29 The Savage Queen (Part 5)

200th floor of Wayne Corp

CEO's Office

Janet walked into the office to drop a few files on Gabriel's desk. Gabriel had already finished the earlier tasks and was resting when she did this.

"You've been working hard" Gabriel said as he picked up the files "Maybe I should give you a vacation?"

"Master Wayne, your jokes aren't good for my heart" Janet said with all honesty

"Mark is on vacation right now and his assistant is already back to working after her vacation" Gabriel said "I was just wondering if you needed one since I've never given you one"

"I appreciate the offer, Master Wayne, but Mr Page actually had someone who could fill in his assistant's position without a hitch" Janet said as she took a seat opposite him "I can't trust anyone else to handle being your assistant, even for an hour"

"You can't trust them? Or you can't trust me?"

"Well-" before Janet could say anything, she was immediately cut off by an incoming call on her Bluetooth earpiece. "Excuse me, Master Wayne. I have to answer this" she said as she gently tapped on the earpiece"Hello, this is Janet Cain from Wayne Corp. How may I help you?"

"It me, Arthur Rae, the assistant director of finance"

"How may I help you?"

"The director of finance, as well as the director of technology and the director of communication, are wondering if there's anything going on with the fashion department" Arthur said over the line and Janet instinctively glanced at Gabriel, who could not hear their conversation. "I tried asking around about it, but nobody knew the answer. To top it all off, the members of that department, didn't seem to be in the right mind to answer my questions"

"Um-"

"There were also people who had been fired before that were called back to the office recently. I happened to pass by one of them a few minutes ago" Arthur said

"Can you slow down for a second? You're asking too many questions that I can't keep up" Janet said and Gabriel stared at her with a questioning look.

"Sorry about that" Arthur said "But the directors and us, their assistants, are very confused with the ongoing situation. The-"

"The fashion department's new director turned up for work today. It was somebody that Mr Page had personally selected for the position" Janet said calmly"It's just, the person didn't work in the fashion department before. So, this is their first time meeting her"

"Who's on the line?" Gabriel asked as he stopped his work

"It's Arthur Rae from finance" Janet said as she mute her call with Arthur

"Tell him to pass on the word to both his director and the other directors" Gabriel said "In commemoration of the new directors in position, I've decided to hold a board meeting with all of the directors. Further details will be talked about there and everyone will be free to voice their opinions on our current circumstances. The meeting will be held around noon sharp" he said

"Understood" Janet said, as she unmuted the call and relayed Gabriel's message "Sorry, I was talking to Master Wayne and he said...."

'I take my eyes off this woman for a couple hours and this is what she does the moment I do' Gabriel thought 'I thought I wouldn't be hearing any complaints about her since Maria said she was reliable, but this is really....for some reason, I suddenly feel so exhausted' he sighed before going back to work

******

35th floor of Wayne Corp

 The total number of floors owned by the fashion department, was a whooping twenty three floors. Two of the floors belonged to the director of the department, and the assistant director, while the remaining twenty one floors belonged to the other members of the department.

Starting from the forty ninth floor, to the fifty fifth floor, which was used by the fashion designers. To the forty eighth floor with was the only storage room, that was used to store sewing materials. Then from the forty second floor to the forty sixth floor, which was for the seamsters. While from the thirty fifth floor to the forty first floor was used by the department's models.

 The thirty fifth floor being one of the few floors belonging to the fashion department's models, had one of the largest spaces in the building. It only had a single runway built at the center of the room, while several chairs were placed around the runway.

As members of the fashion department began to pour into the floor, they slowly began to fill in the seats and in a matter of minutes, all of the chairs and the room was filled with no space left, except the runway.

The company heads' elevator opened on this floor and everyone's breaths hitched as Helen and Raden exited the elevator and made for the runway.

"Is it just me, or the new boss hot?"

"She looks more like a model than a director. I hope the company isn't just hiring people based on faces"

Helen could clearly hear all their mumbles of uncertainty and doubt, but she didn't really care. She had been so busy and hadn't had enough time to rest, that she didn't even want to talk to them immediately.

Raden brought a chair over for her and she sat down after taking the the megaphone from him. However, even after Raden had taken a seat beside her, she still didn't pick up the megaphone to say a word.

"Isn't she going to say anything?"

"I can't even imagine it, if the next words she says is 'You're all fired'"

"Could your jokes be any worse?"

"He just mentioned it as a possibility"

"Oh. Shut it"

"Can you all just shut your trap and wait quietly" Helen said angrily over the megaphone and everyone kept their mouths shut "I have a splitting headache from restlessly trying to fix your mistakes, for the past three days. So, I'd very much appreciate your silence. Anyone who doesn't cooperate will be immediately fired starting now"

'What a scary woman' the members of the department thought when suddenly, all of the public elevator doors made a ding before opening and more members of the fashion department walked in. However, when they noticed how silent the place was, they instinctively made a mental note to not make a peep.

