#THE_SACRIFICE
EPISODE 39
©Sir Zach
Jade was ecstatic about resuming work at her new office. After meeting with Mrs Tracy Lim as per her request, Mrs Lin had offered her a Job as a junior gra-phic designer in the Design dep@rtment. Mrs Tracy had discovered Jade had an impeccable curriculum vitae which she had gotten from the intern supervisor, Alan. Jade had a long list of honors and awards which had acquired for herself in her short time of schooling.
Those were enough to get her a good position at the company, but Mrs Tracy had decided against it as she would love to see Jade grow. To see if that fire that had blazed in Jade’s eyes in her office were only but a spark induced by whim, or a hidden furnace waiting to be brou-ght to life. If the latter was the true reality of Jade, then she wouldn’t mind mentoring her. Therefore, she had placed Jade on the lowest rung of the ladder, so Jade could slowly rise to her dreams, if she had any.
Mrs Tracy Lin had been generous to let her complete her internsh!pat the Design dep@rtment along side working as a full time staff. The work load would take a toll on Jade, which was a fact well known to Mrs Lim but she was trying to see how far the girl could go and if she was really worthy of the apporobation bestowed on her by her supervisor and colleagues. Jade was more than willing to take on both task. As a matter of fact she was exhilarated by this opportunity.
She rummaged throu-gh her wardrobe in search of something nice to wear. She had promised herself to look a bit more professional when she gets an actual job. Now, it seems that wouldn’t be possible, since she hasn’t gotten herself any new cloth since she was in school.
She made a mental note to go shopping probably by weekend, which happens to be tomorrow. Oh no, she has almost forgotten about her deal with Jake.
A session was to last for four hours right? She should be able to go shop for some clothes with her very own personal shopper, Amy.
She giggled when she imagined Amy’s reactions if she told her they’ll be going out to shop for clothes. That girl will be thri-lled.
Amy has countlessly begged Jade to go shopping for clothes, she had even offered to pay for them or give her loan, because she knew Jade didn’t have the luxury of buying clothes every now and then, but Jade had outrightly declined every time.
Jade continued her search for something nice to wear, she really couldn’t wear those Sk-irts and shi-ts she has been wearing since her second year in school. Now she has a real job, even though her internsh!pwas still running, the fact that she now has an actual job was enough to make her spend what so ever little money she has.
Jade always said being an intern was simply being a glorified student, nothing more.
She stood in front of her wardrobe with a crestfallen face.
Her eyes suddenly lit up when she saw a familiar yellow go-wn. She quic-kly pu-ll-ed it out and a cheerful smile broke on her face. It was an A-Line go-wn Lair had gifted her, on one of her birthdays.
She wore the dress gifted by Lair and happily took a swirl in front of the mirror. She immediately picked up her phone and took a snap of herself and s£nt to Amy and Lair with a caption –
“How do I look?”
Jade giggled when she received a conference video call from both Lair and Amy.
“Jade is that you?” Amy asked in awe.
“Hmm” Jade nodded with a sweet smile.
“Is it me or are you really looking more beautiful daily” Lair said with a smile of his own.
“Is not just you dummy, our Jade is really changing. You should seen her when she visited my company” Amy said with a proud smile.
“Jade are you in nee-d of a b©yfri£ndanytime soon, I think i finally want to d@t£ you” Lair said, ma-king Jade gape.
“Get the hell out of here.My Jade doesn’t nee-d your type in her life” Amy snickered.
“Speaking of girlfriends, Lair how did it go with your lady at the p@rty” Jade said with a teasing smile.
Lair sighed exasperatedly, “Amy you’re to blame for this. You just have to open your big mouth. And how many times do I have to tell you Jade that she’s just an acquintance”
“Acquitance huh? I’m sure she wouldn’t agree to you even if you ask her out” Amy said ma-king Jade chuckle.
Lair frown slightly, “And why won’t she?” Lair asked.
“Because you’ll turn her into your patient by giving her a troubled heart, you workacholic” Amy said pointedly, Jade couldn’t help but laugh.
“Amy that’s too much” Jade said amidst laughter.
“Amy Walker are you truly my sister?” Lair was stunned.
“Okay okay that’s enough. How do I really look” Jade asked to be sure, even if she had gotten her answer from their expression earlier.
“Beautiful” Lair complimented with a cool smile ethched onl-ips.
“Like my goddess” Amy replied, her eyes sparkling with nothing but approval at Jade’s choice of clothes.
“Thank you”
“Wait, Lair you don’t look like you’re at home” Jade said when she observed Lair’s surrounding.
” Lair you’re not at home?” Amy asked with a surprise look on her face. She couldn’t believe Lair had left the house so early. What time is it?
“No I’m not at home. Such much for having a sister” He hissed.
“Well I went to the university, had to schedule my lectures at the dep@rtment” Lair informed, while Jade nodded.
“Jade are you really sure you won’t d@t£ me? You’re spending so much attention to details around me.. Are you keeping tabs on me so I won’t get snatched?” He said with a wi-nk.
“You wish” Jade scoffed, while Amy rolled her eyes at him.
“Hold on I thought you took your leave?” Jade asked. She didn’t un-derstand why Lair would still be working when he was on leave.
“That’s for the hospital. So I’m currently not a doctor but a lecturer”
“Ohh”
“Well you better go easy on those students, you evil pawn” Amy intoned.
“Why would you call me an evil pawn, I’m not that bad”
“Yes you are” Jade and Amy said simultaneously. That was unexpected. They both bur-st out in laughter.
