Chapter 9: Chapter 9

"Good morning sir" Bella greeted her boss as he walked into his office wearing a navy blue suit and a sky blue shirt. His hair was newly styled and attractive.

"Morning Bella" he replied without glancing at her. He entered his office and settled on his seat. There were lot of files waiting to be attended to on his table. Some needed to be rechecked, some needed his signature, while the rest were files about the latest contracts needed to be evaluated by the company's board of directors before any action is taken on them.

"Another hectic day ahead" he sighed before sitting and began his work- his duty as the company's CEO.

Few hours later, his secretary knocked on the door requesting if she could enter and he gave her the permission to do so.

"It's time for the meeting with the directors" she said on entering.

"You mean?" he furrowed his brows in confusion.

"Today marks the beginning of a new month sir" she replied calmly.

"Oh my God!. I totally forgot about that" he rest his back on his chair and rolled on the spot with his fingers on his chin.

"Are you prepared?"

"Yes sir. The directors have started arriving as well"

"Good. I'll be outside soon" he said and stood up from his chair to prepare himself.

Bella exited her boss' office back to her seat, then she went to the restroom to ease herself and freshen up. She reapplied her lipstick and smiled at herself satisfactorily when she looked at her figure in the mirror.

"Good to go." she smiled.

It's one of the traditions of the Arrowhoods Group of Companies to hold a general board of directors meeting on the first day of every new month so that the report of the previous month would be crosschecked, and the budget for the new month would be made. That's one of the activities that made the company the top best and top leading in the whole of the city.

Since Bella joined the company, she had been the one to analyze the previous month report while the CEO and the directors would prepare and finalize another budget.

"It's ten minutes already. What's taking him so long" she checked her wristwatch walking nervously in front of her boss' office. Just then, he came out of the office.

"I'm sorry I took long. I had to crosscheck some things before heading there" he said.

"Not a problem sir" Bella said hurriedly walking behind him as he entered the elevator. Who is she to complain about him taking a long time. Though, most of the employees like thier boss because he is kind, sensible, appreciative, and an attentive listener, but they don't dare cross the limit. He could be friendly and approachable, but the moment he gets angry, a lot of things could be destroyed and they could get in trouble.

Scott and his secretary entered the meeting hall after they left the elevator. Everyone present in the room stood up and bowed thier heads a little as a sign of respect for the CEO.

After the greetings and formalities, Bella moved to the front of the hall and began her presentation which she completed in about twenty minutes.

"Good job Bella" your report presentation is always explanatory" Mr Derrick, one of the directors commented while the others clapped.

"Thank you sir" she took a bow and went to her seat.

"Mr Arrowhood's secretaries are always the best. If you all remember, it was the same with the former secretary as well. She's very dedicated to work" someone chipped in before Scott could proceed with the meeting.

"You're right Mr Conner, who knows why she suddenly stopped working. She's just so good and beautiful as well". Scott clenched his fist angrily. They just opened one of his old wounds. He knew they were purposely bringing up the matter of his past secretary since no one knows what happened exactly except Scott himself, but they knew it's likely he is involved with her resignation.

"I once heard that she's pregnant and couldn't cope with too much work" Mr Derrick chipped in innocently breaking the chain of suspicious discussion about to take over the main purpose of thier being there and Bella sighed in relief. She had noticed her boss countenance began to change when the discussion started.

"If this goes on, the meeting won't end well" she had thought but didn't know the right word to say to put an end to the awkward moment.

"Let's continue the meeting. Time is not by our side" Scott said after a while of being silent and the meeting continued.

Not long after the meeting came to an end, Bella received a call informing her that her luggages are being thrown out of the house due to her inability to pay the rent for a long time.

"What?" she shouted over the phone. She didn't expect her landlady to take such a drastic action. Not after she pleaded with her three days ago to give her some time.

"What next" she asked herself almost in tears. "The boss is busy right now, I can't disturb him with my problems". With that, she left the company after returning the necessary files that needed to be returned, to her boss's office.

★★★★

Schools have generally marked the fourth week of resumption on the school calendar. The first three weeks passed by gracefully with Richard taunting Michelle, Daniel trying to get closer to Michelle but to no avail, and other students getting to know each other better. They've been busy with school work and activities, particularly the new and first year student of the senior high and junior high since it's the culture of the school.

At Worthings High, any new student will be on probation for the first six weeks after admission. This is usually carried out and judged by the continuous weekly assessment test carried out at the end of every week so as to recognize the weakness and skills of every students, develop thier talents, and bring the possible best out of them. All in all, the competing rate among the students is riotously high.

Michelle and Daisy had scheduled the fourth week to tour the nooks and crannies of the school together since the school work for the fourth week is not that much . Like every other student, they've been busy studying for the end of week test making them so busy, with less time for themselves.

During the break period, they met at the cafeteria as agreed, then began thier tour from the classroom blocks and ambled about until they reached the unimaginably large sport field. Daisy took Michelle to the golf course as soon as they entered the gates of the sport field. It was her best place ever since they resumed because of it's high standard. To mention but a few, it has attractive features like the tee box, fairway and fairway bunker, water hazard, putting green, rough, and out of bounds.

