~Chapter 06~
After rigorously working on our projects for hours on without even a break, Chelsea and I finally decided to feed our empty stomachs. We used the advantage given to us as our leverage.
I had spent my whole time coming up with different copies for the new campaign that Sebestian assigned everyone as the first step of our work in the team. Every time I would give him a list of what I had come up with, he'd shake his head and tell me, "Impress me like you would to your haters and enemies. Which is by not trying too hard."
At that moment, I knew that I had to push myself harder ahead.
As Chelsea and I made our way toward the cafeteria, I ushered Shivaay to tag along. Filling our trays with the appetizing food, we sat down at the table where Keith was already seated.
I swear, the guy's always there before us.
Keith was furiously typing away on his laptop with his right hand while munching on the chips with his free hand. His brows had a crease in between them and he seemed really into whatever he was doing.
He glanced up as soon as he saw us and grinned widely. When his gaze fell upon me, his lips stretched even more if that's possible. "Guess it's someone's heyday!" Keith said in a sing-sang voice and I laughed.
"Yes, girl, exactly! Like, not even a week and you're already coming up with your blazing ideas, like how?" Chelsey seconded, munching on her fried rice.
I just shrugged and passed them both a smile. "Not really, guys."
"What do you mean by that?" Shivaay said dryly from beside me, raising an eyebrow.
"I mean that Ms. Maxwell thinks that my idea is "fine"!" I scoffed, throwing my hands up in the air in exasperation. "And trust me on this when I say that everybody present in the Board Room gave me so much better compliments than she did."
Chelsea, Keith and Shivaay looked at me as if I had lost my mind and grown a second head. "Shut up," Chelsea finally spoke up with incredulity. She chuckled and shook her head like it should make me feel any better. "You... you - I..." she stuttered and stopped herself short.
I eyed them askance. "What?"
"She means that Ms. Maxwell never puts in her good words as much. Her compliments are reserved for a very few people, like for real. And her dictionary for the very same thing is almost non-existent. Her "fine" is equivalent to "good job there!" Her employees have learned this the hard way. So if you got a fine from her then that's gold, VVJ," Shivaay explained with an impressed nod.
The corners of my mouth lifted up in a pleasant smile and before I knew it, I was grinning like a maniac. "Wow!" I breathed, enthused. "I can't believe it."
"Uh..." Chelsea trailed off precariously.
"What is it now?" I questioned with a puzzled smile.
"I don't get why you're so hyped out about it. That's not a good thing. Nope. Nada." She shook her head and shuddered in fear.
Keith nodded, backing up her sentence. "Exactly. People try not to come under Ms. Maxwell's radar." He looked at me pitifully with his lips scrunched up in a pout. I didn't know if they were meaning to scare me or just genuinely warning me about something that they shouldn't.
"Okay...?"
Shivaay groaned and slapped his forehead irately. "Either explain the whole damn thing, guys or forever hold your peace. I hate being the Olaf here," he said, rolling his eyes. Turning his body to me, the frown still intact, he went into the details. "What they're tryna say here is once you get the "brooch" of fine on your collar, there's no turning back. As in, once she's got her eyes on you, she's always gonna put high expectations on your shoulders as well. And if you in any case disappoint her, she'll start... rampaging and throwing tantrums on you."
"Huh." I flinched and pursed my lips. "Sure, she won't be that hard on us," I said, trying to deflect the tension in my body. "I mean, it does help us in the long run."
"You really are a dork, aren't you?" Chelsea burst out into a fit of laughter and we all joined her. I shrugged and didn't answer her. "Why do you still look so upset though?"
Everyone noticed it as well and I squirmed in my seat with a long sigh. "Because there's one more thing?" I said, being thrown off guard by their observation.
"What's it?"
"Sebestian didn't like my copy." I finally told them what was bothering me so much.
I have this habit of proving myself and being better at it every time I move a step higher on the ladder. It might not be the best of traits but I couldn't help myself. It's ingrained in my head and even if I try not to be so hard on myself, it just... happens.
"Like he - he literally told me and I quote, 'Impress me like you would to your haters and enemies. Which is by not trying too hard.' I mean... what?" I sighed again and ate my food with a forlorn expression.
"Okay okay, first off, don't look so down, Valerie," Keith said gently and slid down his palms as a calm down gesture. Nodding, I mustered up a smile.
What did I even expect in such a top notch company where people actually have more brains than I can fathom?
"Yo, Val. He's right. You'll get the hang of things real soon. Just don't beat yourself for it. And just look at me for instance. Two years. Two years I've been working here and yet none of my designs have been taken into consideration or selected nor have they made it in the audiences' eyes. Which is why I've been frying my ass off but mind you, I haven't lost all my hopes yet," Chelsea said with a sad pout and patted my hand lightly.
"What do you mean by you haven't lost all your hopes?" Keith turned to her, twisting his lips weirdly.
"Out of one hundred percent, I still have twelve percent hope remaining," she murmured with a pinched face.
Keith shook his head while I suppressed a smile and Shivaay sniggered but covered it up with his fist. "Don't tell me that you calculated this," Shivaay remarked, trying his very best to not burst out laughing.
Chelsea, who hadn't noticed our expressions and ignored Shivaay's comment, had a thoughtful look plastered on her face. "You know, actually on second thought, we're a bunch of saggy losers," she said, nodding her head and looking at me.
"Um... I wouldn't agree with you on that." I shrugged. "I don't like to call myself a loser. I might not be good at things but the thing is I try to be better than the last time, so I've never put a label on myself," I said earnestly and Cheslea seemed flummoxed because her eyes widened.
"Whoa..." She raised her arms in surrender with a smile.
