K i m J i n h e e
I heard my boss cleared his throat for the hundredth time. "I'm sorry to say this Mia... But it appears that your position in this company is no longer necessary."
My heart plummeted to my stomach as soon as I heard that declaration from his mouth. I sat on the chair's edge, spine straight as a new pencil, my mouth gaped in disbelief.
"Please tell me you're joking, Tim," I said, hoping my boss would reveal that this was just a hidden camera prank.
A mocking chortle was heard in the room. I threw a glare at the other human being existed in this office other than my boss, Ivy Quinn—my client. For the past few months, I had been working as her personal stylist, and trust me, it had been months of hell because apparently Ivy Quinn—the infamous Pop Star—had been acting like nothing but a total brat.
Even now, she looked like she was about to jump up and down in joy because it seemed like her brilliant idea to kick me out of this company would work in just a matter of seconds.
"I'm not joking, Mia. Do you know how much damage you have caused to our company and Ivy because of your shitty sense of fashion?" Tim threw a stack of articles on the long desk which I recognized the bold headlines from TMZ, Hollywood life and E! News.
'Ivy Quinn exposes pierced nipples in the Golden Globe Awards red carpet'
'Ivy Quinn flashes bare boobs and nipple piercing in completely see-through top on red carpet'
"Tim, I swear I didn't do this. No stylist in their right mind would choose that 'shitty' fashion to put on their artist. I'm still sane enough to differentiate between fashioning and flashing," I gathered all my courage to defend myself by telling the whole truth.
I remembered I had styled Ivy in a beautiful-elaborated swan dress for the red carpet. But who would have guessed it would come down to this? Unless it was planned by the spoiled brat herself.
"What are you saying, Mia? You asked me to go braless and just wear a sheer top, didn't you? Come on, don't play the victim here." Ivy stood up from the leather couch and approached me with crossed arms.
"What?" I furrowed my brows upon hearing her ridiculous accusation.
She then pushed my shoulder with squinted eyes. "Admit it, you're just jealous of my popularity and now you're trying to bring me down, aren't you? So pathetic."
Ivy had made it exceedingly clear that she despised me ever since the first time we met each other. In fact, she hated me with much passion. She treated me like I was her slave; doing her makeup, fixed her makeup, find her clothes, wear her clothes for her. I was after all her personal stylist. Yet, I kept my anger in the whole time. I was new to my emotions, so I barely fought back. But I guessed she had missed out the basic knowledge about human, that people have their limitations in holding their emotions intact.
However, I didn't do anything reckless. In those few minutes, I tried to calm myself down and think optimistically about the situation. I glanced at Tim who had his fingers crossed under his chin, looking at me in slight disappointment. But his gaze was telling me something else too, as though he knew it was his artist's wrongdoings. Of course, he was also aware of Ivy's hatred towards me for the past few months I had worked for him.
But at this point, it was either he let me go or Ivy, though the latter would seem ridiculously impossible because Ivy Quinn was the one who brought cash to this company—to Tim, with her gifted talents. While I contributed almost nothing. I hated that she was the arrogant bastard who ruled this place, so everyone had to listen to her. I didn't have much choice, did I?
"I get it, Mr. Vaughan. I will pack up my stuff," I told him in a cool tone as I gave him one last look. A look that said 'thank you for having me for the past few months'. He looked at me long enough before he nodded and sighed.
I walked out of the sterile office, brushing past Ivy as she sent a triumphant smirk towards me, but I just ignored her as though her mere existence was invisible. I was too lazy to argue with a brat like her, and to bring down to her imbecile level of immaturity was the last thing that I ever wanted to happen my life.
I put all my things in a medium-sized box. Every single stuff on my desk was meaningful and the memories behind it came flashed back into my mind, unknowingly making me smile. Working for Tim Vaughan Media Group (TVMG) was indeed fun and hectic every day. It had exposed me to the cut-throat and dog-eat-dog carnal wordplay, especially when everything was involved with arts, designs, and fashions. Silently, I wondered if my fate would turn out different if I didn't bump into a bitchy artist like Ivy Quinn.
"I'm glad that you're finally out of my life, like, phew. I had quite a hard time to remove a filthy dirt like you," Ivy sang cheerfully when I had placed my vintage notebook into the box—my very last item. She leaned against the door, smirking at me.
