Madam Helena

The next morning was the usual chaos.

Run to work but hey, small win, I wasn't late.

"Good morning, boss!"

Yup. I was in his office again.

"Morning, Miss Montasia."

Vincent's eyes flicked over me like I was one of his brand-new dress prototypes.

"Today I'm introducing you to the lady boss. Madam Helena."

Oh. Fabulous. Another boss.

He stepped closer, voice low and annoyingly bossy.

"Dress properly. Behave yourself. Is that clear?"

"Y-yes, sir!" I squeaked. And off we marched to her office.

"Madam... I present Rose à Montasia."

I swear I forgot how to breathe.

There she was Madam Helena.

Dark purple hair cascading in soft, expensive curls, like she'd just stepped out of a luxury salon commercial.

Bold red lipstick. Dramatic dark eyeshadow. Pearl earrings that probably cost more than my entire life.

She was perfection in heels.

"M-Ma'am," I stammered, standing stiff as a statue.

I kept glaring at Vincent out of the corner of my eye, silently begging for a lifeline.

Of course, my devil boss looked amused.

Then Helena stepped closer so close I could smell her fancy perfume and studied my face like I was a curious piece of art.

"Well, Miss Montasia..."

Her eyes narrowed, but the corners of her lips curled. Was she... amused?

"Interesting. You have beautiful eyes."

Wait. WHAT?!

My whole face turned into a furnace.

Why do all my bosses 

Have a habit of making me want to dig a hole on our first meeting?!

"Eh... thank you..."

What do I even say?

'You look beautiful too, ma'am, please don't fire me?'

I risked another glance at Vincent was he trying not to laugh?! Good-for-nothing devil in a suit!

"Did you say something?" Madam Helena asked, smooth as silk.

OH CRAP. THINK, ROSE, THINK!

"I-It's a pleasure meeting you, ma'am!" I squeaked.

Nailed it? Maybe? I'm so getting fired.

Helena chuckled, an elegant sound that somehow made me more nervous.

"Well then, Miss Montasia. If I remember correctly, your boss here tasked you with designing three dresses. 

Am I right?"

"Yes, ma'am."

"Good. I want to see that in action today.

We have a crisis our other branch needs fresh designs immediately. 

So, those three dresses? They're going to save that branch."

She turned to Vincent with a sly smile.

"You keep an eye on her. Consider this your new mission."

"Yes, ma'am," Vincent said, bowing slightly. I copied him in a heartbeat.

Once we stepped out, Vincent finally smirked at me.

"Well... that was interesting."

I blew out a breath. "Did I do good?"

He laughed under his breath.

"Surprisingly... yes. Now get to work, Miss Montasia. We have a branch to save."

Straight away to B1.

Luckily, I had my B1 crew lifesavers.

I powered through an entire day.

By lunchtime, Cleo, Miya and I were having the best gossip session of our lives.

Miya squealed, "Did you see Boss Vincent lately?"

"What about him?" I jumped in, nosey as ever.

"He looks... happy. And have you seen Madam Helena yet?"

Oh yeah I told them everything. We laughed so hard we nearly choked on our noodles.

Back to work.

I checked all the threads, the details, the seams.

Done. My three masterpieces!

Let me introduce them,

 1. An elegant black dress, laced with black onyx and tiny black crystals.

 2. A dark green dress with white feathers bold but soft.

 3. My favorite a blush pink dress with pleats and a bow. Elegant and cute. Even I'm impressed!

Vincent came to check on me.

"How's my little birdie doing?"

What? Since when am I your bird?

He studied each dress carefully.

"Honestly? You did good. But for the green one... 

you could add something right here."

"Ohh, got it! I'll fix it right away."

We'd hear the final results tomorrow.

"Let's go back. We're done here," he said.

Eh? That's it? We're leaving?

Well, no complaints. I secretly loved his car.

"Enjoying the view, Miss Montasia?"

Oops. I'd been staring out his car window, ignoring him.

"Oh yeah... I was wondering. Why are you driving me home every day?"

He chuckled, a low rumble.

"I don't want anything bad happening to you... 

since there's a thief on the loose. Besides my house is right behind yours. So, it's no trouble."

"I see..."

Why did that sound disappointing somehow?

Vincent glanced at me.

"Disappointed?" he asked, raising a brow.

"Why would I be? I know your motive."

He gave me a daring look.

I turned away, cheeks on fire, just as the car came to a stop.

And as usual my sister launched herself at him the moment he stepped out.

"Vinnieee!"

Yup. She clung to him like a lost princess greeting her prince. Ugh.

After a quick chat, we waved him goodbye our little routine.

Meanwhile, Vincent drove off toward his place.

Along the quiet road, he spotted a girl lying on the street.

Hair covered her face. Next to her a bag and a phone, screen lit up. Someone was calling.

He scanned the area.

"Damn it... what's going on here?"

He stepped closer, careful.

Picked up the phone and answered.

"Hello?"

A calm voice on the other end.

"Vincent Leclair, nice to meet you. You may not know me... 

but I'll tell you this this is just to settle the score."

CRACK!

A baseball bat slammed into the back of his head.

Vincent dropped to his knees.

The girl in front lifted her hoodie, smirked.

"Well, little boss. Looks like you just got robbed."

Another hit. And another.

Until everything went black.

Back at my house I was still on a video call with Zera, giggling about my Helena story.

Then another call interrupted.

"Eh? My boss is calling me? What does he want now?"

Zera flashed me a mischievous grin. "Midnight call? Must be spicy!"

"GET OUT bestfriend!" I yelled, picking up.

But it wasn't him. A woman's voice answered.

"Hello, is this M.L.R.?"

"Eh? No... I'm Rose. How did you get Vincent's phone?"

"I'm sorry to inform you, but... Vincent is in the hospital right now."

"What?! Vincent dead?!"