“Okay Amy are you free tomorrow?” Jade asked a bit serious now.
“Yeah, Why?”
“I want to go shopping. Care to tag along?” Jade asked even though she knew the answer to that. Amy would always be more than willing to go. She’d clear up her schedule if she must.
“You Jade want to go shopping?” Amy asked in disbelief.
” Yes”
“Like actual shopping?” Lair also couldn’t believe it.
“Yes” Jade nodded with a smile.
“Believe me breaking up with Cale was the best thing that have happened to you” Lair had to say that. Because their Jade was indeed changing.
“Oh my gosh bro, I have to agree with you on that” Amy said, obviously still shocked about this. When had Jade Peterson ever agreed to go shopping without being coerced? The answer was NEVER.
“Well I don’t have the energy to entertain you guys, I have to go to…work” Jade said the word ‘work’ with so much enthusiasm, like it was her first time she was using the word, work. Just the sound of it made her heart happy.
“someone is happy” Lair snickered.
“Tell me Amy, will you be free?” Jade asked a bit nervous this time. She wouldn’t know how to go about shopping for clothes without Amy there, to help her make the right choices.
“Of course baby. I’ve lived for a day like tomorrow” Amy squealed excitedly.
“Okay okay. See you tomorrow” She said to Amy.
“And Lair don’t forget to be nice to your students when your lecture starts”
“Yes boss”
“Okay bye” Jade waved before disconnecting the call from her end. She had to, or they might go on and on.
She gave herself one last look at the mirror and headed for the living room. She hurriedly left for work without having breakfast even though Grace had asked her to. She was just too excited.
It felt like this was her first day all over again. Her heart was fluttering with anticipation.
~~~~~
“Hey peeps, look who we have here. She’s finally here” Julius echoed as soon as Jade walked in with her box in hand. She was shocked when they all got up and started cl@pping for her.
“Hey don’t scare her you br@ts” Simon scolded as he walked up to Jade with a smile spre-ad across his face.
“Don’t mind them, they are just excited to see the br@ve intern who dared to talk the ‘ice Queen’ into giving her a job'” He said mouthing out ‘Ice queen’, ma-king Jade smile. Jade could tell that he was a nice and pla-yful person at first glance.
“And also the girl who defeated the prima donna princess” Julius added as he approached them. Yea, he was referring to Stephanie. Everyone knew they were both competing for the contract. Thanks to Mr Alan.
“Hi, I’m Simon. I’m a Lead Gra-phic Designer here and this is my team”, Simon said and pointed towards the direction where his team members were sitting.
“Everyone can I have your attention. This is Jade, ‘the Jade peterson’, not that she nee-ds any introduction since we alre-ady know her. Starting from today, she’s our Junior gra-phic designer. So be nice to her. She’s a new blood. Ok guys?” Simon said and smiled at Jade again.
“This is the gra-phics team Jade, feel comfortable. You will be sitting over there, just close to Sara. Your system is also re-ady. In the afternoon you will have a meeting with your mentor who will guide you throu-gh this creative process. Till then you can socialize with your team-mates and chill for a while” Simon said.
Jade nodded before giving out a nervous wave at her new team members and briefly introduced herself,
“Hi, guys. I am Jade Peterson and I will be completing my internsh!phere. I hope to learn a lot from you all”.
“You don’t have to be so modest, you’re not just an intern anymore. You work here now” Julius whispered ma-king Jade blus-h shyly. That’s true, she was a full time staff of Xenox.
“And i am Sara, a Junior Designer here. If you have any questions starting from the locating the coffee machine, paper cli-ps, how to fix the printer, and probably how to murder anyone of these horrible designers don’t call me. Call Simon he is the eyes and ears of Xenox”, Sara said and flashing a cute smile at Simon which Jade didn’t miss. Seems something was going on there.
“Oh that’s nice l’ll keep that in mind” Jade replied.
“Don’t forget to tell her you’re the only sheep among wolves” Simon added. Jade caught on to the word. she looked around and indeed, Sara was the only sheep among wolves as she was the only female on the team.
“And that’s why we’ll get along well. Finally someb©dy reasonable to talk. Jade you’re my next idol” She flashed Jade a sweet smile which Jase responded to.
Jade could tell the working environment here was an harmonious one, and she was alre-ady in love with it.
“Are you my mentor?” Jade turned and asked Simon.
“You’ll love that right?” He win-ked.
“Of course I am. I’m so cool, so there’s no nee-d to be scared of me” Simon said and asked her to settle at her seat. He went with her till her seat and helped her configure the ‘Office Communicator’. Then he added her to the communicator chat list and said –
“Ping me or any of this su-ck-ups here if you nee-d anything” He said before walking out of the gra-phics bay. Jade around with a smile on her face before returning her focus to her desk to set it up.
Jade who was happily fixing her things on her new desk, paused when she remembered that call from Jake, yesterday. She hasn’t forgotten how weird that felt.
Why didn’t he save the number, when she had saved his immediately she seen the missed call which he had given her.
He’s a busy man. Running a international conglomerate must be a demanding task for a young man like him. There’s nothing weird about that. He just forgot.
Jade opened her l@pt©p to googled his name -Jake Beau. She started checking everything about him, starting from his social media accounts to Acrosoft official webpage. Jade was literally stalking him, checking every possible information about him. Her curiosity was at it’s peak and she wanted to know more about the man that she’ll be spending her weekends with for the next few months. She hadn’t really thought about it before, but now she really had to know. What if he had some fetish??
Who knows what tomorrow would bring?
WATCHOUT FOR EPISODE 40