"Wow, I am very honored to make everything hard for you, Ivy." I did not even bother to put any effort to smile at her, "Just tell me anytime when you need a person to put the blame on just because you wanted to show off your pierced nipples for the whole world to see. I will be there for you."
"Haha, you're funny, Mia. Don't tell me you're jealous of my huge boobs now? Aw, don't be sad just because you have shrinking boobs, honey. I could introduce a very nice place to fix it," Ivy proudly said as she crossed her arms under her fake breast, smirking evilly at me.
I let out a loud chuckle, amused at her riposte. No matter how much she wanted to belittle of me, I couldn't really bother with her malicious words. Sure I was not the kind of person who was conceited or has high self-esteem in every matter, but if there was something that I felt confident of, then it was my own curvaceous body. I had invested a lot of energy and efforts in doing daily works out, so I could say that I was proud of my own achievement.
"Oh my, that's very nice of you, Ivy, but no thanks. I don't mind having shrinking boobs," I shrugged my shoulders and lifted my box, making my steps toward the door and stopped beside her, "but I'd really mind if I had a shrinking heart that has run out of humanity."
I didn't know that seeing Ivy Quinn's jaw dropped to the floor could be such a satisfying sight. For the first time ever, she looked at me in utter surprise, probably because she didn't expect I'd have a sharp tongue. I had kept everything in since day one. So, I thought that I should roast her at the very last day, hoping not to see her face ever again.
"You shameless bitch!" she screamed out in anger as her hand quickly went up, aiming for my cheek.
I recognized that as an act of defensiveness. She tried to protect her dignity. Because when someone had looked down on you, they would always want you to stay below them, and if you ever crossed them, they would do just about anything to protect their territory, even if it meant leashing out their inner beast.
My heart was pounding as I waited for the impact, but strangely, it never came. I blinked, surprised even at myself when I realized I had caught her arm firmly in my hand. We just stared at each other, Ivy looked taken aback, while I was perplexed by my own subconscious acts.
"Let me go, you bit–"
She didn't manage to finish her sentence because just like she wished, I had abruptly let her go and made her fall to the ground with a thud. She whined out, while I rolled my eyes and left the premises as fast as my legs could muster.
● ● ●
My heart was pacing up rapidly because I was still appalled by what had just happened in the office. I was surprised by the fact that I had a hidden strength nurturing inside me. I considered it as an advantage for myself, but somehow I couldn't sit still. Something didn't feel right. I felt strange when my hand just moved by instinct, as though I had learned something in the past. What was it? Judo? Karate? Taekwondo? Or was I a fighter?
"Mia?" That calm voice shook me out of my train of thought. I sat up from the couch and brought the phone closer to my ear.
"Oh, I'm sorry, Ray." I muttered and bit my lip. I literally forgot that I had called him and while waiting for the line to connect, my mind decided to wander around because of my restless heart.
"What's wrong? Did you happen to hear weird voices in your head again?" His gentle voice coated with concerns as I could imagine his cute knitted brows whenever he was worried about me. I felt the pit of my stomach softened at his comforting voice.
Ray had always been like that for the past two years. Whenever we spent the time together, he'd always paid so much attention to me that he had developed this habit where he would know right away if something was bothering me. I couldn't hide anything from him. Sometimes I had wondered what made him notice my concerns, I even practiced to make my sigh inaudible, but still, it didn't work.
I slowly smiled against the phone as I recalled how Ray and my family got worried when I was paranoid for a brief moment that day. I was truly scared if I heard those voices again, but I had slowly learned how to meditate and mute those voices away from my head, especially that one mysterious, deep voice of a man that echoed so often every now and then.
"No, I don't hear anything. Don't worry, Ray..." I lied. I didn't hear any voice, but whenever I closed my eyes, an old film would instantly replay in the corner of my mind. The memories felt so real, so visceral, so personal, that I confused them with my new ones.
"Then what's bothering you?" Ray continued asking. I knew that tone, it was the one he would look at me with his grey eyes gleamed with too much curiosity.
"You sure you wanna know?" I teased him as I let out a mischievous smile. On the other line, I was sure Ray had just rolled his eyes.
"Mia." Ray was getting impatient, and I giggled at this. It was fun teasing Ray.