 The whole thirty fifth floor was as silent as a graveyard for a good thirty minutes when, Helen suddenly got up from her seat with the megaphone. Suddenly, one of the public elevator doors opened and ten people walked in.

"Hey, aren't those the plagiarizers?"

"Didn't Miss Regina fire them? What are they doing here?"

"It's because of them that we're even in this situation in the first place"

"I thought I told you all to shut your traps" Helen said through the megaphone and everyone went mute "Good. First of all, I'd like to thank you all for gathering here. Especially the ten people who just walked in....Regina really served you ten, a horrible case of injustice, and I would like to apologize on behalf of the whole department for the way you were all unjustly treated and unfairly fired"

"T-Thank you" one of the ten people said

"My name is Helen Ashley and I am the new director of fashion" Helen said "I merely came here today, to address some things, after viewing both past and present data. One of which, is to first clarify the matter partaining the plagiarism incidents. As you all know, such incidents continued after these ten people were fired" she said while gesturing to the ten in question "Which led me to further investigate the matter. I came to the realization during the investigation, that these people were fired without a proper look into the situation. It turns out an investigation wasn't carried out properly, prior to the first plagiarism incident"

"Unbelievable"

"To think Miss Regina didn't even look into it"

"I'm honestly not surprised anymore"

"For those reasons alone, I have decided to rehire them and continue looking into the plagiarism incidents. Once the culprit is found, they and their associates will be sued and fired" Helen said "The second matter is the current treatment of our department by not only the members of the company, but also by our suppliers. The cost of expenses paid in the company by members of this department, keeps getting higher and higher, due to the other departments raising the prices. To that, I've found alternatives for which Raden already made the effort to contact, today. These alternatives are cheaper and have already agreed to do business with us. As for the suppliers, they were too arrogant and a waste of time and money, so I got rid of them. Nothing is irreplaceable after all"

"Wow"

"Raden...you mean the King of Gossip actually did that?" Someone murmured and Raden chuckled a bit

"On to the third matter, we have to raise a greater revenue than what we raised last month. Honestly, I would have thought this was impossible, but after seeing a lot of you's designs, I'm sure we've got this in the bag" Helen said "After this meeting, meet with my assistant, Lisa. She will return your design books back to you all. This summer is quite hot, so I need you all to design comfortable summer clothes that even your everyday person can't pass up on. Make it stylish, elegant and simple...that's the type of design I'm looking for. The clothes and designs need to be ready before this Friday and on Saturday, we'll be holding the fashion show" she said

"I'll tell you all a little something. I'm a total slave driver, so you best get your body moving right now" Helen said "Only the top fifty will have their clothes displayed on my runway. I have high expectations for you all" she ended as the whole thirty fifth floor erupted in cheers.

"I'm heading back to my office to rest" Helen said as she handed the megaphone back to Raden

"What of the plagiarizer?" Raden whispered

"Why do you think I made this announcement?" Helen asked "The plagiarizer is my problem. Your problem is the task I just gave you and everyone else" she patted him on the shoulder before heading for the company heads' elevator. She entered the elevator and took it to the fifty seventh floor.

******

Mill Neck, New York

Page Mansion

Maria and the kids had already eaten breakfast and taken their baths. So currently, with nothing to do, they were in the living room watching TV.

"Auntie Maria, can we go out?" Cia asked. She was dressed in the summer clothes Helen had designed for her

"Well, I'll have to ask either Mark or Vivian" Maria said, she had tied her hair in a low ponytail and was wearing a purple, button-up tea dress

"Can't we just go without asking them?" Dan asked. He was also dressed in the summer clothes Helen had designed for him

"I can't do that" Maria giggled as she looked to the side and saw Kali sound asleep in her bassinet "Taking such a little angel outside....makes me a bit worried"

"Miss Maria, Master Page said I should ask a favor of you" Butler Frank said while stepping out of the dining room

"A favor? What does he need?" Maria asked

"He had some work he left unfinished" Butler Frank said "His assistant called him on his trip to remind him about it and he said he would send you in his place"

"Alright. I'll help him with this" Maria said "But I can't leave the kids here. It would be best if they could come along. It seems like we're going out" she said and Dan and Cia had a bright smile on their faces

"I'll go prep the car" Butler Frank said before excusing himself

"I appreciate that" Maria said with a smile "Let me just prepare a small lunch for everyone before we go"

"I'll help" Dan and Cia said

"Oh, no you don't" Maria said instantly "Stay here with Kali. Who'll watch her if you both come with me to the kitchen?" She asked and the twins calmed themselves as Maria headed to the kitchen