"Nor am I because I have two jobs and as a freelancer, my clients do trust my instincts and nobody could trust a loser, right?" Keith said, his eyes glued to his laptop screen while gobbling down his burger.
Everyone looked at Shivaay expectantly and he shrugged weirdly because of the attention. "I wouldn't call myself a loser either because... I always win in video games!" We laughed at his reasoning.
Chelsea whined with a frown. "You guys are dorks. I was just joking around, y'all. Don't be serious, loosen up, children." She laughed and all three of us joined in with her.
"But my answer was pretty savage, you all have to agree. So argue with a rock, Tinker Bells," Shivaay said, tweaking his index fingers.
I hit him with my elbow lightly and Keith gurgled, "Bleh."
"You don't have to say that, Shiv! 'Cause you're Sebby's starboy!" Chelsea exclaimed, throwing a fry on his face which he didn't mind because he ate it without thinking twice.
I released a short, confused laugh because it seemed like I was the only one who didn't quite understand what she meant. "What?" I asked, looking at all of them.
Keith was happy to explain it to me. "Shivaay here is the best copywriter we have. Sebestian always loves the way he uniquely frames the words and frankly speaking, everybody is usually blown by it as well."
"Whoa, I didn't know that. That's so cool, Shivaay. I am jealous now," I said jokingly and giggled.
"Which reminds me, have you shown your magic for this campaign yet?" Keith asked, his question directed at Shivaay.
Shivaay shook his head with a poignant expression but I could tell that he was feigning. Typical of him. "Seems like these fingers have lost their sparks." He wriggled his fingers. "Sebestian seems even more uptight this time. Although I did hand him a set of a few copies before coming here. I don't know." He shrugged.
"I think he's waiting for your groove," Chelsea said.
"I think that's pretty much the reason why he isn't even looking at your lines. Shivaay has already set up a benchmark and standards, Valerie," Keith said and I tried my very best to look unaffected but my smile somewhat wavered a bit. Chelsea punched him hard and he winced, glaring at her. "Ow." He rubbed the sore spot.
"You know that's not true. Never mind him, Val. Sebestian does love others' work under his wing. This institution wouldn't just move ahead because of one person," she tried to console me and I cracked a genuine smile.
"It's alright, Chelsea. There's always someone better out there and I don't mind it, honestly," I assured her. It was true. It just spurred me to work harder. Such motivations gave me the necessary push to be gritting enough to complete the challenge.
"Aww, you're so cool, VVJ. Totally my role model," Shivaay said with a wide grin.
"I hope that's not sarcastic." And his grin widened even more at that. Everybody laughed at my statement. "Also, don't croon so much because you might wanna watch yourself there. Have a heads on because before you know, I might even win the race against you," I said with a fake attitude and smirked at him.
"Ooh, challenge accepted, VVJ. I am glad we've settled that because this poor guy was worried here," Shivaay said, mopping his brow and shaking his head comically.
"I am loving this competition, Val and Shiv," Chelsea commented, leaning back in her chair with the bowl of fried rice in her hands. She was completely enjoying this and I chuckled at her.
"Don't call me Shiv," Shivaay grumbled, rolling his eyes. The sour look didn't go unnoticed by me.
"Why not?" Chelsea asked dryly. Keith silently typed away on his laptop but I could tell that he was listening in on the conversation.
"Yeah, why not? I think it's pretty congenial," I muttered while wiping the dripping stain of sauce on my blouse with a tissue.
"Eh. Wouldn't agree to that. Because the 'Aay' part sounds really important to me since it's the homophone of 'Aye' and 'I'. Gives importance to 'I'," he finished complacently, pounding on his chest when he said 'I'. "And the second thing. I don't do nicknames," he finished in a no-nonsense tone.
I gave him a bored look. "Says the guy who calls me "VVJ". Burp."
Chelsea snorted while Shivaay just winked at me in amusement. "Then I'm definitely calling you Shiv."
"Don't you even dare."
They were both bickering back and forth when soon Keith and I joined them as well to tease Shivaay even further.
Just as we were finished teasing and eating, the whole cafeteria hushed when someone walked in. Looking up, I saw a young woman, probably in her late 20s, approaching in our direction. Her features were soft with a polite smile gracing her lips. The flair of her dress pants at the bottom swayed with every urgent step she took.
"I think she's coming over here," Chelsea whispered, tapping the table with her nails. Her eyes were as wide as saucers with a sly smile on her face. She looked at Shivaay and I with a happy knowing glint in her eyes.
"What?" I threw my question at her. "And who's she?"
"That's Ashley Kutcher. Skye Williams' secretary," Keith answered, his face radiating awe. It seemed like everyone knew the reason for her sudden visit but me.
Before I could voice out my doubt, Ashley Kutcher stopped at our table. It was kind of uncanny that people came to talk or call us during the lunch breaks. "I am sorry to interrupt your break, Mr. Vyas and Ms. Jones but you are asked for in the meeting hall," she said with an air of austerity. Her demeanor screamed professionalism.
Shivaay groaned from beside me. "It's "We-yaas" and not "Why-yaas", Ms. Kutcher. Why can't anybody just get it right?" He whined covering his face with his hands.
Ashley Kutcher's lips thinned apologetically, swiping her finger on her nose in mortification. "My bad. I am so sorry... Mr. Vyas," she repeated his last name slowly and deliberately so as to get it right. "Will keep that in mind next time. Now if you would be kind enough to follow me..."
We both stood up from our chairs. I was still sporting a bemused visage and looked at Shivaay expectantly as soon as we exited the cafeteria and made our way toward the elevators.
Understanding my obliviousness of the situation, he nodded his head. "We are officially a part of the campaign, VVJ."