The Beauty of Florence ✔

Twenty One

"Buongiorno, signorina Zenith. (Good morning, Miss Zenith.)" I greeted trying to hide my surprise and shock.

"Good morning too. Follow me, please." Madame Zenith said and all the employees went back to their works. "Becca, my coffee, please. Grazie! (Thank you!)"

With that said, she strutted down the narrow space from the entrance to her office and me trailing behind her.

I followed her and stopped when we reached her door.

I watched her hung her knit tote bag on the stand rack as well as her blazer before taking her seat on her swivel chair.

She automatically raised an eyebrow at me and I swear, I gulped in surprise at her reaction.

What surprised me even more was her chuckle at my response.

"Oh, Dear! You're making me laugh! Come on over here and take a seat, please." Madame Zenith flashed me a grin from her red-painted lips and I confidently approached the oversized anti-microbial vinyl guest chair and sat as she instructed.

Miss Rebecca came in with two cups of coffee and she handed it to Miss Zenith and me.

I thanked her and replied me with a reassuring wink and smile before she left us and closed the door of Miss Zenith's office.

"Do you have your credentials with you and other requirements for your employment?" Miss Zenith began after taking a sip from her coffee.

"Uh-yes. I have them here." I said and started to open the plastic envelope where I kept all my credentials and my signed contract with their company.

Miss Zenith browsed through it and flipped on the pages and have them checked on a small piece of paper which probably looks like a checklist of requirements.

"Great! You already have a copy of these, right?" She asked and I nodded. "You will be our junior fashion designer. Your immediate supervisor will be Rebecca. I assume you have met the whole family already?" I nodded again. "Awesome! Your table will be at the back of the center column. The one behind Miyuki's table. We have our storage room at the basement just in case, you will need some things that are not available on your table or things you ran out of. Rebecca will lead you to that table and your salary will be given every 20th of the month."

Automatically, my eyes would glisten at the sound of the word 'salary' since it will be my very first payout from the job I love the most, but this time, I was more overwhelmed with the fact that I am officially a working adult in a country where love for arts and fashion is known!

This is such an honor! I know I have been gushing since I was too eager to graduate a couple of weeks back in the Philippines, but Italy is Italy!

Oh, wow! I am in cloud nine!

Madame oriented me about my job a little more before she let me off with Rebecca. She also told me about our summer event which will be held some time in July so I was ecstatic as well.

Earning salary in Euros is something I am always dreaming to have. And now, it's finally here! I just need to work hard and do my best not to disappoint my employer and my parents back home.

Our talk took us about an hour and she finally called Miss Rebecca to assist me outside and into my work table.

"Finally! We get to meet you! So, were you told about the details of your job and the what-nots?" Miss Rebecca asked and led me to my work table.

"Yup. Madame Zenith told me about my job description. One of which is choosing colors and fabrics and designing the number of tops, bottoms and dresses allotted by the inventory planning and merchandising teams. " I said and placed my bag on my chair before I sat on it.

Miss Rebecca sat on the chair on my left and I notice our tables are right beside each other which makes it ideal as she is my immediate supervisor.

"That's good. And mostly, we have our lunchbreak for one to one and a half hours and office ends at six in the evening." Miss Rebecca added.

My eyes widened at the information she gave.

"One and a half hours for a break time?" I asked in disbelief. "Isn't that too long for a lunch break?"

Miss Rebecca shook her head and  explained, "Our shop and employer practices what we call as riposo. This is when most shops, museums, churches and businesses close down for an extended period of time in the afternoon. This means extended lunch break or siesta in Spain."

I know, siesta, alright. Gosh, this is so cool!

Miss Rebecca was about to say something when a beep from the intercom on the wall outside Miss Zenith's office that is connected from the speakers rang.

Napoleon who was seated nearest the intercom pressed the button and Miss Zenith's voice boomed from the speakers.

"General Meeting by eleven o' clock, guys, at our function room. Nappy, please take charge of the technicalities later." She said with a kind voice.

"No worries, Madame Zen." Nappy pressed the button to answer her before they both hung up.

We all glanced at the clock.

Nine in the morning, it says.

We still have two hours more.

"Welcome to your first ever meeting with the team, Florence." Miss Rebecca grinned at me as if something interesting will happen later on.

"Uh, thank you?" I answered in doubt.

Now, what will happen next?