They made comments about everything they saw and walked past, and left the sport field after walking round the soccer field, sport dressing room, athletes track, and martial arts hall, then stopped to spend the remaining minutes left of thier break in the recreation room. The recreation room was so colorful, beautiful and air-conditioned that one could be entirely carried away the moment one steps in. Michelle was the first to sit, then Daisy followed suit.

"How was your last test?" they both asked like they read each other's minds and laughed at the coincidence. Daisy replied that her test was fine but reading is tedious and stressful.

"Same with me. We have to put in our all in order to scale through this probratory period" Michelle said.

"You're right bestie. First Impression lasts longer" Daisy smiled at her friend and they continued talking about other things.

Suddenly, two familiar voices were heard coming towards the recreation room.

"Oh my God!. That's Miranda and Vanessa" Daisy almost screamed out of anxiety.

"So?" Michelle asked airily.

"We have to get going or there'll be trouble. You know how evil and troublesome they could be. I don't want you to start here again. No one can tell what you'll do next" Daisy explained dragging Michelle up so they would leave.

★★★★

"You need to see his handwriting" said Miranda.

"What do you mean?. Are you saying his handwriting is finer than mine?" Vanessa asked.

"No. I don't mean that. But you really need to see it. It's as adorable as his looks" Miranda said not wanting to offend Vanessa.

"Really?!" Vanessa asked amidst smiles.

"Of course. Everyone says it"

"What if I tell her Daniel is my cousin?. I'll have her at the tip of my fingers since it seems she likes him" Vanessa thought within herself and decided to tell Miranda.

As she was about to tell her, she remembered what Daniel said to her and decided against telling her.

"Daniel could be sometimes dangerous. If he finds out later i announced it, I'll be good as dead" she thought.

"Whatever! I don't think he'll be able to compete with the cat and rat" Vanessa broke the silence that ensued between her and Miranda.

"You mean Michelle and Richard?" Miranda asked and Vanessa nodded smirking.

"Why do you have to mention that bitch"

"You dare call her a bitch!, the word you can't say to her face" Vanessa mocked Miranda stylishly.

"How sure are you?. Are you scared of her?"

"A lot so sure. Though I'm not scared of her, the fact that she's sometimes crazy and unpredictable will never change". Vanessa concluded with a tone of finality. She turned around, and walked towards the entrance.

"Unpredictable enough for Richard to hurt her right?. Miranda asked mockingly but was taken short when she sighted Michelle and Daisy coming out of the recreation room. She became scared immediately because she's not sure how much they heard her say.

Michelle balled her fist in fury about to blow up, but Daisy held her close and hurried her away to prevent further irritation. The mention of her as a bitch had annoyed her and she wanted to accost them but calmed herself down to hear the last of thier scuttlebutts. She and Daisy left thier presence and walked in silence towards thier class as their break time will be over in five minutes.

"Dimwitted fools" she uttered still very angry but Daisy didn't reply her. She was thinking. Daniel has been the topic of little gossips among the first year female students. Though, he is not as bright as Michelle and Richard, he is very social and handsome with a great athletic figure and good communication skill. In no time, he was tagged the ambassador of peace because he tries to make people laugh with his clownish gestures.

However, since he introduced himself to Michelle and also stopped her from fighting Richard back when he fell her down, she tried all her best to ignore and stay away from him. She's apprehensive that Richard would use him as a bait to hurt her again because he has been hanging out more with Richard ever since they met.

"Michelle, what do you think of Daniel" Daisy asked out of the blue.

"Think of him, I don't really know. Never thought of it" she replied flatly rolling her eyes.

" I think he's a bit nice. He communicates really well,... he's also handsome and caring" Daisy said.

"Well, I'll hate him because he's caring. I totally think of him as the opposite. He could be someone like Richard"

"Has he done you any bad?" Daisy questioned knowing fully well that he hasn't.

"I don't know, but he might be about to. I still see no reason for his introduction the other day" Michelle said plainly. Daisy stopped and turned to face her.

"Girl!. You better watch it!. That guy meant no harm, he's only friendly while you're just being paranoid!" Daisy raised her voice at her friend out of concern.

"Paranoid, i don't think so" Michelle left the spot, and proceeded towards thier destination.

"You don't have to compare Daniel with Richard. The fact that Richard hurts you doesn't mean he'll do the same"

"You're right. He might not. But if I remember clearly, Richard also started as a cool friend before he changed to what he is now. Once bitten twice shy"

"Oh!. I see you're getting it all......."

"What's your relationship with Daniel" Michelle interrupted as Daisy was about to speak again.

"Nothing. He's just a classmate. And.."

"Don't talk about him then" she interrupted again.

"I will because I know what you can do and the length you can go. Behave normally and stop snubbing him. He won't kill you" Daisy shouted trying to convince her strong-headed friend.

"Don't dare talk again" Michelle yelled, totally angry.

"As long as you're my friend, I will because I don't want you to present yourself as a nuisance or an air-head to him. Not only him, but to everyone. All eyes are on you girl" Daisy pressed further.

"Whatever" Michelle walked out on Daisy.

"And that's why you're called an arrogant bitch. A rude being" Daisy hissed and left.