"It's a bad news though." I laid on the arm rest, twirling the end of my curly hair mindlessly. I didn't feel like telling Ray what had happened in the office because he would definitely feel disappointed now that I was jobless.
Silence filled in, meaning it was an edge to Ray's patience.
"I got fired from my work place," I finally told him, a small bitter smile stretched across my lips.
"Was it because of Ivy again?" Ray was serious as he talked to me. He knew the misery that I had to face every day because of Ivy, and he would always blame himself, because Ivy was one of his ex-girlfriends.
Ray had dumped her, but not because of me. Two years ago, Ray used to be a heartthrob of this town. Doing one-night stand was his thing. He could easily make women all around the world swooned over him only with his spellbinding gaze, so I guessed he felt the dominance and vanity whenever he managed to sweep girls off their feet. But all that was in his dark history. Just like me, he wanted to bury his dark past and wish for a new spring—a new beginning—with me in the vision of his future.
When Ivy met Ray again in TVMG, she was devastated to see that her ex-boyfriend was now in a serious relationship with me. She couldn't accept that he would settle down for me. So, at some point, it was understandable for Ivy to despise me with all her might.
Whenever Ray came to visit me in my office, I noticed Ivy would shoot me daggers from afar. I also noticed that Ivy had been snaking her way up to flirt with Ray again, but Ray would always reject her politely.
Sometimes Ivy would instill some evil doubts in me, saying that Ray would never change and he would surely leave me for another woman, like what had happened to her. But I refused to listen as I knew she did that out of burning jealousy. Besides, I didn't think that I was in the place to punish Ray for his mistakes in his past. I believed in second chances, and I believed that Ray would get it right this time.
"That was quite a good news for me." I could hear Ray smirked over the phone while I let out a frown.
It was very unusual for us not having mutual feelings over a serious matter. Wait, was it even a serious matter for him? It seemed that he was enjoying every bit of my grief.
"Are you being serious right now, Ray Carlton?" I huffed out an annoying sigh. Ray chuckled on the other line, I imagined his twinkling eyes would squint a little as he flashed his bright child smile.
"I didn't mean that, Mia. I know how much you love your job as a fashion stylist, but you know... there must be a reason why you got fired today," Ray calmly explained as he knew I got worked up because of his vague words.
"Ray, just tell me," I rushed him as I was curious why God had to cruelly seize away the job that I had come to love.
"Have you seen the package?" he asked, excitement slowly filled in his voice.
"What package?" I furrowed my brows and sat up, looking around for any package around Ray's penthouse.
"The package on the coffee table," Ray said, and very timely, my eyes landed on the big white box on the coffee table. "Have you forgotten, Mia? We are invited to Billboard. So, get dress up babe, can't wait to see my beautiful girl tonight."
With that, Ray hung up. I threw my phone on the couch and quickly ran to get the box on the coffee table. An enthusiastic smile played across my lips when I noticed there was a baby pink card attached to the red ribbon of the box.
Because it left me in wonder how I can remember every curve and angle of your body, and so I had Vera Wang personally designed this beautiful dress for my only princess. I think it's time to show to the world how we are so madly in love with each other.
—Your Prince Charming
"Oh my God! This is insane!" I exclaimed in disbelief as soon as I took out the dress from the box.
I stared at the dress with sparkling eyes as I subconsciously daydreamed of a pink fluffy romantic night with my man. It was beyond beautiful. In fact, the dress itself was magically breathtaking on its own. It was a color of blushing pink, like the one where fairy godmother would cast a spell on Cinderella and turned her into the most beautiful maiden.
Finally, a date with a man that I truly love. I whispered as I was smiling ear-to-ear the entire time in the luxury walk-in wardrobe. At that moment, I really thought Ray was right. Everything must had happened for a reason, and I was truly happy that I was given the chance to doll myself up rather than embellishing that bitchy Ivy. Tonight, I would surely make Ray Carlton fall for me all over again.
My beloved Prince, please wait for me.
A U T H O R ' S N O T E
If only Jinhee knew another Prince is actually waiting for her too. A big drama will unfold ahead. Stay tuneed.
Tap the star and let me know your thoughts on this chapter.
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Much love,
ℓynie
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T E A S E R
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