The Uptown Girl (Jelsa Fanfic) [Under Intense EDITING]

Special Chapter

Merry Christmas, Happy holidays and/or whatever else you're celebrating! Let's clear things up a bit.

THIRD PERSON POV

Elizabeth was glaring at the broken coffee machine like it had personally offended her.

She breathed out a deep sigh as she massaged her temple. It was too early in the morning and she badly needed a cup of black coffee to help her feel human again. Still absent to the world, she trudged her way out of her office that had too many windows and too little to no walls (which happens when your windows are your walls)

She passes by Amelia, their secretary, and offers her a smile, "I'll be back in a while, coffee machine's broken. Again."

Amelia nods and tells Elizabeth that she'll have Rob, the mechanic, to fix it asap.

And yes, she said asap. Kids these days.

And that was how she found herself at the local coffee shop just three blocks away from Mark's Trading Co.

It's been months since she first landed in California to work for Mark Richards, and more often than not she finds herself struggling working under him.

But Elizabeth had decided to ignore the hardships in favor of thinking that her husband would be delighted to know that after all their hard work, they were finally in a partnership with one of the most well-known Trading Companies.

She hopes that her children were proud as well.

She misses them so much.

Sometimes being away from her family is what's harder than working almost 24/7. And she often misses the times when her husband was still by her side.

Edward Arthur Arens had been her partner both in life and in business, and losing him shattered her world. If it weren't for her daughters, she wouldn't know how to pick herself up again.

And so she was going to suck up all the stress, all the sleepless nights for her daughters.

When she enters the building again, she waves politely at Amelia, who immediatley gestures at her to come over. Confused, Elizabeth walks over to her.

Amelia's smile shakes at the sides but it immediately disappears just as fast as it appeared. She clears her throat and says, "Well you were awfully fast."

Elizabeth frowned, "the coffee shop's just three blocks away."

Amelia blinks, "oh, uh, of course."

"I'm gonna... Get back to work," Elizabeth says as she slowly backs away.

"Oh! We're having a girl's night out later, you wanna join us?" Amelia interjects.

"I'll see if I can, but I really need to get back." Elizabeth then turns away from her and briskly walks to the elevator.

Weird, Amelia almost never interacts with her.

Chuck Davids was the only one at the elevator when she enters. She presses the button to the 11th floor and greets, "Hello, Chuck."

Chuck smiles somewhat nervously at her but remains quiet for the most part. That is, until Elizabeth was about to leave the elevator.

Chuck hesitantly lays a hand on her shoulder causing her to look back at him with a raised eyebrow.

Chuck gulps and looks around them before saying, "You should be careful, Elizabeth."

Elizabeth looks at him funnily, "Why's that?"

He fumbles over his words before settling with, "there's just some people that you can't trust." And then he brushes past her and jogs his way to his office.

Elizabeth frowns but nonetheless walks back to her office.

She's about to push open the door when she notices a figure hunched back behind her desktop. She freezes and almost drops her coffee, "Mark?"

Mark Richards immediately jolts upright and looks at her almost blankly and says, "Elizabeth."

"What're you doing at my office? " she asks cautiously as she approaches him.

"Just checking for important emails." Mark dismissed.

"I've sent them all to you," she says, suspicious.

Mark moves to walk out of her office, "just checking."

"Are you questioning my abilities?"

"If I was, then I completely have the right to do so."

"On what grounds?"

Mark looks at her, hard. "On the grounds that I am your boss."

Elizabeth scoffs, "it's a partnership, Mark, you're not my boss."

Mark was about to retort when Elizabeth noticed that her computer screen was open and saw an unfinished email. She scans through the message before checking the subject.

"Expecting you here tomorrow... sent to Elsa Arens?" She says incredulously before looking back at Mark, "what the hell is that supposed to mean?"

Mark glares at her, "face it, Elizabeth. You and I both know that you're not capable of handling your company on your own anymore. We need someone new, who has a lot more to offer."

Elizabeth glares in echo, "that's not for you to decide alone. And what does my daughter have to do with this?"

"She's the rightful heir of your company, Elizabeth. This partnership needs her."

"But why?"

"I've been trying to be subtle, but you want me to drop the bomb? Your abilities are far too mediocre for the job, Elizabeth. You're not enough."

"So you're going to drop the load on my daughter?"

Mark remains silent.

Elizabeth's face turns cold, "you know, Mark, I've ignored your insults for a long time. You can belittle me, but messing around with my daughter's life?" She shakes her head and grips tightly at the coffee she had just purchased. What a waste, she thinks but as she splashes it on Mark's face, she doesn't feel as regretful.

"This partnership is over." Her words held finality as she drops the now empty cup and walks out of her office, grabbing her bag along the way.

When she passes by Amelia, she sends her a glare that could kill and closes the door behind her.

California outside of the building was crowded and noisy, but Elizabeth had never felt so free.

But first things first, she had to set things right.

She takes her phone from her bag

"Elsa,"

~*~

(Mark's Email)
[UNFINISHED]

Recipient: elsaarens@email.com
Subject: California Flight

Elsa,

I'm expecting that you're ready to leave tomorrow. But there will be a little change of plans. Once you land here at California, look for Mark Richards. He's my business partner and he'd gladly show you around while I'm not available. I'll be expecting you tomorrow, you better be

[discont.]