly with everyone.

Arriving on the right floor where the main conference room was, Gemma fled the elevator and ran to the right door. She swung it open to the many familiar and unfamiliar faces of the shareholders and some of the board members. They smiled up at her as she came in.

“Hello. Hi, oh!” She tripped over the back wheel of one of the chairs, but thankfully caught herself before her face met the floor.

“Miss Braxton!” Bart came to her aid.

Gemma brushed down her skirt, her cheeks heating profusely due to the embarrassment. “I’m fine.” She nodded at Bart. “Thank you. Sorry everyone.” She let out a nervous chuckle. She was definitely not ready for this meeting. “Um, yes this meeting was an emergency?”